When Angels Fall In Love

Chapter 2: No Mercy

The chains attached to the manacles were made of iron as well, hanging from large hooks embedded in the ceiling on opposite sides of the room. Her arms rose, pulled apart by the chains until she was halfway suspended with her knees resting against the stone. The brute circles her, his scuffed leather boots entering her field of view even with her head hanging forward. Suddenly, her head is yanked back, held up by her as she snarled at the brute. Shouldn't have done that...

Stars shatter across her vision as he strikes her jaw hard with an oversized fist. Pain explodes through the bone, and it almost felt like he had broken it as a ringing rattled through her ear. He let go of her hair with a disgusted huff, her head falling forward once more.

Tears threaten to rise to her eyes, but staunches them, not wanting them to her weakness. The footsteps stop, and her heart stops with them, uncertainty and fear settling low in her gut. She hears a blade being drawn, immediately squeezing her eyes shut in preparation for the blade to slice through skin. Roughly, a hand grasps onto her filthy dress and not being able to control the bile that rises in her throat when the blade slices through the fabric.

Cool air kisses her spine. The front of the dress dangling dangerously low to reveal her swollen breasts. She couldn't breath. Her chest clenched tightly with panic as she waited in shocked silence. The sound of metal clinking against the stone makes her flinch as she hesitantly looks over her shoulder at the brute and the metal-tipped whip he now held in his hand. The whip doesn't make her feel any better but she would be lying to herself if she didn't feel the slightest shred of relief that he wasn't going to rape her. Or at least to enact in such a grotesque obscenity. She wouldn't put it past these human's to stoop so low.

He begins to circle her again as the other man continues to recline in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. She meets his eyes, pleading for even an ounce of mercy as he stares back at her with a blank expression. The sound of the whip scrapping the floor meant the pain was inevitable as she tucked her chin against her chest once more and waited for the strike. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she held her breath, listening to the whip fly through the air.

A scream tears apart her throat, shredding her vocal cords as unimaginable pain sears through her senses. Her body jerks upon impact, feeling the iron tips being dragged through flesh and muscle as the whip is pulled back for another. Her mouth hangs open as she gasps like a water-deprived fish, reeling from the agony burning through her spine. Again and again, the whip is raised and brought down unrelentingly upon her back until her screams shake the stone beneath her knees and loose rocks tumble down from the ceiling. Yet it doesn't stop and she is left begging for death as hot tears stream down her face and roiling wave of pain crash open her head in surges of fury.

In the midst of her pain and cries, everything falls way. Her spiritual form partially disconnecting from her physical body. She could still feel the ache of pain in this form, but it was dulled enough that she could find momentary relief. She was thankful that despite losing her angelic powers she was still able to occupy this form. She had never used it for such a reason as this, but it was comfort nonetheless. She imagined herself huddled with her knees pulled close, holding on for dear life as the pain threatened to pull her back to her physical form.

"If only I had just stayed away...stayed away from him, stayed away from the damned humans.

If I had stayed away, he wouldn't be dead..."

These thoughts haunted her as she envisioned his face in her subconscious. His form was vivid and bright, haloed in a golden glow as he stared back with eyes full of loving endearment. The sight made her skin ache for his touch, his hand reaching for her as a smile pulled at his lovely lips.

She had never known love until he stumbled upon her that day. Thinking about it now, it hadn't been too long ago, but it had been long enough for the pain to take its toll on her mind. Many a moon had passed since the day she was captured, and they had gutted him before her eyes. But for what? Because he loved her, because he dared to love her so or that she dared to love him back? Was that so wrong? The answer didn't matter, not anymore, she had wept enough for her love lost...

She left herself be immersed in the memory of him. If they were to beat her until her body gave out at least his memory would be the thing she remembered...