Universe (VegasPete) R18

Chapter 76 - Ode for cruelty

TW: Blood, abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault.

As you can see, this chapter contains triggers that may make it difficult for some of you to read.

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-Pete-

Darkness.

Light.

My lids fluttered.

Darkness.

Light

My eyes opened, my vision hazy, blurry. Everything seemed to be spinning around me but I knew I wasn't moving. My head throbbed with a relentless headache. The room was filled with the scent of incense and...candles. Painful shivers ran along my body. I was cold. And disoriented.

Slowly, consciousness started to return. I could feel the heavy silence and a dimly lit atmosphere. My eyes closed again and I tried to lift my head, but a sharp pain shot through me, making me wince in pain.

It all came rushing back—I had been struck above my temple, the sting and pressure of the blow still lingering in my memory.

I remembered the intense pain, the sensation of warm blood trickling down my face. And then nothing. Nothing but darkness. But now, there was no sign of blood anymore. The sticky and dry feeling that make your skin itch was gone.

As I instinctively reached to touch the wound, my movements were abruptly stopped. I couldn't move my arms. With each attempt to free myself, the realization progressively sank in— they were bound, the restraints were too tight, my arm painfully extended behind me, wrapped around a pole.

I strained to look around, attempting to twist my body, but the ropes limited my movements and the strength...I had none. As my gaze shifted downward, I discovered that my ankles were bound too.

I paused. My eyes scanning my own body from my feet to my stomach. It took a few moments for it to register in my mind—I wasn't wearing my own clothes.

Instead, I found myself dressed in a robe, made of a shiny dark blue fabric that seemed to be silk. It was loosely tied at the waist with a belt.

As I lifted my chin, attempting to alleviate the pain in my neck and head, a sharp ache shot through my entire body again. It felt as if I had been struck and tossed around like a freaking ragdoll.

I choke on nothing and started to cough. Where's Vegas? Where's Venice? Where's my son? The room started to spin once more. My head dropped down, my chin pressing against my chest.

It seemed like my strength was drain, my mind unable to process or comprehend anything. I was in shock. I was numb. I felt cold, alone, lost, adrift in a hazy state of nothing but confusion and...fear.

And just as I was about to surrender to the darkness once more, I heard a voice.

A voice that jolted my heart within my chest brutally. In an instant, my eyes snapped open.

"Pete..."

Vegas.

I followed the sound, my gaze moving towards the source, and as my vision cleared, I saw him.

I saw him kneeling a few meters away from me. His bare chest and face were stained with dried blood. His arms were tightly bound behind his back too, and two armed guards stood on either side of him.

My heart sank and my blood rushed back in my brain like I got electrified. Adrenaline surged through my veins, jolting me into action.

I tugged frantically at the rope that restrained me as soon as my eyes stopped on Vegas, feeling like a trapped animal, knowing that our lives, his life, my life, hung in the balance. And suddenly, the weight of the situation crashed down on me like a ton of bricks, leaving me with the crushing realization that it was indeed probable. Probable that we may not get out of here alive.