Captive: Hopeless

Chapter 10 - Torture

Not done playing with her yet, Azera was only getting warmed up. Her eyes were bright, and a small satisfied smile settled upon her blood-red lips, the same smirk she wore after sex.

Azera was a glutton, and although she'd already had her fill, she wanted more like a drug addict. She fetched a few six-inch nails, and Kay's stomach tightened as she positioned the tip where Kay's shoulder had dislocated.

She took her sweet time, allowing Kay's anxiety and her pleasure to build before banging the nail home in one go, almost sinking its head into the flesh. The torn ligaments and sinews offered no resistance.

Kay screamed, and Azera's head again rolled slightly back, the next nail already in her hand. The woman forced herself to take her time, running her hands over Kay's body, searching for sore spots, and groping her because Kay hated it.

The tendon in her knee drew Azera's attention. Kay closed her eyes as the nail pierced her skin, slammed into the wood beneath and through it, the head disappearing beneath her skin.

***

Seven nails held her to the wood when Kimberley ran into the room, out of breath, which was strange. She made an obeisance that almost touched her head to the ground near where Kay's blood pooled beneath the table.

"The call you've been awaiting has come, Your Highness," Kimberley rushed the words out in one compact sentence.

Azera hated being interrupted, and men have died for such an offense.

Kay was as amazed as Barker when her mistress put down the ornate hammer and her specially handcrafted, thick, wide nails.

"I'm finished here. Loosen the bonds and take her to the dungeons when she has healed. I do not want to be disturbed for the rest of the day," Azera disappeared through the door before Kimberley scraped herself from the ground, and the girl's legs shook as she left the room.

Their mistress easily gave conflicting orders, and obeying her was no joke.

Relief surged through her, but she dared not move. This was the most pain she had suffered since she arrived here, and it would take a while for her to recover.

Barker pulled the nails out, which hurt worse than hammering them in, and the second they were alone, Nero returned, taking in her current state and watching her cry and scream with a vindictive smirk.

He clearly blamed her for getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Typical Nero.

When Barker finished, he dispassionately popped her joints back into place like a doctor, then motioned for a reluctant Nero to follow him and left her alone.

The open wounds were already closing, and she curled into a ball as her body reset itself as if she were a slinky, shaking, shivering, and moaning.

***

Barker returned almost an hour later, offering her a juice bottle. Despite knowing what he mixed with it, she drank it like an alcoholic that discovered a cold beer in the desert after a day without water.

Her hunger was unbearable, and her body consumed so much energy that the blood was insufficient. Not nearly, but as always, it would have to do.

Unlike Nero would have, he didn't make her walk back to the cell, carrying her in his arms instead. But this time, she could not have walked if she wanted to, but first, he allowed one of the serving women to wash the blood from her body and hair. It prolonged her torture, but at least she would be clean the next time Azera summoned her.

She should have died like the other seedlings; it would have been a kindness. This was no life, and the ones who had not survived were lucky.

***

When he put her down in her cell, he didn't bother fastening the manacle. She could barely move, and he would lock the door on his way out. He didn't see the point of the manacle, but Nero never failed to put it on.

"Lock her in," Nero demanded from the door, and Barker looked him right in the eye as he walked over to the door and took it from his grip.

"F*ck you," he said, and Nero nearly burst a vein.

"I'm your superior; you will do as I say."

Barker locked the door behind him.

"No. I don't work for you, so go tattle. How much do you want to bet she will just love the interruption? Perhaps she'll break your other hand just before shoving it up your arse," Barker challenged quietly, and it was unusual for him to be this aggressive toward Nero.

"I'll get you for this," Nero sneered, and Barker stopped walking.

"One day, that woman in there will rip your insides out, and I'll be standing right behind her, applauding the effort," Barker sneered, and Nero stormed off like a sibilant child.

She would have smiled but succumbed to the darkness that never came when she needed it, only ever afterward.

***

Kay woke, cold to the bone, and discovered something soft beside her hand. Barker forgot his jacket, and without a second thought, she gingerly pulled it around her chilled body.

It was so big that if she pulled her knees against her chest, it almost covered her entire body. For the first time in months, she found a little warmth, if not comfort.

She rubbed her wrist. Although the manacle was off, she felt it. Her body was too weak from hunger to heal quickly, and sleep was the best doctor for her.

Something stirred in the corridor, but the slight sound could have been anything.

Azera would not send for her again so quickly; she had not healed sufficiently to withstand torture. Maybe Barker wanted his jacket? Kay hoped not.

Never having been as badly hurt, her body struggled to heal the damage. She could only thank her lucky stars that something distracted her mistress. The woman intended to drive those nails into every ripped joint in her body, leaving the hip bones for last.

Whatever ate at Azera was unusual, but with her, who knew? The smallest things could tick her off in an instant.

She once flogged a guard for daring to wear red sneakers with his suit. Then she made him remove his shoes, and when she saw the red socks underneath, she whipped him again.

Nothing happened for a while, and she nodded off. Kay whimpered in her sleep, something she had not done in months, and her body shuddered occasionally. Even in her dreams, Azera stretched her body and nailed it down.

***

The door opened, and a dark shadow approached her that she didn't see. The figure looked down at Kay and frowned.

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