The Fire That Burns Within

The Darkest Hours

As soon as the car came to a halt my door was pulled open and two rough arms grabbed me and dragged me away. I tried to get a grip and stand up but they were walking to fast.

"Where are you taking me" I asked them, my voice sounded high and the panic was quickly rising. My feet struggled they whisked me away, I could hear Noel shouting at someone but I was already to far away to hear.

We went into a room and I begged the men to take my blindfold of. They did no such thing. They hit me for even asking. They pulled me to the ground and I couldn't stop them in any way, the blindfold made me disoriented. I screamed for Noel but he was nowhere to be found.

They bound my hands above me and my legs down so I was in no position to move. They gagged me and removed my blindfold. Ramos and Noel stepped in and the other guys left. As soon as I looked into Noel's face I knew this wasn't good. His face was hard and blank again.

The Noel that had taken care of me and laughed with me was gone. "Go ahead Noel, proof your loyalty" Ramos ordered him. Noel walked up to me and ripped of my clothes. I was to stunned to react. He raped me just as he was told to do. Ramos watched the entire time, and he even seemed to enjoy it. When it was done they left me lying there, naked cold and feeling betrayed. Bitter tears dripped on the floor along with the last bit of dignity I had left.

After what seemed like forever Noel came back into the room. He removed my gag and tried to speak "Ro.."

"You...you get away from me, don't touch me!" I screamed at him as tears streamed down my face.

He walked out the door and came back with a syringe in his hand. "I'm sorry but"

"Oh you're sorry, well that makes it okay" I spat at him. 

He disgusted me, he was the only one who I had trusted and he betrayed that trust. He took my arm and injected the fluid in the syringe. The world grew vague and I was sucked back into darkness.

When I woke up I was back in the dark room. I had new clothes on but I felt so dirty inside. My wrist was again attached to the chain. In the shadows something moved and Noel stepped towards me. I watched as he came closer and I cowered back in the corner my hands in fists. "Don't touch me" I cried. He stopped "Roselyn, I'm so sorry, I had to" his voice broke "they thought I wasn't loyal to them and that I was too friendly with you" I looked at him while tears kept flowing "they would have taken you away from me". He carefully wiped one of my tears away, got up and left the room.

The electric lock beeped. I was alone with my pain and every bit of my body burned. I rolled myself into a ball and for the first time in a long time I longed for my mom to hold me, to stroke my hair and to tell me that it would be okay.

The following night was awful as by body tried to get rid of the rest of the sedation. I emptied my stomach into the toilet but this time no one came to help me. In the morning Noel came in holding a bowl with oatmeal, I rejected it.

He tried to convince me to eat but I just ignored him. He'd done something that no chain could do, he'd hurt me in a way that Ramos couldn't. I resigned to complete silence, I would not give them anything anymore.

3 times a day Noel came in with new food, from pasta to mashed potato, I rejected everything he offered me. The darkness had closed in on me and had taken me in it's grip. This went on for a couple of days as Noel tried everything he could to get something in me, however he did not force me.

He kneeled down as I lay on the ground shaking with hunger. "If you don't eat right this moment I'm going to have to tell Ramos and you really don't want that" he threatened. His face looked grim and dark.

"Well go do that than" I was dead inside anyway.

Noel walked away and I heard him speak with Ramos on the phone. He came back inside. "Well you got your way, he wants to see you now and I should warn you he's not happy" he took the chain from the wall, tied the blindfold on and tried to get me on my feet. I struggled and kicked as he tried to get me into the car. But my energy was to low from not eating and he was too strong anyway.

While he was driving I tried to open the doors, I didn't care that he was going 100 km per hour, I had to get away. But the doors wouldn't budge, and I was trapped. As soon as Noel stopped the car I opened the door and ran down the driveway. I couldn't see a thing but I didn't care. Noel grabbed the end of the chain and I fell down.

Still screaming and kicking he took me inside to Ramos. The chain that was on my wrist was attached to something and I was hoisted up, it felt like my arms would dislocate. Ramos took my blindfold off and I screamed at him but they gagged me and my muffled sound didn't impress them at all.

Ramos grabbed me by my hair and pulled my head back.

"What's this that I hear, you're not pleased with the service I give" his grin showed that he was enjoying this. Pain shot through me as his cane hit my back.

"I give you food because I am good to you, and you reject it" the cane came down again. My muffled cries only made him smile.

"Crying won't stop me from hurting you, it only encourages me" he said as the cane hit again. Stars sparkled in my vision and I fought to keep my consciousness.

"Get the doc" he told Noel who immediately left the room. While waiting on the 'doc' that Noel was getting Ramos tortured me with his cane. "Are you going to be a good girl now?" he asked and I nodded my head, I couldn't take anymore pain.

Noel came back in with a guy in a white lab coat. "Well than this is the girl?" he asked Ramos who agreed cheerfully. The doctor opened his case and grabbed a small tube.

"This will only hurt a bit" he said as he stepped towards me. "Can you let her down on the ground and hold her there" he asked Noel who immediately complied. I sank to the ground unable to let my feet carry me. Noel held my face while another held my legs and arms.

I tried to move my head away from the nasty doctor but Noel held on as he looked into my eyes. I saw tears shining behind his hard face.

The gag was removed and the tube was stuffed down my throat as I almost suffocated from the feeling. "It's in" said the doctor as he connected the tube to a bag of liquid food.

Tears streamed down my face and my throat burned against the plastic. The doctor started working on a syringe. "Just as you wanted, with this she'll be conscious but she won't be able to move a muscle" Ramos smiled. "That will come in handy" he said as he took the bottle of liquid from the doctor.

"Let's see how it works" the doctor injected me with the fluid and within seconds i couldn't move one bit.

"You can let her go now, she won't move" the doctor said and Noel and the other guy let go.

"Now let's get a drink, this feeding bag will take about 2 hours anyway" the doctor said and he, Ramos and the other guy left the room.

I was alone with Noel. He didn't say anything he just wiped my tears away and gently stroked my hair.

"Roselyn, you gotta understand, Ramos doesn't give me a choice in what I do" his brown eye looked into mine.

"If he wouldn't have threatened you, I...I would never have..." he looked away. I couldn't forgive him, I still felt so broken inside.

He sat with me the entire time and when the doctor was done with taking blood samples me he gently put on the blindfold lifted me up and carried me to the car.

When we finally arrived at the house in the woods the sedation had worn off and it was already dark outside. "Can you stand?" He asked and I nodded. He supported me as he took me inside and he guided me to the dark room.