Tortured - Jaele

C H A P T E R | T W O

                                | R I E L E |

Fading in and out, I felt a pair of hands sliding down the length of my body. There was the sensation of being carried and then laid down. Gentle but firm. He slipped the rings from fingers one by one. My necklace was gone.
Earrings. My bracelets. There was the scent of warm skin, like fresh clean linen. A presence was there one moment, and then it all vanished.

In the midst of waking, fragments of my memory began clicking into place. My eyelids fluttered until they finally opened, strained against the ache in my head.  One thing was certain, I was completely fucked. Blinking away nausea until my vision came into focus, I looked over to a floor to celiling window where I could see the entirety of New York City in that one glance.

A penthouse.

It seemed as if several hours had passed, a tight dizziness began to disperse from temples. I picked my head up and slowly exhaled until the spinning stopped.

"Oh, fuck... Oh god, oh god. Please god... no, no, no."

You should have listening to Maeve. You shouldn't have gotten in the Limo, Riele. You just turned 19. You're supposed to be a fucking adult. Does this seem very responsible?

Reality was setting into my consciousness. I sat up too quickly and my head spun until I laid down once more, easing myself back against thick pillows.

"Jesus, please. If you can hear me. Help me, I need help. Please help me."

My dry lips whispered into the stillness of the air. I swallowed several times and settled perfectly still. I've been kidnapped. Stolen. Yanked away from my world like some kind of horror movie where the stupid main character gets captivated by charming grins, golden eyes, and satin black suits, confused with a deranged serial killer. A creep who'd been waiting on this day. I thought I was better than that. I truly didn't think I was this gullible.

Mommy. I need you. Why didn't I listen? My hand flew to my chest where the beat of my heart was slamming against my ribs. Thundering so hard it hurt.

Calm down, you need to calm down, Riele. This isn't a dream. This is real. This isn't going away. Not even if you panic.

I inhaled a deep breath in through my nose and quietly exhaled it through my mouth until my legs stopped trembling. This was worst than when I did shrooms for the first time at a college frat party. Dragged to a place where my soul had actually tried lifting out of my body. I felt the panic set in cold against my insides. I guided my fingers over my body, under my dress and down my panties to check if he took advantage of anything while I was asleep.

They were still on and in tact. My eyes adjusted to darkness of the room little by little. The main living area was plainly decorated for a penthouse. The sofa, although soft and shielded with a dozen throw pillows was stiff and smelled new. As if it had never experienced real people before. Much less laid upon. Some arm chairs, paintings, shelves with picture frames and antique crystal sculptures.

A normal penthouse with a not-normal me trapped inside of it.  Am I the only one? Could there be others? It was as quiet as the inside of a library. Void of human life. No late night kitchen noises, no humming air conditioner unit. No ceiling fans squeaking and scaping its arms together.  The only thing I could hear was my heart steadying just below my ribs.

Was he going to kill me? Please god, if he kills me let it be quick. I begged God silently to help this man show me mercy if it came to the act of murdering me. He's gone now but, what if he comes back? What do I do? Frozen there on the sofa my body wouldn't let me move. All I could do was breathe and think and think until I thought my swirling anxiety would explode inside of my brain. Somewhere above me... the sound of a doorknob turning could be heard turning across the room. Immediately my body went limp, I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing to a rhythmic pattern.