VICTIM

1.

DARKNESS. That was all I could see. It was suffocating and I could taste the muffling fear of it seeping into my mouth. Every uncertain bit of it terrified me more and more.

Where was I?

What had happened to me?

I couldn't remember.

With cautious fingers, I felt for my surroundings. Surely, I would find my bedside table or my cat dozing beside me. Rather, I found icy shackles binding my nearly bare body to the metal bed frame. They were heavy around my ankles and filled me to the brim with dread.

I began to panic.

This can't be happening again.

I pulled at the shackles, sobs beginning to escape my lips. Soon, I was tearing at the metal, screaming and praying someone would hear me and tell me it was all some sick joke.

My energy quickly diminished and I was reduced to pitiful rubble. As I laid on my side whimpering and trying to pick up the pieces of my mind, I heard a door open. Footsteps made their way across a room on a floor above me. My best guess was that I was being kept in a basement.

I stayed quiet, listening to the activities above me. Footsteps back and forth, then a door followed by stairs. The person was on the same floor as me. My heartbeat increased rapidly and my body became stone. I was suddenly aware of how cold the room was and how little clothing I was wearing.

A door opened, casting light over the prison-like room. The person in the doorway flicked a light switch on, causing a single, bare bulb above me to hum to life. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pretend I was asleep.

"Elysia," a rough voice emanated from the doorway. I remained still. Suddenly, something whipped across my ass, causing me to jump and scream in pain.

The man grabbed my hair. "When I call your name, you answer," he growled in my ear, "Am I understood?"

I nodded, whimpering from the pain. He let go of me and I immediately shrank back onto the bed. The man circled around the bed like a predator taunting its prey.

He wore a black, velvety robe and a black masquerade like mask that covered the upper half of his face. His jaw was sharp and rough with stubble and his jet black hair was a mess. His manner reminded me of a hungry wolf.

He paused at the bottom of the bed, hands searching in his pockets. I waited with dread, hoping it wasn't the object in my mind's eye. The second the metal caught my eye, I began to scream.

"No! No, please, no!" My voice was shrill and desperate. I trashed violently as the man climbed on top of me and pinned me down.

"Elysia," his voice was that of a disappointed parent's, "You should know better. Don't tell me all this free time you've had caused you to forget?" I swallowed, the large hand over my throat making the action ten times as hard as usual.

"Hmm, Elysia!?" He nearly screamed, grabbing my face and readying the blade.

"No, no, I'm sorry," I cried, panic filling my body. He held me there for a moment, looking down at me through that mask. I knew he was studying my small, shaking body and I knew that he was enjoying it. He ran a thumb across my cheek before smoothing my hair back in a fatherly way.

"Shh," he cooed, "It's alright. I don't blame you." My heart beat a little slower.

"Still," he paused, "You know what must be done." I sobbed, tears beginning to spill from my eyes.

"Shh, I know, you're scared, but you'll be like your old self in no time." He began undressing himself and I cried louder. Once stripped, he cut me free of what little clothing I was wearing. A large sigh left his lips.

"Oh, how I've missed you, Elysia."