Sing For Me

by Ellabee Andrews

  I’m led to a trailer that’s parked on the opposite side of the big tent, one that I’m sure I’ve never seen before. Like the others the performers use, this one has a nondescript metal siding, but seems larger than most.

  The two redcaps from before pull me along, my feet not even touching the ground between their much larger frames. They ignore my muffled curses, and when we arrive, they don’t even bother to knock before opening the door and dragging me into a space that has been transformed. Unlike what the other performers and I have this space is decorated with only one word in mind. Money.

  Shades of red, gold, and black seem to be the theme, and everywhere I look, I find furnishings more ornate and opulent than the last. There is no small kitchenette or sitting space like mine, either. No, the large bed that claims the majority of the space prevents that.

  Mounds of pillows are arranged along the silk sheets, and along the walls, dozens of tools that I have no names or knowledge of hang, taking up the rest of the space. There is a small door that, presumably, leads to a bathroom, but with it shut, I can’t be sure. All in all, it confirms my suspicions of what I have been purchased for. I squeeze my eyes shut for a second to keep my tears from falling. These men don’t deserve that part of me.

  The two remain silent as I take this all in, but when I feel a small draft, I spin to find someone new joining us. The sight makes me so sick, that I can’t stop myself from leaning forward and vomiting, the gag covering my mouth keeping most of it in, but some manages to work its way around it and onto the shoes of one of the men that hold me.

  “You bitch. You’re going to pay for that,” the redcap I’ve thrown up on yells, but before he can land a blow, Senator Whitaker speaks up.

  “It would be a very bad idea for you to touch what is mine. I just paid a steep price for this little whore, and if you mar her beauty before I get a chance to fuck that tight little ass, you’ll not only lose your job, but your head as well. Do you understand?” he asks, his chins jiggling as he narrows those small, beady eyes at the man with his hand raised.

  Taking a deep breath, the redcap tilts his head forward in almost a bow to the smaller Senator, causing dried blood to flake onto his shirt. “Yes sir, I understand. Let me just clean this up, and we’ll leave you to your evening,” he replies, pulling out a small pack of disinfectant wipes from a cabinet hidden within the wall, and goes about cleaning up the mess on the floor. All the while, Senator Whitaker watches me. Waiting.

  “Tie her to the bed, then go. Make it known that any interruptions will be met with swift action. I have big plans for the Nightingale tonight, and I don’t want to be disturbed,” he orders once the floor is clean and the room smells sterile again. And even though it would be petty, I can’t help wishing I could empty my stomach again, just to put off this man's plans for a little longer.

  My silent pleas are in vain as I’m forcefully thrown onto the bed, the redcaps moving to grab cuffs that were hidden during my initial once-over, and before I can even consider fighting back, my arms are locked tight, outstretched in either direction, causing my wings to cramp where I’ve landed on them.

  After that, they move to my legs, dodging my erratic kicks, panic causing me to react without any real strategy, but I do hit one pretty hard in the stomach. As he curses me for the kick, they cuff my legs in the same fashion as my arms. After a few experimental tugs to ensure that I can’t break free, they quickly exit the trailer, leaving me at the mercy of Senator Whitaker.

  With my head the only thing not tied or cuffed down, I raise it and watch the senator start to move forward, removing his jacket and loosening his tie before hanging them on a hook by the bed. He stands over me for a second, and rakes his eyes up and down my bound and gagged form, glee twisting his features and causing his mouth to curl into a sinister smile.

  “I had to call in a favor to buy you tonight, but it had to be done. I knew the first time I saw you up there, swinging in your perch above everyone else, that I needed to bring you down a few levels, to erase the idea in your mind that you’re above and better than anyone else, and to break you.”

  “When I first approached Barnabus with the idea of the auction, he was quite adamant that he was saving you until your birthday, so that he could take you himself, but money is quite the motivator. And not just mine, either. You see, I may be the first, the one that gets to rip your tight little virgin pussy to shreds, but I won’t be the last. No, you better just go ahead and get used to this position girl, because there is a line of men that are waiting and willing to pay to have you for the night.”

  His face is growing red while he talks, and I can’t help but wonder what I have ever done to make him hate me so. All I’ve ever wanted is to perform. Well, that and to have Barney return the feelings I had harbored for him for years, but I see now, both were a mistake. It’s an awful thought, but I can’t help but bitterly think that if Catrine had been able to take my act, I wouldn’t be in this position at all.

  Self-loathing hits me as that thought crosses my mind, and I push it away. No, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. No person deserved this. Regardless of their past.

  Pressure on the foot of the bed draws my attention back to the here and now, and I wonder if my brain is trying to distract me. To give me something else to focus on than what’s to come because with my mouth gagged, and Sal knocked out, I have no one to come save me.

  “That’s right, bitch. Look at me. Watch what I plan to do to you!” he yells out, spit flying from his mouth when he sees that my attention is back on him where he has one knee resting on the bed. My stomach clenches when I see him holding his erection in his hands. My reaction to the small thing must displease him though, for he moves higher up my body, and before I realize what he’s about to do, I’m seeing stars as his fist smashes against my cheekbone, pain stunning me for a second.

  “You think you’re better than me? You think you can laugh? I’m a man, damn it! And you’ll pay for your disrespect,” he screams, but with the hit to my good ear, the words are muffled. My vision, however, is working just fine. So when he pulls something off the wall and lifts up into my view, terror claws through me, chilling the blood that runs through my veins.

  The piece is a small circle, almost like a donut with the hole cut into the center, but this isn’t something that could ever be mistaken as a sweet treat. As I watch him, fear and disgust mingle within my stomach, and he never removes his beady eyes from mine as he slides that small object over his erection until it comes to rest at the base.

  Sickened by the sight of his nude waist, but unable to tear my eyes away from the contraption, my breath catches when I finally make sense of what it is I’m seeing. All along the band are small raised bumps, some appearing sharper than others, and all pointing out. And I understand that they only have one purpose. To cause pain. More importantly, to cause me pain.

  Chapter Four

  The reality of what he’s about to do to me. To use on me. Causes me to renew my efforts, but when all it does is makes me rub up against him, I stop, his groan of pleasure is sickening, but he doesn't even seem to mind my disgust. He just pulls out a shiny blade from his back pocket, and with a level of skill that speaks of having done this more than once, he slices my small dress from bust to groin, revealing my body, the knife having cut right through my underwear too.

  “Yes, yes this is good. I’m going to take you hard, Nightingale. And then, when your pussy weeps, begging for more, I’m going to turn you over and fuck your tight bud too. I doubt you’ll be able to perform tomorrow, which will anger Barnabus, but it will be worth his ire,” he says. I’m helpless to stop him from lowering his hot mouth and biting hard into my breast, causing me to shout. But it does no good, as the gag stops the sound from escaping, from calling out for help that isn’t there.

  Closing my eyes, I force myself away from this moment. To the land in my lullaby and the feelings of home I always feel there. It works for a second, but as a spike pokes into my in
ner thigh, my eyes open of their own accord, and then widen at what I see.

  Standing over the senator, blade pressed into his neck, is the man from the auction, but with his glasses in place, covering those blue and brown eyes, I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

  Never moving his blade from the senator’s neck, he looks to his side where the man with brown hair stands. The sides, as I had thought, are shaved, and what I originally thought was a shirt, is actually a network of dark tattoos tracing his arms. “Cut her loose and make sure that door is secured, Kendric. Daruk and I are going to have a little chat with Senator Whitaker here about how you’re supposed to treat a lady,” the man says, and I get the pleasure of watching the senator’s eyes bulge as more pressure is applied to the knife at his neck.

  They begin to raise him up, and I see that, with him no longer being in control, his penis now hangs placid inside the leather and spiked belt, and I can’t stop myself from driving my knee up the few inches it can go, and hitting him, uncaring about the pain it will cause me in turn.

  The man called Daruk, must have realized my intentions, because right as I connect, he slaps his hand over the senator’s mouth, using more force than necessary, sending his head flying back from the impact.

  “Damn it, Daruk! Don’t kill him yet. We need to decide what we’re doing.” The man in glasses scolds him, but no sign of remorse marks Daruk’s dark face. No, looking into his pale, almost white eyes that are outlined by the creamy skin that surrounds them like a mask, I see nothing but satisfaction.

  Once the senator is pulled off the bed, Daruk and the man I don’t know the name of yet, push him over to the closed door, and when they open it, I see that it is a bathroom. The inside as lush as the rest of this trailer.

  “I’m going to remove your gag, but I need you not to sing or scream. We have a few minutes before anyone notices something’s up, but I’d rather not waste this opportunity. Understand?” he asks, and my heart starts to beat rapidly as he removes his shirt, my mind flashing back to moments before with the senator, but all he does his drape it over me, leaving him standing there bare from the waist up and covered in ink.

  I study Kendric for a second, taking in his slicked-back brown hair, and piercing brown eyes. With his muscular build, clenched jaw, and body covered in tattoos, he’s intimidating. Yet, as he looks down at me, me completely at his disposal, all I see is a deep burning rage. One that, it seems, is not pointed at me.

  Feeling his intentions are to help, I nod my head that I understand, and he moves slowly, almost hesitantly to undo the gag. Figuring he’s probably doing this to keep from scaring me further, I relax a little more, and can’t help but open and close my mouth a few times when the rubber ball is removed.

  He pauses for a second after it’s gone, most likely ensuring that I’ll keep my word not to cry out, and after a pause, he moves first to my right hand, and then my left, his chest brushing ever so gently over mine as he unleashes the second.

  When my arms are free, he moves back quickly, and I rise up, keeping the shirt pressed over the front of my body, and with shaking hands, undo the cuffs at my feet. With my eyes focused down, while I rub the ache from my ankles, I miss Kendric walking away, but when his feet come back and stop in front of me, I look up, following the long muscular line of his body and find him holding a bottle of water.

  “Take it,” he orders, and I narrow my eyes at him. I’m over men ordering me about for the day. His face softens slightly. “Please take it. Your cheek is swelling and there is no ice. This is better than nothing and I don’t feel like listening to Arius bitch about not getting you what you need,” he adds, his baritone voice rolling over me, but with the events from the night fresh in my mind, all I do is take the bottle and turn away.

  Good as his intentions may be, with my body hurting and heartbroken, the last thing I want to do right now is talk.

  Arius, or who I assume is Arius from what Kendric said, exits the bathroom first, closing the door gently behind him, but not before I catch sight of a puddle of red liquid on the marble floor. Blood. The thought doesn’t bother me the way it may have at one time. This night has changed me. It’s ripped away my remaining naivety and innocence and aged me more than my birthday has.

  He passes me a silk robe that he carries from the bathroom, and after accepting it silently and putting in on, I wrap my hands around my stomach and wait. These three must have a reason for interfering and thwarting not only Senator Whitaker’s, but Barney’s plans, and I want to know what they are. I’m feeling more than a little untrusting right now.

  “I'm sorry we didn’t get to you sooner, Lorelei, but we had a few things to take care of first. We can explain everything to you later, but we need to get going now before Bailey discovers what we’ve done,” Arius says, and feeling a slight shift in the air, I turn to find Daruk exiting the bathroom. The Senator is not with him.

  Focusing back on Arius, I look past his strange eyes, and scan his face. He’s handsome, but I’ve been fooled by a handsome face before, and that deception is too fresh to just follow these men blindly. Regardless of whether they saved me or not, I want answers, and I want them now.

  “I don’t know who this Bailey person is, but I can’t leave. Barney and Shane have my friend, Sal, and when they discover what happened, they’ll hurt her. Or worse.” I swallow as I think of the possibilities, and have to swallow the bitter taste of bile at the thoughts of leaving her at Shane’s mercy.

  At my refusal, the guys share a confused look, and turn their attention to Daruk. He seems to be thinking hard about something, with his brows drawn together and mouth tight, but at his subtle nod, Arius sighs before looking back at my face.

  “Listen, there’s not a lot of time, but the man you know as ‘Barney’ is actually Bailey Augustus. He’s an extremely powerful warlock. One we’d do best to get as far away from as possible right now. I’m sorry, but we can’t risk your life for your friend’s. We came here for you, and you’re the priority,” he replies, not sounding sorry at all.

  Rage fueled by fear causes me to fly up from my seat, getting to my feet and I narrow my eyes on them all as my wings ache to break through the silk that holds them.

  Hands on my hips, I make sure to meet each of their eyes, hesitating slightly on Daruk’s amused grin before looking back at Arius. Since Arius seems to be the one calling the shots, he gets the brunt of my anger.

  “First off, don’t assume that I’m asking for your help, or that I’m going anywhere with you. My best friend is in danger, and I’ll be damned if I don’t help her. I appreciate what you did for me. Believe me, I’m not ungrateful for that. But Barney, or Bailey, or whoever the hell he is, tried to hurt me and plans to do so to other women. I can’t leave and just let that happen.”

  I’m breathing hard by the time I finish, my chest heaving, and at my unblinking stare, Arius releases a growl and turns his back to me. Speaking in a tone so low to the others that I can’t make out his words.

  It bothers me that they know enough about me to know that I can’t hear well and can read lips. So I begin to pace around the small space.

  While I walk around the sparse, but richly decorated space, the purpose of this luxurious trailer and large bed hits me, and anger like I’ve never experienced before hits me, making my blood feel as if it is boiling within my veins, and I see red. Needing an outlet to channel this energy, I pick up the knife the senator had used to slit my dress and begin to hack away at the plush mattress and silk sheets, shredding the pillow top to ribbons, as cotton floats around my body. I get so caught up in doing so that I forget my surroundings and don’t stop until I feel a gentle touch on my shoulder that sends me spinning around, knife raised and ready to defend myself.

  “Don’t touch me!” I cry, but draw up short at Daruk’s kind gaze, halting the knife inches from his face. He doesn’t even flinch as I do so. He just looks into my eyes, like he can stare all the way to my soul, and the fight seeps out of me. Leaving me
feeling a bone-deep exhaustion like I’ve never known.

  “You’ve suffered a great deal tonight. The pain of the blows that fell upon your flesh will heal, but the ones of the heart will take longer. The crack that is left there will not disappear completely. There will always be a slight seam that reminds you of this night, but that’s for the best. A bone must break to heal back stronger than before, and so must your heart. Let it harden now, so that when you choose to let people in once more, you’ll be able to keep them, and yourself safe.”

  Daruk’s words and understanding of how I feel leave me speechless, and I open my fingers and let the knife fall to the floor, the sound cushioned by the thick rug beneath my feet. I sit back down on the bed, feeling how rips have left it unlevel as feathers and strips of silk float up from the pressure.

  Feeling determined to not let this night ruin me, to consume me, I look back at Arius, lifting my brow, and motion for him to continue. I don’t say anything, but I silently dare him to give me a reason to allow them into my life for the night, or to send them on their way. What he says next will determine which.

  Raising his own brow at my silent order, and causing Kendric to grunt beside him, Arius looks at me, and says the only thing that could sway me to stick around them any longer. It’s what I’ve always wondered about, but never dared to ask Barney, and it hooks me like a fish, leaving me gasping for air and confused about what happens next.

  “You need to come with us, Lorelei, because your parents are very worried about you. They sent us here to retrieve you, and I have no intention of not accomplishing that mission. If it means we have to save your friend to do so, then so be it. But, one way or another, if I have my way about it, you’re going home.”

  Heartbeats pass as I slowly blink at Arius, searching his face for any sign of deception, but he doesn’t so much as flinch beneath my stare. And even though I have reservations about how they came to be here tonight, on my birthday of all days, I nod my head. Sal needs me, and it will be easier to rescue her with their help.