by V L Friends
He nodded to Kwong, who was still behind me with one hand on my shoulder. Kwong then applied pressure to a part of my shoulder near my neck that sent pain shooting through my body. I cried out in agony. Yep, it was mean Kwong. So this was his tactic of torture. He seemed to know a lot about the human body and pressure points.
He let go and leaned in and I could feel his hot breath on my ear as he whispered, “Answer!”
I tried to redirect so I would not have to answer. “Look, it doesn’t matter who found him or where he was; the only thing that matters now is that he has reclaimed his estate and taken back the land that is his. He is alive and well.”
“Is he another one of your converts, then?” Louis said with a look of what I could only decipher as detest.
“He is a Christian now, if that is what you mean,” I said proudly.
Louis sprang up from his chair and slapped me across the face.
“You couldn’t resist, could you?! You have to assert your way even over your loved ones!”
My head was pounding. “So where is this passion and devotion for me now?” I began to laugh as I spat the blood he caused to appear on my mouth, taunting him. I had no idea what got into me and what made me so bold, I mean, I should not be making it worse. He hit hard!
Seeing him getting angrier, I changed my tone a little.
“Look, I had nothing to do with his conversion, and if you think that holding me or killing me is going to stop all the conversions going on around here, you are mistaken. It is not me; it is the love of God that people, walkers, witches, etc., are looking for. They are seeing hope.”
“Spare me your speeches, little girl. I know that you are a leader and carry a special gifting for raising the dead and healing. I know who you are. I also know that you are a friend of angels. Killing you would be a blow to the kingdom of light.”
“So why aren’t you doing it already?” I said, but I felt regret for provoking him once again. I could just feel that this conversation wasn’t going to end in my favor.
“I told you, I don’t want you dead. You are too valuable to me. I want you for my very own and, eventually, that is what I will get.”
“So you aim to convert me… perhaps make me a walker?” I said, raising my chin in defiance. “And if I don’t?”
“I think you will, in time, see things my way.” He grinned at Kwong, who nodded and smirked back. I knew what they meant by their looks. They were planning to break me. “You should get some rest. You will have a guest very soon and you should look your best.”
I ignored Kwong’s extended hand to help me up and stood up on my own and walked past them. Of course, he followed right behind. Just then I remembered something and circled back to the library.
Kwong was surprised but didn’t stop me.
“Louis, may I have my ring back?”
“Of course.” He stood from his chair and handed it to me. When I reached for it he pulled it back and grabbed my waist and pulled me into his lap. “You will send it back to him and tell him that you regret to inform him that you cannot marry him.”
“I will not!” I pushed him back and yanked out of his grip.
“You will do as I say!” he yelled suddenly and I noticed his face turn a deep red color.
“No!” I fought to get away from his reach.
“Well…” He signaled for Kwong. “I believe my loyal servant will convince you to agree to otherwise.”
I saw him coming and I just reacted. I grabbed the lit candle with its iron holder and flung it at the Asian man. He looked surprised but advanced for me even more. I found everything from lamps, to books and vases to throw at both of them as I tried to get away. Just as Louis had made it across the room to grab me, my hand grabbed a letter opener and stabbed him in the upper left side of his chest. He winced and fell. Kwong snatched me by my hair and drug me out of the room, dragging me up the stairs, as I had a grip on his wrist, trying to break free, but he only ignored me. I screamed, as I was in agony. It wasn’t until we were almost in front of my door that he released his grip on my hair, then slammed me against the closed door and pressed his body against mine so I could not move. He was unnaturally strong. With his hand having a firm grip around my jaw, he leaned in, baring his teeth, and hissed.
“That is not what being a good girl looks like, pet! Now you will have to pay the punishment.”
His hand pressed on the side of my neck and everything went black.
My eyes opened and I was looking up at a ceiling. I was in my queen room with my hand chained to my bed. I could see Kwong was waiting there, sitting in a chair in the dimly lit room, legs crossed, quietly watching me from his chair beside my bed.
“Well, that was not exactly respectful, now was it?” he said softly, almost a whisper. He looked concerned and I studied him with a questioning look that he seemed to understand.
“Yes, it’s me again,” he grinned. “The one you like better, huh?
“There is no need for you to chain me here.”
“Not my decision.”
“What are they going to do to me now?”
“Louis and my brother are still deciding your fate. The punishment for attacking an officer or any high-ranking official is 200 lashes with a whip but that is for a walker. We don’t deal with humans much, so I guess it has to be determined how lenient your punishment will be, since you are a breakable human. Of course, Louis just considered what you did rough foreplay and wants to shrug it off. Nice!” Kwong laughed.
“Ugh!” I said with disgust as I crinkled my face, which made him laugh harder.
“Of course, I offered to come up here and give you a good spanking, to test out how resilient that cute round tush of yours is but I was met with an angry glare from Louis, so I guess that’s out.” Kwong winked at me and grins.
I blushed at his words, not sure how I felt about him talking this way.
“All I know for now is that you are not allowed food for the next two days, at least. Water, yes, but no food; sorry.”
I nodded. I figured it was inevitable that the conditioning would start soon, whether I attacked Louis or not. I expected to be on the road to suffering in some way or another by their hands in order for them to break me, unless I could find a way out of here.
“Kwong?” I wanted to ask him something before he left.
“Yes?”
“What is your actual name?” I asked.
He smiled.
“My name is really Tang but you can just call me Tee.”
Something switched suddenly in his demeanor and he was staring at the floor, frozen for a minute. When he looked up he seemed sad.
“What’s wrong?”
“Kwong has decided.”
“What do you mean he has decided? What has he decided?” I was scared to know what had Tee looking that way.
“I cannot say. He will tell you. I am sorry, I must go!” He was backing away quickly.
“Wait, when will I see you again?” I was frantic to keep him there. I knew that if he left that meant his brother was coming and that was bad for me.
“I will be here when it is done,” he said and he couldn’t even look at me!
Hours went by but no one came. A servant came by to let me use a bucket to pee and she gave me water and I quickly drank it, but no one else came. I strained to hear anything but all was silent. I finally fell asleep.
I awoke sometime in the night and noticed a faint glow of candlelight in my room. A shadow figure sat in the chair in the corner and when he spoke I knew who it was.
“You are awake, at last.”
I swallowed hard but said nothing.
“What, no defiant retorts or insults? Are you afraid, pet?” He sounded pleased with himself.
When I still said nothing, he got up and began to stroll over to me with his hands casually in his pockets of his black slacks, as if he had not a care in the world. When he got to the bed he simply stared at me for a long time.
“Well, you
look very pleased with yourself. So, this is what pure evil incarnate looks like,” I said, staring back at him.
His face morphed from blank to surprise to a slow grin and then he was grinning from ear to ear and shouted out as he clapped once with pleasure.
“That’s the girl I was looking for! This will be so much more fun with your defiant bitch coming out!”
“Really, Kwong, Louis doesn’t even care if I am punished; is all this really necessary?” I asked.
“Oh, but it is necessary.” He turned on his heels and walked towards the door. “You must be punished.”
Kwong opened the door and yelled for the guard to come unlock my chains. I had been left only wearing my underwear and a bra and tank top and I saw no other clothes in sight, so when I stood to gain circulation in my arms and legs again my modesty went out the door. The room was so very cold. Ah, that must be part of this punishment as well.
“Your punishment will be given in segments over two days. The punishment for attacking a high-ranking official here is 200 lashes. Because you are human it will be 100 over a period of two days and it will be by my own bare hands. Because I must limit the blows to areas that can be covered up, as you are human, and therefore a slow healer, I have given you a serum that will enhance the pain and lessen the damage as well. Our first session will be in here… Now.” As he spoke his eyes became wilder and now he was focusing on me, his chin down, assessing me as prey.
Oh, God, please, let me live through this! I said a silent prayer in my head.
“For my own enjoyment and entertainment, I decided…” Kwong walked to the now closed door and locked it and then slowly began to remove his gloves as his eyes feasted back on me.
“I decided to let you loose. To run, to defend yourself or whatever. When I catch you, now, that is when the fun really begins. Are you ready, my pet?” His evil grin caused panic inside me and I almost froze.
“All right then, let the game begin.” He began slowly coming my direction and I didn’t move. I could not move. I was catatonic. He snapped his fingers in front of my face in frustration.
“Well, this is not any fun.”
He gave me a shove and I stumbled but started to hyperventilate.
“Gawd, you’re pathetic!” He slapped me across the face then shoved me hard to the ground on my back.
“That’s two,” he said then straddled my hips. Tears started to form in my eyes. I still couldn’t move to defend myself.
“Well, let’s just see how much that serum works. Let’s hope I don’t have to break ribs.” He lifted my tank to expose my abdomen and began to slap my sides and around my upper torso hard. I counted five, seven, ten. I began to cry out and tried to fight him off as he started slapping my thighs. When the count was at 18 and the pain felt like I was on fire, he dragged himself off me as I was now fully crying and shaking.
“Well, we only have 30 more to go for tonight and those are reserved for that cute round tushy.” He let out an evil laugh, obviously enjoying the look of horror in my expression, and that is when I got my chance.
I would be darned if I let him humiliate me by pulling me over his knee to inflict anymore pain.
As I tried to scoot away from him my hand hit a chair leg. I had a weapon. I lifted my foot and landed it in his groin as I crashed the chair into his head. As I sprung to my feet, I noticed the impact of the chair had caused a leg to break off. That was when I acted fast and stabbed the wood weapon into his neck.
I didn’t wait to see his condition; I leapt to my feet and ran to the door, slipping on the blood, now on the floor. As I unlocked the door and launched out of the room, I tried to remember frantically the layout of the place. No one was in sight, so I made my way down the stairs to the doors. Just as soon as I got to the front door, however, I felt a sharp pain in my right calf. My leg wouldn’t work and when I reached to grab it I came in contact with an arrow protruding from my leg. I turned to see Louis appear with a bow and another arrow aimed at me.
I held up my arm in surrender, knowing that my leg was useless to run now. He lowered his weapon and came to me.
“Sorry, love, no hard feelings. It looks like I did get to bag you like one of my trophies after all.” He was at my side in a flash and jabbed a syringe in my neck. Arms wrapped around me, as I was about to collapse and he kissed me on the nose and whispered. “You’re still my favorite trophy of them all, my sweet.”
“Poor dear,” said a soft woman’s voice. I awoke to a lady holding an ice pack on my split lip. I saw another lady washing the blood off the floor. My leg was bandaged and I was washed and in a pair of white silk pajamas.
“Is he gone?” I asked, looking around. One of my eyes was swollen shut. I guess he hit me harder than I thought. My torso felt numb. When I lifted my shirt, I noticed two of my ribs were taped and there was bruising all down my front. Breathing was a struggle, but I managed to sit up and hang my legs off the side of the bed.
The two women tending to me seemed nice enough.
“He is gone?” I asked again.
“Master Kwong would have liked to be here when you awoke but it seems he is a bit indisposed at the moment.” They gave each other looks and tried not to smirk.
“My name is Clare and this is Trudy,” one of the ladies said.
“Hi, pleased to meet you,” I said, barely coherent. “So, how bad is it?” I gestured to myself.
There was a knock at the door that sent the ladies scrambling to grab their things. “It’s the boss.”
Louis walked in the room and his brow was furrowed so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Are you healing well?” he asked as he stopped in the middle of the room.
“Did Kwong crack my ribs?” I asked.
“It is unfortunate but… well, yes. You humans are more fragile than expected. I had hoped that he would be appeased at a little time of punishing you and I would have intervened to stop the next day but well…” He gestured widely. “That didn’t work out so well.”
“Is he okay?” I asked and in return got a puzzled look.
“What has you so worked up? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” I asked, studying him.
I got the feeling there was more going on than what it appeared.
“There are some new developments… Why did you ask how Kwong is doing? And why are you asking about me, for that matter, especially since you are nursing a wound I gave you?”
“Well, I fought him off but I didn’t want to kill him… besides, he shares the body of someone I kind of like.”
“Yes, I see.” Louis pondered this as his mind seemed to drift off somewhere else for a moment.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You are a puzzling creature.” He shook his head. “He will be fine. He is determined to finish your punishment and then some, however. For that reason, I cannot have him around you right now. Especially now that we have guest coming for dinner in a few hours. You must be ready. I must go now and prepare.” He stepped back and began to leave.
“Wait, who is coming to dinner?”
“There has been a change in plans for you, but it will all be revealed then. For now, I will send someone to assist you in dressing.”
A short time later a soft knock at the door was followed by a familiar face looking in.
“Tee!”
“Are you okay?”
He said nothing but gave me a look of remorse and hurried to pull me into his arms. We sat there silently for a little while with him rocking me in his lap, holding me close.
I saw no visible wounds but when he spoke he was a little hoarse; I am assuming from the neck wound.
When he pulled away he began to speak.
“I can no longer stand by while he hurts people. My brother is so far gone, I cannot control him. I have a plan to escape my slavery to Louis and keep my brother sedated indefinitely. I need your help. I want to be free.”
“Of course; I will help however I can,�
�� I said to him.
Chapter 20 - The Meeting
“Are you sure this is going to work?” I said.
We stood facing each other, feeling the anticipation building for what was about to occur. My heart was racing. Tee put his palm to my heart.
“Calm,” he said, as if my heart had a mind of its own.
Tee informed me that our guest was none other than the Polar Bear King himself, and he was there to insist that I be released to him. It turns out he was one of Louis’s main benefactors and recently discovered Louis’ detest for the growing Christian community in the area, and was pulling out his support completely unless I was released to him.