by RJ Gonzales
We stepped out of the bathroom and into the dark, cold room we had entered before stepping into the bathroom. There was a bed, a living area, and a large desk—all well-used. However, like the bathroom, there was only one door and no windows.
One of the large axe wielding guards I’d seen at court, was standing by the doorway—axe drawn. The old woman spaced Angela and I apart and I couldn’t help but flash a look of worry over to my new friend. She did the same.
Swack!
In an instant, the man cut the chain binding us together. The pressure from the stretched chain fell limp. The woman then drew a key from her apron and unlocked the metal cuffs around our feet. It felt great to have that part of skin feel the air again. Like resurfacing after sinking in a body of water.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Francine, you may go,” A now almost-sober—but still raspy voice, ordered from the darkness. I hadn’t even noticed the silhouetted character sprawled across the bed until now. All that appeared in the little light there was from the bathroom, were his dark pants and socks, and a slice of the peach-colored skin on his arm and hand—decorated with a large square silver ring with a purple jewel in the center. A fairly new ring—shiny and polished. Royal looking.
The old woman bowed and made her way out of the room. The axe man, however, locked the door behind her and returned, nearing Angela. His face told of a secret he was withholding. What could it be?
“Rini,” the sinister voice called again from the bed. “Come sit next to me.” The hand of the figure patted the area next to him. Neither I nor Angela moved. I knew from the second time I’d heard him speak that it was Bane—again. He’d been waiting for us to get cleaned.
“Leo.” Bane snapped his fingers. I placed the name to the third figure who’d came to get us with Bane and the old woman. The axe man’s massive hand groped tightly around my arm. And with a forceful jerk, he threw me toward Bane. My hands fell at his feet, and I propped myself up on my knees. “Ah, now there’s a sight. You—on your knees, below me.” Angela made a sound of discomfort as the other man took her into his arms, keeping her from moving. I could smell the alcohol—still prominent, on Bane’s putrid breath. “Get up,” he ordered. A voice so frigid it could turn a puddle into ice.
“Why?”
There was a sigh from the darkness. His hands—like talons, clasped the sides of my face again like he’d done earlier. “Why must you be so disobedient?” he asked, bringing me up to his eye level. The alcohol vaporing from his mouth pierced my nostrils. It was strong—foul. “I am the man! I am the alpha! You do as I say! Now, sit!” He forcefully sat me on the bed next to him.
“What do you want?” I asked him. I watched as the axe man moved a hand down Angela’s leg as he moved his nose to the side of her neck and inhaled. She winced, trying to get her hands free and remove his traveling hands.
“It’s really simple, Rini,” Bane said. “You see, I haven’t forgiven you for giving me that blow to the face, and—while it didn’t hurt, it was definitely uncalled for. And since my father was lenient with you, I feel you owe me a—favor.”
“What the hell do you mean favor? I don’t owe you a damn thing!” I sat up.
His arms circled my waist and he shoved me back onto the bed. I felt the feeling of nervousness and fear as he climbed on top of me—his hands keeping mine down. “Oh, I think you do.” He tried to lean in for a kiss, but I turned my cheek.
“Get off of me!” I screamed. I tried to struggle my hands free from his to push him off, but with each attempt his grip grew tighter. In the background there was a shuffle of noises, and a small whimper. Angela.
“Bring her friend over here!” Bane said to the man named Leo, and then turned back to me. “Think of it as more of a celebratory gift you’re going to give me.”
“What do you mean celebratory gift?” I struggled.
He fought back, pinning me down again. “If things play out according to my plan, I shall soon be the new ruler of Mundahlia and finally get the crown I deserve.”
“What plan?”
“Oh please, do you think I would’ve actually let you live if I didn’t plan on using you for something far more creative?” He snorted.
“What do you mean?”
I stopped fidgeting for a moment and heard him explain through the darkness. A low voice hovering over me. “My father’s days are numbered. You’ve seen him. He can barely stand a few fragile seconds before withering down and having to sit. Mundahlia is in need of a new king. One that is full of youth. Someone like—me. Someone who will stop at nothing until Mundahlians are the superior beings on this dreaded planet.”
“What makes you think you’ll be the one to take over the kingdom?”
“Ah. I see you like to state your opinion before listening to the rest of the story.”
“And I see you like to state what could or could not happen before it actually happens. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch?’”
He grinned. “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘you’re under the arms of a man who could kill you in the blink of an eye, so the best thing to do to stay alive is to not test him?!’”
“Nope. Can’t say that I have. Either way, I don’t have to worry about you killing me—yet. Like you said, you need me for something.”
His grip tightened and he leant in closer, “Can I finish now? Or are you going to further prove to me why immediately after I get the crown, your life will be ended in a manner both slow and sadistic.” He pronounced the last few words in a way that made me shiver under his massive weight.
I nodded, unable to say anything.
“When I first saw you with Jett at the lake,” Bane explained. “I saw the look on his face. He appeared as though he’d found a diamond in the rough. A gem, if you will. He looked at you with a repulsive amorous gaze. That’s when you entered my plan.” He looked down to me. “My original strategy was to kill them all and bring their lifeless bodies back here. But, it was too plain and simple. Not nearly as dramatic or cinematic as I’d liked it to be. But then, once I saw you—I knew I could do far worse.”
“Like?”
“Well, you see, the goal of the game, which I’m sure you’ve heard about by now, was to simply lure the traitors back to our land to be tried and executed. But then it dawned to me again, once I spotted you alone on the dock, trying to reason with yourself whether you had seen something in the bush. This is far too simple. And even so, it just further heightens my chances of getting the throne next. I need something that will guarantee that I am the next in line. So I devised up another devilish plan. Step one—forge the murder. The Mundahlians have been waiting for the moment a human kills one of our kind for centuries. As my father said, ‘the human era has gone on long enough’ blah, blah, blah. Sure he may be power hungry, but he and the council still honor the agreement because they knew that the stupid humans wouldn’t last long until one of their own killed a member of our kingdom. So. When the Floradelias that I needed for the next steps, arrived, Paul’s nephew—the deliveryman at the time, posing as my second guard—unfortunately got swept into my plan as well. It was I who told him to feast on the young woman who’d I’d purposely killed just moments before. To hide the evidence and cover up for my ‘mistake’ before the humans found out and started attacking us. He was so naive and believed it. Poor idiot.”
I felt sick. He didn’t have any remorse for killing one of his own. “You’re a monster.”
“Thank you.” He continued, “So then, when your lover-boy did the deed, step one was complete. Now, I needed to create a diversion. Step two. Stir things up a bit, and drive a wedge between you two. Then, here came the twit with wild colored hair who even I thought was ill-mannered. But nothing, not even her charm or looks, could lead Jett astray from you in such a small amount of time. I needed something powerful, yet unexpected. I’d drained the blood from three floradelias and given her the vials, specifi
cally ordering her to put them in something Jett would consume, but the idiot called me and told me she’d broken one of them, leaving her with only one after she’d slipped the first vile into a cup of coffee. So, I packed up the rest and sent them to you. I knew Jett would sweep in to save his damsel in distress—always feeling the need to be high and mighty that one.” He said. “And I knew that when he grabbed one of them, the little bitches would jab at his hands—forcing the only other option in those few crucial seconds to be biting. Can’t blame him, it is his animal instinct, after all. Then finally, the twit topped him off the next day at the restaurant and your Jett was gone, leaving behind a new man who’d been persuaded that you were nothing but disposable. Bye, bye love. Hello heartbreak.”
“What did the floradelia blood do to him?” I asked. I knew there was something else that had made him act that way. He did love me, he was just under a trance.
“Isn’t it obvious? Would you honestly think your Jett would ever treat you that way on his own?” he scoffed. “I only wish I’d seen his face as he saw your cabin burning. Thinking that you were inside. And then watching him mope around thinking that he’d pushed you away and that somehow your death was his fault.” He laughed. “Oh what I’d give—”
“Why do you hate Jett so much?”
“Why do I hate him?” Bane leant in closer again after thinking for a few moments. “Hate is an understatement, sweetheart. Our story goes back to many years before you were born.” A drop of saliva hit my cheek. “That ungrateful boy was all my father ever talked about when he was born. Jethro this, Jethro that. He’s even named after our grandfather! I never got any attention when he came around. It was all Jett, Jett, Jett! I made my father reinstate the bounty on their heads after he’d made an agreement to that woman! I’m the one who told the council about them fleeing, I did what I had to do.” He saw me looking doubtful as to how he managed to persuade his father. “Let’s just say, I’ve had practice using floradelia blood before, sweetheart. I learned quite a few things from the chemists at the far end of the islands when I was just a young and ignored little cub.” I knew it. He had poisoned his own father as well and turned him into the man he was now.
“Then what am I still alive for?”
“Aside from Jett’s mother getting soft on you and begging my father not to kill you right then and there, you are still part of my plan.”
“What do you have planned next?”
He smiled. “I left a clue at the scene. And If I’m correct your Jett and a few of his family members are on their way to get you now. So, let’s count down the reasons why I am sure to be king, shall we? One—I got the mundahlians what they’ve been waiting for. A broken pact. Two—I single-handedly caught the human that broke the pact as well as put an end to an interspecies relationship. Three—I lured the traitors back to Mundahlia. And now onto number four, a necessary requirement to become ruler immediately after being dubbed the next in line—an heir.”
“What?!” I screamed.
“That’s right, Rini. You are going to bare me a son.”
“No! I sure as hell am not!”
He pressed me down farther into the bed, “Yes, you are.”
“Why me? Why not a mundahlian?”
“Because idiot. I want my kind to forever rule. My clan only consists of me and my father as of now. My mother was killed after I was born. As were my other sibling’s mothers. Mating with a human is the only way the child can become full-blooded from a single mundahlian parent. It doesn’t get diluted and joined together with other mundahlians DNA.”
“Then why does your father have a child of different kinds?”
“That, my dear, is simply because my father is not the dominant gene carrier. The women he’s bred with have all had their genes overpower his and determine the kind. With me, however, it wouldn’t matter wether or not you were the dominant carrier. You have no Mundahlian genes. Our son would still be a full-blooded Tigarero.” The way he said, ‘our son’ made it seem as though we’d already had him and he were sleeping in a bassinet somewhere in the room.
“Find another human then, I am not having sex with you! You are not going to be my first!”
Something peeked his interest, and I immediately got struck with regret. “A virgin? How—tacky, but amusing.” He leant in.
“No!” I turned again.
Bane pulled away, a low tiger’s roar rumbling in the back of his throat. “Leo!” he roared. Leo and Angela came into view. She was crying, and his busy hands kept groping her in inappropriate places.
“Do as I say or your friend gets hurt,” Bane said into my ear.
“Please stop it!” I told him. “Please!”
“No. Not until you agree to have my child.”
Leo reached his hand under the white dress, still keeping Angela in his clutch. She tried to wiggle her way out but he adjusted his grip on her. “Quit squirming!” he yelled at her. Angela let out another whimper.
“Stop it!” I pleaded him.
Bane moved a hand to my jaw, “ You’re in our world now, honey.”
He placed a sloppy, wet kiss on my lips. His saliva—like venom, salivated over my mouth.
“Stop!” I moved my mouth away, feeling his tongue trail across my cheek. I finally managed to free a hand and strike him in the face. It didn’t hurt him this time. He was stronger now that he was in his world.
He smiled with pleasure. “I like them feisty,” he said, now reaching for my towel.
“No!” I cried, trying to shoo his perverted hands away.
I clenched my arms against my torso to keep the towel in place.
“Yes.” His hands traveled to the bottom of the towel and up my inner thigh. It tickled, but it didn’t feel good.
“No!” I cried again. “Please.” Tears began streaming down my face, faster than ever.
“Leave her alone!” Angela cried in wincing pain.
I looked to her. She was still being fondled by Leo, who was now bending her arms behind her back.
Bane tried again, going for the sides. He managed to grab the corner and pull it away. I was half exposed. Feeling the cool air brush past my naked skin. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” he moved in closer, his hands traveling wildly up and down my hips.
“No!” I pushed him away. “Bane, please. You can be better than this!”
He stopped groping me for a moment to sigh and say, “You evidently don’t know me.”
I punched him again, this time in the side. Still nothing. Like punching a pillow. I threw punches left and right, hoping for a small space to open so I could squeeze out.
“Enough!” Bane bellowed, snatching my arms in air. “Calm yourself!” He shot a look to Leo. “Hold her down,” he said veering to me. “She wants it the hard way.”
Leo clamped a set of new chains on Angela and attached the other side to a metal bar on the bed frame so she wouldn’t escape.
He took my arms and set them under his knees to keep me from hitting. “No!” I bawled. “Please!”
Bane slid the towel off of me and cast it to the floor. I felt the rush of the still air encase me fully. I shut my eyes and thought of other things. Good things. Nice things. Things that made me happy. My family. My friends. Jett’s family. Jett. I tried to convince myself that this was all just a dream. I would wake up in no time, with my head digging into Jett’s chest. Taking in his ever so captivating essence. Tracing my fingers around his skin. And still drowning in the lake of love.
The pressure on top of me was removed. Could this really be just a really long dream? Am I waking up now?
I heard the flapping of a belt as it slipped from the loops. The sound of pants, and a shirt falling to the floor followed. This isn’t a dream, this is reality.
Cold hands parted my legs. I gave up the fight. I couldn’t do much now with the heavy man crushing my arms and Bane holding down my legs. There was no winning this one. I felt Bane position himself on top of me again. He started kissing
my neck, trying to make this romantic, but it only made things more horrifying. I felt his rough hands wipe a tear from my face. “You should worry,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m going to be as rough as I possibly can.”
Leo returned to Angela once I’d frozen up and just laid there with Bane on top of me, holding me down again. His bare body rubbed against mine and I tried my best to return my mind to thoughts of happiness. “My turn,” Leo said, unbuckling his pants. I saw a question flash across Angela’s face. His pants fell to the floor—his backside exposed to me. He fiddled with the chains, reaching in the pocket of his shirt for the key. Angela watched as he stuck the key in the hole and turned. She flashed a quick glance to me, and hope lined her eyes as the chain fell to the floor.
Click!
And as quick as lightning, Angela looked to me again, then back at him, clasping her hands together and striking him across the face. He went crashing down—taking a chair and a small table down with him. She ran to me, and pushed Bane, who thankfully hadn’t started yet, off. “Up!” she ordered. She grabbed Bane’s button up and tossed it at me.
Bane regained his posture from the floor and tried to grasp for me, I kicked his you-know-whats, dangling between his legs and shoved him away. He pummeled on the floor—his hands concealing them. Angela reached for a lamp and threw it at Leo, who’d tried to run after us.
“Come on!” Angela said, unlatching the locked door. I followed her out, buttoning the T-shirt as I ran. I heard the eerie crackling noise again. With a quick glance over my shoulder, just before the door shut behind me, I saw the two shadowed figures changing shape. “Hurry!” Angela said. She panned the long red-carpeted hallway filled with doors lining each side, searching for something. “Ah!” she exclaimed. She tore a metal bar from the wall and stuck it through the handles to keep them from escaping.