© ItalRT4u, 2012

     I woke to what I thought was Cane's voice.  As I groggily cleared the fog from my mind and let my eyes adjust to the lighting within the room, I took in my damning surroundings.  I had hoped it was nothing but a nightmare and that I was finally coming to in a bed, lying beside Cane – but I was wrong.  I knew I had to figure something out and quickly.  Nothing good could come of Matt finding out that I was fully matched.

     I sat in bed wondering about Cane.  I wondered if he had gotten out of his car; if he was safe; if his family had come for us.  The sweet sound of his voice still played around in my mind.  As I thought of his voice, that's when it occurred to me.

     That fucking mind-link! 

     True, only Cane and I share it, at least I thought that's how it was seeing as we had yet to discover if it spanned further than that; but at least I'd be able to make sure everything was okay from their end.  At least, I hope that it would work, after all, it's not like we've practiced our talents to their full extents.

     “Cane?”  I put all my energy into reaching him.  I waited.  Nothing...  “Cane, if you can hear me, please say something.”  I tried again.  “I need you.”

     After a few more attempts, I was beside myself with hopelessness.  I still hadn't managed to hear his voice inside my head.  All I wanted, all I searched for was a sense of ease, of respite from this hellish ordeal.  I wanted, no, I needed to know that Cane was safe; I needed to know that they were doing everything humanly, or in this case, paranormally possible to reach me.  Still, I couldn't fathom why it was that I was able to hear Cane through my sleep and not be able to reach him through our unique link while conscious.

     I was snapped out of my reverie of what I envisioned my reunion with Cane being like when I heard the click to the room's doorknob.  I hoped with every fiber of my being that it was Kristy but knew all too well that it would be too soon for one of her visits.  I shifted defensively, pushing my back into the headboard as I sat up stiffly, my eyes seeing stars, head spinning from the sudden surge of burning pain in my thigh.

     Why couldn't I have superhuman healing powers with all this royal business?  I cursed myself.

     “Are you willing to submit yet?”  He asked me, a nasty smirk plastered itself on his lips. 

     “Drop dead!”  I spat at him.

     “I have to say, I love this feistiness of yours.”  Matt slowly approached the bed as I was some kind of prey he was hunting.  In all reality, I kind of was.  “You'll make me one hell of a trophy when I'm done breaking you.”  He tried to push my hair so he could tuck it behind my ear as he inspected every square inch of exposed skin with his calloused fingertips.  To say I was uncomfortable would be the understatement of a lifetime.  Kristy had made me change into some satin baby doll number which didn't leave much to the imagination if you get my drift.  Upon protesting, and with Kristy's help, I went through every single dresser drawer and the closet only to find piece after piece of lace, satin and silk lingerie.  The item I was currently wearing was the one I had deemed as the one that possessed the most material to cover my body.

     Matt ran his hard fingers down my cheekbones, to my chin as I shrank away from him; the headboard preventing me from disappearing altogether.

     “I'm going to ruin you for any other.”  He stated softly but with boasting confidence.  Those words sent icy shivers through my body, and bile rising into my throat.

     “I think I'm gonna be sick.”  I managed as I reached for his hand and threw it off of me.  All he did was click his tongue in disapproval at me and laugh at my reaction to his contact.

     “You won't be able to keep away forever.”  He leaned into me so he was a hair's breath away from my face, staring into my eyes maliciously.  “I will have you.  You decide if it'll be forcefully or willingly.”  And with that, he forced his kiss onto my lips.

     “Payton.  Where are you?”  I finally hear in my head which made me stiffen impossibly more.  Feelings of strength and relief overcame me.  Attempting to push Matt away was futile.  Anger rearing its ugly head, deep within me, I bit his lip as he tried to get me to open up for him.  Matt's reaction was exactly what I had expected.  He screamed like a girl and bolted upright as I smirked up at him, satisfied with the reaction I got from him.  The only unexpected thing was the fist that came flying down onto my cheekbone, causing an instantaneous headache to rear its ugly head along with dizzying stars and some lightly blurred vision.

     “You'll regret that you bitch!”  Matt was pissed, his face a deep crimson, his breath heavy with rage.

     “Correction.”  I said.  His mouth opening as if to speak but shutting as I glared up at him, my hand massaging my cheek and jaw; my teeth rattled but I could care less of the pain seeing as he kept wiping at his bloodied lip.  I was determined to make it a living hell for him if he demanded my body as his possession.  “You'll be regretting it asshole!”  I sneered, pouring every ounce of hate into those words hoping that he'd feel it seething into every pore of his body; that he'd clue in and leave me the fuck alone.

     “Payton!  Please answer!”  I heard Cane.

     “Please get me out of here!”  I cried out to him in my subconscious.

     “Oh, thank the higher powers!  Where are you?”  He asked me, relief tainting every word.

     “I don't know.  I'm in some kind of bedroom.”  I tell him.

     “What?” I sneered at Matt as he hadn't left the room yet.

     “What are you up to?”  He eyed me curiously.

     “Where am I?”  I asked him.

     “Payton.  Answer me dammit!”  Cane said again in my subconscious.

     “Hold on.”  I tell my lover.

     “What's it matter?  The case in point is that I have you and that you're not going anywhere.”  He answers, his rage replaced with a look that showed playfulness.  “You're all mine Baby and I'll enjoy you every way I please.”  He turned to leave.

     “They'll come for me!”  I hollered at him only to hear his booming laugh.

     “They can come and try but they'll only fail.”  He said as he closed the door behind him.

     “I can't get anything from him.”  I told Cane.  “Where are you guys?”

     Cane and I had exchanged information.  I was desperate to get the hell out of there and I knew I couldn't do it all on my own.  I felt like I was grasping at strings that were always slightly out of my reach.  I know Cane felt the same way as I did.

     We had managed to rule out the Davis residence, their cottage and various other properties of theirs.  I was slowly losing hope that I'd be found.  Just as I was promising Cane that I'd let him in on any new information I can manage to find, I heard the doorknob turn again.

     “I think it might be Kristy.”  I tell him.

     “Who's she?”  He wondered.

     “A girl who's been taking care of my injuries.”  I explained.

     “Use her.”  He said flatly; he sounded slightly hopeless yet determined nonetheless to find a solution that would help us prevail.

     “I have to go.”  I told him as the door swung open and Kristy appeared.  “I love you, Cane.”

     “I love you.  Be safe.”  He warned.

     “Kristy, where are we exactly?”  I asked her as she was cleaning the sutures that held my wound closed before adding fresh gauze to my leg.  I figured I'd start off with a direct hit; no use easing into it really.

     “You know I can't tell you that.”  She said meekly.  “I'm sorry, Payton.”  Yeah, we were on a first name basis.

     “Why not?  We can help you.”  I told her.  She shook her head sadly at me in refusal.  The look of fear as well as defeat on her face told me that she was definitely not with the Davis clan of her own free will.  Something kept her there, servicing their every whim and I’m sure I couldn’t fathom the extent of their extremist hold on her.

     “I can't.”  She said almost at a whisper.  “If they were to find out, they'd kill me.”

     “Well, we're as good as dead here anyway.”  I told her bluntly, pouting with my arms crossed at my chest, like your typical three year old as she finished up with taping the gauzes onto my leg.  She looked up at me, trying to hide the fear that was blatantly obvious in her eyes.  “You know he'll just kill us when he's done, right?”  Perhaps instilling a substantial amount of fear for death in her mind, she'd be swayed to help.  I needed her to see where I was coming from, where we were headed if we kept playing Matt’s game.  She needed to see that she had something better out there, something to live for – a happier life.

     “I've got to go.”  She got up quickly and left the room.  “Make sure you eat your dinner.”  She said as she nodded toward the food tray that sat on the bed beside me prior to shutting the bedroom door.  I could see the wheels turning behind those chocolate brown eyes of hers.  As small as that reaction was, it was better than a full-on refusal to assist.

     I hadn't eaten since that first meal Kristy had helped me eat when I had first woken up on my arrival here, wherever here was.  It's now Thursday morning and Kristy had come and gone to check up on my bandages, my bruised cheek and bring me breakfast.

     Upon her leaving my room with my full breakfast tray, I heard some yelling a crash and the scuffling of feet followed by a few loud thuds in the hallway which seemed like it had come from directly in front of my room's door.

     “You can't simply do anything right, can you?”  A voice which sounded like Matt's, bellowed through the door.  I was proven right when the door slammed open and Mr. Almighty himself stormed in with a handful of the now stiff and cold porridge I can only presume was from the tray I had left with Kristy only minutes earlier.  Walking up to me, he attempted to force his fist full of the stuff I regarded as poison down my throat.  He quickly overpowered me with brute force despite my attempts at shoving him off of me.

     “Are you trying to die?”  He hollered down at me.  “You know I can arrange that.  Hell, I'll even take care of you myself.”  I spat the remainder of the porridge he had managed to push into my mouth.  “I wonder what poor Cane will say when I drop off your shriveled up carcass on his doorstep when I'm done with you.”  He began to run his calloused hand over my injured thigh, squeezing it so that I howled out in pain as he held my arms painfully in his other hand, up above my head. 

     The bastard!

     He continued as he pushed my nighty up, revealing the lace underwear that I had no choice but to wear.  I knew where this was heading and I couldn't help the trembling my body was submitting to; my body betraying me completely in the sense that it bared my fears for him to witness.  I was terrified of the harsh reality that Matt had so aptly painted before me and I doubted that starting to play his game now would save me in the end.  This neanderthal wasn't going to let me live – there was no chance in hell of that happening at this point.  His fingers were on the verge of sneaking under the fabric of my underwear when a throat clearing sound came from the door.  With my head snapping up, I looked through my tear-filled gaze to see one of Matt's minions smirking at us – the one that pulled me out of Cane's car, after our crash.

     “Can I cop a feel?”  He asked amusement in his voice.

     “What is it, Rob?”  Matt growled at him, his gaze turned to the intruder but his grip tightened even more.

     “I need to know what you want me to do with the help.”  He asked.

     “Get her in here.  She can clean the bitch up.”  Matt sneered at me.  “Then, I'll have my fun with you, Puppet.”  He leaned into me, biting down hard on the soft skin above one of my breasts.  As I flinched, he licked the wound he inflicted all knowing that it would most likely bruise.  “Don't worry Doll.  I'll be back later to claim what's mine.”  Kristy rushed to my side with a swollen right eye and welt on her cheek and helped me to sit up on the edge of the bed, shuffling my legs to the floor as I tried to regain control of my shaking body.  “And Kristy, I need you to run an errand for me when you're done.”  Matt told her.  “Remember your place because if you forget again, I'll put you down like the dog that you are.”

     I had collapsed into Kristy letting out my monstrous sobs when Matt had finally closed the door behind him.  She held me in silence for a few minutes until my control was slowly coming back to me.

     “Shh.”  She patted my head, running her fingers through my hair in a soothing manner – much like a mother would a child.

     “How could you let him do this?”  I said in her shoulder.  “Don't you see that this is all wrong?”

     “I know.”  She said, sounding like she was void of emotion.  I pulled away from her to look at her face.  She wasn't void of emotion, she was in shock!  “I need you to eat this.”  She handed me an apple as she got up.  “Then, you'll go get yourself cleaned up and changed.  When I come back, if I come back, be ready for me.”  I looked at her with confusion.  The lack of food and drink for the last few days must have been getting to my head.  I couldn't think straight, my abilities were practically shit at this point, all but my mind link with Cane and some of my empathic abilities.  I felt so defeated.  Heeding Kristy's words, I decided to cave in to the constant rumbling my stomach was making and eat the apple she had handed me. 

     Could she have really been hinting at helping me out of here?

     I had managed to carefully get my butt to the bathroom that was adjoined to my room and clean the mess Matt had made of me and changed into fresh clothes, if you can call them that.

     “We're coming.”  I heard Cane's sweet voice through our link.

     “But how?”  I asked.

     “Kristy.”  He explained.  “I need you ready to fight.  We'll be there in the next few hours; I hope.”

     “You hope?”  I asked, my mind reeling.  “I don't know how much more of this I can take, Cane.  Matt's coming back and I don't think I can hold him off anymore.”

     “He better keep his hands off of you or so help me.”  I could tell he was fully enraged at our plight.  “We'll be there soon. I promise.  I love you.”

     “I love you too.  Please hurry.”

                                          *************************************

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