Reader Discretion advised: Sexual abuse.
Pressure wrapped around my wrists, so tight that I could feel it dig in to my skin. What was this? I tried to pull against it, but my wrists would not budge. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to figure out why my wrists weren't moving. But then it dawned on me, I was in another nightmare. My pulse quickened as I examined the room. It was dimly lit by a single torch. I was surrounded by white walls that boxed me in, keeping my trapped in the room, my cell. Red curtains draped off the four poster bed that I was laying on. The room remained mostly empty because they didn't really use this room other then to torture me and to harm me.
I tugged harder on the ropes, knowing exactly what happens next. But it was no use, I was tired and exhausted, my body barely even pulling on the ropes that bound me to the bed. Come on Aria, this is just a dream! Wake up and it will all be over. 'Or will it, my dear Aria.' Drakos's voice filled my ears and the dread ran through my veins. Damn you bastard, damn you for making me so weak. I gritted my teeth angrily as I watched the door slowly open.
"Leave me be you bastard. You aren't here, this isn't real!" I shouted as Drakos's son, Jasper entered the room. My chest started to pant heavy now, panic and dread over riding any common sense I had. I watched as he started to peal off his black leather armor, slowly one by one, a disgusting grin set upon his white pale complexion. His eyes where the dullest and ugliest of grays I had ever seen. It matched his dead demeanor as he slowly crawled on the bed, his hands sliding up my legs as he pushed them apart. No no no, stop please!
"You keep telling yourself that you are free, but you will never be free Aria. Your mind is mine." I sucked in a horrified breath as he started to plant wet and sloppy kisses along my hip, causing me to cringe and twitch. I wanted to get away from him, but no matter how much I screamed him to stop or pulled on the ropes, he kept making his way closer and closer to his goal. I could feel the tears pouring down my face now as he slipped a finger into my slit. A sharp pain dragged against my walls and I stifled a groan. Don't show him you are weak Aria. It only made it worse.
"This is all for the cause Aria. You will become one of us one way or the other, so why not just crack now. Come back to us." He cooed deadly, his voice bleak and dry as he spoke. I tried to pull away from his hand as he continued to thrust his fingers into my vagina. But all he did was make me uncomfortable and agitated. I would not break, not in a million years.
"Bite me you dirty bastard." I spat in his face and angrily watched him rise, towering over me now. He roughly grabbed my face in his hands and smashed his teeth against my lips. I could feel the blood trickling down as he tried to force his way through. He wouldn't get what he wanted, not without a fight. I would rather die than submit to this damn dog. Pulling away, an evil grin appeared on his lips.
"I don't think you are being very submissive Aria, let's change that shall we?" I grimaced as he reached over the bed and towards the wooden night stand that sat off to the side. A metal syringe was present, it was full of an off yellow liquid. The same liquid that they would use to numb my limbs, making me submissive and unable to fight back. He grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my neck to the side. I tried to knee him, throw him off balance, but it did no good. With a dark laugh he shoved the needle into my neck. I felt it plunge in deep as I screamed in pain. He pushed down the plunger and injected the liquid, slowly seeping into my veins until every last drop was out. With a sickening grin he tossed the syringe aside.
My muscles relaxed almost immediately. They became so heavy and tired that even my head rolled back against the pillows. My breathing became shallow as I was now rendered useless. My senses had started to cloud, my vision blurred. I don't want this. Let me go already. I could feel his hands running up and down my body, pinching my nipples, caressing my buttocks. It was so sickening and gross, but I could no longer pull away.
"It's just a matter of time now Aria, you will break. You will turn on your friends and family, and then you will be mine. I will control you, I will own you. There is nothing you can do to stop us." I gritted my teeth, grunting as he plunged deep inside me. I felt so dead inside as he pounded away, my body limp from the drugs.
"You are dead, you already lost. So it's just a matter of time until I forget you, you bastard." I hissed at him, feeling nauseous as he wrapped his lips around my nipple. I cried out in pain as he bit down hard on it, making it bleed down my body. Then my world went dark. I sat there heaving heavily as I reopened my eyes. The scenery had changed. Men, so many men where lying disoriented on the ground. Blood covered the halls, filling the air with the strongest stench of metallic I had ever smelt. Some men where missing limbs like their fingers, hands, arms, heads. It was such a gut twisting site. I could feel my self vomit. Appalled that I had killed so many.
"Aria my girl, what have you done child? These where not the results I was expecting, how disappointing. You kill my eldest and favorite son, you hurt your brethren. What are we going to do with you girl?" I looked over my shoulder to find Drakos staring at the massacre of men. He was tall with broad shoulders and thick arms. He was a little on the chunky side, all dolled up in furs. A black beard grew down his chest, and his hair came over his shoulders. His dark gray eyes glared down at me, anger settling over his features as he took in the scene. I was frozen in fear, I couldn't move or speak. It was like he had a grip over my mind and was slowly squashing it. The pressure built up in my head, tears leaked from my eyes.
"Aria, when I come back from burying my son, you will be punished. I will make you pay for taking my son from me. You will bare my children until I get the perfect son. And then, I think I will end your miserable life." The dread came pouring in. I really had screwed up now. "Don't think about running away Aria, you will only prolong the inevitable. So you might as well make yourself comfortable, it's going to be a long time." He bared his teeth from eye to eye, so sinister and evil as he slowly faded from my vision.
I screamed loudly, clawing at my body. The feeling of sticky blood and Jasper's disgusting touch covering my body. I hated it, I hated every dream like this. There was no way I would get rid of this feeling. So I clawed at my skin, trying to rid the memory, the pain. 'It is only a matter of time Aria.' Drakos's voiced echoed through my head. I broke into a violent sob, the mattress bouncing as Sebastion was now fully awake. He gripped my wrists in his hands and held them to the bed firmly.
"It's all right Aria. It's me, relax your safe." he cooed. I sobbed loudly, blabbering nonsense as shuddered relentlessly. I wasn't safe though. Every night I felt myself getting weaker. Drakos was invading my space even during the day, like he was actually communicating with me. It wasn't fair.
"I'm not though Sebastion. I really am not. You don't understand!" He would never understand what it felt like. The pressure of what I did, and these where the consequences.
"They'll pay for what they did Aria. I promise you. Come on, let's go." He grunted rolling out of bed. I threw on my pants and a tank top, following him to the hallway. I sniffled and wiped my tears away. They would pay, but I wasn't sure if I would be around to see anyone go through with it. I followed him through the main room, and down the hall to the bath house. I sighed with relief when he opened the room and no one was inside. I quickly stripped ad dove in, not caring that I wasn't wearing a towel. I scrubbed my body with a bar of soap until I started bleeding.
"Aria calm down. I've never seen you so worked up before. Maybe we should talk to Lola about a sleeping tea for you. I hate seeing you like this." Sebastion wrapped me into a hug. He was still wearing his t-shirt and pants.
I looked at my hands, imagining all the blood that was caked on my body. The screams that escaped the soldiers echoed in my head. Jasper's twisted body crumpled on the floor as the wound from his neck seeped out. All I could see was blood, dead bodies, and severed limbs. I clenched my hands into fists until they bled. My wrists throbbed from where the imaginary rope dug into my skin. It felt to real this time, like it had actually happened as opposed to it being an actual dream. I really was going insane. The words where more twisted too, like they where speaking directly to me and not to my dream self. Gods I was losing it. It's night like these where I wish I could end it all, because they where never going away. I would always be haunted by those bastards. I inhaled a shaky breath as I pushed the hair from my face.
"Every night Sebastion. It's the same routine every night. I can't stop it." I let my bleeding hands fall into the soapy water. Sebastion sighed and pulled me to the edge of the pool. sitting me on the stairs.
"I don't know how to make it stop. I wish I could so you wouldn't have too. Stay here, I'm gonna grab Lola. I'll only be gone a minute." He kissed the top of my head as he dragged his soaked clothes out of the pool. He toweled dried the best he could before heading down the hall. It didn't take very long for the sounds of loud banging and multiple doors creaking open. Thanks Sebastion, you couldn't be more quiet?
The sounds of shuffling feet came back down the hallway. The door creaked open and Sebastion entered first, followed by a bewildered Lola. Her hair was in a messy bun, eyes tired from sleep. She didn't seem very happy to be awake, as she grumpily stomped into the room. But she stopped mid grumble when she examined the claw marks on my body. Hey eyes went wide as she approached the pool, her feet light and hurried.
"Oh my. What happened honey?" She cooed. There was linen wraps in her hands, and ointments. Sebastion tossed me a towel and I draped it over my front part of my body. Pulling myself out of the pool, blood dripping from my hands and swirled into the water before disappearing. Carefully she examined the dig marks in my palms, dressing it so it would stop bleeding. She was focused and concentrated, applying ointment to my dig marks down my side's and chest area.
"What caused this?" Lola asked as she tied the last bandage. I stared into the water, not wanting to speak.
"She's been having severe nightmares because of her PTSD. At first they where small and she was able to go back to bed, but recently they have been getting worse. This is the first time she's acted this way before." Sebastion explained to her. She rested her hands on her hips, angrily. Yes, because of my PTSD. Not because deep down I was a broken monster ready to snap at any second.
"So you both let it get so bad that she is literally clawing at herself. Irresponsible of both of you. Aria, I'm going to brew you a tea, it will help you sleep. No nightmares. But you are to sleep the rest of the day." I gave her a small nod. I wasn't going to fight with her.
"Any more of this and she would go delirious. Shame on you two." She stamped out of the room, slamming the door angrily.
"Well I'll be, she really does have a temper." Sebastion joked quietly. I gave a small smirk, at his attempt to cheer me up ,but it faltered as I stared at my bandaged hand. How much longer before I cracked like he said I would? Would I really return? How could he be so damn sure? Sebastion was quiet as he sat with me, staring at the water. It bounced off the edges, quietly creating mini waves from the disturbance of the water.
"Aria, you are all I have left in this world. Don't make me beg you to tell me what's wrong." I leaned on his shoulders, playing with the bandages on my hands.
"Sebastion, it's not like I don't want to talk about these things. I am just afraid of what you will think when it's all said and done." I closed my eyes and leaned on his shoulder. He was right, he was all I had left and his opinion mattered the most. Over everyone else, he would be the one I respected at the end of the day.
"Well you can't keep this bottled up Aria. It's driving you mad. I have never seen you fall apart to this degree. You need to take care of yourself. That includes talking when it matters the most." His words where hard and firm. I knew he meant well, but he just couldn't understand.
"Maybe in time Sebastion. I just can't do it now." I whispered. The door creaked back open and our discussion was disturbed. Lola came back into the bath house, a cup in her hands. It steamed at the top, rolling in small tight circles as she walked. It smelled of chamomile and other ingredients I couldn't recognize. I thanked her and sipped at the cup.
"Sebastion, I suggest you get Aria to her room before Drake comes back from his morning run. He heard the commotion and it took everything in me to convince him that she was fine." She said with a grim expression painted on her face. Sebastion nodded and helped me to my feet, sipping my tea as he directed me to our room. When we got to our door, my cup was empty and I was already starting to feel groggy. I yawned and climbed, settling under the covers as Sebastion took the cup from me and placed it on the floor. The bed rustled as he got under the covers.
"Sebastion?" I asked sleepily into the darkness.
"Yes Aria?" He mumbled, almost asleep.
"Thank you for being my best friend, and my brother. I honestly don't know what I would do without you." I heard him chuckle as he rolled over.
"Ah, don't get sentimental on me sis. Now go to bed pea brain." I smiled to myself.
"What ever bed hog. Try not to take all the blankets." Sebastion chuckled. After a few minutes of silence, he was asleep. I listened to him snore softly, lulling me into a deep and dreamless sleep. For the first time, I felt at peace.