บท 48: CHAPTER 48: SLAVE
David awoke in what appeared to be a holding cell in a prison. As he went to stand, he realized that he was chained to the wall. He also had a thin collar around his neck.
David didn't know where he was at, but he could tell that he wasn't the only one here. Looking around he saw a few familiar faces also chained to the walls of the large holding cell. The first face he saw looked nothing like it did the last time he had seen her. Heather, Karine's only female guard, had a bloodied face and sat on the ground askew next to him. She was just staring off wide eyed into the darkness of the cell. David continued to look around. He saw a few guards that he knew were very loyal to William Carmine. He also saw one person he wasn't expecting.....Chaz. Chaz was staring right at David with a blank look in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, David," a light sounding voice drifted out from Chaz's lips, "I didn't know it would all end up like this. I thought they were just going to give you a hard time. They promised that I would make it to The Other....those bastards....I guess they didn't lie."
"Quiet in there," a voice angrily sounded from outside of the cell, "If I have to come in there, someone is going to hurt."
David was puzzled. The voice didn't sound familiar and had an odd accent to it.
David could hear some talking between people out side. It sounded like they were speaking Spanish....not English. But David could somehow understand every word that they were saying. It was very weird. Just where were they?
After a few minutes, a guard came up to the front of the cell.
"Oh, looks like another one is awake. Glad you could join us here at the Diego Family compound," the guard said before turning his head to look at Heather in interest.
"Hey, Jared!! She is awake again. You ready for a good time," the guard said looking off down the corridor on the side of the cell.
"Yes indeed. I am ready. All you guys keep talking about how great she is," a voice come from the corridor, "Open it up and I'll help you take her out."
After a minute, keys jingled at the metal door to the holding cell, the door opened and two big men walked in with a swagger.
Heather just continued to stare off into space as the two men picked her up effortlessly and dragged her out of the cell. The cell door locked and in a few minutes time the smacking of flesh on flesh could be heard from outside the cell.
One of the few old Carmine Guards that was awake stood up in an attempt to stop the guys.
"What are you trash doing to her?," the man yelled out of the cell as he tried his hardest to shake the bars lose.
With a buzz and a pop, the man fell down to the ground. He was dead. Something in his collar had popped and killed him.
"Damn, dude. Why did you kill one? You know we will make less money now," a voice came into the cell from the hall way.
"These bastards still think that they have rights," the guard turned around to look at the people chained in the cell.
"You are fucking slaves!! Act like it! If you are lucky you may survive for a while. If you keep acting up, I won't hesitate to detonate your control collar," the guard said aggressively in English.
"Now stay quiet and seated. We can't make any money in The Other if you are all dead.," the guard ordered.
David finally realized just how bad the situation was. They were being sold off as slaves from Earth to the Diego family in The Other. Gabriel must have smuggled him and the other guards away to South America as part of his plan to setup David. David couldn't stop thinking. What was going to happen and how could he get out of this mess?
It seemed like they were sold off to one of the other gatekeeper groups, the Diego Family of Peru. From what David remembered, this family was one of the most reclusive and tended to operate like they were still in the days of the Spanish conquistadors. They must still use slaves.
David knew that no one in the Carmine family will ever know that these people were sold as slaves in the Diego family. Just like the gateways were spread around Earth, they were also really spread out in The Other. Actually they are extreme distances between the nine gatekeeper cities in The Other. There have been no successful exploration missions that crossed from one city to another in the millenniums that humans have been in The Other. Too much danger lurks in the wilderness between the cities. With that said, the only way anyone from the Carmine family would ever see them is if they went to Peru and entered The Other from their gate. People in the Carmine Family would think that the guards are dead and that David is on the run somewhere on Earth or dead from Gabriel's group of justice seekers.
The fact that slaves existed puzzled David. Were people civilized enough to move past slavery? No. They had fucking killed his parents and tortured him because he had a girlfriend....these bastards have no human decency. Actually, David had been told once before that most of the human groups in the other had slaves of some sort. They would capture devils and demons to put them to use. They even tamed intelligent beasts to serve as mounts. But, he never expected to use humans as slaves also.
As he pondered the situation, David decided that he needed to assess his current physical status.
He sat calmly and crossed his legs. Focusing in on himself, he used the little heavenly energy he had to inspect his body. At a quick glance, he realized that he was physically a wreck. His internal organs all had some sort of slight bruising, he had small scrapes and bruises all over, his face was swollen, his leg was really messed up to the point that he would have trouble walking, and he was missing a few teeth.....and an missing eye.
David couldn't help but sigh at his current physical condition. He was really beat up. Unless he had considerable time to focus on healing himself, he would be no different than a cripple.
After he assessed his physical condition, he tried to focus in on what he could do with his skills. He could feel a very small stream of heavenly energy entering his body through his neck. After focusing on the collar for a while, David determined that the heavenly energy wasn't completely restricted. The collars allowed a very small amount through that must be used to help sustain cultivators lives. If their heavenly energy was cut completely, they would be no different the common people. David was sure that the Diego family didn't want normal people. Normal people couldn't survive in The Other.
David tested his shadow skill, but it used too much heavenly energy...he only partially shifted to shadow for a moment. No one in the cell even noticed. It was that insignificant. David attempted to execute a few other skills, but he couldn't make it past the chant before he ran out of heavenly energy.
Basically, all of his darkness skills were useless. But he did have other skills.
Next was his perception skill. He closed his eyes and started to focus. The surrounding area instantly came into his sensory view. He could feel everyone in the cell. He could see outside of the cell and down the corridor.
He could also see the two guards having their way with a unconscious Heather on a couch in a small office. She almost seemed lifeless. Anger flared through David at the sight. With the anger came his memory of what these people had done to him, he remembered that he owed them nightmares. But they were awake now...then he thought....maybe he could do something to help Heather.
Closing his eyes, David focused in on his dream world. Instantly, David appeared in his dark space. Everything was the same as always. He focused in on the darkness and several dream orbs began to appear around him. Most seemed to be from some of the sleeping or unconscious prisoners. He could see one orb off to the side. It was Heather's.
David drifted over to the side and entered Heather's dream orb. As David entered, he was appalled by the sight. Heather was being assaulted by several men in her nightmare. This was so much different than the passionate dream he had seen that involved Heather and Karine.....this was an abomination of a nightmare.
With a wave of his hand, all the men disappeared from Heather's dream. She was back to her normal self, uninjured and looking healthy. She was also standing in one of the lounge areas at the Carmine House.
Still terrified from the assaults of the previous nightmare, Heather was shaking as she started to take in her surroundings.
She had a slight bit of panic as she saw a man walking toward her in the hallway. In a few seconds, she realized that it was someone she knew. It was David Knox. Karine's former boyfriend.
He walked up to her side and began to speak.
"Heather, I am so sorry for what is happening to you," David said, "but I know my apologies are not anywhere near enough to make up for the terror these people have caused you."
"David, what are you talking about? What is going on?," Heather said with a tremble to her voice.
"We are in a dream world now. But our abused bodies are in slave quarters at the Diego Family home. We are being prepared for transfer to The Other....to be slaves of the Diego family.....You....You passed out from being raped by two of our guards....you don't seem to be doing well," David said sadly.
Heather was currently freaking out as she recalled what had been done to her. How would you handle it if someone you knew walked up to you, told you that you are in a dream and your unconscious body is being violated by a bunch of men? Any person wouldn't be able to handle that information.
After letting Heather calm down, David spoke again.
"Since you remember what is happening in the real world.... I can give you some help.....First, I can not save you.....I am not strong enough yet....But I can give you a few options. First, I could let you continue the miserable existence in hope that the situation gets better. Second, I could lock you in this dream world and give you a wonderful dream to relive over and over again. Eventually you may die or they may keep you alive as some sort of toy. Third, I can take your life...your energy will become mine and you will just die and none of this will be an issue any longer. But considering the three options, you must know one thing.....anyone that touched you will die. They my not die today or tomorrow.....but they will die. I will kill them all," David promised.
Heather sat down in one of the lounge chairs.....
"Tell me.....how are you able to do this?," Heather asked David.
"Since before I entered the Carmine house, I have been able to manipulate and modify dreams. I could even walk to other people's dreams. Honestly, you have given me one of my greatest memories of a dream.....you and Karine together in your dreamworld," David said honestly, "I don't know why I can do this.....I just have this power. I have always kept it a secret until today...you are the first person I have ever exposed this to...how can I not trust a woman going through so much misery?"
After getting an explanation, Heather sat there in the dream of the Carmine house that she worked in. She was heavy in thought. After sitting in thought for some time, she turned to David with a serious face.
"I am scared of dying. But with what is happening.....I am scared of living. Knowing what has happened to me, I want vengeance on those that have done this to me. If you can promise vengeance, I have no issue dying to become your strength," Heather said with the face of a warrior.
"Are you sure?," David asked to confirm.
"Yes, I am," she responded.
"Then, I will leave you with a pleasant dream as you go on your journey. Don't worry.....I won't peak at this one....I promise, " David said with a smile as Karine appeared behind him in the hallway of the dream.
"Thank you, David," Heather said with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye.
"What did you say, beautiful?," Karine's voice echoed down the hall towards Heather.
"Nothing...I was just thanking a friend," Heather said as she walked to greet Karine in the dream.
______________________________________
David appeared back in his world of darkness. He just stood there staring at Heather's dream orb. He had given her options and she had chosen to help him and die.
However, David had never thought of how he would kill her. When he killed in his dream world, he had either tormented repeatedly or simply crushed the dream orb. Right now, he couldn't do either with a clear conscious. He wanted to make the ordeal the least bit traumatic for Heather as possible.
After a seconds thought, he reached forward to touch the dream orb. As he touched it, he could feel Heather's willingness to die. She had completely accepted it. As David's hands began to squeeze the dream orb, he could feel the tug of the real world on the orb. He had never taken his time with the action before...he had always crushed an orb out of anger in the heat of the moment. As he squeezed the orb, he could feel its connection to Heather's pitiful body.
A thought occured to David, 'Maybe I could just sever the connection of the dream orb from her body'
With the thought, David shifted his strength from squeezing to pulling. With a bit of effort, David felt a snap as Heather's dream orb disconnected from her body and floated next to David in his darkness. Thinking his task was done, David relaxed his focus on his dark world. To David's surprise, Heather's dream orb stuck by him even after the rest faded away. It was like her dream orb had become a part of his world of darkness.
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BrokeButton David doesn't seem to have too much luck at the start of Volume 3.....but at least he seems to have realized that he does have some power......and he has some direction in his life...
If you have stuck with the story to Volume 3......thank you for reading.
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