In an absolute freak-out, I think I must have screamed my head off for several minutes, to no effect. When it finally dawned on me that that was probably not the best use of my energies, I quieted and attempted to take stock of my new space.
It was dark and small. I was chained to a steel loop embedded in the wall a couple of feet above the thin cot, which featured a terribly thin futon-type mat, scratchy cheap sheets, and a very thin blanket. To the side of the cot in the corner was the toilet I had spied earlier. No seat, of course. No toilet paper, either. Awesome. No sink. No water, no cup. No fucking key for the cuff. No way to reach the fucking cage door, and obviously, no way to reach those power switches by the main door into the cell. But really, at this point, who gave a rat’s ass about the light? I only cared about the literal metal trappings.
I was so angry, I started crying.
I was wishing so hard for Dom to come find me. But I knew, rationally, that that was pretty much out of the range of real possibilities. I mean, no way would he find this hellhole. I just didn’t believe it. So I missed him, and I was angry, and I was lost, and I cried.
When I quieted, I heard it—a voice, singing. At first, I thought I must have been hallucinating; the sound was gorgeous. It was a female voice, a soprano. It carried in the air, but it was soft, and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
The song was unfamiliar; actually, it might not even have been a song, just a voicing of high pitches, unintelligible but audible. And it comforted me, just the tiniest bit.
By this time, I was in full-on fetal position on the cot, covered head to butt and knees to toes by the blanket I had pulled around myself.
And the voice, real or imagined, sang me into a wakeful dullness, as I waited for the next thing to happen.
# # #
All too soon, Fielding was back. The door had opened quietly with just a soft twist of the knob, and the horrible fluorescent beams above flickered on.
“I see I’ve given you enough time to acclimate. Stand up and face the back. It’s time to introduce you to your new reality.” He was practically rubbing his hands together. His face glowed with anticipatory glory. I was pretty sure he was completely psychotic.
I remained where I was, cocooned on the bed. Ostriching. If I didn’t see it, it couldn’t be happening, right?
“Now, now, Sienna, my dove. Where did my feisty girl go? Huh? Not so feisty anymore, are you? You see who has the power here. Good. Now, get—the fuck—up.”
Still, I held my place. No way was I going to help this guy do whatever he planned on doing to me. No way in hell.
Suddenly I was drenched in a forceful spray of cold, cold water. I gasped and scrambled off the cot, falling on my ass in a tumble of cold wet blanket and limbs, trying to escape the water that shot down from a pipeline positioned just over the cot in the ceiling. I had noticed it but hadn’t realized its purpose.
Realizing my position on the floor, hampered as it was by the useless wet blanket, would do me no favors in the next moments, I scrambled to my knees and then to my feet. I was completely soaked. That pipe packed some force, like a firefighter’s hose. The air down in that room was cold enough to begin with; add in drenched with freezing water, and I had no relief in sight for the shivers that had already overtaken my body.
The sick bastard laughed. “Ah, Sienna, you do not fail to entertain. Now, as I said, face the back wall. Feet wide apart. Hands behind your neck.”
“Or what?” I asked, wanting to know all my options.
“Do you really want to be Tasered again, my kitten?”
I turned and did as ordered.
He Tasered me again, anyway, and I fell hard.
Oh god, the pain. The contraction. My heart rate pumped high, my body convulsed, and my mind shut down.
When I awoke some minutes later, I found myself in yet another cell. This one also featured the cage, but no cot and no toilet. Instead, I was positioned flat on my back on a high table of sorts inside the cage area, and he had stripped me naked. My wrists were tied to my ankles, my legs strapped out to the sides, and my torso likewise strapped down. It was the perfect rape table, and I immediately dreaded the next phase of this hell.
I heard him before I saw him.
“Ah, I see you are beginning to come around again. Good. I want you wide awake for this. First, let us check on your sensation level. I wouldn’t want you to miss this lesson because of our little incident with the Taser.”
Right, like the Taser caused the incident.
He pulled on the hair on top of my head. It was still wet from my unplanned shower from hell, dripping cold water down my scalp and on my chest and back. My whole body was freezing cold, still shivering from the combination of that and the electrical-impulse contractions.