Prison of Tides

Chapter 3 - Abduction

Jasmine's Point of View 

     I awoke to the echo of waves crashing into rock, a sound usually so soothing to my ears now ringing in my head as my eyes opened. The world was spinning, and I didn't recognize my surroundings. Where was I?

     I tried to move, but I was just so tired. My body felt so heavy. "Caspian?" I called out.

     The sound of footsteps seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The room came into focus as I saw a familiar figure walking towards me. "Raymond, thank the gods. I don't know what happened, but I think I'm hurt. I can't move, and I don't know how I got here."

     "Shh..." He stroked my hair. "That's because you're right where I want you to be. We are in a cave, hundreds of miles from land."

     My eyes widened. "What?"

     "Don't worry, Jasmine. I've been watching you for quite some time now. Waiting for you. I tried so hard to resist you, but seeing you announce your engagement tonight - I couldn't let another man have you." He leaned down, getting close to my face.  I screamed out, trying to get away, but movement did not come. "I know you can't move."

     Memories came flooding back. The dress, the car, him injecting me with whatever was in that needle. "Raymond, I don't know what your plan is, but let me go. They will not stop looking for me. It's better if you let me go now. We can say you had too much to drink at the party, that you didn't know what you were doing. You don't have to do this."

     His hand came across my face, hard. "Shut up. I didn't have too much to drink at the party. I know exactly what I am doing. You are mine now. You will do what I say. And by the time I am done with you, you will know who's property you are, and I can assure you that your beloved Prince will not want someone who has been soiled by another man's touch. As for you, you won't want anyone but me soon enough."

     I gasped, realizing what he meant. "Please, Raymond. Please, don't touch me." My words fell on deaf ears as he crouched down beside me. I realized I was laying on a bed, my arms tied together to the headboard. His hand came down on my hair.

     "Don't worry, pet. I've taken measures to ensure you will love every minute of this."

     I tried to move, and finally succeeded in wiggling my toes and fingers, but not much else. "Help! Somebody help me!" I screamed. Laughter bounced across the cave and made its way to my ears.

     "No one can hear you, Princess."

     "Please, Raymond. Please stop." I begged as he cut the dress off of me. 

     My body betrayed me for the first time out of many that night. I was in the ocean hundreds of miles from home. There was no way to escape.

Cherry’s Point of View

     From my sparse room in the renovated cavern, I heard Raymond’s boat approach. His footsteps drew nearer to me, and he grabbed the chain hooked to the collar around my neck and led me to the bedroom, where I saw her. Jasmine, the woman he constantly spoke of. He’d actually taken her.

     “You remember everything I’ve told you about how to please her, Cherry?” I gulped. I’d never been with a woman before. He yanked the chain, cutting off my oxygen. “Answer me, whore.”

     “Yes, Raymond. I remember,” I croaked out.

     He let go of the chain. “Good. I want my time with her first. I’ll introduce the two of you when I’m ready.”

     I nodded and he led me back to the room in the rock, anchoring the chain to the wall. I sat on the bare twin mattress that lay on the ground. Raymond had taken me several months ago; three, if my counting was correct. Walking home from the bar, Aiden, my boyfriend, was going to meet me at his place when he finished his drink. I had been pulled into an alley by Raymond, thrown into his van. He had made it known that I was his s*x slave, his w***e to use as he saw fit.

     I envied Jasmine in some ways, and pitied her in others. She would not be subject to the same level of cruelty I had been. He wanted her in pristine condition, to force her into matrimony. I was just someone for him to take his frustrations out on until he could get his hands on her. Now, my job was to please them both. He’d made me watch pornography, read books on how to sexually sastisfy a woman in preparation for her arrival. My pleasure did not matter here - only Raymond’s.

     I would never be forced to marry him, to tell him I loved him, or to have his children. I would never have to sleep in the same bed as him, live with him. Some days, there were parts of me that wanted so badly to be let out of these chains that I considered telling him that I was in love, that I would be his wife and give him everything that he wanted. My hatred for him always beat out my desire for freedom. I would rather die than to be with him.

     Jasmine’s sobs echoed through the cave that night. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that someone would find us.