Crimson Vows

9: The Whip and the Chain

Anya’s POV

My eyes open slowly.

The world looks blurry at first, light from the window hurts my head.

I blink many times, the blur goes away little by little.

The room becomes clear. I see the silk bed under me. The bars on the window.

I try to sit up but my arms do not move far.

Something cold bites into my wrists. I look up and saw silver cuffs locking my hands to the headboard.

One cuff on my left wrist, another on my right.

The metal feels tight and hurts my skin.

The gray dress I wore is gone. I am in the thin white nightgown again.

My hair is wet and sticks to my face and neck. I remember the river. The cold water. Lev’s hand.

Everything feels heavy.

The door opens with a small sound.

Sonya walks inside. She is carrying a bowl of water, the bowl shaking a little.

I speak first but my voice is rough.

“Sonya, free me. Please take these cuffs off.”

But she says nothing.

She place the bowl on the small table beside me. Her hands were trembling, fixing her gaze on the floor.

This is not like her. Sonya always talks. She always smiles.

I look at her face closer and my stomach turns.

Her face is swollen and dark like she has been hit, her mouth is cut wide. Dry red rests on the gash and deep marks fill her face.

Her eyes are red from crying. She looks broken.

I understand now.

Nikolai is not a man to play with.

He is real danger.

Sonya takes a white cloth from her pocket.

She dips the cloth in the cold water and brings it to my face.

She washes the dirt and dried tears gently.

Tears run down her cheeks as she works.

“I tried to help you,” she whispers.

Her voice breaks. “I am so sorry, Anya.”

I want to scream at her.

I want to ask why she works for him.

But I see her face. I see her pain but I stay quiet.

Sonya moves to my wrists.

She examines the red cuts from the cuffs, then take out bandages from her pocket and wraps them around the sore skin.

Her fingers are soft but quick. She finishes, leaves the bowl on the table and walks to the door.

The lock shuts behind her and I am alone again.

The door opens one more time.

Nikolai steps inside.

He wears a black coat, snow melts on his shoulders and falls to the floor in small drops.

He stands at the foot of the bed and looks at me with eyes cold as ice.

He says nothing at first but takes a small silver key from his coat pocket.

He walks to the bed and unlocks the cuff on my right wrist.

The metal opens and my arm falls free.

He speaks in a flat voice.

“You think you could escape from my fortress?”

He stops for a second.

“Since you do not understand yet, let me spell it for you. You are mine. You belong to me. You can’t escape. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not forever. The earlier you get it, the better for you.”

He stops again.

“You try to run again, Sonya dies slow.”

I pull on the free cuff. The chain makes a loud rattle sound.

“You use her to control me?” I ask.

My voice shakes with anger.

Nikolai adds more words.

“One more thing. Sonya was just a free doctor who works underground. But the moment she helped you, you ruined her life. Because now, I am not letting her go.”

His boots make heavy sounds on the floor as he walks toward the bed.

He speaks again.

“Now it is time for your punishment. Something to make you remember who you belong to.”

I still have one hand cuffed to the bed so my movement is limited.

Nikolai stands close.

He grabs the front of the thin white nightgown at my neck and pulls hard.

The fabric tears with a loud rip.

The gown splits open down the front.

My chest. My stomach. Everything shows.

He moves to the pants of the gown and grabs the waist.

He rips them down my legs. The cloth tears easily.

He throws the pieces on the floor.

And I lie naked except for the cuff and chain.

Nikolai opens the drawer in the nightstand and takes out a short whip.

The handle is black leather. The tail is long and thin.

He raises the whip high and brings it down fast.

The leather hits between my legs and strikes my p***y.

Pain explodes. Sharp fire burns my c**t. I scream loud. My body jerks hard.

The chain on the cuff pulls my left arm.

He raises the whip again, lashing my p***y a second time.

The pain is worse. My c**t throbs with heat and tears fill my eyes.

I bite my lip to stop another scream, making blood to fill my mouth.

He hits again. And again. And again.

Each strike lands on my p***y and c**t.

Hot. Swollen.

I cry.

My legs shake. I cannot close them.

He stops after many lashes.

My p***y burns like fire.

The pain stays even when the whip stops.

Nikolai looks at me with cold eyes.

“Next time, it will not be a whip. Do not dare me.”

He drops the whip on the floor, the leather lands with a soft sound.

He turns his back, walk to the door and shut it behind him.

I lie alone on the bed.

Pain pulsing between my legs.

My p***y hurts with every small move.

One hand stays free while the other stays chained.

Tears wet the pillow under my head.

Sonya’s bruised face stays in my mind.

Her split lip. Her swollen cheek.

She is trapped because of me.

My body feels broken.

Escape feels far away.

Snow falls outside the window.

The flakes look soft. But everything inside me is hard pain.