Within the Sapphire Forest

Chapter 18

I was so weak, I couldn’t look up at the building we approached. I had no idea where we were or how long we’d been traveling. I did barely remember  being stuffed into the middle seat of a van, but with the collar suppressing my energy, I was too delirious to remember any details, and I was fairly certain I’d passed out shortly after.

I was too numb to register we’d arrived at our destination until they were carrying me through the front door, and even then it was just a blur of colors and movement. The last part I truly remember before blacking out again was being thrown onto a bed and praying they didn’t touch me while I slept.

Thankfully, they must have decided I wasn’t worth anything asleep because I woke up in exactly the same position with my clothes as I left them. I sat up and looked around carefully, afraid of anyone who might be in the room, but I was alone. It was a plain room, no art, no furniture other than a bed and a simple folding chair, a tiny chest, and a small bathroom connected to the room.

I was still tied at my ankles and wrists so I couldn’t really do much more looking around. I tried to untie my wrists with my teeth, but it was a heavy duty knot and I couldn’t get it without hurting my jaw.

The door opened and a tall blonde woman who looked down on me with disdain entered the room with a dog leash in hand. She clipped it to the collar before I had a chance to fight.

“Hey, don’t!” I yelled, thrashing around.

She sneered and yanked on the leash, pulling me to the floor.

“Pets need to learn when to keep their mouths shut,” she hissed.

Then she helped me to my feet and removed my bindings.

“Master wants to see you now.”

She dragged me down the hall while I fought every step. Every now and again, she would yank hard so I fell to my knees, and if I touched the leash, she smacked me with the end. Finally, we entered a room that looked more like a bomb shelter than a meeting room. It touched a nerve so I looked around at the rest of the area.

I was so busy fighting, I hadn’t noticed the concrete small walls, or how I couldn’t find a window, and it had  a low ceiling and those awful cheap light fixtures that lasted forever but used up insane amounts of energy.

Nathan smirked as the blonde dropped the leash in his hands. He dismissed her and pulled on the leash so I was forced to stand in front of him.

“Hello again, Rabbit. Did you sleep alright?” he asked, reaching up to touch me. 

I didn’t know if he was reaching for my face or my hair, but it didn’t matter. I smacked his hand away.

“Fine,” I sneered.

“I see someone didn’t learn any lessons.”

He yanked on the leash, bringing me to my knees.

“You belong to me, and I will do what I want with you whenever I want.”

I looked up at him and growled with all of the force I could muster, “I mean this with all of my heart, I hope you burn in hell.”

He laughed at me as he pulled me to my feet by the collar.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be there with me.”

He threw me back on the ground and said, “Once you fall in line, follow the rules and behave as you should, the collar will come off.”

It was my turn to laugh, as I slowly rose to my feet to glare at him.

“And who do you think is going to take it off?” I asked.

He gave me a confused look as he answered, “Rose, your grandmother.”

I just laughed harder, which seemed to anger him. He lunged for my collar and held me up by it, my feet dangling. The whole scenario seemed too surreal and I laughed hysterically.

“She played you and you let her,” I told him.

“What?”

“The collar suppresses my magic, but she made it so only my blood magic can take it off. I need magic to take off the collar, but the collar suppresses my magic.”

I started laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe and tears burned my eyes. I could tell I was freaking Nathan out when he let me go. I held onto a table while I continued to let the hysteria run through me.

“I thought she said she could take it off,” Nathan growled.

“Only someone who also carries my blood magic can take it off,” I explained. “That means any blood relative who uses magic could, but I disowned Rose. I used a spell to sever our blood ties. We’re not related anymore!”

I fell to the ground laughing while Nathan looked on angrily. He called someone while I laid on the floor unable to control myself. It was just too damn funny. I knew for years that Rose was a manipulative controlling b***h, but here was the proof glaring down on me.

Cleo rushed into the room, worry etched into her features. She seemed excessively confused by the scene in front of her, but I couldn’t blame her.

“Tell me you are still in contact with Rose Garret, because if I have to go find that b***h, I’m going to kill you,” he roared, causing her to jump.

“Um, yes, I can reach out to her right now.”

Cleo left momentarily, and returned with a large black bowl filled with water, typical juvenile communication technique at best. There were many more sophisticated ways of communication, astral communication, mental links, even a crystal ball was better than a f*****g bowl of nasty water.

She recited the simple spell while waving her hands over the water. I rolled my eyes, wishing so badly I could do the damn spell myself.

The water finally shimmered and from my position at the end of the table, I could see the annoyed features of Rose Garret. 

She glowered up through the water and hissed, “What the hell do you want now? I gave you a way to capture Evianna, to hold her powers, and I’m hiding you from your former alpha. Do you want my kidney as well?”

“I want to know why the f**k you’re dicking me around, witch. I was just told that this collar could only be taken off by a blood relative of Evianna, and you are no longer her relative. So, what the f**k?” Nathan roared.

“I did what you wanted, I bound her magic.”

“But how do we unbind her magic? I wanted to use her magic to strengthen the pack, to take down the false alpha.”

Rose laughed and I cringed at how malicious it sounded, ringing out through the water.

“Do you really think I would give you a weapon as powerful as Evianna to use against me someday? That’s hysterical. I was never planning on unbinding her powers for you. I was going to wait until she learned her lesson and take her into the coven, but she took matters into her own hands and she’s on her own now. Good luck with that, and don’t call me again.”

The bowl shimmered and Rose vanished, leaving the room quiet. Without any warning, Nathan backhanded me so hard, I bounced off the opposite wall.

“You stipid b***h and your stupid cunt of a grandmother have pissed me off for the last time. I will find a way to take over the pack, and kill the false alpha.” 

I crawled away as he stalked toward me, but he quickly grabbed the leash and yanked me forward.

“I’m not sure how, but you will pay for this. If I have to spend the next decade taking it out on you, I swear I will do it happily.”

“I didn’t do this,” I argued. “I didn’t make you take me, I didn’t make you bind me, I didn’t even make Rose do something so stupid as to use my blood to bind the collar. Please, I didn’t do anything to you.”

He dragged me to my feet and held me inches from his face as he spit, “If you hadn’t intervened at the pack house, I would have killed Caden and become alpha. This is all your fault.”

He pulled me out of the room and down the tubular hall stopping at a random door to throw me in. I cried and fought as I saw the room was filled with shackles, whips, and other devious devices. He shackled me so I was facing the wall, and I heard the sound of movement. I tried to turn to see, but he barked orders not to move, so I stayed frozen in fear.

A sudden excruciating pain stung across my back with a snap. I cried out as another snapping sting radiated across my skin. He continued to whip me, forcing me to scream and cry. My back burned with agony, and I felt something trickling down my back, blood probably.

My vision darkened and I couldn’t keep on my feet. If not for the shackles, I would have fallen to the floor. Finally, the lashing ended, and Nathan scooped me up and carried me back to the prison he called my room. He threw me on the pain, causing more pain to radiate through my abused body.

“You are a stupid cunt, but I will not allow you to be useless. I will find a way to make something of you, I just haven’t decided how yet. So keep your mouth shut and mind what I tell you, or we’ll spend hours together in that room. Do you understand me?” he roared over me.

I nodded as best as I could, but it was weak.

“Good, and if you do behave yourself, I will reward you, maybe make our little room more pleasurable for you, use my toys to play instead of punish,” he purred quietly.

“No, please don’t,” I groaned, trying to roll away.

He growled and yanked me towards him roughly.

“I will have my way with you, and it can be very nice for you, or it can be the worst day of your life.”

I just groaned. I couldn’t focus any more on what he was saying, I just wanted to pass out, to let myself fall into darkness and forget everything.

The door shut and glanced to see I was alone in the room, thank goddess. I didn’t know what to do, or think, or feel, beyond all consuming numbness, and I knew I had to pull myself out of it eventually to start working on a way out of the hell hole I was in.

I let myself drift for a while, to feel nothing, but I pulled myself out of it and slowly, I began to feel the horrible stinging pain on my back. I struggled to my feet and limped to the bathroom, pleading for a mirror to see the damage.

My wish came true, but not without consequences. My back was bloody and criss crossed with deep gashes. They bleed continuously as every movement on my part caused them to open again.

The bathroom was a tiny horrendous mess, with lots of mold and pieces falling apart. Thankfully, there was a bathtub, and running water, but no shower. I did see a bucket, and when I looked, I noticed there was no water running in the toilet.

Fan-f*****g-tastic!

It was a shitty situation, but I could make it work. I stripped carefully, wincing and gasping in pain, and then I stepped delicately into the nasty tub. I ran the water, which was, thankfully, much cleaner than the whole of the bathroom, filled the bucket, and dumped the water down my back.

The excruciating pain almost had me doubling over, but I knew the chances weren’t great of the wounds healing properly if I couldn’t at least clean them. So, I filled the bucket, and dumped the water again. I kept going, as the water changed from reddish-pink, to a pale pink as my blood clotted and stopped running down my back.

I stepped out of the tub in search of a towel to dry off, but I couldn’t find any. I stood for a few minutes, drip drying and freezing cold. When I felt that I was dry enough, I wandered into the room to look for something to put on. 

What I found was hideous amounts of silky, see through lingerie that made my skin crawl. There was no way in hell I would ever wear any that nonsense, especially not in a place as vile as where I was at. I dug through the chest, praying there was something else, anything else at the bottom of the chest.

I was rewarded with a thin dress that at least covered me from my chest to my knees so I didn’t feel like I was walking around the place completely exposed. At that point, I couldn’t even tell I was wearing a collar, beyond the fact I felt weaker. It was weightless and didn’t inhibit me in anyway, other than when someone attached a f*****g leash to it to pull me around like a dog.

I sighed and decided that after the long day I’d had, I deserved a little rest and relaxation, even if the bed looked like something a hobo would throw out. I never got the chance to even touch the bed, when nasty blonde b***h walked in, with the damned leash in her hands.

“Come on, pet. Master wants to see you again after your little nap,” she snapped.

I rolled my eyes, but let her attach the leash. It was a lot easier than trying to fight her off, considering she would definitely beat me, and I was already in a lot of pain.

She led me back through the halls to the now all too familiar meeting room, where Nathan was discussing something with Cleo.

They turned to see me, and Nathan exclaimed, “Excellent, now we can begin!”

“Begin what?” I asked, skeptically.

“I’ve decided that since you seem to know quite a bit about magic, you can teach Cleo everything you know. If you two combine forces, I’m hopefully it will finally be the push I need to take over the false pack.”

“Do I have a choice?” I seethed.

“Not if you want to live peacefully here. If you say no, we could take another trip to my playroom.”

I shook my head at his words, terrified of seeing that room ever again.

“So, you’ll agree to it, then?” he pushed.

“Fine, if it’ll keep you from touching me I’ll do it.”

He rolled his eyes and gestured for the blondie to give the leash to Cleo. She led me back out of the room to a different room identical to the one I stayed in.

I spent the rest of the day teaching Cleo how to do a better communication spell. At the end of the day, she still couldn’t do anything other than the water bowl spell, but I couldn’t even keep my eyes open, so she took me back to my room so I could sleep.