Chapter 6
1793 Words
Rose pinched her eyes to adjust to the ridiculously bright light before her.
As she did that, she realised she was stiff and uncomfortable, and her ears picked up weird noises. Once her heavy eyes opened, she unclenched her urethra and allowed the pressing urine to pass.
While it was disgusting, she was relieved.
Then, with a shiver, she focused on the projected video in front of her.
In it, two people were in the sixty-nine position, eating each other out with passion and laughter.
Rose frowned and wondered if there was a point in Richard tying her up to watch such a thing.
Rose did not recall a lot after she slumped in the kitchen, but at intervals, she glimpsed and heard Richard cursing while tying her up.
When the faces of the people having s*x became fully exposed, her chest thundered and her eyes widened to see that it was her husband who was receiving pleasure from another woman.
“Nicely done, isn’t it?”
Rose flung her head in the direction of the voice.
“Ri-” It was painful to speak.
“Shh. This is just the beginning. There’s a lot more to watch.”
“Richard!” Rose managed to cry despite how her throat hurt. “Can’t you just let me go? Huh?”
This time, she could not fight the tears. The pain was too intense now.
“I won’t trouble you. I won’t ask for a divorce anymore.” She shook her head in plea. “I will run far, far away. You will never see me again! Please. Please, Richard, please! This is too much!”
The ropes holding her were vicious; they bit her arms and legs. That added to the pain.
“If you run away,” he paused the video after reaching for a clicker, “I will catch you.”
“Ohhh,” she moaned with regret. She should have just gone with that stranger. She should have just accepted his help. “Richard, please.”
“Just for today, you’ll gain a little freedom.”
Her eyes filled with hope, but she dimmed them before he could change his mind.
He continued, “We have bible study at church. Pastor Remi asked that we come together.”
Richard walked closer, then past her.
Sensing him in that blind spot made her more fearful. It was unclear what he was doing and what he could do.
So, she listened and monitored his movements.
A few unusual noises were made, but he did nothing to her and walked to her front with a gown in his hold.
He continued, “I’ll clean you up, and you will wear this. Once we get there, make sure you say nothing.” He brought his face closer, and she shook with fear, her eyes almost squeezing shut. “If you do as much as cough or sneeze, that virgin hole of yours will get branded tonight.”
Her tears rolled down more, and she pressed her lips to show him she would listen.
“Is that clear?”
She nodded.
“f*****g answer me!”
“Y-yes. Oh, God.” Her breath trembled, and she wished to disappear at that moment.
It was just too much.
“Ugh. Did you pee on yourself?” He covered his nose. “Disgusting, Rose. Do better.”
In her mind, Rose was slapping herself over and over again because she clearly calculated her escape in the most stupid way.
“In case you’re wondering how you got here,” he smugly continued, he was enjoying her heated tears, “it was easy. I drugged everything eatable and drinkable in that house. When I woke up from that brief sleep, it was easy to escape those silly, sexy ropes. If you had not drank that water, you would not be here.”
He held her chin to feast on the mess on her face. “You will never escape this, Rose. You are mine to play with as much as I want.”
Rose could no longer muster the strength to beat herself up.
With what little strength she had, she decided to use the Bible study as an opportunity to escape. She was barely thinking straight, but the fight for survival was raging inside her; one way or the other, this time, her plan had to work.
[break]
“God bless the reading of his word,” Pastor West exalted.
“Thanks be to God,” answered the congregation, except Rose, who was looking out of the window, distracted and distant.
“Uh…” The Pastor continued. “We don’t usually do this on Bible Study days, but whenever there is an issue in the church, we must address it. And iniquities should be called out as well.”
Rose returned her attention to the service after she glanced at the long sleeves hiding her injury.
“Mr. Richard Walms,” the Pastor called, “can you please step out?”
After Richard glanced at her as though warning her to keep mute, he walked out with a smile on his face; the smile sickened her greatly, and she almost threw up what was left in her guts.
“Mrs. Rose Walms, please do not be afraid. Everything will be alright. The Lord is in control. Please, let’s pay attention to what our head pastor wants to say to us. Pastor Remi?”
“Praise the lord,” Pastor Remi walked to the altar, his smile on point as always. “As Pastor West said, please let's listen carefully. On Sunday, Mrs Rose approached one of our sisters and voiced a very terrible concern of hers. That concern was scary, and I could only imagine how it had devastated our dear Rose. Upon investigation, we found out that her concerns and experience were true. While contemplating how to go about this issue, we anonymously received an audio file which shocked us greatly.”
Pastor Remi nodded at the media team, and the heated conversation between her and Richard that she recorded filled the room.
Rose jumped to her feet, her eyes widened in shock.
The entire church murmured during and after the audio played, and many people glared at Richard in shock.
“W-wait… wait…” Richard was thrown off, the despair on his face gladdened Rose. “This is not true. This is fake! It is fake! This is a lie!
“Huh… Please let us be quiet,” Pastor Remi continued when the audio ended. “During our investigations, we easily found evidence of Mr. Richard openly frolicking with women. Not once did we witness the simplest affection towards his wife. Yesterday, I tried reaching Sister Rose because she was clearly in danger, but nothing came out of that attempt. The only option I could think of was publicly announcing on our online group that Richard and Rose must attend today’s Bible Study. “
“This is all a lie, Pastor! I am innocent. She is the cheat. How can I cheat on her? She is the one hurting me! She has been cheating on me even before we got married we-”
“Please, Richard.” There was something about Pastor Remi. He smiled a lot, but his stoicness could never be joked with. “Sister Rose, I would love to hear you speak.”
Rose’s throat still hurt, and her tears choked her once again.
All she could do was lift the sleeves of her ugly gown to expose the terrible markings from the rope.
People gasped, some cried out to God for help in the situation and within all that, Rose’s cries became louder, she fell to her knees and cried her heart out.
“Rose has suffered a lot. She sought for divorce to escape from this man, but he never consented. This time, he has no choice but to consent. Rose deserves peace of mind. She deserves joy and love. She needs to be the beautiful woman that God created her to be. But this man has deprived her of all those wonderful things.”
“Yes, Pastor,” a woman cried. “She needs to walk away from this monster!”
Hearing all that gladdened Rose so much that her tears gradually began to ease the pain in her soul.
“Let us dial down the name-calling. The church has communicated with the appropriate law enforcement agencies, they will arrive soon to-”
A loud bang flung the front door open.
Sniffling, Rose looked up and watched as a tall man dressed in all black, with a well-covered face, walked down the aisle.
His head moved as he searched for someone in the congregation.
“Young man, who are you? What do you want?” Pastor Remi demanded while some people tried to calm the church.
When the man saw Rose, he strutted to her, and she realised who it was.
He was the stranger who offered her a helping hand.
‘Perhaps,’ she thought, ‘ did he send the audio to the church?’
Her eyes softened when she realised that was the only explanation.
As he stopped in front of her, she looked up at him.
She tuned out the clamour in the background for many seconds and focused on the man whose pretty eyes peeked past the clothing covering his face.
Then, he stretched his hand.
She wanted to accept that gesture, but Richard screamed at her so much that she was pulled back to the noise in the building.
But before she could react or say anything, the man lifted her into his arms, and with his peculiar swagger, he moved.
As he walked, Rose noticed that everyone in the room appeared frozen. No one was moving; they were all stuck in weird postures.
“Wh- what is going on?” she faintly asked.
“I apologise, Rose,” he loosened the material on his face and fully faced her. “I could not wait any longer.”
“You should not be doing this,” she continued, her frown deepening because of her pain. “I don’t think I should leave like this. I-”
“This is the only way to help you right now, Rose.”
“I-”
“You should sleep,” he cut her short, his gaze telling her she did not need to contemplate or fight that moment. At the same time, he patted her to assure her that choosing to go with him was not a mistake.
And maybe, it would never be a mistake, Rose hoped as she relaxed and waited to see what awaited her beyond the life she was struggling to leave behind.
- Writer
