The Flame of Catalina

Almost

Chay's POV

I woke up lying down on my back. The ground was hard and cold, and before I opened my eyes, I could smell the musky scent of mold. I blinked and sat up to find myself in a small stone cell with a door made up of bars. It was lit by torches that hung on the walls around the small chamber that acted as an intersection for the five cells in the prison. There was a large wooden door that was directly across from my cell door that seemed to be the only way in or out of the jail.

The cell itself was pretty empty. It was lit only by the light outside in the chamber. There was a medium sized wooden bucket in the corner with a dirty rag. The appearance gave me enough information for what it was used for. Not ten feet away in the other corner lay a pile of hay that I presumed could be used for a bed. I looked down at my feet. My ankle had been cuffed to a chain that was anchored on the ground. The chain seemed to extend enough to reach all the corners of the room but not much farther. I was still in my clothing, but my satchel was gone.

How could I have been so stupid? I thought to myself.

I sat back against the wall as the panic sank in. I had to get back to Garin soon. We ate dinner last night, but the meal was mere scraps. It was why I was going out today for food. How long had I been out for? I was underground from what I could tell from the lack of windows so I had no sense of what time it could be. Garin must be so worried about me. I never lied; he knew the danger I faced when I left to steal from the farm. He knew if I wasn’t back in one day’s time, it meant he needed to fend for himself until I got back, if I did. I had to get myself together and come up with a plan to get out of here. I remembered losing consciousness right outside the fence of the royal property at dusk.

Thank gods I scouted the area for years I thought to myself as I started to brainstorm.

I figured I was in a cell within the property. I could only think of one building on the property that could be used for thieves, and it was the main cabin. It was where all the soldiers slept, so even if I did manage to get out of the ankle cuff and open the cell door, I would need to get past the possible guards outside. I tried to think of a way out of the cuff when the wooden door opened.

A guard walked into the prison common area. I stood up but kept my head down and took a few steps away from the cell door. I wasn’t sure what I was in for yet, and the less attention I brought to myself, the more likely I stood to get out of this unscathed. He approached my cell door slowly, sizing me up and probably trying to figure out whether he would need excessive force to get me to do what he wanted.

I glanced up and tried to take in as much as I could, not wanting to look longer than necessary. He was taller than me by a few inches. He looked to be in his forties or fifties based on his gray hair and wrinkling face. He had a round stomach that made the leather armor he wore over his clothing stretch in an unflattering way. He had a belt that had a knife holstered on his left hip. His thinning hair was flat on his head, looking greasy like he hadn’t bathed in the past few days.

I moved my eyes down and knew he got to my cell door. When I saw his legs through the bars and he started fumbling with the door, he broke the silence. 

“Here is what is going to happen. I am going to open this door and you are going to take off those pants. You will willingly spread your legs and when we are done, I will let you go home. Do you understand?”

I started trembling. I didn’t even lookup. He took that as confirmation because from my peripheral vision, I watched him open the barred door. “Start undressing.” He said closing the short distance between us and reaching for his belt.

Blood rushed into my ears as my hands became clammy. When his belt was off but saw I was just standing there looking down, he cursed to himself and grabbed my arm. He pulled me towards the hay and pushed me headfirst into the pile. I hit the thin haystack, contacting the stone below. He straddled the back of my upper thighs, and his hands were on my hips, looking for the waistline of the pants to pull down. I lay frozen until I felt his rough hands skim my skin where my shirt and pants met. I screamed, thrashing against him by bucking my hips and trying to swing my arms back. He snaked his hand through my hair, gripped hard, and threw my face into the ground. When my face collided with the ground, tears formed in my eyes from the impact to my nose. Bile rose from my stomach, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I froze as he leaned over my hunched form and pressed his growing erection against my rear. 

“Listen here girl, stop fighting or first I’ll beat ya’ bloody until you can’t fight back and then continue.” He spoke.

His hand unraveled from my hair, and he sat back up on my thighs. He pulled the knife from his belt and used it to cut my shirt off. He pulled it off my back and reached around to pinch my exposed n****e. His other hand moved around my hip to keep me grinding against his p***s, bringing me to my hands and knees. I actively forced the bile down and reacted without thinking. I pushed onto my knees, throwing him off balance. I threw my head back and hit his face. He fell backward, falling on his butt holding his nose. I stood and kicked out, connecting with his face. Using the momentary distraction, I ran to the opened cell door. I touched a bar only to have my ankle be yanked back by the chain around it. I slipped back and fell on my stomach, slapping my chin against the floor. My teeth hurt but all I could focus on was the guard's hands forcing my pants down my legs. His hands at once fell away

“s**t. Cover yourself, I will be back.” I stayed still as he stood at my feet, pulled his pants up, and refastened his belt.

I sat up only when he left the cell and closed the barred door. With my back towards the cell door, I pulled up my pants as he locked it. He was already across the room to the wooden door by the time I took my ripped shirt and wrapped it around myself. He left through the wooden door and then I was alone again. 

My heart was pounding as I stared at the closed door. I had almost been... I squeezed my hands into fists to the point of discomfort, forcing myself to focus on that and stay present. I needed to be as alert as possible because there couldn’t be any good reason as to why he would stop mid... that. I looked down at my ankle where it was sore from where the chain dug in. I wasn’t sure how to continue because I was left where I started, but I had to be ready for when he came back. I waited for what seemed like hours before my adrenaline was burnt out and I fell asleep.