WP Platinum Archives

Archive for October 6th, 2007

*Abduction: Awakening IV

Posted on Saturday, October 6th, 2007

I opened my eyes, and before my vision had adjusted to take in the pale, creamy swirls of the ceiling above me - I had thought of her. I rubbed the heels of my palms over my eyes, and rolled over to look at my watch. It took me a second to register the date. Sunday, just after 6 in the morning.

I needed to bruise her today. The worst of it would come tomorrow, when Tony, a spy for my uncle, would come to see the progress made. With bruises, however, the worst of it took time to show. Today, she’d have to be marked.

I’d left her alone for a few days, resigned to watching her through the cameras I’d installed in the room about a week before her arrival. She was docile, but I suspected that was only because the person bringing in the food was not me — and armed. She wasn’t behaving as I’d anticipated, but then, she never had.

I rolled out of bed, and walked to the bathroom, glimpsing at the monitors. She had covered 4 and 9. The first only showed black, the second one had a fraction of some room detail in the corner. I flicked my gaze to the others, saw her still sleeping in the bed. It was enough to satisfy some part of me.

The light in the bathroom was harsh and hurt my eyes. I frowned, blinking rapidly as my pupils adjusted. Gray hair was the first thing I noticed. It seemed to be a more and more frequent occurrence in the last two years. The burden of the money wasn’t driving my stress, it was having no one else to share it with. Who would have thought I’d be ready to settle down just as it became impossible to do so? Karma wasn’t limited to Buddhists or Hindus then — damaged Catholics were also on the list.

I turned on the hot water in the shower and let it run until the mirror began to fog over. I stared at my reflection until I could no longer see myself, steeled myself for the hot punch of the needles and stepped in. A sound was strangled out of my throat as it assaulted me. I felt the steam slide into my throat and try to choke me.

I knew, somewhere in my mind, that place where my conscience resides, that no amount of hot water, no amount of soap or bleach, would ever be able to wash the blood off of my hands. The part of me that was okay with that, the part that justified my actions as being only a bi-product of their deeds, was killing the rest of me. I feared the day, soon coming, that I looked in the mirror and saw nothing.

Posted in Abduction: Awakening by Daemon | 3 Comments »