Fresh Blood From Old Wounds
by N. M. Scuri
The first time, he used my scarf. "I
think I'll keep this. For the next time, aye?" And there was. While the
rest of the world saw Aiden, my charming fiancée, I was discovering a whole new
side to my Scotsman. The fall semester of my sophomore year, I was able to get
my pick of work study jobs. I got nights in the student lounge, and soon, no
one thought twice about seeing him on campus, even when I wasn't scheduled to
work. Being a thoughtful guy, he'd busy himself with hanging dart boards and
making small repairs ("ye canna' be too safe, lass"). His accent
would make my dorm mates giggle, but I knew better. After hours, I'd find out
about his little "improvements:" an eye hook here, a coat rack placed
just so, and a bit of reinforced shelving gave the term "game room" a
whole new meaning after hours. Not that I minded.
"You know what to do, Lindsay." I
gulped as he growled into my ear. I closed my eyes and nodded. "Good
girl." I felt my heart beat harder, faster. I wanted to hurry, to get
things started. "No rush, lass. Where's your hurry?" I forced down
the rising heat inside me, and taking a deep breath, slowly made sure the
blinds were closed and the door was shut. It had no lock on the inside and
Aiden refused to install one. "No need to do anything obvious," he
told me after I asked one afternoon that fall. "Besides, what are you
scared of?"
When I had finished, I turned to find him
leaning up against the pool table. It was a familiar pose, but the sight of
him, the lights of the game room silhouetted his oak-hard arms under his shirt,
as he shifted uncomfortably at the increasing snugness of his jeans.
I gasped. I couldn't help it. I fought the
urge to run over to him, tear at him, beg him to relieve the ache inside of me.
I moaned in my need. "Now lass, steady..."
"Oh, Aiden, I just..."
"Hush, lass. You know better than that.
You know what to do." I knew I was closing the game room, and being the
night before Thanksgiving break, I also knew the campus would be deserted.
I stood before him, slowly running my hands
over my nubby cardigan sweater, fingering the small, round buttons down the
front. I kept my eyes locked on his, and heard Aiden grunt in approval.
Carefully fingering the buttons, I slowly turned, easing the sweater past my
shoulders as I went, ending with my back towards him and my top crumpled around
my high-heeled shoes. He said nothing, but the sounds of him shifting against
the pool table told me all I needed to know, and I grinned in spite of myself.
I spun around, and brought my hands up to the front of my bra, toying with the
hardness under the thin silk. I forced myself to slow down. I knew what this
was doing to the both of us; I could feel his breach catch, as if it were the
air in my own throat.
"Keep going, lass." I turned my
back to him again, this time working the clasp on my corduroy skirt. I smiled
with satisfaction as I heard him moan as I undid the zipper, exposing the skin
underneath. I let the skirt fall away and turned again to face the heat and
desire raging in Aiden. "Ah, mo chirdhe, what you do to me... Come here.
Now." The change in tone demanded action, and I was moving before I
realized it. I wanted to feel him hard against me. Instead, I felt the familiar
silk scarf across my eyes, and, something new.
Before I could react, I was handcuffed, my
hands bound in front of me. The cold of the metal was a shock to my system,
clashing with the wet heat I felt. I couldn't comprehend any of it. Before I
could speak or react, Aiden pushed me up against the wall, my hands pinned up
behind my head. The chain between the handcuffs hooked where the dartboard was
normally hung. I felt his bare chest pressed against mine, his mouth on my
throat and between my breasts. I felt his teeth as he gnawed at the lace that
held my bra together. I heard him pull out his work knife and shivered as I
felt the cold steel between my breasts, the blade sliding as he cut the black
lace off of me. This was all very new. Part of me was terrified. Part of me
wanted more.
"That's better, eh?" It was more
of a statement than a question. I couldn't see, but I but I could feel his gaze
upon me. I squirmed. My hands were pinned tight to the wall, behind my head,
and my elbows were level with my ears.
I felt his teeth again, this time worrying
at my left nipple. The electric shocks radiated down to my now-soaked thong and
my body begged for relief. "Please, Aiden.... Now...." He ignored me,
but I could feel his hunger for me as he ravaged me. He hooked my heels in to
the hand-rail, splaying my knees out and opening myself completely to him. I
writhed and pulled against the restraints.
"Now, why are you trying to get away?
Don't you want me?" He didn't fool me at all, and it was all I could do
not to cry out when I heard footstep down the hall. It was campus security. We
could hear the guard approach, then head up the stairs to the next floor.
"Please," I begged,
"Aiden..." His tongue continued its attack along the arch of my
breast. I squirmed as he made his way lower and lower, wanting to scream, but
remembering the guard nearby. I slid down the wall, opening myself as far as I
could. "Please, Aiden, I can't..." He teased me with his mouth, his
arms pinning me up against the wall. I was helpless to stop it, even if I
wanted to. I felt the rough lace cord rub up against me as he tugged on the
front of my thong. Suddenly, he slammed in to me, my thong looped around my
left thigh.
I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. I was
shoved in to the paneling, forcing him deeper when the wall rebounded back. I
didn't care. I wanted it all. I wanted this to go on forever. I wanted release.
Just as I was about to climax, I felt
something shift on the wall over my head and thud as it hit the floor. I
couldn't see him, but I felt Aiden tense, then slump to the floor. I couldn't
see, couldn't move.
"Aiden? What happened? Are you
OK?? Aiden???" I tried to stay
calm, the heat I'd felt a few minutes before was gone instantly, replaced by a
cold pain in my gut. I knew security was still in the building.
"Damn deer head..." he groaned
from the floor beneath me. Freshmen, bored while waiting for their rides home,
thought it would be a riot to put sunglasses, a hat and cigarette on the deer
head mounted by where we were. I had tried to get it back on the wall. I...
"Aiden..." He'd gone quiet, his
arms falling away from me. I tried to get the scarf off, so I could at least
see, but Aiden had woven the ends in to my ponytail, so it didn't budge,
despite my trying to push it off. I fought to stay calm, to think. Think
clearly, but my heart pounded and the heat inside me was replaced with a slimy
cold.
The straps of my shoes dug in to my ankles
and was starting to rub in to the tendons above my heels. I took a deep breath
and pushed myself up, trying to unhook my hands. I could move them a little,
but the chain in between the cuffs was latched to the wall. Aiden could have
picked me up and freed me with no problem, but he... No, I reminded myself,
panic wasn't going to help. Panic was not my friend. Aiden was OK. Had to be
OK, but he needed me calm. Calm. Calm down. I took another deep breath. Maybe if
I jumped, I could get off the wall. The pain in my arms and back was gaining on
the damage my shoes were inflicting on my feet, but I bent my legs, pushing my
knees together. I counted to three and jumped as far as I could. I yelped in
pain.
My heels were stuck in the railing, and the
handcuff chain was caught in the latch. I could pivot, but I couldn't get down.
I also couldn't take the pressure off my arms because the angles were all
wrong. I tried to adjust my footing, but a sharp pain in my right foot stopped
me. Crap! I tried to hold on, but it was harder and harder to stay calm. I had
to. I knew I had to get us out of there.
I don't know how much time passes, exactly.
It could have been twenty minutes or twenty hours. The pain in my arms and legs
was more than I had ever thought possible. I nudged and shifted myself, trying
to make it a little better, but everything hurt. My ankle was starting to
swell, the straps cutting even more. All I could do was cry.
"Aiden! Please Aiden. Please, I need
you..."
The campus had emptied by early afternoon,
and Aiden and I were alone by 3pm. I didn't know what time it was, or if it was
even still daylight. I finally heard the chime of the big campus clock across
the quad, 6pm. Calm. Time to stay calm. Figure it out... Crap. I had to pee.
I let the urge to pee fight it out with my
panic attack. I was going to figure this out. Pain, discomfort and fear were
doing bad things to me. I forced myself to slow my breathing down. I pushed my
weight back on to my heels, and it took a little of the weight off of my feet.
Slowly, I ducked my head under my right arm. Forcing myself to focus on balance
and not the biting pain of my legs and arms, I was able to nudge the blindfold
up enough to see a little from my right eye. Even though it wasn't bright in
the room, the harshness of the light made me blink until I could see. Aiden was
on the floor, motionless. The deer head was next to him, a dark stain on the
corner of the wooden mounting plank.
"Aiden!" I tried to lunge for him,
but all I managed was to lose my balance, swinging from the latch, my feet
twisted even more painfully. The thrashing caused the blindfold to slip back in
to place and I frantically tried to pull myself back up to my perch.
"Breathe." I turned my head towards the wall, and using my thumb, I
pulled the scarf off of my face. I looked down at my feet: The fun, strappy
heels that were so cute a week ago were now a blood-stained mess. It wasn't
pretty, but at least I could see. "Focus. Steady. Breathe." I had to
block out the pain. Had to block out the fear, Aiden, everything, if I was
going to get us out. Wincing as I put all my weight on my left heel, I braced
myself on the wall peg with my hands and gingerly turned my right foot. Angling
it, I was able to get it out. Yes! Pride momentarily surged through me, but I
wasn't finished. Not by a lot. With my right foot on the floor, it was easier
to twist the other foot out. Finally, I was able to sit on the ledge I was
squatting on and take the tension off my aching arms. When I looked up, I could
finally see how I was anchored to the wall. It was a heavy brass clasp. My dad
would call it a lobster claw. The chain was too short for me to get my hands in
there to release the clasp. With my fists balled tight, I yanked, yanked on the
cuffs, wanting to pull the whole stupid thing down.
It didn't budge.
Damn Aiden, I thought. Leave it to him to
sink a bolt in to a main beam, or whatever he did.. Aiden.
I looked over at him and my heart sank. I
hung my head and the hot tears fell on my lap. "Aiden..."
"Lindsay."
My head snapped up at the sound of his
voice. His words were slurred. He tried to move.
"Aiden! Oh, Aiden, thank God you're
alive! You have to help me out of these. You need a doctor and.."
"Da? Where am I? Is that...
Where?"
"Aiden, honey. Please. It's me,
Lindsay. Please listen to me! We'll die here. You... Please Aiden..." My
voice rose. Pain clutched at me and I shook with fear. He turned to me, but
couldn't see me at all. He mumbled something in Gaelic and started to twitch.
He growled and lurched at me and I pushed myself up against the wall, away from
him. The pain shot up my legs and down my arms at the sudden movement. Growling
and snarling at me, he gasped as he twitched and shook and pulled himself
closer to me. "Aiden! It's me! Nooo!" I screamed as his cold hand
wrapped around my leg. I jerked it back, the pain as I slammed my head in to
the wall only made my howl louder. Blood foamed around his mouth, and drool
oozed out of the corners of his lips like red-flecked ropes. His eyes were
open, but Aiden wasn't there anymore. His hand was still wrapped around my
ankle and a bright red drop of blood ran from his left nostril.
He groaned, and never made another sound
again.
Slowly, his fingers released from my foot
and his hand dropped away. I sat there, numb from what I had felt and seen. I
cried, silently, my tears dropping down my cheeks and on to my bare breasts.
Before, I had felt sexy and alive. Now, everything was empty, gray and
worthless. "Why, God. Why Aiden?" Even then, I felt stupid, praying
to God while I was naked and chained to a wall, but I was beyond caring. I just
wanted it all to be a dream.
A loud click from across the room snapped me
out of my fog. The game room had a motion sensor that turned off the light if
the room was empty. The click was the sensor activating. I knew that soon, the
lights would go off. The sun was setting, and the room would be pitch dark.
"Bayyyyybaaayyy... You're my favorite
flaaaayyyyyvvvaaaa!" I jumped at the sound of my phone. The ring tone,
stupid as it was, told me my friend, Stephanie, was trying to call. Could I get
to the phone? Where the hell was it? I listened for the phone, hopping it was
close enough to get with my foot. I saw it by my purse, on the floor by Aiden's
arm. I missed the call, but if I could get to the phone, maybe... Earlier, I
would have been horrified if anyone knew what we did here. Now, I was past
caring. I couldn't think of Aiden dead. I had to hope that there was a chance,
if I just kept working. Maybe there was still a chance.
The phone was out of reach. My reach, but
not Aiden's. If I could nudge his arm with my foot, I could maybe hook the
phone and get it close enough. The speaker on it was good. Maybe. I shuddered
as I dug the toes of my left foot under his cold arm. "Aiden, I'm so
sorry. Please just help me." I pulled myself as far as I could, my right
arm on fire from my wrist to my shoulder, as I strained to move his arm to my
phone. I shuffled my but along the perch, balancing his arm on my bloodied
foot. Dead weight. No! Almost, almost, I got his hand to my phone.
"Please..." Up, and on! Arching my food as much as I could, I pressed
his hand on the phone and dragged it back towards me. Click! The motion sensor,
on the other side of the room, caught none of this and was giving its final
warning. Drag. The phone was getting closer, closer. "Come on."
Closer. I couldn't touch it with my hand, but would a toe do? My arms, the
pressure off slightly, were down from code red to just pain horrible. My feet
were throbbing and turning colors I never knew existed. I was still terrified,
but, I realized as I looked down, I didn't have to pee any more. Great.
Phone. Focus. The phone was turned front
side down. For me to do anything, I'd have to flip it over. I latched the toe
of my shoe under the phone, and gently tried to nudge it over. I had my toe
hooked under, just pushing slowly, slowly just getting it, and the phone
buzzed. Startled, I squeaked and watched the phone sail out of reach, the
charge indicator light blinking. "Damn you! Stupid stupid!!! What
now?!" I smacked my arms in to the wall in frustration. My anger turned to
horror as the lights in the game room turned off, one by one.
"Damn you! Damn you God, for doing this
to me! Why!?!" All thoughts of control were gone. All reminders to stay
calm were forgotten. I sat and sobbed. That was all I could do. No one. Nothing
could help me now. The last light went out, and I was alone in the dark.
A wave of nausea trailed up from my stomach
as I smelled a stench of rotting meat and low tide rose up in front of me.
"Ohh.. Verryyy nicceeeee." A voice of something female grated in my
ear. A cold breeze raked my arm. "Heeeee's minee nowwww. Yesssssss."
I could tell she was talking quieter, but I could hear her like thunder in my
head. "Mineee nowww. Sooooo gooood."
"Go! Go away! You're not real!" I
thrashed as I shouted. Blood from the shoe straps made my feet even stickier,
but I didn't care. "You're not real! You're dead. Go away!!" I
screamed and screamed. Finally, the stench was gone, and the nausea cleared. I
was still shaken. "God, I am sorry. Please help us. Please..." From
outside the door, I could hear footsteps. They were coming closer. They stopped
in front of the game room door. The guard was back.
This time, I couldn't care how they found
me. They could call my parents. They could kick me out of school. So long as
they could save Aiden and get me out, I didn't care. I thanked God, and tried
to scream. But nothing came out, only a rasping squeak. I tried swallowing,
clearing my throat to try again. The guard's walkie-talkie chirped to life. I
could hear it. I could hear him with the keys jangling on his belt.
"Help me," I croaked, louder this
time. Please, please God, let him hear me. I could hear the tower chime and I
knew it was midnight. "Help me," I sobbed, even louder. I heard a
hand on the door and my heart soared. Then, the guard's radio crackled.
"Yea," he answered, "I know
what time it is."
"No! Please..." I tried to shout.
I tried to bang in to the wall, make any noise I could, but it all came out as
a whimper.
"OK. I'll be right there. This
building's good." A key slid in to a lock, and as the footsteps faded into
the night, all I could do was hang my head and cry.
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