FicWad

Uncertainty floated around in Paulina’s head, twisting her insides nervously. She had still, more, questions, and she didn’t know if or when she would get any answers. Was this to be the rest of her life? Were there more men waiting to wreak more pain and suffering upon her? How much time had elapsed since she’d been taken? She decided that there was nothing to be done about her situation besides sit back and wait for something to happen, or for someone to come back and beat the shit out of her once more.

The door opened once more, and Paulina was just as frightened and anxious by it as she had been the first two times. She didn’t expect it to be a familiar face, and she was correct. It was a new body that blocked out the light from beyond the door, a new weight of footfalls upon the stone steps down into Paulina’s prison, and a new presence that stood in front of her, inspiring as much fear and trepidation as his predecessors.

Paulina couldn’t see the new man’s features very well, but he was of average height, with a shaggy mop of dark hair that fell well below his jaw. His skin was almost as pale as Paulina’s, and it showed, even in the dark of the basement. Being unable to see very well, Paulina could just make out a smile that twitched up the corners of the pale man’s mouth.

“Hello, Paulina,” he said, almost-grinning down at the young girl. She didn’t say anything, just drew shaky breaths as she tried to gauge what kind of abuser this man would be. Her silence, however, seemed to dissatisfy him, and he grabbed her forearm, yanking her up from the floor and forcing Paulina to stand before him, shaking like a leaf on a branch. “I said hello to you, Paulina.” His smile became even wider, and Paulina’s heart began to skip beats, she was so frightened. His maniacal grin did nothing to entice her to speak, only scaring her into further silence. He had not let go of her arm after pulling her up, and, spurred by her silence, the man began to squeeze it uncomfortably tight, increasing the strength with which he gripped until she cried out, and continuing, still, after that.

“H-h-hello!” she gasped, struggling to wrench her arm out of his grasp. He finally let go, and Paulina glance down to see four large, red marks that would probably bruise decorating her arm, and the faintest of faint crescent impressions where his (she now saw) bitten-down nails had dug into the flesh.

“Indeed,” he said, satisfied with her greeting. “Can you guess my name?”

Paulina faltered. Guess his name? Was that a joke? There were thousands of names out there, and she doubted that she could just say ‘I don’t know’ and get away from it unscathed. Then again, silence could mean an even worse punishment. She didn’t know what to do. As her mind raced, Paulina didn’t realize that she wasn’t saying anything, and her silence was, indeed, earning her another harsh beating.

The man suddenly lunged forward, pushing Paulina to the ground. She fell hard on her back, and before she could get up, the man was on top of her, one hand pinning both of hers over her head, the other covering her mouth, from whence a scream had just issued. His knees were on either side of her, pinning the weak girl helplessly to the ground. He lowered himself so that his nose was hovering just inches from hers, his breath puffing out warmly onto her skin. His face sidled in beside hers, his mouth mere centimeters away from Paulina’s ear. “My name,” he whispered. “Is Gerard.”

“That’s a nice name,” Paulina managed to choke out. Gerard’s upper-torso was pressing down on her chest, and the girl was having trouble breathing. Gerard barked out a humorless laugh.

“I’m about to beat you within an inch of your life, and you tell me I have a nice name/” He laughed again, tossing his head back. Paulina was quite certain, beneath her shaking fear, that this man was certifiable.

The man’s hand slid away from her cheek, where it had been resting, and brushed the white flesh of her neck. He let up on the grip on her wrists and placed the hand that had been holding them on Paulina’s neck, as well. His fingers encircled her throat, beginning to squeeze, tighter and tighter. When she felt completely unable to breathe, Paulina’s hands instinctively flew up to those of her attacker, her nails clawing at his fingers to make him ease up. As blood began to gather under her fingernails, Paulina was shocked that this man seemed to feel no pain at all. He must have felt her long nails, the tear of his skin, the dribbling on blood down his fingers and around her neck. But no, he either couldn’t feel it, or was able to ignore it completely.

Finally, the pressure disappeared from Paulina’s windpipe, and she was able to breathe once more. She gasped, coughing and sputtering, actually spitting up a bit of stomach bile that had risen at the imminent threat of death. Gerard leaned down, crossing his arms atop Paulina’s chest and leaning his head forward upon them. She continued to cough, her breath lifting a few stray locks of hair from his face with its force.

“Your eyes are lovely when you’re begging for your life,” he remarked. He continued to stare at his prisoner, surveying her quietly as her chokes settled and she was able to breathe normally once more.

She felt incredibly on-edge with Gerard so close, and she was shaking as Gerard removed his arms from her chest and replaced it with his face. He lay his ear against her sternum, listening to the jolted, irregular heartbeat thumping through Paulina’s shirt.

“Your heart is pumping like a little bunny-rabbit’s.” He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and holding it for a moment, before exhaling in a long, low whistle. “Faster and faster. With every second that passes, your heart just goes faster and faster. It’s like a little song, a lovely little song you wrote just for me. I’m flattered.”

Gerard slid up her body, lifting his head from her chest and lowering his face to hover above hers. He took note of the fear in her eyes, and Paulina was certain that his grin widened, ear-to-ear. He leaned lower, until his mouth was just brushing hers, and then Gerard continued on to press his lips against Paulina’s, making her face blush a brilliant crimson that would have been very noticeable, had they not been in complete darkness. She had never hugged a boy, much less had a man tackle her to the ground and kiss her.

His lips were warm and thin, meshing messily against her own, making Paulina inwardly cringe. Although she hadn’t ever been kissed, she was somewhat certain that this was not what it was supposed to be like. For starters, both parties were usually prepared and willing…

Gerard began to open his mouth, trying to force his tongue between Paulina’s lips. She resisted, clamping her mouth shut tightly, forgetting, for a moment, that defiance could cost her dearly. Indeed, it did. At her insolence, Gerard’s fingers slid around her throat once more, constricting her air passages, causing Paulina to open her mouth to gasp for oxygen.

He let go, continuing to assault her lips with his own, forcing his tongue into Paulina’s mouth. The feel of it made the girl’s stomach writhe with disgust, and she tried to turn her head to the side to avoid the kiss, if it could even be called that. Gerard’s fingers gripped the sides of Paulina’s face, forcing her to keep forward. Finally, he pulled a away, and Paulina drew a long, rasping breath. She shook her head for a moment before reaching up and wiping her mouth, which was wet with Gerard’s saliva.

Gerard guffawed, not getting up from straddling Paulina’s hips. “You didn’t like it!” he said, letting out another hyena-like cackle. He got up, pulling his captive up along with him. Before she could gain her bearings, Gerard had grabbed her around the waist and thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Paulina couldn’t stifle a gasp as he did so. “Shush!” he said, slapping her exposed rear-end with a sharp smack. “You’re ruining the fun!” This was followed by another bark of laughter.

“Let’s play a game!” he continued. “It’s called, ‘Catch Me’!” Gerard lifted the girl off of his shoulder, grabbing her hips and throwing her into the air, easy because Paulina was so tiny. As she fell back down, Gerard stepped back, still holding out his arms to catch her. She crashed to the ground, landing in a heap about four feet from where Gerard was standing. “Oops!” he crowed, throwing his arms up into the air. “You lose!” Paulina had no doubt about that.

In one swift movement, Gerard had gathered Paulina in his arms once more, cradling her like a small child. He was walking toward the stairs, and began taking them one at a time. Paulina’s heart was thumping painfully in her chest. Was he going to continue this “game” at the top of the stairs? It was going to be a much longer fall…

But no. The door opened, and, for the first time since arriving there, Paulina was carried out of her basement-dungeon and into the rest of the building. There was light everywhere, and Paulina was forced to clamp her eyes shut against the harsh glare. She was so used to the dark, dank basement that the illumination made her head pound. After a few minutes of walking, Paulina heard a door open, and then she was set down on something soft. She chanced cracking her eyes open, and found that the atmosphere was less bright and more tolerable. She looked around.

She was in a room, laying on a bed. The bed felt like heaven after trying to fall asleep on the cold, hard ground of the basement. Her back tingled, and she moaned quietly. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, continuing to look around. Gerard was in a corner of the room, setting up what looked like a large easel.

“Wha--” she stopped short, mid-sentence, as she realized that she had been about to ask a question. Gerard took no notice, pulling a large sketchpad out of the closet and propping it up against the easel. He pulled out a box that, when opened, revealed an assortment of charcoal pencils.

“Sit up straight,” he ordered, all traces of insanity and wild hilarity gone from his voice. The maniacal smile had disappeared from his face, leaving behind a serious, somber look of business. Paulina slowly complied, letting her knees fall away from her chest. She leaned her back against the wall, slightly unsure of what was going on. “Pull one knee up into your body,” Gerard instructed, examining her over the top of his easel. She did as she was told. “Now, put your other arm on your knee so that your hand dangles off like this.” He demonstrated, and Paulina copied his movement. “Good. Now, don’t move, don’t speak, and try not to breathe or blink too much.”

“Okay,” Paulina said quietly, not wanting to chance a nod. She took shallow, light breaths and let her eyelids hover so that she wouldn’t have to blink as much.

And so, as one hour climbed into two, which climbed into three, the two sat in silence. The only sound in the room, or the entire house, it seemed, was the scratching of charcoal on the thick sketch-paper. The sound, oddly enough, was somewhat soothing to Paulina. All she thought about was the sound; not her situation, not everything she had lost, not the imminence of this being the rest of her life, just the nice, light sound of art being made. And it didn’t hurt that she was sitting on a nice, comfortable mattress…She was calm for the first time since waking up in the basement.

All too soon for Paulina, Gerard stopped drawing and stood, ripping the page he’d been drawing on out of the book. Once more, Paulina found herself being thrown over Gerard’s shoulder and carried through the building in which she was imprisoned. Being upside down and on her stomach, Paulina wasn’t really able to see anything or make out rooms or architecture. For all she knew, they were keeping her in a castle.

All she recognized was the damp smell and air of her own little prison in the dungeon as she was carried through the door and set on top of the stairs. The picture that Gerard had drawn was dangled in her face, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she was able to see, Paulina gasped. She reached up and grabbed it, peering at it closely.

It was like staring into a photograph that had been taken an hour ago. The detailing was spot-on, and the shadows that fell on the bed, the sheets, her own skin, was so realistic that Paulina couldn’t stop staring. How Gerard had managed to do something so amazing, Paulina couldn’t guess. “This is…” She couldn’t find the words to accurately describe her thoughts. “Amazing,” she breathed, continuing to scrutinize every aspect of the drawing. Suddenly, it was plucked from her hands, making her look up.

After hours and hours of work and concentration, Gerard stood before the subject of his drawing, tearing it in half, then in half again, then in half again. He continued to shred the paper until not a single line was recognizable as a drawing. Paulina’s eyes grew wide, and her lower lip trembled as she watched him destroy the art that he had worked so hard on without batting an eyelash. Once the paper was decently shredded, Gerard held the pieces in his hand and sprinkled them down on Paulina. The scraps fell like confetti all around her, landing on the steps like snowflakes.

She looked up into Gerard’s eyes, wishing she could ask why he’d done that, how he’d been able to just throw away three hours’ hard work; but she couldn’t. She could only look up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

And she could only cover her head with her arms as he placed his foot in the middle of her abdomen and pushed, making her tumble down the stairs. She landed at the bottom, deciding that, if she moved, the pain would just become more real. So she lay in a crumpled heap, and waited for the next man to come get her.


I wonder why I always make Gerard so bat-shit insane? Hmm...food for thought, I suppose. Please go comment/rate/subscrube. I'm sorry this took so long, I was getting stumped as to how to keep this story from getting repetetive. Constructive criticizm is always welcome. Thanks. OverAndOutxx