Unstable Serenity - Chapter 9, To No End
Max's POV cont'd
"No!" I jumped in.
I managed to delay the missile for a second so I could explain myself.
"Steven is in that truck!" I pointed out.
"Who's Steven?" Viktor asked.
"He's one of the slaves, he's such a good kid and he's helpless! We can't just kill him after all he's been through!" I stressed.
"This might be one of our only chances to take down one of the most wanted terrorists!" He shot back.
"We can't kill others in the process!" I started to cry at my statements.
"I would rather kill one to save thousands, than kill thousands to save one" Viktor replied.
It was a cold statement, but I knew it was true. I wanted the best for the otter and not have him die with the furs that abused him and beat him.
"We can't let him get away!" Viktor yelled out.
Tears ran down my cheeks as I began crying, I wanted to watch that otter be set free from this cruelty and life with a family that loves and cares for him. I want him to be educated and respected. But I knew that if this missile was going to hit its target, then I would never see the day that Steven would be set free, and Steven would never live freely see another day again, and know what it really means to live. Viktor was able to see the pain that I was feeling as he looked into my dark purple eyes, and he decided to change his mind.
"Don't fire the missile," Viktor ordered.
"But sir-" the Captain was cut off when Viktor put his paw in the air.
"Yes sir. Call off the strike!" The Captain relayed.
"You do realize that we had a chance here!" Viktor said to me.
"Yes I know, but I don't want Steven to die just because the ones who abused him had to" I spoke out.
We all stood silent for a few minutes, and I had known that my actions have caused one of the world's greatest enemies to escape, all because I wanted to save a victim of his demise.
"Keep searching for him" Viktor ordered.
"Sir, we believe that they've gotten away" the Captain said stressfully.
Viktor looked at me right in the eye, only centimeters from my face and said: "I can't believe you convinced me to let him get away like that. Next time, he's going to die, regardless of who's with him."
"I want to find Steven, and bring him home" I replied.
"Do you even know where he lives! He probably has no home!" Viktor yelled.
"I will find a home for him!" I said.
"You're coming with me to Moscow, we have a few issues to settle between us" Viktor explained.
Tbilisi, Georgia - 27 Hours Later
Steven's POV
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it!" I screamed. "I won't do it again, I promise!"
"You filthy bag of shit!" William slapped me hard across the face, and I stumbled onto my knees.
He then grabbed me by my left arm and tugged me towards him. "I will fucking murder you kid! But first, I'm gonna break you, piece by piece!" He had the scariest look of anger on his face.
"N-no, no no no! Please!" I pleaded.
He twisted my arm so hard it must have broken every bone in it. I screamed and he hit me over and over again "shut the fuck up you fucking prick!" William yelled in my ear.
I cried, pleaded and begged for mercy but he wouldn't stop, the beatings didn't stop.
William, that red fox who had a distinctive white and brown pattern on his chest, and a 'born to kill' tattoo on his left forearm, I knew all about his body features because he has raped me so many times. He was a suck-up, a kiss-ass for those who were higher than him, and he was mean and cruel to those who were lower than him. He was too strong, every time I tried fighting him off he would hold me down and do things to me, horrible things that I dare not speak of. So I just submit to him, there's no point in fighting, if he wanted to do something to me I would sit there and let him do it, I was powerless.
"Don't fuck around like that again, you hear me!?" He grabbed me by the ears and yelled in them.
"I promise, I won't!" I cried.
William then dropped me, and my body slammed against the hard cement floor.
"William! I need you, come over here!" Zarith called out.
"Yes sir! I will be right there!" William responded. "I'm not done with you ya little shit!"
After William left, he locked the door behind him. There was another slave in the room, an older looking dragon, who had green scales covering most of his body, and white scales on his underbelly and forearms. I could tell because like me, he was naked. We were neglected to be clothed unless they wanted to dress us up in something ridiculous for their entertainment. It was also to show that we had nothing to hide, and that we had to surrender our bodies to them for whatever they wanted it for.
"How long have you been here for?" The dragon asked.
"I was enslaved for nine years now" I frowned. "And I'm only fifteen." I began to cry again.
"Hey," the dragon came closer to me and tried to comfort me. "I've been enslaved for fourteen years, and I'm only eighteen."
"Do you even remember when you were free?" I asked.
"I have only one memory of being free, and it was when I sat beside my mother for dinner one night, the night before I was taken" He replied.
"I have a few memories, I was six when I was taken" I said.
"Where were you born?" Asked the dragon.
"Syria" I replied.
"Funny, I was born in Lebanon. How did you learn to speak English?" he asked.
"My family was westernized, and so are my masters" I replied. "I hear the west is so powerful, and the people have running water and electricity for each and every individual house! Slavery is also outlawed."
"I don't know how they have enough water and electricity to go around for every person who lives there, it's crazy!" he replied.
"So what about you? How did you learn English?" I asked.
"My family taught me French, but my masters would whip me if I spoke it, because they only understood English and Arabic. If I didn't speak either language, then they would assume that I'm talking shit about them and would beat me. So they forced me to learn it, and I've got to say, it was the hardest thing that I've ever done!" he replied.
I was touched by his story. "My name is Steven, what's yours?" I asked.
"Ryan" he replied. "Ryan Beaugrande."
"Nice to meet you, Ryan... I Guess" I said with uncertainty.
"You too, and hey, don't worry. We'll be fine, just do as they say and you'll be alright" he said.
"B-but, every time I did whatever he wanted me to do, he would still hurt me! He uses me for all the hard and dirty work, and at the end of the day, I'm his toy!" I cried yet again.
"What do you mean by 'toy'?" he asked.
"I-I don't want to talk about it" my face was drowning in tears and I cried out like a baby.
"I think I know what you mean... I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror again if that happened to me" the dragon held me tight in his arms, wrapping me in a hug for comfort.
"I had masters who would reward me whenever I obeyed them, and I didn't ever dare to disobey them, fearing that I would be put in your position" he cried with me.
"He just won't let me go! I've seen so many slaves being sold and killed, but he just won't let me go! Me specifically! Why!? Why me!? Why can't I just die or be sold, I don't want to be his bitch anymore! Anyone but him! Please!" I cried even louder.
"Talking shit about me!?" William came in.
"N-n-no no no no! I didn't mean to... No please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't! No no no, please! Please!!" I cried.
William pushed Ryan to the side and grabbed me by my collar, each slave had one so they could be identified, and they were all indestructible, and couldn't be removed without a key. He brought me to eye-level and spoke.
"I will never let you go, and you will never be free. If I can't have you, then nobody can! So for as long as I'm alive, you're mine!" He breathed in my face.
He attached a lead to the collar around my neck, "You're coming with me."
After a few minutes of walking through the building, he took me into a kitchen.
"We're getting hungry, here's the instructions, you have an hour to make us our meal. Chop chop!" He threw the instructions at my face and then tied the lead tight on a doorknob.
Shortly after William left the room and I got started, Ryan was walked into the room by another slave master.
"Ryan!" I felt my heart beat again.
"Steven, I was told to help you make dinner for our masters" he replied.
"Well, let's get to work!"
"It's going to be hard to move around with that lead in the way" he said.
"Well, they have me on a short leash" I said metaphorically.
The two of us then slaved away at making meals for our cruel masters for an hour. I enjoyed myself because I had a friend beside me, I never had any friends before. William doesn't let me talk to others much, so I never get a chance to interact with others, except for him, and I hate it. I hate him!
William then came in the room and untied the lead from the doorknob and removed the lead all together. He didn't say a word, he just glared at me for a second and then left the room.
"Okay, the meals are ready, now lets go." I said.
We grabbed the plates and one-by-one we took them out to the dining room and served them. When I got to serving William, he grabbed me by the collar again and pulled my close, "why didn't you serve me first huh!? I always come first when you're working and you know that!" he released me and I ran back in the kitchen to continue my duties. I didn't say anything back to him, as he would use it against me. I didn't serve him first because he sat at the further end of the table, and it would only make sense to serve to the closest first, in my opinion anyways.
After all of our masters were served, I ran back in the kitchen and dropped myself on the floor. I quietly said to myself "I can't take this anymore." I began crying.
Ryan was there to comfort me, he was a good friend and I knew it; he knew it. If I could switch masters with you, I would. But you know that none of us have the power to do that. None of us have the power to do anything" he spoke softly and quietly so they wouldn't hear us.
After about ten more minutes, we got dessert ready. But before we took out the dessert, we had to collect the dirty plates. This time, I collected William's first, to show him that I was his and that I had to put him first. After that, we served the dessert, and this time, I served William first. He smiled at me, but it wasn't that warm cunning smile that people usually get, this one was a cold 'I own you' smile. How many times must he remind me that I am property of his? After cleaning up the plates and the kitchen, I was escorted by William to my cell with Ryan. I cannot go anywhere without William being there to take me.
"You didn't serve me first when giving us our food at the dinner table" he pulled my arm tight.
"I did after you told me, I'm sorry!" I started crying again.
"Ohh, you're not sorry! But you will be I assure you!" he slapped me across the face again. Here we go again!
I had enough of dealing with his hostility and violence towards me, I would do everything he asks of me and he would still punish me for the things that I did wrong, or that he thinks I did wrong. I ran out the cell door and bolted it down the hallway as fast as I possibly could.
"You fucking bitch! Get back here!" William screamed.
I didn't stop running, and I tried to escape, but my efforts were in vain when I ran into a locked door that wouldn't open. There were no other ways out in this part of the building, and tugging on the door didn't help one bit. I turned around and saw William walk right at me, and I was deathly afraid for my life. I slowly sat down on the ground, with my back against the door. I was shaking badly and terribly frightened.
"P-please, d-don't hurt me I swear I won't run away again I sw-" I was cut off by William.
"That's enough!! You're fucking dead kid!" William screamed.
He grabbed me by my neck and slowly started choking me. "We're gonna have a fun night, you and me!" He had the most freighting look of anger in him.
First off, he hit me multiple times. He beat me like a punching bag, until I was bleeding all over the floor, he had even knocked out one of my teeth. He kicked me a couple of times, and he picked me up and pinned my against the wall. Grabbing me by my right arm he snapped it and shoved me against the wall, with my back facing him. He hit me in the face a couple more times and dropped me on the ground. Then he took out a baton and threatened me with it.
"On your knees and beg for me not to use this" he pointed it at me.
I stumbled up on my knees and pleaded as hard as a slave possibly could, but all he got was satisfaction of my suffering, and so he wacked me on the side of my body. The metal butan hurt more than anything, and I think I fractured a rib or two.
"Stop please! I swear I won't run away like that again! Please, have mercy! Please!" I cried out.
"Yeah, you're right! You won't run away like that again!" William wacked me again with the baton, this time on my arm. It hurt like a bitch. William was about to go for another round of beatings, until he was interrupted by Zarith. I think that if it wasn't for Zarith, I would be dead by now.
"I think that's plenty, William. Any more and he'll be of no good further use" Zarith cut in.
"Okay sir, I'll get him to the infirmary" William replied.
"Get up you filthy mutt!" William kicked me and I stumbled onto my feet.
"Let's go!" He smacked me upside the head.
I stumbled along the hallways of the building as William would kick me to make me move faster... And for his amusement.
"Hey bitch, move faster!" He hissed.
I said nothing in return, as it would only haunt me later. We finally arrived at the infirmary, where I was going to be treated.
"Sit down right here" a griffon doctor spoke.
"William I need you to leave, you're scaring him. Come back when he's better" Evgeni said.
"You bet I will" William winked at the doctor.
"It's people like him that make me work for a living" the griffon whispered to himself. "Ahh, so what do we have here?"
The doctor inspected my heavily beaten body, and started patching me up. He then put me on pain killers and told me to take them twice a day. After half-an-hour of being fixed up, William came in again, and my body went cold once again.
"Feeling better?" William asked.
I avoided eye contact. But he grabbed me by my head and forced me to look right at him.
"The next time I talk to you, you will respond, got it!?" He yelled in my ear.
"Y-yes" I quietly said.
"Good, now come with me!" He commanded.
"William! He's not ready to leave just yet!" Evgeni cut in.
"He's my slave, I will do whatever I please with him. Give me his medication and we'll be gone" William shot back.
Evgeni handed William the medication and they left the room. William was a little more patient with me this time, he seemed a little more gentle. But I knew what that meant, whenever he was gentle with me, he was preserving me for something, something that I didn't like at all. When we got to his private quarters, he shut the door and locked it behind him. He got completely undressed and told me to get in the bed. I did as he demanded. He climbed into the bed with me, and cuffed his paw to mine with prison bracelets. He pressed his chest against my back, and wrapped his strong arms around my weak body.
He shut off the lights and kissed me on the back of my head and spoke: "You will always be mine!"