Chapter 17 - Danger
No.
The water!
By the Sun, the water!
She couldn't be alone with him right now. This was too dangerous. Where was Lowie? Where was Meryl? Where was her Haron?!
Her body shivered with weakness and she could feel sweat pushing out of every pore.
It was hot.
Too hot.
And this ache in her head was too much.
It was blinding.
She felt so… so… weak. Thirsty. Her body ached badly.
She just wanted to sleep.
But she caught the image of Stavan fiddling with his shirt, saying something that the pounding of her heart was drowning away. There was a smile on his face.
Everything was so blurry but she knew that Stavan smiling in this situation wasn't anything good.
Where was Haron?
Stavan had said he was well but where was he?
Could someone just please enter the room? Anyone?
Unconsciousness threatened to pull her under but Ismena refused. She couldn't dare to do that with Stavan around. Still she couldn't do anything. Her body felt like stone, too heavy to be moved. Her control over it felt completely relinquished, and her bones felt like metal inside her.
She should sleep.
But she felt Stavan pulling out her silk handkerchief that she always had tucked away.
Fear spiralled in her veins. A scream consumed her mind, yet she couldn't move. She couldn't even speak. When tears clouded her sight, she panicked even more, because now, it was too blurry to see Stavan or what he was doing.
Then she heard his voice, a whisper brushing the side of her cheek which still managed to sound like an echo from a thousand miles.
"No one is coming. Just sleep," a grunt cut him short, and because there were tears in her eyes, she still couldn't see him,not could she blink then away. She could feel him press his forehead against her cheek though, feel his fast breath, hear his moans and grunts as if they see from miles and miles away.
He was too much around her, she wanted to scream.
She hated him.
Hated this.
"Haron is in a meeting…" his voice dropped. Laboured.
The tears rolled away from her eyes, crossing over the bridge of her nose and sinking into the bed.
Now she could see him, holding her handkerchief onto his nose, his eyes closed shut. His breath was fast and ragged. His forehead still pressed against her.
"He will not be here anytime soon so just sleep." She felt his fingers upon her lips. Hot. Too hot. "Let me have you once, Ismena. Just once…"
His voice was becoming even more distant, and she realized with dread that it wasn't because he was moving away from her but because whatever he put in the water was overpowering her.
She fought and screamed in her mind to stay awake, but she couldn't.
No.
She couldn't give up like this.
She had to do something to make him think it wasn't working. She had to move. If it was only a finger… then…. then…
Everything felt more distant. Her eyelids slipped shut and no matter what she did, she couldn't open them. Her body felt even heavier. Her breath felt even more shallow. Everything felt hotter.
Difficult.
Painful.
She kept drowning in the pain and disgust as Stavan's grunts reached her from a cloudy distance.
Then there was a knock.
Very faint, but it was enough. Someone was here.
She heard voices but she couldn't make out what they were saying.
Then she heard the clatter of coins.
A soft click… and nothing but Stavan's voice.
"Where were we?"
Dread.
Fear.
And this time, there was no hope.
Nothing.
Finally, she could hear nothing anymore.
Felt nothing any more.
Only darkness.