Chapter 11: I Will Swallow

I wake up when a nurse comes in to give me my first breakfast in God knows how long. It’s light and unseasoned, but I scarf it down anyway and carry my full belly back to bed. Between torment sessions and mealtime, there isn’t much to do, so I just sleep the time away. I can’t dream without the pills, and my imagination has disappeared. I can’t picture things in my head anymore, like when I was a kid.

Last night, I dreamt of being a little girl again, racing through a field with my arms outstretched to graze the tall grass around me. Ticks suckled the blood off my calves, but I didn’t care. I drew in a lungful of fresh mountain air and basked beneath the warm embrace of the sun. Then I woke up. In a paper dress. On paper sheets. In a room with no windows and a locked door. I sleep again after breakfast, and I dream of nothing.

I wake again to the sound of my door opening, but it isn’t enough to pull me from my lull. My body is exhausted and heavy. I think it’s mostly psychological, since my wounds have healed. I know what’s coming, and my bones dread it. The intruder tuts their tongue and blocks the glow of the light overhead.

“Now, this just won’t do,” they say. I know that voice, so I open my eyes.

I’m petrified of what sort of things a man like him would do to me while I’m utterly helpless. A wave of goosebumps ravages my arm as I picture myself pinned beneath him. Trapped. Weak. I’ve been in that position before. It was agony. And yet, it was delicious.

Raven stands at my bedside with his arms crossed over his chest. He smiles when he sees I’m awake.

“There she is,” he greets in a low, sing-song voice. The back of his throat vibrates like a growl when he whispers. Something about the sound excites me. He wraps his hands beneath my armpits to hoist me upright. I teeter on the edge of the bed, my head still reeling from my empty slumber.

“We can’t have you sleeping all the time,” Raven says, brushing a lock of unruly hair from my face.

I groan in response and rub my eyes. “What else is there to do?”

“Tomorrow we should have a dorm ready for you. There, you’ll be encouraged to participate in activities to keep your mind and body sharp. Your replication regime already requires you sleep nearly ten hours every day, so you shouldn’t be this tired.”

“What kind of activities?”

“Worksheets, assigned readings, exercises—think of it like homeschooling. Your own little harlot academy. You still need an education after all. Even if it doesn’t quite look the same as the education all the other boys and girls are getting.”

I suck in a heavy breath, barely listening while my body struggles to wake. Raven watches me with a stern expression, like he’s trying to burrow inside of my head.

“Why won’t the dorm be ready until tomorrow?” I ask, desperate to break the silence.

Raven’s mustache twitches. “Complications. Besides, you won’t need it tonight. I intend to remove you from the medical wing by any means necessary. It isn’t good for your brain. Consider today a sort of... ‘initiation’ into your treatment.”

I bunch up a fistful of my paper gown’s hem. “Wasn’t all the other stuff my initiation?”

I had been branded, beaten, burned, sliced open, eaten out, and pleasured beyond my physical comprehension. Yet it still wasn’t enough for those people.

Raven smiles, almost chuckling, and shakes his head. “Of course not, little one. That was merely an introduction. Hop up. I’m going to take you on a walk.”

I jump to my feet, and I am swallowed whole in the wake of Raven’s shadow. He’s nearly looms overhead like a tower waiting to trap me like the princesses from fairytales I can barely remember. He steadies my shoulder and spins me around to remove my gown. His touch is warm, yet harsh. My pussy quivers, and I bite my cheek to keep from asking for more.

My dress falls, leaving only my hair to cover me. The inky black strands hide my hardened nipples, but not my girlhood. Raven traces a line down my back, his finger hooking beneath the mound of my ass as he falls to his knees. His lips graze my skin, and I brace myself against the bed, prepared for the worst.

“You’re hungry for my cock,” Raven whispers, holding my hips against his cheek. His breath tickles.

I swallow a whimper.

“Not today,” he says. He pats me on the leg, then pulls a scrap of grey fabric from his pocket. “Soon, little one. Very, very soon.”

He stretches out the fabric—a soft pair of cotton panties—and helps me thread my legs through its holes. Then he helps me wriggle into a tightly fitted and dangerously cropped matching t-shirt. It fits so snugly that my nipples poke out like knives. They grow harder as the fabric teases my skin.

“You’ll be given more suitable clothes in the future,” Raven says, inspecting my outfit. “For today, though, I want your privates covered, yet still enticing enough for the others to see. You must remember to leave something to the imagination, Emma. Otherwise, you become too easy a whore, and your owners will grow bored. Understand?”

I nod. “Yes, Master.”

He smiles, then takes my wrist and leads me into the hall. He drags me along sternly, almost like a dog on a leash.

“I’m going to take you to the Oasis,” Raven begins. He throws me a glance over his shoulder. “You remember that place, yes?”

I shake my head.

“Your father took you there to receive your branding. Most of the structure is underground, except for a private disciplinary academy that sits atop it. The academy bars anyone but its own from entering, except to make use of the basement cells, so I will only be able to show you what few public spaces there are aboveground.”

My hand tightens, and I shudder away a sob. I remember that place so clearly. The shrieking. The torment. The way Dad covered my body in wax, then scorched me forever with the orchid. I glare down at my brand. It sticks out against my pale skin.

“Why are we going there?” I ask, unable to hide the tremble in my voice. Raven’s grip tightens, like he’s prepared for me to run.

“You aren’t receiving punishment, I merely want to show you all this facility has to offer. You’ve seen most of the medical building and some of the Rose Academy, but your experience outside is lacking. I will start with something I believe will motivate your progress going forward. Do you understand what I’m saying, Emma?”

“You want to scare me into submission,” I say, blurting out the words before I can stop myself.

Raven grins, flashing his perfect, ravenous teeth. “Precisely, child.”

I swallow. Already, the screams of distant subjects fills my ears as we pass by examination rooms and surgical suites. Raven opts to take me down the stairs, where shrieks for mercy echo endlessly. He drags me down the same path Mom and Dad took me, where we were ambushed in the woods. I falter back a step when he approaches the edge of the trees. I expect him to yank me towards him, but he stops, too.

“You can trust me,” Raven says. He shifts his grip on me, sliding down my wrist until he interlocks our fingers. The gesture is comforting, but more constricting than before. I smile, but still keep my heels dug into the dirt.

“What happened to the subject who attacked my parents?” I ask.

Raven pauses. His gaze tightens. “You don’t need to worry about him. Nothing can hurt you so long as I’m here. I’ve survived attacks from unruly subjects before.”

“But—”

“Emma,” he snaps, sharpening his tone. It hits me like a bullet to the chest. With his brows furrowed, he says, “I gave you an order. Delayed obedience is disobedience. You don’t want me to have to punish you, do you?”