Horror logo

Safe and Sound

Being Kept Comes With a Cost

By Nicole BuckPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
Like

Era sits in the center of a dark room, blindfolded by a scratchy dish towel with her hands tied behind her back. Her body is soaking wet from the current events of her most recent, unsuccessful escape. The bright blue party dress sticks uncomfortably to her undergarments underneath, one side of the bodice creeps lower to expose her right breast. Cleavage prominently on display... It was perfectly cliche the only source of light she could make out was a rusted lightbulb dangling from the ceiling in a small swaying motion. The vicinity was cold, smooth wood floors and metal walls. A bunker, no doubt. One where she had been dragged back and forth to for years. Her guard was compromised far too many times... and here where she was contained and abandoned, where she would recollect what brought her here in the first place: Her dreams. Tears started to soak the fabric where it covered her eyes, hearing the familiar footsteps of the man who brought her here. The man that kept her under lock and key. The inspiration that showered her with "protection" when she needed it the most. It became the biggest mistake of her life, considering it was all she had to her name. Her thoughts, her peace of mind... Controlled by safety.

The door swung open in a swift motion, causing her to flinch in reflex. He hummed her favorite lullaby as his smooth skin caressed across her damp arm. Now covered in goose bumps with where it traveled. His lips met her cheek and pressed a long, drawing kiss across it. She turned her head the opposite direction, wincing as he playfully scoffed.

"Era, my sweet girl..." He cooed in his venemous tone, knowing any sweetness would follow with her false sense of security. "Why do you try to run? Why do you try to defy me and my rules?"

She felt the energy shoot through her veins like heroine, his forked tongue traveling to her neck... practically feeling his copper colored eyes take in the sight of her helplessness. Her near-to-bare legs shifted in reflex, uncomfortably... defensively... whatever the term, it was making her body tense.

Suddenly, his hand slithered up and grabbed her chin, forcing her forward... his skin was growing coarse and scaly by his emotions. The controlling serpent commanded her presence, demanded her to obey him. To see his guidance. The glamour across his usually friendly and kind demeanor was fading from sight. She didn't need to see it to know... She'd lived with him far too long not to know what he was and what he was capable of.

Era knew he was ready to draw her in, suck the life from her again for his benefit... for her time to be his experience. But just before their lips met, she spat across his lips and into his mouth. He wretched back in a violent hiss, only to yank the towel away from her eyes and throw her down to the floor.

The woman's green eyes stared at the hideous form hovering above her, her long dark hair splayed across the ground where he threw her. Her head was spinning, but she felt a surge of independence... even if it would cost her. She had placed a rift across his usual routine. Among inspection, her ivory complected skin was bruised all over... scars and knicks and bites. It all reflected her position from his fury, the temper to control the placement and decisions she made. The resistance that she kept finding in the pit of her stomach and the backed crevices of her subconscious. Her chest rose and fell shakily as he stepped closer to her body. The cold metal floor almost burned across the small of her back... He lowered himself to straddle her hips, yanking her arms above her head in a purposefully painful gesture as she cried out. It echoed and hit the walls... Her own voice intimidated her now, while it empowered the sick male form above her.

"I keep you here... with me... to keep you safe from the world. You're my precious little bird." He whispered against her skin, his teeth growing into the terribly sharp fangs that anticipated her skin, his own skin growing rough and layered where it shielded his mortal form. "But if I let you fly, you'll just try to leave... So I have to break those pretty little wings."

He pulled her arms back in an unnatural twist, causing her to scream. Her joints refusing and trying to keep their original positions. Her joints popping out of place until she heard a ligament twist and her elbows snap. Tears filled her eyes at the pain, unable to move her arms from where they were broken and bound.

This wasn't the first time he'd broken her... it was only natural to feel the pain as a mortal, but he had already broken her fighting spirit to truly leave a long time ago. Anything else was just the unfortunate draw. She'd succumbed to his aid, and now his aid became the problem. It became her purpose. The serpent gripped her cheeks in his hands, clawed fingernails and dried palms. Her eyes were clouded over again while his fangs traced her bottom lip. They were face to face and for a split second, she could see the compassion that used to rest in his eyes... The love and the trust that he accepted her freely. But now all she could see was a monster. And he nuzzled his forehead to hers.

"Just like old times..." He breathed, shutting his eyes for a moment before he opened his mouth and started sucking the bright eyed essence from Era's. Her lips already parted as they grew chapped and void of her vibrancy. In fact, leaving a weak shell in her wake as he held her in his arms after he was revitalized. The beautiful figure of his mortal refreshed, tousled auburn hair and freckled skin. A charming smile and soft skin. He held his prized possession as she laid unconscious. He rocked her back and forth, a few tears of sanity escaping his cheeks. The monster he'd become, the person he was now... Showed completely across his painful smile gritted across his face, coddling this woman he would never let leave his side. So immersed in his own venom that he had forgotten his own identity. His own reason of being. He stroked her pale cheek as he began to hum once again, until his Era would wake up and give him a reason to heal her back to wellness again.

fiction
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.