“What the hell are you planning?” she screamed, fear tainting her voice.
He slid the lock back into place with a satisfied smile.
“Yegor,” he ordered, “begin the serenade. Turn it off at exactly nine at night and begin again at six the next morning. We want the mother to get rest for the innocent’s sake.”
“How loud would you like it, Rytsar?”
He thought for a moment. “Keep it at a level loud enough to interrupt her thoughts.”
“Very well.”
“While the music must never stop until the designated hour, you may turn it down whenever you work with her or when I enter the room.”
“Does that mean you will be back tomorrow?”
“Naturally. The fun has just begun…”
As Rytsar walked out of the building, he heard the faint melody of “You Are My Sunshine” start up behind him.
He chuckled to himself.
That simple tune was set to play on a continuous loop for fifteen hours each day as per his instructions until “my sunshine” was the only thing she could think about.
That’s right, pizda, no one threatens the life of moye solntse.
Rytsar returned the next day, but before he entered the room he told his men, “Get a bucket of ice water and have the restraints ready.”
He waited patiently until they returned with the requested items, listening with dark amusement to the song playing on the other side of the door.
When his men returned, he took the bucket from them and walked inside, smiling at Yegor as he closed the door behind him.
Lilly didn’t notice he’d entered the room, having taken a sitting position in a corner with her hands over her ears. When the music was lowered, she slowly uncovered her ears and glanced up.
The look in her eyes was that of a crazed person. “I can’t take it anymore!”
Rytsar stared at her without sympathy.
Lilly slowly got up to her feet and stammered, “What…the hell…do you want from me?”
“I want you to suffer.”
She gaped at him in horror. “Why? I’m innocent!”
When Rytsar failed to acknowledge her lie, Lilly became more animated, falsely believing that would sway him. Pointing to the valley between her breasts, Lilly cried, “I’m the one who has been wronged here. Me! First I was attacked by my own brother and now I’m being tortured for it.”
It was a foolish attempt on her part, but Rytsar let her continue because it amused him.
“He attacked me—and now Thane needs to man up to that responsibility. Since he can’t, his wife must.”
Rytsar drenched Lilly with the bucket of ice water.
She screeched and then started sputtering as she scrambled away like a crazed animal, attempting to get as far from Rytsar as she could.
“Enough with the lies,” he growled.
“You monster!”
“I am the deliverer of justice, nothing more,” he replied with indifference.
Rytsar could see the anger begin to rise up inside her. He was not surprised when she attempted to rush him again. With masculine grace, he caught and immobilized her.
“It appears to me that you require restraints, suka.”
He whistled, and Yegor entered the room with the leather restraints in his hand.
Rytsar dragged Lilly kicking and screaming to the bed. When she tried to bite him, he grabbed her jaw and squeezed hard.
She whimpered at the power behind his grasp.
“Don’t try that again or I will have your teeth removed.”
She didn’t make another move to bite him when he let go, and did not resist when Rytsar started strapping her to the bed with Yegor’s help. When they were done, she lay spread-eagled before him, the dark triangle of her mound barely visible due to her round belly.
“Are you going to fuck me now?” she demanded and sneered. “Is that it, big boy?”
Rytsar looked at her with open disdain. “I would never lower myself.”
She looked at the restraints on her wrists. “Then why would you tie me up, pervert?”
“So you can enjoy the music more fully,” he replied with an evil glint in his eye.
“Oh God no. Not that again!” she cried piteously. “Please, no more.”
Rytsar and Yegor turned in unison and headed out.
“You bastard. You sick motherfucker!” she screamed after him.
Rytsar smiled at her as if he was bestowing a cherished gift when he shut the door.
Once they exited, he told Yegor, “I want you to turn up the volume a few more decibels.”
Yegor smiled. “As you wish.”
Rytsar walked down the hallway with a light heart. Torturing Lilly was proving far too entertaining.
When he returned to the compound the next day, Yegor immediately informed him that they’d had to force-feed her every meal.
“Good. We’re finally making progress,” Rytsar replied.
He entered the room and found Lilly staring up at the ceiling as if dead. While it was a pleasant thought for him, he purposely ruined the illusion by clearing his throat.
She turned her head toward him listlessly.
“I was informed you refused to eat.”
“I can’t bear it,” Lilly whined. “It’s disgusting and the texture makes me want to retch.”
“Then retch,” he answered.
“What about the baby?” she asked, rubbing her stomach.
“My men will gather it up and feed it back to you like a baby bird.”
“You’re a sick bastard.”
“It must be consumed because you are pregnant. I couldn’t care less how it gets there,” he responded without sympathy.
She curled her nose in a snarl. “Well, I won’t eat it!”
“Then it will be forced down your gullet while they pinch your nose closed until you swallow every last spoonful.”
“You fucking dickhead!”
Rytsar frowned at her, stating firmly, “You will speak to me in a respectful manner at all times from now on.”
“Like hell I will.”
Rytsar left the room and returned a short time later with the bucket.
She shook her head, crying out desperately. “I take it back, I take it bac—”
He slowly dumped the entire bucket of icy water over her head, specifically so she could experience the sensation of drowning.
After she was done coughing and sputtering, Lilly shrieked, “I took it back, you asshole.”
Rytsar whistled and handed Yegor the bucket when he entered the room. While he waited, he took pleasure in her desperate pleas.
“I won’t do it again, I promise. Please, don’t!”
Upon Yegor’s return, Lilly became silent, watching Rytsar like a scared mouse.
He took the bucket from Yegor and turned to face Lilly. “Every incident of disrespect will be followed by swift punishment. Do you understand?”
She looked at the bucket in terror. “Please don’t, I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” When he lifted the bucket she screamed, “I’m telling you I’m fucking sorry!”
“You can’t get out of being punished by saying you’re sorry afterward. It doesn’t work that way with me. You were disrespectful twice, therefore you must suffer the consequences…twice.” Without ceremony, he poured the freezing water over her head.
She whimpered afterward but didn’t speak.
“Until tomorrow.”
As he was leaving, Lilly called out to him, “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
He said nothing as he closed the door but smirked when the music started up again and she began howling.
Rytsar told his men, “Let her suffer for another fifteen minutes before you dry her and change the bedding.” He smiled broadly. “I think you should see an improvement in her appetite.”
He was curious how he would find her the following day. So far he had only employed simple tactics to break her.
There was a
deep sense of satisfaction knowing the woman who had drugged Brie and the babe was under his control. All the pain and uncertainty she had inflicted on his friends was now being directed back at her full force, as it should be—without violence.
At first glance, Lilly seemed more compliant when he walked into the room. He felt the change in her demeanor but didn’t trust it.
Lilly addressed him as he approached. “Do I need to call you Master or something?”
“You’re not worthy.”
“Good, because I’m not your damn slave,” she muttered, turning away.
“Correct, you are not. You are nothing—insignificant.”
The expression on her face showed her offense, but Lilly kept her mouth shut.
“I think we are done here for today,” he announced.
As he turned away, Lilly cried out piteously, “Please, don’t go.”
He didn’t miss a step as he walked out the door and slipped the lock into place.
Where she was hoping to incite his sympathy, he only saw red. The image of Brie slumped in a strange man’s arms as she was carried off to become a victim at the hands of Lilly was Rytsar’s only reality.
Nothing the creature did or said would change that, but he trusted that soon she would open up in the hopes he would show mercy and all his questions could be answered.
When he went to Thane, he was determined to give a full and accurate accounting.
It was a shock for Rytsar when he came the next day and found her completely despondent. She stared upward, a blank expression on her face.
He walked out of the room to question his men.
“Has she been eating?”
“No. She was force-fed each meal.”
“Water too?”
“Da.”
“Any words or actions from her since I left?”
His men all shook their heads.
“This is a ruse, but I want to play it out. Feed her on schedule and let’s see how long she can keep this up.”
Rytsar arrived early the next morning, curious what his men would report. Her mental state hadn’t changed. She remained almost catatonic, not moving or responding.
He didn’t even bother entering her room.
“Let me see the video surveillance.”
His men walked him to a room down the hall and together they watched her movements from the day before. Rytsar had to give the creature credit. She remained still for hours each time his men fed her, but there came a point when she couldn’t maintain the façade and she began thrashing in the bed.
Rytsar smiled as he pointed at the screen. “That is a maggot about to break.”
He knew she would be disappointed when he did not come to visit her and it pleased him. He knew the worry it would cause her, the second doubts, and the extra pain she would suffer keeping still for so long.
The fact that any added suffering she was experiencing was her own doing only made it that much sweeter.
Rytsar took the extra time afforded him that day and spent it shopping—for the babe.
Moye solntse would have everything her little heart desired. It was his duty as her dyadya.
Rytsar returned the next day prepared to call her bluff. Today the creature would taste a little of her own medicine.
“Get the syringe ready,” he told Yegor.
While it was being prepared, he instructed his men, “Go in there, make attempts to revive her as you feed her.”
Rytsar had them keep the door open so he could observe her while they worked. She remained limp and unresponsive, not struggling even when they poured the concoction down her throat, but he noted she voluntarily swallowed.
Yegor returned with the relaxant. Rytsar had done his research, specifically choosing a medication routinely used with pregnant women. There was no chance of harming the fetus, although Lilly would be unaware of that.
He explained what he wanted Yegor to do and walked in behind him, but stayed a step back to observe.
The men had just finished feeding her and were about to leave when Yegor stopped them. “I require your assistance.”
“What’s up?”
“The boss just called and told me to dispose of the body.”
Rytsar watched closely and noticed Lilly’s lips twitching slightly.
“Unbind her wrist,” Yegor ordered.
Rytsar noticed she stopped breathing for a moment as they untied her wrist and it fell stiffly to her side.
Yegor grabbed her arm and positioned it to receive the injection. “Too easy a death for this one,” he grumbled as he held her arm firmly and slowly eased the needle into her vein.
Lilly cried out the instant he started pushing on the plunger. She thrashed her arm, trying to pull away from Yegor’s tight grip, without success.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, “They’re trying to kill me! Help, they are trying to kill m—!”
Her cries stopped short when she saw Rytsar standing there. Tears ran down her face as she sniveled. “I don’t want to die…”
“You will soon feel the rush of the chemical as it races to your heart.”
“No,” she cried. “Make it stop! Oh my God, make it stop…”
“Any last words?”
“I’ll tell you everything—everything. Please don’t kill me.”
Rytsar snapped his fingers and Yegor gave him another syringe of saline. Rytsar pushed it in her vein himself and released the harmless liquid into her bloodstream.
She stared at it with wide eyes and looked up at him. “You’re saving me?”
“Tell me what I want to know, then I’ll decide.”
Lilly nodded and actually smiled, the relaxant having a tipsy effect on her. “Well, it all began when I met dreamy Thane in person. That sexy hunk of man meat…” She giggled. “I share my mother’s love of Italian hotties and I knew—knew—we were meant to be together.”
Whispers
Brie had not questioned Rytsar about his daily outings until the day he insisted on going with her to the hospital in the morning. She was quiet the entire drive, but when they were in the room alone with Thane she finally burst.
“Rytsar, you’ve been so mysterious about Lilly. I believe you’ve found her, but…”
“But what, radost moya?” he asked in a somber tone.
Brie looked nervously at Thane and asked, “You haven’t killed her, have you?”
He gave her a grave look. “The innocent inside the creature still lives.”
Brie frowned, unsure of the meaning of his answer. “But Lilly is still alive too, right?”
“If you knew what I knew, you would want her dead.”
It was as if Thane heard Rytsar’s words, because he suddenly started coughing violently as his heart rate shot up to dangerous levels.
Brie ran to Thane’s bedside, screaming, “No! Fight this, Sir. Don’t leave me!”
The nurses rushed in, followed by the doctor soon after. Dr. Hessen barked to Rytsar, “Get her out of here.”
Rytsar tried to pull Brie away from Thane, but she held on so tightly that by dragging her, he was dragging Thane as well. Understanding Brie was impeding the staff, Rytsar gripped the back of her neck and squeezed.
He felt her tense as she instantly froze in place. Now that he had her attention he stated calmly, “We need to leave now, radost moya.”
She instantly let go of Sir’s hand, and Rytsar whisked her out of the chaos of the room, but Brie didn’t go quietly. Screaming, her desperation heartbreaking and real, she cried, “You can’t let him die! Don’t let him die…”
She clung onto Rytsar once they were in the hallway, burying her head in his chest. Brie began weeping then. “I can’t watch. It’s too much like Tono.”
Rytsar held her tightly, trying to comfort himself as much as Brie. “He will not die. He cannot die,” he insisted out loud. But like Brie, he was already imagining the worst.
He began to stroke her hair, attempting to be her comfort when all he wan
ted to do was yell at the top of his lungs. But as he watched the scene play out through the glass wall, he realized that what they had witnessed was not his demise but a miracle.
“Radost moya…”
When she didn’t respond, he commanded her to look. Brie took a peek and let out a loud gasp.
The staff were smiling at each other, the ambiance in the room one of joy and not sorrow. As the staff moved about, Rytsar saw the doctor handing the respirator tube to a nurse.
Thane was breathing on his own.
Dr. Hessen came out to speak with them. “He is breathing on his own again, Mrs. Davis. A significant step in his recovery.”
“Can I see him?” Brie begged.
“Of course, I—”
Without waiting, Brie rushed back into the room, wiping away her tears as she approached with Rytsar right behind her.
She took Thane’s hand and began kissing it over and over again.
He was staring at the ceiling, just as he always had. As far as Rytsar could tell, nothing seemed to have changed other than the breathing tube was gone, leaving Thane breathing on his own.
Rytsar felt a jolt when Thane suddenly turned his head toward Brie and looked directly into her eyes.
Brie just stared at him, completely transfixed, as stunned as Rytsar.
Thane said nothing, and Rytsar began to fear that he didn’t recognize her.
As the seconds ticked past, he could see in Brie’s expression that she had the same concern.
“Sir?”
Thane blinked a couple of times, and the beat on the monitor increased.
Brie glanced over at Rytsar, her fears easy to read on her face. Rytsar couldn’t reassure her—not now. It was as if his worst fears were coming true. The body might have awakened, but that didn’t mean Thane was inside there.
She looked back at her husband, moving closer as she gazed beseechingly into his eyes.
Thane’s heart rate suddenly shot up as he met her gaze. In the barest of whispers, hoarse from disuse, he finally spoke.
“Babygirl…”
Brie completely lost it. “Oh Sir, I’ve missed you so much. So very much!”
Thane said nothing more as they stared into each other’s eyes.