Pisachas

Chapter Seven

When Gilia didn't respond the way he wanted, Sach scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed. Surprisingly he laid her down gently; the sides of her robe draped open revealing her most intimate parts to him. For some reason this time seemed more personal and nauseating to Gilia. When Sach had taken her before, it was all heat, aggression and desperate need. This time was slow and thought out. Each movement or touch was precise with an intention unknown to Gilia. It was as if he were desperately trying to coax a response out of her.

Gilia hated to tell him, the last thing she felt was desire for him…no matter how good looking he was. He'd slowly circle the areolas of her breasts and when that didn't get a rise out of her, he'd switch to massaging her upper thighs and crest of her womanhood. Gilia tried to ignore the shivers of pleasure that raced up and down her body and hated the look of satisfaction on Sach's face when her body gave her away. Her nipples peaked and hardened to the point of pain. She watched as Sach dipped his head down and toyed with one; his scorching tongue caressing her cold skin. He sucked on the mound…then, harder. A sharp ache shot through her left breast beating against her rib cage.

Catching him off guard, Gilia managed to push him away. She didn't want to feel pain. When he'd raped her before, everything he did hurt and battered her body. The last thing she wanted was to feel the same sensations. Her body began to shake uncontrollably as she tried to roll away from him, but he gripped her waist preventing her from doing just that. "What's wrong, little one?"

Gilia swallowed down the knot forming in her throat. She would not cry. She would not cry. "I don't want you to hurt me," she whispered. Damn, her eyes betrayed her. Tears flowed freely now and there was no stopping them.

For some reason Sach was mad. She wasn't sure if it was at her or himself, but he sat up quickly; his long wavy black hair swaying around his face. Gilia could see through a blurry vision his cold, shiny blue eyes piercing her puffy, swollen face like hard diamonds. It made her heart frantically beat in her chest. Was he about to beat her for not wanting to have sex with him?

Without a word, Sach tugged her robe closed over her body and tide the sash so tight it felt he was cutting her circulation off to her legs. He stood up, said something in another language and walked through the jelly wall. Gilia heard that scrapping noise again from earlier and knew he'd sealed up her escape from the other side.

She was still shaking so bad her teeth began to chatter. Oh God. He was so pissed off at her he couldn't even stay in the same room. What was he going to do? Leave her in here forever? There was no food or water and he hadn't left that green rock necklace he claimed would give her things like that. Would she starve to death? Well, if she did it would probably be a relief. She wouldn't have to deal with this intimidating man anymore, this creepy place, this insane situation that was hard for her to believe. Maybe she'd wake up soon to the smell of her father's morning coffee, go to class and get her degree like a normal young adult and be able to forget this nightmare ever seeped into her consciousness. Yeah right.

oo

A little later, Gilia debated getting up off the bed. Her body's trembles had eased to bearable and her teeth no longer clattered. Having the warm grey comforter draped over her helped in this matter. However, knowing that Sach slept directly where she lay…was not at all comforting, but Gilia didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was Sach hadn't raped her again and he was gone for now.

Gilia mulled over her situation. What would it take to convince Sach to let her return home? She felt the defeat as soon as she asked herself the question. Nothing. Her mind told her to fight it, but her heart told her she now belonged to this creature and there was no hope. Her chest even ached from the knowledge.

Eventually he would return and eventually, she'd have to give in to his needs and allow him privilege to her body. If she didn't, he'd probably just take what he wanted from her anyways. Sach had spared her this time, but would he do it again? Probably not.

Gilia swallowed hard as she finally began to see her future laid out before her. Forever trapped in this place Sach called a prison. Yes, this was her prison. Gilia turned her head into the pillow that had his masculine scent all over it, which was a powerful reminder of her fate, and sobbed uncontrollably. She didn't care his crisp white pillow was getting wet from her cries or snotty from her runny nose. He could go to hell for all she cared.

This time, her shoulders shook not from fear, but the hard cries that wracked her body. She couldn't stand this any longer. She wanted her father and she even wanted her crazy grandmother. Gilia wanted them there to hold her and calm her; tell her everything was going to be okay.

She felt a warm hand press over her shoulder and jerked her head up. At first she thought it was her father standing next to the bed, but her heart fell when she realized it was Sach.

Gilia couldn't help it as the tears ran harder from seeing him. She once again buried her face in his pillow to muffle her sobs, not caring the one who caused her pain was standing right there. Never had she felt so utterly broken. Gilia thought she had before, but she was wrong. Her insides hurt like they never had before and she wanted to scream and scream until there was no breath left in her.

"Gilia…" He spoke her name tenderly as if he actually cared she was in pain.

She didn't respond only enclosed her head deeper into the pillow. Gilia knew that wouldn't make him go away, but at least this way she didn't have to face him.

His arms snaked underneath, pulling her up away from the bed. It looked like she'd have to face him regardless of her wish. Gilia was limp in his arms and she really didn't care if he threw her down on the floor and started kicking her like a bag of dirt, because she couldn't have felt any worse.

To her surprise, Sach didn't throw her down, but sat on the bed where she had laid, leaned back on the snotty, wet pillow and curled her up on his lap. He rocked her slightly like a child and brushed through her long tangled hair.

Gilia was frozen, whimpering in his arms, unsure what to make of this behavior. One minute he was a monster and the next he was soothing her like a baby. Her head spun. She was so confused. And being pressed against his hard, bare, muscled chest wasn't helping either.

"I know this is hard for you. And I'm sorry to put you through this."

She was so taken aback by his statement, Gilia had to sit up and stare him in the face wondering if she heard him right. He was sorry?

"You must think I'm some horrible fiend. Gilia, I pay every mortal hour, I pay for my old life and people suffer. It kills me inside, but…"

This was the first time Gilia saw this tortured side of Sach that almost had her feeling sorry for him. Almost. "I don't understand," she said through hiccups. "What do you mean?"

For a moment, Gilia thought he was going to tell her more, but his eerie ice blue eyes hardened to their normal state and the sensitive, caring man vanished. His grip tightened around her as he stood up with her still in his arms. He carried her around so effortlessly it frightened Gilia.

"I want you to see something," he stated walking towards the door.

Even though Gilia could have walked herself, Sach didn't put her down. Her heart pounded in her ears as they slipped through the jelly doorway. Where was he taking her?

"Where are we going?"

Sach saw the petrified gaze she gave him and shrugged one shoulder. "You'll see."

That wasn't very reassuring. What if he was leading her to her death?

The halls were freezing as he moved swiftly down corridors left and right. They made so many turns and walked so many different directions; Gilia had not a clue where they were. Finally, they approached a massive wall at the end of a corridor. The ceiling was so tall, Gilia had to crane her neck far back to the point she thought it would snap. As she gazed up, she noticed the stretching vaults all the way across like it was a gothic castle of some sort.

It dawned on Gilia that they were standing in the entrance way to Sach's place. This wall must be the front door. Just as she suspected, Sach closed his eyes with her in his arms still and mumbled something under his breath. And just like in the bedroom when the bathroom appeared, a doorway began forming as the walls groaned and shuddered from the change. Only this time, a light peered in and continually grew as the doorway became bigger and bigger. Much larger than the bathroom had been. Crumbles of stone rained down on them at Sach's feet. Puffs of powdered debris floated in the air and sucked into Gilia's lungs. She coughed and gagged, waving her hand in front of her face.

As the doorway clear, Gilia gasped at what she saw. Sky, she saw sky and water and ground. Well, the ground was mostly gravel and larger gray sharp looking stones like pieces of glass lying there waiting to be stepped on. No wonder Sach hadn't put her down.

But the last thing Gilia had thought to see was sky. Weren't they underground? How could this be? She lifted her face to it, but there was no bright warm sun to beam down on her skin. There were only clouds, so gloomy and thick they looked palpable to touch. And something was different about these clouds. They didn't move as if frozen in time and space. They only hovered.

Sach marched down the three stone steps onto the gravel and crunched down to the edge of the water with dead branches and drift wood lining it. The water loomed on forever, waves crashing up to the rocks. There was some sand, but it was dark and grainy. Sach still didn't put her down.

Gilia listened to the waves and felt the chilly wind pelting against her face. The waves were not soothing like a beach normally was, but harsh and dangerous sounding. And when she looked down, the water wasn't blue or green, but black with clumps of sludge floating around like evil squids waiting to wrap its long tentacles around your ankles.

"What…?" she huffed, holding tighter to Sach's shoulders.

"Like I said, the water can kill you. No creatures are able to live in these waters, but it will not hesitate to pull you under and swallow you whole. It's different from the mortal world."

She began to shake again, but this time from the threat the water posed and not the man holding her. "The water surrounds this entire place, which is why it's pointless to try to escape. You can't."

Gilia gulped and nodded her head. It was true; there really wasn't any way for her to return home. No tunnel leading above ground. No convenient escape back to the mortal world, Sach liked to call it. "I thought we were underground?" she said it like a question.

"We are in the Underworld. There is a difference."

"How am I supposed to get back?"

"You're not." He saw her distraught look and sighed. "Without me you can't, but I have no intentions of taking you back. So, forget it."

Gilia bowed her head defeated and continued to shiver. It was so cold out here, no wonder it was freezing inside the castle. When Sach felt her shivers, he turned around to take her back. Gilia gasped as she saw how small the castle was from the outside. It was more like a manor or bit larger southern home. How bizarre? But there were so many corridors and rooms inside, how could that be?

Gilia wanted to ask, but held her tongue. The bite to the wind was so distracting, her teeth were chattering again and her toes felt like little ice cubes. She wished she had some actual clothes to wear and not this dirty robe. "Be glad we aren't in hell, you wouldn't survive down there."

She lifted her head to look at Sach. Her jaw was practically vibrating now. "W…what do you mean?"

"Remember me saying Hell had already frozen over? I wasn't lying. Despite what humans on earth claim, that hell is consumed with burning fires and whatnot, they have no idea what it's really like." Gilia could have sworn she saw Sach cringe. "Your blood would have frozen solid in a matter of seconds. Imagine the coldest place on earth at the ends of the poles…hell is a thousand times worse."

Gilia couldn't help it, but lean into Sach's warmth thinking about a place that horribly cold. They reached the entrance and the wind ceased as they made it inside. Sach closed the wall back and for once, Gilia was relieved to see it seal up. She had thought it was cold inside, but in fact it was about thirty or forty degrees warmer and she was thankful.

Once again they were wandering the halls in search of Sach's bedroom and Gilia remembered how small the castle had looked on the outside and decided to question him about it. As soon as she asked, Gilia wished she hadn't of. Sach became stiff and unresponsive. Why did everything she say, make him so?

For some odd reason, Gilia felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry Sach."

He stopped a moment and peered down at her. He shook his head, "It's my own fault." Sach said nothing more.

When they entered his bedroom, Sach placed her directly in his bed again and tucked the covers up under her chin. She was still shivering to the point her body started aching.

Gilia watched as he turned towards the fireplace, grabbing some wood. The man wasn't even shaking at all from being out in the cold and he was still half naked! His shirt was off, and he had only thin black pants and boots. That was it.

She wanted to ask why he wasn't cold, but decided it was best to keep quiet. She'd probably just upset him again. After Gilia heard the crackling noises coming from the fireplace, she turned her head to the brilliant, glowing flames slowly building. The warmth puffing into the air was so comforting, Gilia almost smiled in relief.

Sach was standing in front, poking the logs to get the flames higher. She noticed for the first time a small tattoo between his shoulders, at the base of his neck. They were abstract forms of raven wings. Much like the ones she'd seen the night he'd raped her. Gilia quietly gasped remembering. It had been the weirdest thing she'd ever witnessed. A forceful reminder he wasn't human.

A few inches below his tattoo, on both sides of his shoulder blades were thin pink lines that resembled scars. Gilia figured that was where his wings must come out at. She still couldn't believe it. Even though she'd seen it with her own eyes, she still couldn't believe Sach really had wings.

"What are you?" Gilia quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. The question had slipped out.

He turned, poker in hand, looking dangerous and gorgeous at the same time. The fire light danced over his muscled chest. "Do you really want to know?" he asked.

Although Gilia knew this was probably not a good thing, she was curious. She nodded her head while keeping her hand over her mouth, preventing herself from saying anything else that could cause trouble. She had a feeling she was in enough already.

"Fine…I'll tell you what I am. But promise me you won't run away."