Maddie sniffed, but there were no tears in her eyes. Then her hand squeezed in mine. “He told me I was to go with him. But I could not move. So he walked forward, his heavy boots like thunder claps on the ground. And reaching out, he gripped my arm so tightly in his large hand. I remember calling out at the sharp pain, and he smiled at me, his teeth gleaming under his long dark beard. Thinking back, I always see that smile when I close my eyes. Because he liked that I was in pain. He enjoyed causing me pain.”
“Maddie,” I hushed out, but she stared into the distance and I couldn’t stop her. I knew she was lost in the memory, just like I got lost in mine.
“He led me down a long hallway until we reached a room at the end. I watched him open the door, and when it opened I remember not being able to comprehend what I was seeing. There were ropes and chains hanging from the ceilings. There were handcuffs and heavy chains attached to the walls, and in the center of the room was a table. A table with shackles of all sizes to attach to wrists and feet.”
I closed my eyes, unable to get that fucked up scene out of my head. Maddie’s hands began to go cold. “He took me in there, Flame. He led me in by the hand and he locked the door behind us.
“I remember jumping at the sound of the locks snapping, and then he stood before me. I remember he lifted his hand. I remember he lifted his hand and stroked it down my cheeks. He would call me his little beautiful evil girl. Then he leaned forward and removed my headdress. I remember being scared that it was sinful for him to bare my hair,” Maddie sucked in a breath, and with a broken voice, said, “but that was the very last thing I should have feared. Because what came next set the course of my life, until I was freed just months ago.”Maddie’s eyes looked lost. I wanted to say something to her, but the flames in my blood were back at the thought of someone hurting her. The flames were in my blood, scalding my flesh at the thought of that cunt hurting her, of taking her into to that torture chamber.
Maddie’s hand gripped tighter still, and she blurted, “He ripped my dress from my back, Flame. He cut off my undergarments. He lifted me up naked and placed me on the table. Within seconds he had tied me down with the smallest set of shackles. I remember panicking because I could not move. I remember trying to free myself. Then I remember Moses suddenly standing before me, naked, holding his manhood in his hands. Looking back now, he must have been in his mid-thirties at the time. And I was six. He was so much older than I, yet he wanted me in a carnal way.”
Maddie’s breathing caught in her throat. I lifted my chest to try and calm her down. Then her cheeks paled and she added, “He started telling me that I was evil. That my looks were too tempting for men to resist, and that he had been charged with purifying my soul. I remember him slowly climbing on the table, his large body hovering above me, and I remember his hand lifting to run over my bare chest, his fingers squeezing my small nipples between his fingers. I was so confused. I did not understand why he was touching me in my private places.
“And then he lay above me, between my little spread legs. But I could not get free; I tried and I tried to get free. But it was no use. I was trapped, and Brother Moses relished it.” Maddie’s whole body tensed and her eyes winced. “And then he pushed himself inside of me. So hard and so rough that I remember screaming so loudly that my ears rang. I feared I had been split open, the pain was that great. But my scream only spurred him to strike my cheek and tell me shut up. He did not stop. Trapped on that table, he took me over and over, again and again. So many times, that I eventually passed out. When I awoke I was back in my quarters with Bella, Mae and Lilah, all surrounding my bed. And as I awoke, I remember feeling the agonizing pain coming from between my legs. Looking down, I saw blood. So much blood.” Tears were now falling freely from Maddie’s eyes, but she wiped them away to add, “And it never stopped. If anything, his ‘schooling’ of me became worse. I instantly learned to dread that room. Then after a while, it became my life. And that’s when I died inside.”
Maddie blinked fast and looked down at me. Her lip twitched and a sad smile played on her full lips. “Until you appeared, the unlikeliest of saviors. Flame, you saved me from him. From that life… from never knowing what it was like to hold hands. To kiss and to make such sweet love that it still feels like a dream. You have no idea how special you are to me.” Maddie held up our joined hands and said, “Even now, looking at these hands, I am terrified this is all in my head, that being here with you, is just another fantasy that will never be realized. That I am sitting at my window, sketching a future I pray will happen, before I blink and discover it is all in my head, that I must be content to simply watch you from afar.”