Hey kids,

This is a one shot I decided to do one day and I love how it came out. Originally it was going to be a full story, but I really just wanted to do this section alone. I hope you all enjoy it and I'm always up for criticism!

Elexies

Oh God, she felt terrible. Her stomach was rolling about and bile kept rising up in her throat. Her head throbbed and her mind was spinning. She felt so ill, all this just leaving her to curl up in his bed, hoping she’d magically get better before he got back home. Oh, him. She flinched at the very idea, beginning to tremble with terror at the prospect of him returning. He was going to be so mad at her, Adalgisa realized, draping an arm over her head as she wallowed in self pity of her situation.

She’d never done this before, she’d always been more or less obedient after she got over the initial shock and he finished his initial training. He was going to kill her! The idea sent her stomach hurling again and she bit back the urge to throw up. There was nowhere to relieve her stomach, no windows, and no toilets. Nothing. She had a feeling he’d be less than pleased with her if she left a strange mess all over his floor for him to clean up. She thought about that for a moment then shook her head, reaching up to grab it when it throbbed in disapproval of the action. He wouldn’t clean it up. He’d make her clean it up when he was finished beating the hell out of her.

Adalgisa felt tears well up in her eyes and quickly bit them back, having cried long enough for the past two or so hours. Her stomach hurt so badly, she had to let it all out or else she felt like she’d die. There’d been so many times when she was supposed to throw up but just never did because she was so terrified of how he’d react. This was her first time being sick in his world, and idly she wondered if his kind got sick like she did.

Slowly she rolled over in his bed, snuggling up into his pillow and inhaling his scent, trying to calm her aching stomach. He smelt so very good. A spicy and heady sort of scent and she found it often left her panties wet. They’d curled up together many a night, just taking in the smell of each other. His lips would tease the skin of her neck and his sharp teeth nip her ear lobes. Lord, he got her so hot sometimes. She’d named him Maurizio, for his dark skin. He’d told her his name once before, but for the life of her she couldn’t pronounce it so she’d just called him Maurizio and he didn’t seem to upset with it. He came running whenever she screamed it, and he grinned with pride whenever she moaned it. He tried calling her by her name a few times, but his heavy accent wouldn’t permit such a thing and he given up, simply calling her Lince’sa. It sounded pretty enough, and she liked the sound of it rolling off his tongue.

But here she was now, contemplating their names and he was going to be back in only a few minutes, ready and willing to beat her to death when he saw her surprise. Shakily she grabbed his pillow and brought it with her to the door, leaning heavily against it as she slid to the ground. The door was elaborate and massive; she’d been surprised to find a lock on it. She’d never gotten around to looking at it before. He tended to keep her busy with something or other. He always had some form of cleaning that took her a few hours to do when he was away. He made her clean the bedroom whenever he had to leave, but he only did that because if he didn’t then The Others would get suspicious. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how she knew this. She couldn’t understand a word that came out of his sultry mouth. But she had a feeling. They were a lot meaner than him, crueler and simply radiating menace. And often, the times he made her clean were the times that one of The Others came into the room and poked about a bit.

Oh, she remembered the first time one of Them had come in. She’d been in the middle of cleaning the floor, scrubbing for all her worth. Maurizio had pointed at it earlier that morning and spoken firmly ‘xund’. When she gave him a confused look he pointed to some buckets of steaming hot water and a cloth he’d brought in earlier and then repeated the word. She was planning to argue, those being her more defiant of days, but he’d quickly and sharply slapped her across the rear. He raised his hand threateningly and immediately she obliged, moving to the buckets. He’d smacked her a few times in her first days. He’d given her a pat on the head and left without another word, but a rather content look on his face. It hadn’t been too long before The Other had walked in.

He’d been quiet as a mouse and she hadn’t heard him at all. He’d stood there watching her for a while she supposed, never making a sound, his breath silent. He’d made a show of his first step, stomping his foot on the ground and making her jump in surprise. He’d laughed, walking menacingly forward with his short silver hair falling about his face. Towering over her He’d spat on the floor, giving her a ‘what now?’ sort of smirk.

She’d sat there, staring at the saliva. She had honestly contemplated yelling at Him, telling Him off for messing up her work and being a stupid ass. But His fingertips had been teasing the vicious looking whip at His side too much for her liking. Obediently she’d reached out and wiped the spittle away with the cloth, quietly returning to her work. He’d sneered and walked away, poking about the room for a little while, giving her mean glares the entire time. She’d simply continued her work, not wanting to spite Him by glaring back. He’d left not too long before Maurizio came back. Maurizio had walked in with a rather happy bounce to his step, patted her head affectionately, pulled the rag from her hand and had let her take a nap as he cleaned and kissed her bruised and dirty knees and palms.

Maurizio always knew when They were coming and always gave her hard work for the while he was away. If he planned to be there at the time They came he would make her pamper him, massage his broad shoulders or plait his long silver hair. He acted arrogant around The Others, and often treated her more crudely in front of them. He would pop her rear a lot and laugh with The Other and she’d make a lovely show of looking annoyed and flustered. In the end he often pampered her in return, so Adalgisa didn’t really complain.

But now that she’d gotten sick and had to keep him from getting sick too she’d studied the door as hard as possible and found a lock. Leaning against the door now she made sure it was resolutely in place. She didn’t know if keeping herself quarantined would help. Viruses and diseases could spread in weird ways and she wasn’t very good at science, but she hoped this worked. She was almost certain his race had never experienced a stomach virus before and she didn’t need to be the cause of some mass epidemic for—what was he? — Well, for whatever he was.

She truthfully didn’t know, didn’t even really know how or why she got here. She’d been going to school through the shortcut in the woods and had been hit upside the head. She knew that one for sure, for when she’d woken up there’d been a horrible bump on the back of her scalp. Then here she was, in this world of shadows and gothic castles. She’d been so scared at first. Waking up in some strange massive bed with him staring at her from the foot of it. He’d been so strange, but terribly attractive all at once.

He was black as the night, blending in with the darkness it seemed. He was very tall, well over six feet, and strongly built. His chest and shoulders were broad and his hips narrowed finely. His legs were long and athletic and his arms powerful, his muscles rippling beneath the black skin like a panther’s. His silver hair was a curious thing, long and silver it fell to his waist silkily in a braid, a few strands falling about his face and shoulders. His ears had been pointed, decorated with various rings that clinked gently together. His gray eyes were a lovely bright shade that often bordered on silver, and many a night after her first one she’d just stared up into them for hours it seemed. His lips were quirked with a curious smirk, and his arms had been crossed as he leaned against a bedpost.

That day, though, she’d been in a panic instantly, leaping out of the bed and racing for the door. He’d grabbed her and forcefully thrown her back into the bed, snarling at her. He’d yelled ‘zexen’uma’ at her and immediately she’d frozen on the spot, flinching at the harsh word, not knowing its meaning but understanding the threatening tone. He’d crawled slowly into the bed with her, sitting not far from her.

He’d spoken to her in a gentle manner when he was near, allowing her to calm down as he murmured what she supposed were sweet nothings. When she had relaxed he had spoken to her on more even tones, as if he were explaining the basics of life to an ignorant child, his eyes deep and soothing. She didn’t know what he said, but at that moment she did know she would never see home again.

It’d sent her into a fit of tears and she sat there in a sobbing mess, while he leaned back from her with a confused and disgruntled look on his face.

It was frustrating for her and she’d babbled away to him how she couldn’t stay here, she didn’t even know where ‘here’ was. Everything was shadowy and the only light was from dim candles and lanterns about the room. She’d told him of the future she’d hoped to have by going into behavioral sciences for criminals and whatnot, always having a passion of sorts for that ever since she read ‘Silence of the Lambs’. She told him how she was supposed to get married and have some children and cook wonderful Italian food like her family naturally did. She would help her parents with the restaurant on her summers, and how she was supposed to be graduating from school next year. She should be marrying her high school sweetheart, whenever he got around to proposing, and they’d grow old together.

He had stared at her blankly. She had cried harder.

She’d been most surprised when he had taken her into his arms and begun to stroke her hair, whispering to her again. He’d rocked with her and even hummed to her gently, allowing her to calm down once more. She’d fallen asleep not too much later.

They’d woken up together in bed, his arms tight about her. They’d tried telling each other their names, tried to work through their language barrier but there had been no progress.

Adalgisa whimpered as she heard his footsteps, leaning heavily against the door and biting back a sob. She supposed he heard her whimper, because his footfalls came faster. She wondered for a second if she should just unlock the door and hope he might not get sick, but quickly brushed the idea from her mind. She couldn’t let him catch the virus. It might kill him. He was her only protection down here, and she doubted the others of his kind were as nice as he occasionally tended to be. She felt the primary shove as he tried to open his door, bumping into it when it refused to do so. There was silence, and she bit down on her lower lip hard, listening to him as he tried again. A sort of hush rang out painfully for a long moment, deafening and final sounding. The only real noise was her rapid heart beat and the sound of her nervous pants. Then, from the other side of the door, there was an animalistic snarl that raised the hair on her neck and arms.

“Lince’sa!” his voice rang down the hallways and echoed about, and she cringed at the fury she could hear. She whimpered, closing her eyes tightly as he shoved against the door.

Of course, Maurizio had never really been terribly mean to her. He’d never really beat her. He’d smacked her a few times when she’d screamed at him, trying to be defiant to any of his wishes. And he’d definitely taken her over his knees quite a few times, in either a fit of rage or lust she often couldn’t tell. He was wild and unpredictable in the beginning; angry when she expected praise and affectionate when she expected fury. He’d become easier to read though, and she knew what pissed him off more often than not now in days. But sometimes he still took her by surprise. She hoped this might be one of those times.

“I’m not letting you in!” she screamed back, finding her self much too tired to be talking, let alone yelling. She knew they didn’t understand each other, that it was useless to even be responding to him, but old habits died hard. They spoke to each other a lot, and she’d begun to understand a few words, and vice-versa, but they were very small phrases.

“Pahntar nindol dobor!” he raged, shoving angrily at the door, and she whimpered when it gave way a bit.

“No!” There was silence for another moment and she covered her ears when he yelled vociferously as she meddled with his temper. She bit back a sob of terror, burning tears trailing down her heated cheeks. He understood ‘no’. He didn’t like ‘no’ unless they were playing sexual games. He’d learned how to say ‘yes’ to her real quick, and she knew he spoke dirty in his own language, which turned her on even more when they were at it.

Their first bout of romance had been an accident really.

She’d been scrubbing the floor again and, as predicted, one of The Others had come in. She’d expected The Other to just wander around and poke at things as They usually did, looking for something but what she never knew. She’d just ignored Them as was expected of her. It had taken her by surprise when she felt a hand brush her rear and she’d jerked away furiously, only to be smacked.

They’d struggled a few seconds as the first Other she’d ever met tried to grab onto her. She’d clawed at him desperately, trying to pull away. He’d stunned her with another hard smack and had thrown towards Maurizio’s bed. It left her terrified because, if He was planning to do all this in Maurizio’s bed, it meant Maurizio wasn’t due back for a while. She’d begun to cry. It was when her clothes had been completely ripped away, she’d been securely tied to his bed and The Other had spread her legs with a twisted grin that Maurizio had suddenly come home early.

He’d been furious and had beaten The Other into an inch of his life, yelling curses and kicking Him about. He’d thrown The Other out of his bedroom like dirty laundry and returned to her, murmuring sweet nothings again. He’d begun to untie her but he’d stopped a moment, contemplating her position and studying her body with appreciative eyes. It’d left her an aroused mess when he’d licked his lips, looking up into her eyes with his silver ones. She’d whimpered, and he’d leaned over to tease his lips with her own. Unbinding her he’d pampered her hot flesh with skillful fingertips, pinching her nipples to hard points and laving her neck with passionate licks and kisses. She’d ripped his clothes away like a mad woman, studying his body with her hands, relishing the feel of his hard muscles working beneath his dark skin. She remembered they’d gone at it like mad the entire night. He’d certainly made her first time memorable. After that night they had done almost everything under the sun, and he’d waken a lustful hunger inside her that had yet to lay dormant.

“Lince’sa…” his voice was once more dangerous and she whimpered, shaking her head. She bit her lower lip hard, breaking through the skin gently.

“I can’t let you get sick!” she yelled back, pushing back against the door as it budged once more. The lock wasn’t holding out nearly as well as she’d hoped it would. “Please,” she screamed, trying to hold the door closed as he worked furiously against it. “Please! Just listen to me!”

He knew ‘please’ too, and slowly his pushes against the door stopped.

“Ele naut?” he murmured, crouching down so they spoke near the same level. She held back a sob, closing her eyes and trying to compos herself. God her stomach was hurting so bad, she was going to throw up. She doubled over, holding her cramping stomach and sobbing from the pain and fright of her situation.

“Please, you’ll get sick. I don’t want you to get sick,” she spoke carefully, taking deep breaths. Her stomach constricted hard again and she gagged, covering her mouth.

“Lince’sa,” he tried pushing against the door again, softer this time, a weak shove. She shook her head, pushing back. There was a moment of silence between the two, listening to each other’s breathing. After a moment he said, quite firmly, “Pahntar nindol dobor, nin.” He moved from the door and slammed against it, and Adalgisa screamed when the lock threatened to break, trying to hold the door closed still. He’d always been so much stronger than her, and if he opened it she wasn’t going to be able to stop him from teaching her a lesson. She’d never locked him out of his room before, and was scared to death of what he planned to do to her.

“No! Just stop, please! I—” she quickly cut off as bile rose. She couldn’t stop it and at the very moment he broke the door open. She got up quickly, tried to break past him so he wouldn’t see her throwing up. She didn’t want him to see. It looked horrible and he’d find her disgusting then. He caught her as she tried to race around him, pulling her firmly into his arms, his face angry. With a helpless sob she turned to the side. Bending over she relieved her stomach, making a mess at their feet. He swiftly pulled away, his eyes wide in surprise. She fell to her knees, continuing to heave up their last meal.

She heard herself retching and was appalled by the sound of it splattering to the hard floor. She felt some cover along her front and was kneeling in a little bit of it. Her throat was burning and she couldn’t breath. She felt tears well into her eyes again, knowing just how repulsed he’d be with her now. He’d want nothing to do with her after this.

She jumped in surprise when she felt a hand on her back, stroking her gently and soothingly. She was crying when she was finally done, her face a mess and the clothes he’d given her dirty, but her stomach felt infinitely better. She looked towards the side up at Maurizio, his gray eyes full of pity, and understanding. She looked away, covering her face as she wept only harder, rocking gently with her motions. He shushed her and gently pulled her into a stand, walking her into his room. He guided her into his bathing room, the only thing in there being a tub that was always full of steaming scented water. She weakly tried pushing him away, sobbing helplessly. He held to her firmly, looking down at her piteously.

“Dos phuul s’ck,” his spoke to her tenderly and calmly was pulling the shirt over her head. She wept more, trying to push him away but he held fast. He pulled her long skirt down her hips, kissing her stomach soothingly as he went to his knees. She felt it twist in delight. He removed his own clothes, and feebly she watched, admiring his body.

He must’ve been a soldier, for he often left when he was in an array of elaborate and sleek armor, plus the various weapons he kept in a display room he’d once introduced to her. He had such a strong body, the muscles rippling with power and his movements sleek like a predators. He looked so very good nude. His dark lips twitched gently as he noticed her watching. Walking over her gave her a rare and affectionate smile, easing them into the hot tub together, lightly cleaning her front and face. He kissed her forehead, and began to relaxingly rub the aches from her body.

“D'anthe klez, xuat tangis' zhaun lu'oh ulu tesso uns'aa vel'bol zhah xusst,” he sighed, rubbing along her shoulders. “Dos phuul aluin tlu s'ck, lu' Usstan xun naut zhaun vel'bol ulu xun ulu xxizz.”

She looked up at him, watching quietly. He gave her a bit of a smile, as much of a smile as he could manage. He was meant for smirking; his kind in general seemed meant alone for smirks and sneers. She thought back to when one of The Others had tied her to Maurizio’s bed and thought over how furious Maurizio had been, then how passionate. He always seemed passionate, but he was wild and burning whenever something nearly happened to him or her.

She could always tell when he’d been in danger. He’d come home after one of his days out doing whatever he had to do and she’d great him like she usually did, with a smile and clean room. He’d grab her and push her against a wall, or throw her into his bed, or maybe he wouldn’t take her anywhere and he’d just fuck her in his arms and the door wide open. He was possible the best lover in the world, Adalgisa speculated. Kinky, dark and brutal he stuck to his master role with pride and always made sure she was begging before the end of it.

He sat her down in the tub with him and he wrapped his strong arms about her. She curled up against him, studying the black skin and a few stray silver locks.

“I wish I could ask if you cared about me like you seem to do sometimes,” she murmured, fingering his hair idly. “I must care about you, but maybe it’s because you’re really the only one I interact with. You keep me trapped in your room day after day. It makes me wonder if prisoners really do fall in love with their jailors. I wonder how I caught this virus anyway.” She looked up at him. “You’re going to get sick too.” He smiled down at her again, capturing her lips gently. She pulled back, not wanting him to taste the bile that still resided in her mouth. He frowned at her, a disapproving frown.

Her stomach heaved again and she closed her eyes clinging to it. He kissed her forehead, rubbing her stomach in calm motions. It made her feel a bit better, but none of this was helping. She wished she were back home. She wished she were taking medicine that would cure her, with her mother stroking her stomach while she slept and the smell of chicken noodle soup being cooked by her father wafting in the air. That’s what she really wanted. The very idea made tears fill her eyes and she bit back a few sobs, despite the scratchiness of her throat and her blurring vision. She felt Maurizio shift next to her and leaned against him when his arms encased her. She looked up to him, and he tried forcing another smile. Nothing was helping.

“I want to go home,” she sniffled. The discontent was immediately on his face at the words. She’d screamed those words a lot in the beginning and he knew what she wanted. Firmly he shook his head, pulling her tighter into him.

“Dos ph'usst. Usstan h'ros inbal dos sevir. Dos z'klaen zexen'uma,” Maurizio spoke firmly, leaving no room for debate. He leaned forward, trying to tease her lips with his, but Adalgisa only pushed back from him. When he tried to forcefully yank her into his arms her stomach heaved again and she turned about, not wanting to throw up again, let alone have him see her do it.

“Please, just let me go home!” She moaned with her voice slightly muffled behind her hand.

She was surprised when he got up out of the water in a fury and watched as he stormed away, opening the door to the bathroom and slamming it closed behind him, the sound making her jump. She was alone now and Adalgisa whimpered, slowly pulling herself out of the tub. She sat on the edge, quiet for a moment, thinking. He wasn’t going to take her home and he was mad at her. She sniffled, biting on her lower lip hard to try and hold back the tears that were filling her eyes. She had to go home. She needed to go home. Every second she was here she was a threat to him, but more than that, she just wanted to go home. She truly did enjoy her time with Maurizio, he was wonderful and she’d gotten used to her life wherever she was. But she wanted home.

Adalgisa heard the door open but didn’t look up at him, recognizing the sound of his steps on the hard floor. Feeling a little glad she went to turn and face him after a moment, wanting to smile at him one of those ‘let’s just stop arguing’ smiles.

She was surprised when she was hit hard in the back of the head, blacking out right after the blow.

There was a soft hand rubbing her stomach when Adalgisa woke up. It felt very nice. Her head was hurting terribly and though her stomach was no longer in excruciating pain, it still ached a bit. She squirmed on the bed, whimpering as she realized there was a horrible bright light streaming into her eyes. She tried opening her eyes, but everything looked white with how bright it was, and she hissed in pain.

“Maurizio,” she whimpered. The hand stopped stroking and she felt someone shift on the bed. It weight was too light to be Maurizio’s. She felt panicked.

“Adalgisa,” the voice was soft and full of anxiousness. She wondered for a second who Adalgisa was, then remembered. Her heat stopped for a second, and the beat that returned was painful, leaving her with short breathes. She remembered that voice. Oh, she’d missed that voice. She quickly opened her eyes, hoping to look up into the face of her mother but was blinded with bright light again. She covered her face, groaning in pain.

“Mom?” she whimpered, reaching out with her free hand to where she felt the weight of her mother near her.

“I’m here sweetie, oh! Angel, I thought I’d lost you for good! We couldn’t find you and—” her mother broke off into sobs and Adalgisa sat up shakily, wrapping her arms about her mother and hugging her tight. She rocked with her mother gently, smoothing her thick black hair with a few strands of silver. She could still see her mother in her mind, and she kissed where she knew her brow was and where her high cheekbones were. She buried her face into where she knew the crook of her neck was. Her mind was in a haze and all she could do was hold her mother tight to her, not sure if this was a vicious dream or real life, and not sure if she wanted to find out. It felt real enough.

“It’s okay, I’m back Mommy, I’m back now,” she realized she was crying, and the taste of tears on her lips was salty and deliciously bitter.

Delicious because she had to be home. She was home. She really was holding her mother and this was really her bed beneath her. This was really her room and everything was how it should be.

Bitter because, somehow, she knew Maurizio was going to be back. She had a strong feeling this hadn’t been finished. They were just having a bit of an intermission, she supposed. At least this time around she had a few days or so to get things in order before she got well again and Maurizio retrieved her.

She felt a wry smile touch her lips through her sobbing. Bastard, he’d surprised her again.

So what did you think? Not the best but I enjoyed writing it. For everyone wondering when In His Shadows II and The CORPSE are going to be updated it should be soon!

Elexies