Can You See It?

Cleanse Our Souls

A pair of hands fumbling with the button and zipper on her pants was what Lauren awoke to sometime later. Her eyes flew open and with the light of the bedside lamp illuminating the room, she saw the disturbing person from before on their knees on the end of the bed. Though still slightly stuporous, Lauren began to panic, shuffling her legs away and trying to kick at the person.

They must have realized she was awake, because the hooded and masked figure relented, pulling their hands away and looking up at Lauren. Not for the first time, Lauren felt a fear grip at her and she moved her aching arms down to try and button her pants back up. Her hands were gently grabbed and moved away from the clothing and only then did she register the sound of water running in the master bathroom. The curtains were still blacked out and she had no idea how much time had passed or even what time of day it was, but Lauren had the feeling that a significant amount of time had passed.

The person at the foot of the bed stared at her blankly, waiting for her to understand what they wanted.

When she finally connected the dots, Lauren asked with a shaky, unsure voice, “A bath?”

The figure was slow to react and their reply seemed slightly uncertain because of the amount of time it took to answer, but they nodded their head. Lauren tried to even out her breathing as she nodded too and that seemed to be the only permission the person was looking for because they returned to removing the lower article of clothing from Lauren’s body. Though hesitant, the injured woman allowed it, watching the person’s every movement as they pealed off the bloody and slightly torn jeans and tossed them to the side.

Removing themself from the bed, Lauren’s previous assailant approached her, hesitantly wrapping their arm around her midsection to lift her from the mattress. Lauren’s arms wrapped around their shoulders slowly, the pain limiting her movements, and the person’s other arm slipped under her knees, lifting her up from the mattress. She briefly considered telling them that she could walk fine on her own, but she didn’t want to upset them in any way and with how weak she felt, she wasn’t sure if that was even true. With her face so close to the other’s, Lauren tried to gather as much information as she could about this person.

Their hair was long and black, greasy from not having been washed in at least a week. From what she could see beneath the mask - which wasn’t much - their skin was an unnatural and unhealthy pale, nearly grey, and their eyes were a milky white with hazy grey for the pupil and iris. Glancing down, Lauren could just make out a hint of dark red beneath the hoodie: a simple shirt. Judging by how easily they had lifted her and their more androgynous build, Lauren concluded that they were, in fact, a man.

Entering the bathroom, Lauren squinted at the white fluorescent white lighting overhead. The person carrying her didn’t seem thrilled about the lighting either, but he ignored his discomfort as he set Lauren on the edge of the tub, leaning over to turn off the faucet. Focusing back on the woman sat awkwardly and uncomfortably on the tub’s edge, the man reached down to grab the bottom hem of Lauren’s shirt. With nothing beneath the shirt, Lauren panicked slightly and grabbed the hand by the wrist, stopping the movement. She didn’t want to be undressed and naked in front of this person, in front of any person for that matter, but especially not a strange man. Her mouth opened to protest but a single finger from the other pale hand raised to press a single finger to her lips, silencing any protest. Swallowing her discomfort, protests, and tears, Lauren allowed the man to pull the shirt from her body, immediately crossing her arms over her chest to hide herself.

The hands moved down to her last article of clothing and Lauren uncomfortably shifted to allow the clothing to be pulled off. Now fully exposed, Lauren wrapped one arm across her chest and covered her lower region with one hand, trying to keep herself hidden from sight. She felt so exposed and embarrassed, practically infantile. A few stray tears ran down her face at the sheer amount of embarrassment and she turned her face away.