The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

10.1. Run (Liran & Imorah) - V2

Author's Note: Please be warned that there is some disturbing sexual and violent content in this chapter, although there is nothing graphic.

This part along with the previous three parts (all pertaining to Imorah's story) have been edited after some great feedback by Sally Mason SallyMason1 who helped me work on this difficult scene and portray both Imorah and Tashin more honestly. For this reason, I've dedicated all of these parts to her. Thank you, Sal! 

***

Liran woke up to a beeping sound near his ear.

"Get up!" he heard Akim say.

Liran shook sleep away and rubbed his eyes. That's when he realised he could rub his eyes. He must be outside of the bio-bag. He opened his eyes, but they were covered in sand. All he could see were Akim's boots, ankle-deep in the sand, and behind him, the dark sky. It must be very, very early morning. The sky was beginning to lighten. Being on the Northern Coast meant there were eighteen hours of daylight at this time of year.

"What's happening?" he asked, trying to see Akim above him through the grit in his eyes.

"Shut up and do what I tell you."

Liran looked up at the voice, and his eyes swam dizzily.

"Take the bio bag off."

Liran didn't understand, until he looked down at his body. His head, chest and arms had been uncovered, but the rest was still bound up in the strange material. It held him somehow from the inside. He reached down and pushed the strange fabric off his legs and squirmed out, into the sand.

Above him, Akim said, "Now stand up. Move slowly or I'll shoot you."

Without moving, Liran looked up into a phaser that Akim was pointing at him. "I don't know if I can stand..." he tried.

"Shut up! Don't talk! Just stand up!" Akim hollered. He gave a kick to Liran's feet, and was yelling like a military man.

Liran tried to stand up and that's when the communicator buzzed, and Akim pushed him to the ground with a hard kick.

"DeltaNine to Akim. We are approaching your coordinates. ETA ten minutes. Is the captive ready for pickup?"

"Affirmative DeltaNine. The captive is awake and ready."

Then Liran heard the sound of a drone in the distance. His heart began to race. He looked around him. They were at the bottom of a ridge. There was no where to run.

Akim, or whatever his name was, said, "Get up."

Liran slowly got up.

"Walk to the top of that ridge. I'm right behind you. Don't even think of making a move."

Liran started tredging through the sand up the ridge. He wanted to make a move — he knew this was his last chance, but he didn't doubt that Akim would shoot him. He wondered what the phaser was, whether he would live or not. His heart was racing, as he tried to think what he should do.

They arrived after only a minute at the top of the ridge, and Liran could see the ship approaching — it was still a tiny speck on the horizon. He didn't know what to do. The ship would be here in minutes. He looked at Akim.

Akim yelled, "Turn around, don't look at me," and pointed the phaser at Liran's face.

Liran turned around, and watched the ship approaching. His moment to do something was burning up.

*

Imorah awoke to an awareness that someone was touching her. She opened her eyes and the man, Tashin, was sitting on the mattress beside her, stroking her arm.

A bolt of fear struck her, and her stomach clenched. She was immediately awake.

"You're so pretty," he said, staring down at her. His hand traced her arm and neck and went to her cheek. "You look like my wife when she was young." 

Imorah froze. She could see his eyes in his shadowy face because they reflected moonlight spilling in from the cave entrance.

He slid his hand from her cheek to her chest and searched for her breasts. Imorah gasped, and  pushed his hand away, sitting up, backing as far away from him as possible against the wall. "What are you doing!? Get away from me!" she cried. 

Before Imorah could say another word, the man slapped her face, hard.

She screamed in pain, her cheek exploding in pain. She'd never been hit before, and the experience shocked her into silence. Violence of any kind was forbidden in The Shelter, so she had never even seen someone hit someone else, except in a holo-vid. 

"I warned you," he spat with anger. "I told you not to command me in my own home! Will you not learn? If you want to stay with me, then you need to learn my ways."

Imorah couldn't say anything. She was still in shock from the slap. She stared at him, her eyes wide with fear.

"What are you going to say?"

"I'm so sorry," Imorah begged, crying, "Please, I ask you to please leave me alone," she clutched her cheek where he had slapped her.

He suddenly grabbed Imorah by the shoulders and shook her. 

Imorah tried to get away from him, but he was far too strong.

Then he kissed her.

Imorah pressed her lips shut against him and fought him as hard as she could.

When he started to kiss her cheeks, her neck, she cried, "Please leave me alone. Please, I beg you."

"Argh!" the man groaned. He pushed Imorah against the wall. Then he stood up and kicked a pot violently across the room.

Imorah cringed at the noise as it crashed against the wall of the cave and clattered to the floor. Her body was flooded with adrenaline and she feared for her life. She wondered if she should try to run, right there, right then. Even if he caught her. Maybe she could get a rock from the river and bash his brains out.

But he was far too strong. What was she thinking? She'd never learned how to fight. She had never raised her hand in anger. She couldn't bash out a man's brains.

The man paced the length of the cave, near the mouth.

Imorah watched him and felt completely empty inside. What on earth have I done? she wondered silently. She'd made a terrible mistake. She never should have left The Shelter. She gulped in fear as the man came back to her. 

His movements were like an animal.

He didn't sit down on the mattress though. He said, "Get out of my bed."

Imorah got up, and clutched her belongings to her chest.

He pointed to a pile of clothing in the corner, some furs. "You can stay there."

"Yes," Imorah said, "Thank you. Thank you, Tashin."

She sat down on the clothes, and wrapped her arms around her knees, holding them close to her chest. She could not stop crying. She watched as the man got into his bed.

She listened to him fall asleep, and looked out the mouth of the cave at the moonlight. 

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Author's Note:

That was a very difficult scene to write. I've been avoiding it for weeks, months. Years. 

I really hate Tashin.