Black Rose

I'm sorry.

I dreamt of water.

In my nightmares, I relived it all, unable to escape the pain.

I felt my lungs fill with liquid, and my stomach bloat with the chlorine pool water. I felt what it was like to drown all over again, except it didn't stop. I drowned over and over again, repeating the sensations until finally, I pulled myself from sleep.

I woke lying on the floor, still naked, the cold tiles beneath me glistening with water. My whole body ached, but the dull pain was nothing compared to my nightmares.

The room I had been left in was filled with a quiet humming sound, and the pool beside me looked eerily peaceful, the surface still and calm. A faint mist rose from the water, making the air warm and damp.

I stared at the water a few moments, wondering how it could look so peaceful now but yet be so deadly. Then, slowly I lifted my gaze.

Set above the water, imbedded in the tall ceiling was a long rail, stretching across the pool. Hanging from the rail was the flying doc, a distorted triangle with a long handle, that had been my torture.

I felt sick at the reminder, and forced myself to look away.

To distract myself from the memories, I looked around at the rest of the room, marvelling at how bizarre it seemed compared to the rest of my prison.

Like the rest of the mansion, the pool room looked as though it had been carefully designed by an architect, with the ceiling gradually sloping upwards, and the walls angled outwards to create a bizarre illusion that there was more space. There was one big pool, but it was angled to follow the walls, to create an off V shape, then cut down the middle for a walkway, but joined underneath a curved bridge halfway down the walkway. The rail ran from the bottom of the pool to one of the top ends, then on the opposite side was a large metal water slide.

It was the kind of pool that a little kid would froth over. It did not look like not the kind of pool a kidnapper would have in their basement.

At the end of the walkway, beside the pool was a formation of seats and benches that formed a table, and then there was a row of racks holding towels, balls, and pool toys. The wall behind these racks was made of glass, with glass doors on both ends, and it showed an exposed rock cavern and an elegant spiral staircase leading upstairs, flooded with light coming from above.

I was taken over by a sudden wave of nausea for a moment, and clenched my eyes shut, forcing myself to swallow down the bile in my throat. The feeling was gone as soon as it started and I took a deep breath in to steady myself, then opened my eyes.

I pulled together as much strength as I could muster and pushed myself up from the tiles. My arms ached and splintered with the remnants of pain, and I winced, but nonetheless managed to sit up, then climb to my feet. My legs felt numb and dead beneath me, causing me to nearly fall forwards into the pool. I managed to catch myself and stand steady. I took a moment to breathe, then turned to the glass wall. I shuffled along the walkway, over the curved bridge and towards one of the glass doors. I instinctively held my breath as I went to push it open, expecting it to freeze beneath my fingertips, locked, but to my surprise, it opened with ease

Warmth fell on my shoulders, sunlight falling from a glass skylight high above, and I paused, just admiring the sensation. I hadn't seen the sun in so long, it felt as though I had started forget what it was like.

Voices echoed down the stairs from the open room above, batting against one another quickly but quietly, a carefully contained argument. I heard pieces of the conversation, like something about money, and the word care, but couldn't really make out what they were saying.

I stood at the bottom of the staircase, and just listened, letting the sun bathe me in warmth, and soothe my cold and clammy skin.

Then I heard my name, and I snapped to attention.

It was definitely my name, and my real name at that. They were talking about me. I sucked in a shaky breath, then snuck towards the staircase and started to climb, being careful not to make a sound, so as not to alert them of my presence. The higher up the staircase, the more I could make out. I stayed on the stairs beneath the ledge a little ways so they couldn't see me, but I could hear everything they were saying. The voices, as I had expected, were Gwen and Blake, but what I hadn't expected was Gwen angrily snapping at Blake. Her quiet voice was spiked with fury and sass, and not for a moment did she back down. He didn't even seem phased by her lack of fear though, because he just snapped right back.

I started eavesdropping midway into the argument, so I couldn't understand it all, but I slowly started to piece it together.

"She's just a kid, Iris," Blake said. "She isn't what I was expected. This wasn't what I wanted."

"But it's what I wanted! Since when do you give a damn how old she is? You didn't care with me." Gwen asked. I bit my lip and focused on keeping my breathing even. They might not even be talking about you, I reasoned.

"It was different with you. That was consensual. This... look, I've seen entire organisations go sideways because someone grabs someone they shouldn't." Blake asked.

"Nobody fucking cares about her, Blake. Not her parents, or her school. She's a dejected loner that happened to have a girlfriend, but is virtually no strings attached." Gwen said.

"You call that no strings attached?" Blake replied. "She's a liability!"

Gwen let out a noise of frustration. "Then why didn't you just let her drown?! Then at least I wouldn't have to deal with your complaining." She snapped.

I sucked in a breath. If I had any doubt they were talking about me before, that comment smashed it to pieces. Involuntarily, tears pulled to my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn't tell if they were from the stress, or the pain, or the hurt I felt at Gwen's words.

Blake was silent for a few moments, then he murmured something that I only just heard.

"She's your bitch. I won't kill her for you."

"Don't give me that crap." Gwen snapped in response. "She is not mine. Neither is she yours. She's a person, Blake, and people can't be owned, contrary to your belief."

"Maybe not," Blake said, in a dark tone, "but people can be bought. Or don't you remember that?"

Gwen fell silent at this for a few moments and Blake sighed.

"Never forget, that can be you or her, at any given point, so don't cross me. Got it?"

"Don't put her through that, Blake. You've broken her enough as it is." Gwen's voice had quickly transformed from angry to pleading, in a matter of moments.

Blake scoffed. "Broken her. That's rich coming from you. At least I am honest with her."

The room went silent again for a few moments, and I could almost hear Gwen recoil. After a few moments, Blake let out a sigh. "Don't throw stones in glass houses, Iris."

"I'm sorry master." She whispered. The simple title was enough of a sign that she had given up, along with the tremble in her voice.

Blake sighed. "I'm going to take the helicopter to the city for the day. I have a few meetings then a corporate dinner, so I won't be back until tomorrow. I trust you'll be fine. Make sure you go down to check on Rose soon. She is going to need help doing anything with her arms for a few days, so feel free to feed her if she lets you. I'm sure you will enjoy the experience."

"Stop," Gwen said, in a tired voice. Blake chuckled.

"Denial is doomed, Iris. She's going to know the real you sooner or later."

"She already does. There is nothing else to tell."

"How about the truth?" He muttered. They both fell silent. The air was charged with tension. Finally, Gwen spoke.

"Enjoy your trip." She said.

Blake huffed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, I heard the sound of footsteps retreating, a door slamming shut, then silence. After a long moment, I heard Gwen let out a sigh. I heard her walk away, then the creak of a door. There was a faint murmur, then silence fell once more.

What the hell did I just overhear?