The Wolfe Manor - DISCONTINUED

Chapter Nine

Warning: This chapter contains an explicit scene of torture. Viewer discretion is advised.

~~~

Maria

All was soundless as we sat on the cold floor.

Listening.

Waiting.

Our eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness enough to see each other's faces; we were close, huddled up even if you wanted to call it that. The girl brought her knees up to her face and rubbed her legs, shivering. The teenage boy ran his fingers through his hair uneasily and the older woman closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. Then exhaled. Then inhaled. Then exhaled again.

I felt better than I had before in the van, but not entirely. My nausea eventually faded away and I was much stronger; I could stand and move around without the room spinning, but I couldn't feel relieved. I wasn't ill anymore, but what lay ahead scared me.

"What's your name?"

I started. Looking to my left, I could see the girl looking inquisitively at me with her small, almond-shaped eyes. I blinked at her but didn't answer. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure if I had even heard her correctly. It was possible-and more probable-that she asked me something more important than a name.

"I'm Robin Walters," she ventured, her gaze straying to the floor again. I hadn't misunderstood her. This was a strange time for introductions, even more considering the situation, but it was better than sitting in the uncomfortable silence. It would be useful to know the other slaves' names too. It might even aid me to break free from here...

"I'm Maria. Maria Carson." I answered in a whisper.

Robin Walters looked sympathetic and frightened as she asked, "Did he hurt you?"

I was taken by surprise again by her. How had she seen the brawl with Master Wolfe the day before? I was sure the doors were closed. "I heard you screaming," she said, answering my unspoken question.

I bit my lip. "He did," was all I could say. My arms were still throbbing, but it had reduced little by little during the day as we worked in the kitchen.

Robin took in a shaky breath. "I'm terrified of him," she confessed, her voice thick and wobbly. "He seems so calm, but he scares me..." she didn't finish because she was overtaken by a sob. "I hate him so much...he took everything away from me..."

I sat there staring at her with empathy. I didn't want to admit that Master Wolfe had taken my life away from me, but I had to. My friend, my job, my life...they were all behind me and heaven knows if I would ever live the life I once had. My affairs weren't very fortunate, but it was everything to me. It was all I had. If she was luckier than I was, I could only imagine how terrified she must have felt. I didn't want to live like this either, a helpless victim of abduction; a "slave" as Master Wolfe called it. I had my entire life ahead of me. And he snatched it all away.

I watched her body convulse violently as her cries filled the room. "I'll figure this out," I muttered under my breath. A promise only I could hear.

~~~

Robin's crying eventually subsided. Minutes had passed and by then, we briefly exchanged our names; the older woman was Elena Johnson and the boy was Steven Wilson. I repeated their names as many times as I could inside my head until it was impossible to forget. Robin, Elena, Steven, Robin, Elena, Steven, Robin, Elena, Steven.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice the door above us creak open. The others turned their full focus on it and I did the same when I broke from my trance.

A man slowly descended from the stairway with a thick rope in one hand and a lantern in the other. The light shone on Baine's creased face as the door sealed closed behind him. We each stood up when he reached the bottom. He didn't have to tell us what Master Wolfe had thought of our work. The rope said it all.

Baine set the lantern down and plodded towards me, pulling out a long piece of rope from his hands. Clenching my hands, he yanked my arms. He bound my hands together with surprising speed and didn't stop until the bounds were cruelly tight and a long strand was left hanging.

He did the same to Robin and the others and soon, he was tugging us into the depths of the cellar. We passed the room with the tub and reached a door in the back that required a key to open it. It was a bigger room and as we entered, my blood turned cold when I saw the deadly instruments hanging on the walls.

Long curved hooks were hung from the ceiling, some of which had torn pieces of cloth pierced through them. The floor wasn't smooth like the rest of the cellar but instead, rocky and hard like gravel. I didn't want to look up but my eyes defied me. Malignant-looking knives and blades and sickles of all sizes hung on the walls, their blades glinting brightly from the light of the lantern. Their handles were made from dark, sturdy leather; some were long and sharp and some were short; some blades were jagged and some were smooth but still just as lethal. A metal table with thick straps on the sides and the end stood in the middle.

Baine put the lantern on the floor and turned to us, holding our ropes. "Master Wolfe was displeased with all of you this evening." He started pulling something out from the pocket in his pants. We all noticed and tensed up like dogs. "It is to my great dismay to have to do this, but upon Master Wolfe's orders," He took out the object and revealed a long, toothed knife with a thick brown handle to match. I didn't dare even breath as Baine looked at each of us in the eye, making sure we understood well.

"I have no other choice."

Baine stepped towards me and his long fingers extended towards my arm but I flinched away. "Please don't do this," I whined, hiding my hands by pressing them against my side.

"Do not be difficult," he said abruptly, making another move towards me but failed as I backed away from him. "This will only make things harder for you."

"We'll make it better," I kept backing away from him but I soon smacked into the wall behind. The others watched with horror as Baine lunged forward and successfully grabbed my arm. "I swear we'll make it better!" I cried as he held my hands.

"Yes, you will," he said darkly, turning over my hands and exposing their palms. "But improving requires learning."

"Why are you doing this to us?" I spat. Many profanities would have escaped my mouth if Baine hadn't held the knife so close to my face.

He gave me a hard look before answering, "Master Wolfe's orders." He rested the blade against my right palm. The teeth pierced my skin like thorns and little droplets of red started to come out.

Baine swiped down.

A stinging pain seared through my hand and traveled to my entire arm, then to my shoulder. I let out a bloodcurdling scream that rang through the walls. I could feel the blood pouring out from the cut that reached from my pinkie finger to the thenar of my hand. It trailed down my wrist and splattered to the floor next to Baine's black shoes. It wasn't long before the metallic smell reached my nose, making me choke.

"Master Wolfe needs to make sure you learn," he assured me. The bloody tip grazed the skin of my left hand now. He pressed down and sliced my skin mercilessly with one swipe of the blade. Another cry escaped my throat and this time I closed my eyes. The pain was doubled and both of my arms were stinging and throbbing with such an intensity that was indescribable.

Why was Master Wolfe ordering this to be done to us? If we couldn't meet his expectations, why did he abduct us only to torture like this? Was this his sick way of humoring himself?

Baine pushed me towards the rest of the slaves and with tears trailing down my face, I pressed my hands tightly against the gown to slow down the flow. Red started to pool on the thick material and wet my skin.

"Robin?" Baine called her name wearily. She looked at him with red eyes. "It would be best if we made this quick," he said, cleaning my blood off the blade with a white handkerchief.