Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 167

My words were cut short as a fist slammed across my jaw, sending my head careening back and causing my world to spin. Before I could recover, I felt a firm grip on my jaw as the stranger forced me to look up at him. I felt sharp pain where his fingers dug into my jaw, and I blinked, trying to clear my head enough to process what was happening to me.

"Shut the fuck up," the stranger growled at him. It was definitely a man.

I just needed to know. "No, but-"

The wind was driven from my lungs as I felt him drive his other fist Into my stomach. This time, I did vomit as I tried to double over, pinned back against the seat by my bonds and the man's hold on my face.

Despite retching and coughing, I managed to take a wheezy breath and breath, "Please... I just need-"

He drove his fist into my stomach once more, and I felt spittle and bile fly from my lips as I felt my existence narrow until there was nothing else left but the physical pain in my gut and head and worry for my friends. He shook my face a little and growled, "Three of my people are dead. You're lucky I was told to keep you alive."

"But," he continued, and I felt something cold and sharp pressed against the side of my face. I tried to inch away from whatever it was, but the hold the man had on me was too strong. "Instructions didn't say anything about body parts, though."

He bent forward, getting so close that I thought for a wild moment that he was going to kiss me, and I tried to inch back from him. No kiss came, though; his face stopped inches from mine, and I could smell the stink of old coffee and nicotine on his breath as he said, "Thear any more whining out of you, and I'll cut off your nose."

He released me, shoving my face away from him as he straightened and stared down at me, putting away the knife he'd held against my face. I stared back up at him wide-eyed, wanting desperately to ask him about my friends but convinced he would shove more than just a fist in my gut if I uttered a single syllable.

Moments passed, and when it looked like neither of us was going to speak, he reached into a pocket and pulled something out. He held it in both hands and reached for my head, causing me to flinch, thinking he was about to garrot me or something. Instead, he slipped a blindfold over my head and secured it around my eyes until he was sure I couldn't see anything. Then he tightened it a little more, causing my head to pulse in pain.

I heard him walk away from me. The door opened again, but instead of hearing him leave, as I expected, my assailant began speaking. I could barely make out the words.

"He's all yours," he said.

"For how long?" Another voice asked - another male. This one didn't sound as rough as the one who blindfolded me. His tone sounded more measured and diplomatic.

"Till she gets here," the first man said.

"And anything goes?" the second man asked.

"As long as you don't kill him and as long as he's in his right mind to answer questions."

"What questions could Am-"

"No names," the first man said, cutting off the second man. "You know the drill,"

"Apologies," the second man said and cleared his throat. "It shouldn't be a problem though, should it?"

"No," the first man said.

"Well then, if that's everything, I'm sure you have things to do."

I heard those heavy footsteps fade. Then a flick and I could barely see the edges of my vision change slightly. They became a shade or less black, giving me the impression that a light had been turned on in the room. Despite not really changing my predicament much, the fact that there was a light on in the room filled the primitive part of my brain with a fleeting sense of hope. So did the fact that the rough man had left; the sound of softer footsteps approaching gave me the impression that whoever this was probably wasn't as strong or aggressive.

"Hey," I said, unsure how to proceed. I needed to find out something - anything - that would give me an inkling of what had happened to Emily and the others. "Listen, I don't know who you are or what you want, but-"

My cheek blossomed in pain as I received a firm slap across it, followed by another slap across the other cheek. I tasted fresh blood.

Okay, so I was wrong about the new guy being aggressive.

"Fuck! Fine! Beat me. Do whatever. Just tell me if they're alr-

Another punch across my face cut me off. Whoever this was didn't hit nearly as hard as the other guy. Small favors, I guess.

"Please," I said, trying to reason with the man. "I don't know why this is happening. Can you just tell me what did?"

Nothing. I heard light footsteps to my left and then another slightly behind me. He was circling me.

Then I heard a slight trickle of water behind me and turned my head to concentrate on the sound, trying to figure out what he was doing. It sounded like someone was peeing.

"What-"

"I hope you feel every excruciating second of what's about to happen to you," the man finally said, speaking to me for the first time. He sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite put a face to the voice. I was just about to ask him what he meant by that when I felt a soaking wet rag hit my face, a hand shoved it firmly against the lower half of my face. Water invaded my mouth and threatened to fill my nostrils. I had to fight hard to not inhale as the stagnant liquid washed over me.

The hand held the soaking rag to my face, and I struggled against his grip for the next several moments, trying to fight free so I could spit the water out and breathe. Seconds ticked by as I drowned while bound to a chair, unsure of why, left with nothing but my need for oxygen, burning questions, and an overactive imagination that haunted me with scenarios of the gruesome fates that Emily and Natashya could have suffered.

It could have been minutes or hours, but it all was a blur of pain and near drowning as the man relentlessly tortured me, beating on me, repeatedly waterboarding me, and cursing me the whole time. Eventually, I blacked out again.

I was ripped back into consciousness when a high-pressured column of ice-cold water threatened to tear the skin off my back. I yelled out and rolled toward the column and realized the mistake as soon as I made it, water slammed into my chest and face. I rolled away and yelled out again, confused, hurting, and more than a little pissed off. The assault continued for another minute and a half before the stream of water abruptly disappeared.

"What the fuck are you doing?" someone said. It sounded like the man who had put a blindfold on my face earlier. It was no longer there, and I dared to open my eyes to see a sliver of silver in the sky as the last dying gasps of the day faded. A handful of stars dotted the sky, their brethren biotted out by light pollution. Judging by the sky, I was sure of one thing - I had no idea where I was or what the hell was going on.

"You told me to wash him down," someone else sald.

"Inside, dumbass. There's a tub in there." the guy giving orders said.

"I'm not touching him," the other man said. "Guy had piss on him."

Had I pissed myself?

"Upton pissed himself?" the rough man said. I'd started to think he must have been the leader of the people who captured me.

"Nah. He pissed on Upton. It was a lot, though. I dunno. Maybe some of it was his."

"Fuck, I don't care," the leader said.

Coughing and sputtering, I rolled over and saw two men standing less than ten feet away from me. A thick coil of fire hose lay at their feet. Three other men stood nearby, armed with rifles.

"He could be spotted. Get him back inside"

The other man muttered something but followed orders. He called one of his buddies to come over and help him pick me up. The pair grabbed an arm each and dragged me toward a large warehouse. My head hanging limply, I stared up at the silhouette of the sad- looking building and realized just how tired and sore I was. Vague memories of being beaten across the back with something long and hard came rushing back. I remembered being waterboarded with foul-tasting water. My head was pounding, and despite feeling like a drowned rat, my tongue clung to the roof of my mouth. I was surprised I could even hold my head up.

"Why are."