Consumed (Keeping her in the Dark) (12 page)

“Rome was a dead end, Tiffany….yes,
I know how long it has been. You don’t think I have been counting the minutes
since I last saw her! I have a private detective working on this and I have
been all over England, through Italy and France! I’ve been in enough sex clubs
and brothels to make myself sick…and that is saying a lot!” I kept pacing back
and forth in front of the book shelves. “I have one more week before I am
calling the cops, you have to give me one more week! I know I can find her. I
feel like we’re close!” Tiffany stood up and grabbed my arm.

“I’m done thinking about your safety, Liam! I want Norah
back! Who in the hell knows what he’s doing to her or with her? He could have
sold her to someone else and you are beating a dead horse. You don’t have
experience with finding people, you have experience buying people. It’s time to
stop playing games with my friend’s life and call the police!” I grabbed her
arms and shook her.

“You think I don’t want her back? You think I am thinking of
myself and not her? Do you really think I’m not climbing the fucking walls
thinking about what he could be doing to her?” I let her go and walked away.
“And I don’t have experience with buying women.” I ran my hands through my hair
just as Will ran through the door.

“I’ve got it! I found the metro!” Tiffany and I looked at
each other and Will put his hand on the back of the couch to catch his breath.

“The Metro is a Rotating Sex Party hosted by a man named
Abdul Sayid. He is a small time player in the human trafficking game. Sayid has
these parties where there’s food, sex, games, torture and auctions. Only his
closest friends and associates get invited. He has them once a month and they
call them rotating because they are never in the same place. Guests get the
invitation but they don’t get the address until 30 minutes before the party.”
He stopped talking but I wanted more.

“So how do we get in? Who can we contact about getting an
invitation? You got in to that dreadful auction a year ago, you can get into
this party!”

“Are you crazy? You’re not listening to yourself? This guy
might be low on the sex trafficking food chain, but he will still kill you and
not blink. You can’t show up not knowing anyone, an outsider. They will take
one look at you, know you are up to no good, and kill you. Or you’ll see Nick,
make a scene and they’ll kill you. Any option you take ends in death with these
people. And you’re not thinking about the most important thing here.” I looked
up at him not knowing what he was talking about. “The date was June 3
^rd
,
Liam. That was 2 weeks ago.” No one said anything for a long while.

“I think it’s time to call the police,” Tiffany finally
broke the silence.

“Well there is one more option but it isn’t a good one.”

“What’s the other option?” I asked.

“The metro is usually held in New York. With only 30
minutes’ notice Nick would have to live close by, right?” I took my phone out
of my pocket and hit a few buttons. I didn’t even wait for her to say anything.

“Marcy, put me on the next flight to New York!”

“We’re going out, get ready.” He
yelled loud enough for me to hear over the hairdryer. When I walked out to the
bedroom I saw he had laid a red outfit on the bed and left the room. Red
leather boots, skirt, tight fitting sequin top and horns.
Horns?
I
shrugged my shoulders and powdered my legs for the boots.

“What’s the powder for?” he asked walking back in wearing
only black leather pants. I slid on the skirt, then turned to face him. “It
makes the boots fit better. You should try it for your pants. It helps when you
start to sweat.” I pulled the top over my head and it kinda got stuck. It was
very small, and tight. I wiggled and tried to pull my way out but not having
sleeves didn’t help. With the tube top over my head and my arms over my head, I
felt his hands touch my stomach, then he kissed both of my breasts, finally he
helped me pull the top on. He arranged it on me the way he wanted then walked
over to his dresser.

“What are the horns for?” I slid my feet in the long boots
and zipped them up. He pulled out a long black cape, black hat, and black
button up shirt. “It’s a costume party.”

I looked at myself in the mirror. “So I’m the devil?” I
turned to face him. “So what does that make you?” He snorted and walked to me
and handed me a red mask. I looked at his entirely black outfit, black boots
and black mask. “A pirate?” He walked to the trunk in the corner and pulled up
a belt with a sword attached to it. “Zorro,” he smiled. I just rolled my eyes
and hoped he didn’t have the same distaste for eye rolling that Liam did.

As we drove I got nervous. After our last party and beating
session, this could be very bad. He was slowly making more and more demands of
me and his punishments were getting worse and worse. I panicked thinking he
might request me to take part in the entertainment tonight and I shivered thinking
what the torture would entail if I refused. I decided to voice my concerns.

“I’ve been good lately. I’ve done everything you have asked
of me.” I said it in a hushed breath. I wanted him to know I was scared but I
didn’t want to make him mad. I kept my head lowered and his hand came over to
touch my thigh. “Do you think this party is a punishment?” I shrugged but that
was what I assumed. “If it isn’t a punishment, I’m sure it’s another request or
warning.” I knew he probably wanted me to do something new and this was his way
of warning me about what would happen if I didn’t do it. He chuckled. “Norah,
you think you know me so well, don’t you?” I looked up at him. “You forget,
this isn’t the first time I have played games like this.” He made a satisfying
sound. “Ahh, so Liam did hurt you to get you to do what he wanted.” I turned my
body away from him. “Liam never hurt me!” It wasn’t true. Liam had smacked me
the first night we were together and spanked me for trying to kill myself. He
was very forceful with me. But he had apologized so many times for his
treatment of me before he fell in love with me. His most recent attack on me
which took place just before this lovely situation happened, I could have
stopped with a safe word, but chose not to. I looked down at my wrists and ran
my fingers over the new scars from being suspended in Nick’s room of torture.

“Are you going to hurt me tonight?” I asked in a whisper. He
made a humming noise like he was thinking of his answer. “Well I think you have
learned by now that my actions depend on you.” He sounded so much like Liam. I
began to wonder if there was some kind of cocky smartass dictator handbook.

We didn’t go to a private party. This was a club. I could
hear loud techno music from the driveway. We walked inside and the hallways
were lined with people with lots of tattoos, piercings and crazy hair. I wasn’t
sure if they were wearing costumes or if this was the dress code. In the main
room there were large platforms with cages and people dancing in and around
them. People hung from the ceiling in swings and twisted themselves on ropes. I
saw a few fire breathers and lots of people being pulled around by leashes. On
the main stage was 3 red velvet couches. One man was receiving a blow job by 2
different girls, and a couple was sitting next to him going at it. Nick ordered
us some drinks from the bar.

“Looks like things haven’t gotten started yet.” He raised
his eyebrows as he took a sip of his drink. I wondered what that meant, it
looked like things were going strong to me. A very attractive blonde walked up
to him and whispered something in his ear and he smiled and whispered something
back. I looked away then he took my hand. “Come with me.” He pulled me through
the crowd and down another dark hall. We entered a room lined in chairs with a
big glass window that was all black. He pushed a button on the wall and lights
behind the glass came on. Behind the glass was a man on his knees getting
nailed from behind by a woman wearing a device that looked like a penis. I
winced and hid my face. “Don’t like this one?” He took my hand and we went in
another room. We went in 3 different rooms and I saw nothing I liked. I saw a
woman being fucked by 2 midgets, I saw a woman with a whip, smacking whatever a
man on the floor put in his mouth and I saw a threesome involving a man and 2
women. Finally we got to room where women were dancing like strippers around
poles and I told him I wanted to stay in this room. It was least of all the
evils. I stood and watched the women dancing on the stage and swayed to the
music. I finished my drink which tasted like diet coke but with a hint of
coconut and asked for another. When he brought me my drink he looked happy and
relaxed, playful even. “I think you like this music, Norah.” I nodded. “I do. I
love music, and I love to dance.” He moved behind me and pulled me closer. I
didn’t stop moving my hips for fear he would get angry. “You look amazing in
this outfit and I love the way you are moving your body right now.” He had to
lean over to talk in my ear due to his height. “I think you should go on the
stage and dance, have some fun.” I laughed and pulled away to look him in the
face.

“Are you serious? Me? Up there? I can’t do that. I’m not
sexy enough to dance in front of the room.” I laughed again and took a sip from
my drink.

His smile dropped and he took his hands away from my hips,
which I didn’t mind. “I’m going to another room. Don’t try to leave.” He walked
away and I was completely confused. He was leaving me alone? That was weird. I
stood and watched the dancing a little longer then decided to explore some. I
walked up some stairs and saw more sex rooms and peep shows. I saw torture
chambers with people getting beaten. I even saw people who thought they were
vampires biting each other’s necks and drinking what looked like blood. I
walked into a room that was all black, had slower techno music playing and
people everywhere doing various sexual things. As I moved further in the room I
saw the back of Nick’s head sitting on a couch. “There you are. I thought you
left me.” I walked in front of him and saw he was kissing one woman and another
was giving him a blow job. I crossed my arms against my chest and he looked up
at me as the women changed places. Instead of kissing the other woman he made
her kiss his neck and locked his eyes on me. I wondered if he thought this was
my punishment for not dancing.

“Are you trying to hurt me?” I asked even though it didn’t.
I honestly didn’t care. I was glad he was getting some action, maybe he would
leave me alone for a while. “I think you know what I would do if I wanted to
hurt you, Norah.” He motioned his head toward my wrists, and I rubbed them. He
held the woman on his dick down and rolled his eyes back a little. “I’m gonna
come, do you want me to come in your mouth?” he asked with his smug ass grin,
he was talking to me, not the whore on his cock. “What are you going to do to
me if I don’t?” He smiled then came in her mouth. He stood up and tucked
himself back in his pants. “Oh, I’m not going to do anything. But I will let
someone else do it.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room.

“Please don’t do this!” I begged as he chained me up in the
middle of the red room. I saw another man dressed in leather assless chaps
standing to the side waiting for Nick to finish. “Don’t let him hurt me, please
Nick, I’ll do whatever you want.” He laughed. “We both know that isn’t true,
Norah. I have asked many things of you and the only way I get what I want is to
get ugly.” I cringed and squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. “I’ll
dance. I’ll dance for you and the whole party. Take me to the main room and I’ll
dance in there!” I knew I sounded crazy, but I was desperate. He grabbed my
chin and squeezed my face. “I learned the very first week with you that asking
you to do something more than once was pointless. Ever sense then, I have asked
once and either you do what I ask or you pay the consequences. I think you like
the hard way, Norah.” He put a blind fold over my eyes and gave me a chaste
kiss.

I could barely sit down on the ride home. “Did you enjoy
yourself?” he seemed very happy with himself. “I think I blacked out after the
cane, so I don’t even know how my legs started bleeding.” I was crying. He
touched my shoulder trying to get me to look at him, but I jumped when I felt
his hand on me.

“Do you think I’m going to hit you while I’m driving?” he
yelled. I turned to face him and he took my chin in his hand. “I hope that
heals. We don’t want your pretty face to be ruined. I was awake for the part
where the whip hit my face and Nick yelled at the guy for doing it. “How many
men were there?” He dropped my chin and focused back on the street. “You act
like I forced you into a gang bang.” He looked over toward me. “I let a few men
hit you. You’re mine now, I can do what I want.” I moved slowly in the seat and
lowered my head to my lap and hugged my legs.
Liam, you have to find me
soon. I don’t know how much more I can take.

“All you have to do is submit to me, Norah.” He rubbed his
hand over my hair. “Submit to me like you did Liam and all of this will be
over.”

I stood in the hotel knowing Norah
was here in this city somewhere, I knew it. I could feel it. I could feel she
was close. I was waiting for information and I hated waiting. Will and I had
used all of our old contacts to find out about the metro and any underground
sex clubs in the area. My private investigator was also searching for an
address for Nick Meyers in New York. Norah had been gone for 24 days. I had 6
more days to find her before I met my own deadline.

The next morning I got the call from Will I had been waiting
for.

“Hello?”

“I found 2 clubs. The kind of clubs you’re looking for,
right there in New York. One of them you need a code or password which changes
all the time. As soon as it is texted to me, I will text you. But be ready to
go tonight. The other you need a key, which I am still working on. But when I
get access to the key I will have it messengered to you.” We talked some more
about the progress he was making trying to get me an invitation to the next
metro party.

“Will, thank you.” We both got quiet. “I don’t think I have
thanked you for all the work you have been doing to help me find Norah. And I
didn’t do the same for you with Jane. I’m sorry about that.” We were quiet
again.

“Don’t worry about it. Jane left me herself, and Norah was
taken, it’s different.” He paused and I could hear him breathing hard in the
phone. “And I was a dick. I told Norah the truth and made her leave you. I
roughed her up like she belonged to me, and I knew better than that. I just
want to make things right, Liam. You love her, you need her back.”

I wore dark jeans and a black V-neck
t-shirt and pulled my new leather jacket out of the bag while I waited for the
text from Will. My pocket buzzed and I looked down at my phone. I had an
address and the password for a club Nick had been seen in before and might be
at tonight. I kissed the screen of the phone and made a silent prayer that he
would be there tonight and have my Norah with him.

I walked in the club. It was the kind of club I had to
before. Dancing, loud music, drinking, drugs and lots of sex. Everywhere I
looked people were fucking or engaging in masochist acts. It was the kind of
scene I use to love and have such a goodtime around. I use to love watching sex
play out in front of me. I use to love engaging in scenes in front of a group.
Beating, caning and fucking woman into exhaustion. The thought of Norah being
in a place like this made my skin crawl. She didn’t belong in this place or any
place like it. This wasn’t her scene and she was only here because of me.

 I turned the corner and there she was, on her knees in the
center of the stage. I could see whelps on her thighs and back. I saw Nick in
the corner talking with another man about which cane to use on her next. Nick
walked down the hall as the other man approached her. I couldn't watch this so
I stepped to him and requested to take his place.

“You want a piece of this whore, you’re gonna have to stand
in line, man. There are 2 other guys after me. And he’s going to let one of us
fuck her, so step away.” It took every ounce of everything I had inside me not
to knock him out for calling her a whore and implying he wanted to fuck her,
but I knew I couldn’t. For Norah’s safety I had to play this game until I got
here out of here. I didn’t know how long Nick would be gone and I didn’t want
to fight him here in this place. I would get my revenge when Norah was safe. So
I responded the only way I knew how.

“I’ll give you $50 thousand dollars if you let me go in your
place.” He stepped to the side and walked off the stage. I had many eyes on me
and I had to come up with a plan fast. I knelt in front of her and touched her
face. She had a blindfold on but she still leaned into my hand. “Oh, baby. I’m
here. I’m here now. I found you. And everything is going to be alright. I
promise.” I pulled her off her knees and threw her over my shoulder. I started
for the door when another guy stopped me.

“Where do you think you’re going with her? Nick said we had
to play with her here.” I forced a smile and tapped him slightly on the
shoulder. “Yeah, I know. But I paid him to let me get some private time.” I
winked. “If you know what I mean.” He laughed and took a sip of his beer, but
he got out of the way. I moved faster so I wouldn’t get any more questions. As
I approached the door, I thought the bouncer would question my taking a blindfolded
and tied up girl out of the club. So I handed a hundred dollar bill to a drunk
girl at the bar and asked her to start a fight near the door. When the bouncer
left to break it up I made a break for it. After 25 days I finally had my Norah
back.

I ran the bath water as I untied her hands and took her
blindfold off. “It’s me, baby.” I pulled her to me and hugged her tight. She
made a noise and I knew I was hurting her back. I let her go and held her
against me. I saw a mark on her face and reached up to touch it but she moved
her head away from me. “Please baby, don’t be scared of me.” Listening to her
cry made me cry too. “I’m so sorry this happened, Norah. I’m going to make it
right, baby.” I turned her around and unlaced her corset. Her back was covered
in whelps and red marks. I pulled down the little underwear she had on and her
behind looked the same. I wanted to touch the marks, but they looked fresh and
I knew it would hurt. I pulled off her boots and carried her to the tub. “Can I
trust you to leave you alone for a moment?” She was still crying and wouldn’t
look at me. I took my phone from my pocket and stood in the door way. The last
time I left her in a tub when she was in distress she tried to kill herself. I
wasn’t taking that chance this time.

“I’ve got her…yes she’s safe…well she’s in the tub right
now, but I will have her call you as soon as possible. I don’t know how long we
will stay here….but if she wants to come home we will be there…you know I’m
gonna do whatever she wants…whatever she needs, I’m going to help her, Tiffany.
Yes, I will tell her.” I push some buttons and called Will to tell him about
finding her.

“Yeah it was all pretty anti-climatic. I saw her, bribed a
guy to let me have a turn with her and carried her out. She’s in the tub now.
No, she hasn’t said anything. I don’t even know if she knows who I am. She
could be drugged I don’t know. Yeah, she’s covered in marks.” Then I turned my
back to Norah and whispered in the phone. “He’s gonna pay, Will. I’m gonna find
him and make him pay for what he has done to her. When she is better,
healed….I’m gonna kill him,…with pain,…lots of pain.”

I looked back and Norah hadn’t moved. I went to her and cleaned
her up. After dressing her in cotton pajamas I put her to bed. When I started
to climb in behind her she cried harder. I slept in the chair that night.

***

When we made it back to London, she
still hadn’t mumbled more than a few words. The things running through my mind,
the horrible things I kept thinking of were making me crazy. I had so many
questions, but I didn’t want to push her.

Where did he keep her?

How often did he torture her?

Why had she lost so much weight?

Did he rape her?

And the worst one of all, the one I couldn’t bear to
think about….Did she still love me?

Rosa took her from me as soon as we walked through the door.
I saw Norah crying on her shoulder as they went upstairs. But I noticed she
wrapped her arms around Rosa’s waist. She hadn’t let me touch more than her arm
or hand. I didn’t know if it was because she was tormented by what Nick had
done to her or if she was scared of me again.

I made a few phone calls and then went up to go to bed. But
she wasn’t in our room. I looked in the bathroom and she wasn’t there either.
Rosa came in and told me she was in her old room. I walked down there and there
she was, asleep in her old bed. I went back to our room showered and changed
then went back and slept on the floor next to her bed.

I was so happy to be found, so happy
to be back, so happy to have Liam again. But I couldn’t stand to look at him. I
couldn’t stand to have him touch me. I knew he had questions, but I didn’t want
to answer them.

I was so afraid of what he would think of me. He wouldn’t
want me anymore if he knew I had been sleeping in the bed with another man. He
wouldn’t want me anymore if he knew Nick had kissed my mouth and my body. He
had already seen the marks Nick had left on me and I could see the pity in his
eyes. He would never look at me the same again.

When I woke up he was sitting in the chair watching me.

“Good Morning, Norah.” I nodded and sat up. “I brought your
breakfast up here, I wasn’t sure if you wanted to…be in the dining room.” He
brought me a tray of food and sat in over my body. It smelled delicious.
Pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. I was so hungry after weeks of oatmeal and
very few actual meals. But I couldn’t eat. I didn’t want to eat.

“Do you want me to feed you?” he asked. I shrugged my
shoulders and he went right to work. He picked up the fork and cut the pancakes
and fed them to me. I chewed slowly. I couldn’t make eye contact the whole time
he fed me. When he was done I told him I was tired and he said he would let me
take a nap. When he leaned in to kiss my forehead I flinched so he stopped. I
could see the pain on his face.

I stayed in my room the whole day. He brought me my phone
and told me I should call Tiffany, but I couldn’t. He told me to call my
family, but I knew I couldn’t keep the pain out of my voice.

The next few days were mostly the same. He stopped feeding
me and asking to call people, but he still came in and tried to get me to talk.
But neither of us talked about what we really needed to talk about.

“Lina and Raymond moved to Italy to be with his family. I
don’t think Rosa was very happy about it.” I kept rocking. “Will asked Jane to
marry him just after you….ah…you after you…” He couldn’t say the words.
“Tiffany came here because she was worried about you. You should probably call
her.”

“I’ll call her when I’m ready!” I snapped. He looked shocked
when I snapped but I was tired of hearing his voice. It had been days of him
coming in here making stupid chit chat with me. I stood up and walked to the
window. He came up behind me.

“Please talk to me, Norah. Tell me something, baby. Tell me
anything. Tell me what happened, tell me what he did to you, tell me you hate
me and want to leave me….just talk to me, please Norah.” His voice was just a
whisper and I heard him pleading with me. But I just couldn’t. I turned and looked
at him. He looked sad and broken. I actually felt bad for him.

“I can’t.” I walked past him to the bathroom and stayed in
there until he left.

I came out a few days later to get some clothes from his
room and heard him on the phone.

“I don’t know what to do. She won’t talk to me. I don’t know
what happened to her, but her body has marks all over it. I don’t know, but she
won’t let me touch her and if I say too much she snaps at me. She won’t sleep
in my bed and...” his voice broke, “…I don’t know what to do for her. I think
she needs professional help. The things that happened to her, to lead her to
me, the things I did to her before we fell in love and all the stupid
dominate/submissive games we have played since then,…none of it must compare to
what the bastard did to her…wait I think I hear her.” I stood at the top of the
stairs and watched as he came to the bottom. He held the phone at his side and
we just looked at each other for a moment.

“Do you need something, sweetheart? Is there something I can
do for you?” I shook my head and went back to my room.

When I woke up the next morning Liam was standing at the
window. I sat up and he turned to face me.

“Good Morning.” He always tried to sound chipper, like
nothing was wrong with either of us. “I thought we could enjoy our breakfast
outside on the deck this morning.” I nodded in agreement and got up. I cleaned
myself up in the bathroom and put on some yoga pants and a short sleeved shirt.
As we walked out of the bedroom, I slipped on some flip flops.

It was a beautiful day. 73 degrees, slight breeze and very
sunny. We sat and ate our breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful day.

“I think we should go window shopping. Take a trip to get
some ice cream…” I interrupted him.

“I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay here.”

“Why? Why do you feel the need to seclude yourself again?” I
looked down at my food.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why? Norah, you can tell me anything.”

“No. I can’t.”

“Why not, Norah? What can’t you tell me? Do you think my
feelings will change?”

“They will change.”

“No, they won’t. Nothing you can say…nothing that has happened
will change the way I feel about you. I love you.” I stood up.

“Stop. Just stop. I can’t do this right now.” I walked back
inside.

I didn’t know what to do for her. She
has been home for 2 weeks and she still wouldn’t let me touch her. I didn’t
know what had happened to her and she wouldn’t talk to me. She needed help and
I couldn’t help her. So I did the only thing I knew how to do at this point.

“Tiffany, can you come out here? She won’t talk to me, but
she might talk to you.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”