Page 68 of Conquered (Highgate Preparatory Academ:y Compendium)
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LILLY
“ W hat the fuck is this shit?!” Ash shouts, walking over to a panel on the wall to turn it off.
“Hey!” Loki hollers back, pushing past us in a bid to reach the panel first. “They use this song in Guantánamo Bay as part of their PSYOPS. I thought it would help Robert pass the time.”
And that's when I fully look into the stark white room and see Robert, lying on a metal surgical table. He has a thick leather band with a buckle around his waist, as well as cuffs at the wrists and ankles pinning him down.
My nose wrinkles as I see that he's naked and lying in his own piss. There's a blindfold over his eyes, and as Ash turns off the God awful song, he starts thrashing and shouting out.
“Where the fuck am I?! Let me go! You'll be hearing from my father about this!” he spits out, saliva coating his chin.
I look at him, prone and vulnerable, and I feel numb.
Like, this should freak me the fuck out, but it just doesn't. He hurt me, tried to fucking rape me, and I'm glad he is now in the position he put me in. At someone else’s mercy. Only his situation is far worse, as he’s unable to escape the nightmare of his reality.
“I'm just gonna put my playlist on. I've been working on it for the past couple of days, and I must say it's the best one I’ve come up with yet,” Loki tells the room, a wild look in his eyes as he does something with the panel on the wall, and Raging on a Sunday by Bohnes comes over the speakers.
“You've got a fucking playlist?” I ask incredulously, arching a brow.
“Music is the soundtrack to your life, Pretty Girl,” he winks at me. I just roll my eyes back at him.
“Loki, is that fucking you?” Robert shouts, my eyes dart back over to where he is at the sound of his voice. “I'll fucking kill you for this!” he threatens, which just makes Loki laugh maniacally.
Jax makes his way over to Robert and in a rough move, pulls off the blindfold.
“Happy Halloween!” Loki shouts, then howls like a wolf as he moves over to the table to stand on the other side of Robert. The sound raises the hair on the back of my neck, and goosebumps shiver across my skin.
Jax leans down, getting right into Robert's face.
“What did I promise you if you ever looked at, or touched Lilly again?” Jax asks, his voice so cold it burns, and full of the darkness of deeds done in the deepest part of the night.
“Fuck off!” Robert snarls, his face contorted with rage.
“Wrong answer,” Jax replies menacingly before straightening up.
He steps up to where Robert's wrists are shackled on either side of his head.
I hear a crack, which makes me jump, as he casually breaks one of Robert's fingers, making Robert scream in pain.
Jax doesn't even break a sweat. Loki laughs again, but it's not his usual joyous laugh. It's cruel and cuts to the bone.
I feel like I should be more horrified, appalled at what they are doing to another human. But I’m not.
I once saw an episode of QI where they debated a supposed George Orwell quote:
‘People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf’.
A lthough, it was surmised that Orwell didn’t actually say this, the quote comes to mind now as I watch these guys, my Black Knights, seek vengeance on my behalf.
And I don’t feel horror, or revulsion or whatever it is I’m meant to be feeling.
Instead, I’m full of gratitude that these warriors will do what is necessary to keep me safe.
“You can't do this to me! My father will fucking murder you all and leave your corpses to rot!” Robert screams out, snot and spit flying as he fruitlessly tries to escape.
“Ah, that's not quite accurate,” Kai interjects, voice devoid of all emotion.
Kai steps up next to Jax so that Robert can see him, his iPad in his hand.
“It seems that your father, Governor Michaels, was arrested tonight for having a laptop full of child pornography, alongside several accusations of sex with minors.
So, I'm afraid he won't be of much help.”
He turns the screen so that Robert can see it. It shows a live news program with video footage of what I assume is Robert’s father. He’s being led away in handcuffs, from what looks like a swanky Halloween party, dressed in a tux with devil horns. Gotta love irony .
“What the fuck did you do?!” Robert squeaks as Loki laughs once again.
“Your father did it to himself. I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Ash drawls in a bored tone, going over to stand near the table.
I’m still standing not far into the room, my eyes locked on the scene unfolding before me.
Come on, Lilly, you can do this.
I take one step towards the centre of the room, then another and another, until I finally approach the table. Ash hears me step up towards him, so he moves to one side, leaving a space for me in between him and Jax.
I clasp my hands into fists at my sides, to stop them shaking as nerves start to creep back into me, breaking through the numbness. Robert's head turns to the side, his brown eyes landing on mine. I see them widen a second before they fill with scornful loathing.
“What the fuck is this whore doing here?” he snarls, and I hear Jax growl before another snap fills the room, which makes me flinch as Robert screams again.
“You don’t look at her,” Jax barks, and I look up to see that I’ve lost him to the violence that’s running through his veins, filling his blood with the need to hurt.
He should look ridiculous in his He-Man outfit, but he doesn't. He looks like an avenging God, full of wrath and with the kiss of death on his lips.
The song fades to be replaced by Oh Lord by In This Moment. I shiver at the words, creating a sense of unease inside me.
“Oh, you’re pissed because she’s a fucking teasing whore?
” Robert asks, voice filled with pain, but also the arrogance of someone who has never had to face the consequences of his actions before.
“She was fucking begging for it, saying how your cocks were too small to keep her satisfied,” he taunts, goading the guys, which is pretty fucking stupid.
Another crack fills the room followed immediately by Robert’s hoarse scream, as Jax snaps a third finger.
“No, you tried to rape her, you piece of shit,” Loki snarls at him, pulling his fist back and punching Robert in the face, making his head snap to the side, blood dripping from his now split lip.
Loki’s panting, his chest rising and falling with angry breaths.
I ache to go to him but I’m rooted to the spot.
“And from these buried reports, it looks like you’ve been getting your rocks off by raping women for quite some time,” Kai adds. I look at him in shock, catching his gaze, and the hardness in his honey amber eyes softens slightly.
This cuntface is a real piece of work.
“Where the fuck did you get those?” Robert asks, voice raspy and pained, his head turning to look at Kai.
Kai just smiles back at him. Robert is actually starting to look a little unsure, like he’s suddenly realised that he’s not coming out of this basement with only a few broken fingers.
“So you see, Robert, we know all of your dirty little secrets. And those of that paedophile daddy of yours. Now that he’s been taken care of, the question remains, what to do with you?
” Ash states, his head tilted to one side, like a cat contemplating its prey, and trying to decide on the best way to play with it before devouring it.
“I believe Jax already told you what your punishment will be?”
“I–I–I can get you anything you need. I h–have funds of my own,” Robert stutters out, and the memory of when Jax helped me in the school hallway floats to my mind.
“You ever touch her, fucking look at her again, I will tear your fucking balls off with my bare fucking hands.”
My wide eyes snap to Jax, who has an awful smile on his face as he gazes at Robert strapped to the table.
It’s the smile of vengeance, of violence and bloodshed, and I briefly wonder why it doesn't terrify me. I look to Loki, who has a similar sinister smile stretching his beautiful lips, which sits at odds with his angelic features. My eyes find Kai next, whose face is set in grim determination. However, there is a fire in his eyes, something that tells me he is enjoying this. Finally, my head turns to look to my left and tilts up to meet Ash’s gaze.
His is the most frightening, as there’s nothing there.
It’s like his humanity has fled, and all that’s left is an empty shell.
His eyes meet mine, and a flicker of something enters them, before disappearing again.
“We don’t need your money, Robert,” Ash turns back to the guy pinned down and helpless, sounding bored. “You have nothing that we want or need.”
Ash looks up and nods at Loki, who goes and collects an instrument tray, wheeling it over next to Jax.
Robert's head turns at the noise, and his eyes go wide, the whites showing as he catalogues the instruments on the tray. Black latex gloves, a scalpel, some kind of metal clamp looking thing, and a tube of superglue.
The song finishes and The Law by Reach begins to play. I swallow hard, looking back up at Ash as he clears his throat.
“Robert Michaels, you have been found guilty of being a rapist and all-around cunt. You are hereby sentenced to castration without anaesthesia. May God have mercy upon your fucking soul, because we sure as hell won’t.
” His voice is devoid of any feeling or emotion.
He’s not even angry and I feel myself breathing shallowly, my heart pounding, my hands cold and shaking slightly.