Roses' Ordeal (a slowly growing storyline)

(part 1)
Rose stirred slowly, her head pounding from the battle upon her ships deck. She slowly opened her eyes, but only a blackness surrounded her. There was no light to be seen anywhere. Slowly she tried to stand, only to be stopped abruptly as she did. Cold metal bars greeted her hand in the blackness. She followed them around, searching for the opening of her small cage. Her fingers found the heavy chain and lock that held her in. The rancid smell of vomit and feces filled her nostrils as her senses slowly came to her, the heavy feeling of fear and heartache pressed at her from every direction. Aching from head to toe, she laid there on the cold, wet ground, trying to figure out what had happened.
What seemed like hours passed, she couldn't take it anymore, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Nothing, not a thing at all except her own voice screaming back at her. Had she been left there, thought to have been dead? Her mind ached as she strained to see and figure things out.
The cold dampness dug it's fingers deep into her body, making her hurt even more. The blackness rang out with noise, the sounds of keys rattling against a wooden door pounded in her ears. "Someone had heard my scream and are coming to rescue me." she thought to herself. The latch of the door slapped open, the creak of the hinges sent shivers down her spine as it opened. Light tore into her eyes as it peeked out around the doors' edge, quickly she shielded eyes with her hand.

"Ahh good, Our "guest" is finally awake." the heavy voice chuckled. The bright light from the lantern tore into her eyes like a dagger. She shielded her eyes as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden siege from the light. Two pairs of hands grabbed at her as the sounds of the keys rattled against the metal of the cage and lock, the sound of the chain clanging against the bars echoed throughout the cave.
With little effort, the hands that gripped her pulled her from the cage, dragging her across the ground. Her clothing, tattered and torn did little to protect her bits of exposed flesh as it scraped and scratched across the rough floor. Her eyes barely began to slowly adjust to the light. she could see the cave walls and ceiling, her heart sank. A gruff voice grumbled as the hands shackled her to a heavy wooden beam. Her eyes adjusting more to the light as she started to look around. A blindfold stripped eyes once more of lights.

"Where is your treasure?" bellowed the gruff voice.

"What treasure?" she responded.

"You lie! Tell me where you hide it!" yelled the gruff voice as she felt a searing rush of pain across her face from a gloved hand. The metallic taste of her own blood bit at her tongue as she spat it out.

"I have only what was on my ship." she replied between spits of blood.

"I desire your most precious treasure you speak of in your diary you useless woman. Give me it's location and spare yourself even worse then you just received." growled the gruff voice. Rose knew what he spoke of as he mentioned the words, but she could never tell him that it was not gems or gold that was the treasure, but her only true treasure, her innocence. For what seemed hours, the gloved hand hit across her face and body as she continued to plead that there was no real treasure, she even resorted to telling the gruff voice it was her books that she called her most precious treasure. But it was to no avail, a heavy hit from the gloved hand knocked her out...


(part 2)
She awoke slowly in the dark cave, her eyes almost half swollen shut from the torture she had received. The rancid smell of vomit and sweat filled the air. She could hear the screams over the cracks of whips as she looked around in the dimly lit cave. The distant flickering of lanterns and torches cast shadows across the walls. Rose sat huddled in the corner of her rusty cage, her body aching. Was this how it was going to be, what were they going to do to her, these thoughts raced around in her cloudy mind. She could barely think straight.

What seemed like hours, she sat as she tried to clear her mind, but as she relaxed and started to gain ground, the aching, a crack of a whip, or a scream of agony would stop her. A loud crash of a door shook her to her core. Bright flames of a torch ripped into her eyes through the darkness. The familiar rattle of keys and the raking of the metal chain on her cage filled her ears. They were back. Rose felt the strong gloved hand grab her ankle. With seemingly little effort, the gloved hand pulled her from the cage. Two more sets of hands grabbed a hold of her arms. Her eyes slowly began to adjust to the bright light of the torches. She could make out the shape of the man who had a hold of her ankles, but could not see much detail.

The gruff voice resounded in her ears as the gloved hands forced her against a heavy wooden beam. The blow nearly knocking the wind completely from her chest. “So, are you going to tell me now where your treasure is, or do I need to continue hurting you until you do?” Roses’ mind raced, she knew what would come next. She had no true treasure like what they sought, only her innocence, her purity. The snap of the whip in the air made her jump. They were not satisfied with her truthful answer to their question. Pain raced through her mind as the sting of the whip ripped deep into her backs flesh. Screams of her own agony ringing in her ears. Lash after lash tore into her body, she quickly lost consciousness…


Rose awoke once again in her cage. Dried blood held what was left of her shirt to her torso. She lay face down on the cold stone floor and bars of a cage. This was not the same cage she had been in before. Slowly she opened her eyes, the dimly lit room barely visible. The shapes of vials and flasks danced in the flickering light as she tried to sit up.

“Ah, good. You are awake.” spoke the gruff voice. Rose turned towards the voice, but saw nothing. She looked around trying to see the owner of the gruff voice but to no avail. “You wrote of your treasure, and I desire it, give it to me and you will not be harmed anymore.” the gruff voice continued.

“I told you the truth, there is only my writings and family. That is my most precious treasure.” she spoke with a ragged breath. Suddenly out of no where came a heavy blow. Her head screamed with pain as the blow landed on the top of her head. With a sickening thump she hit the floor of her cage and then, blackness…

*This story to be added to The Stories of the "Dark" Woman*