Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Urbania ❯ "You have to come to dinner." ( Chapter 3 )

Serena was thrown in a dark cell, where she remained for three days. She heard footsteps approaching and a conversation foraged:

"She's right in there, hasn't said a word or eaten a thing the whole time."

"Doesn't surprise me, the stubborn little trick." Her cell door opened. She was facing the back wall of the cell, and didn't turn to greet them. The man that had come for her had ear-length chocolate brown hair and stone-cold Prussian eyes. He wore army fatigues and a green tank top he thought made him look very tough. The jailer was dressed somewhat like a monk, wearing a bland brown robe of scratchy material. But Serena had yet to see this.

"Go get her for me," the brown-haired young man ordered the jailer.

"No way," the jailer refused, "She tried to attack Ryo. There's no way I'm going in to get her." The jailer persisted about his fear of retrieving her while Heero went on in, taking her arm and ordering her up. Serena shot him a blank look and turned back to the wall. Heero grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"Get up and move!" he demanded, raising his voice.

Serena didn't cooperate. He forced her up once more, and she kicked him hard. He dropped her.

"Duo! Wufei! Gimme a hand!" he called out the cell door. Two six-foot men around Heero's age, one with slightly lighter brown hair and cobalt eyes and one Asian one entered. "Grab her feet."

Serena stared her old game of twisting and whining and refusing to cooperate with these men. Heero took both of her hands and Duo and Wufei each grabbed a leg. Serena thrashed around in their arms as they carried her out to their own compact SUV. She was thrown in the trunk and didn't get a chance to escape before the vehicle zoomed off to her fate.

They arrived at what used to be an industrial building less than an hour later. Heero got out of the SUV and charged his rifle. "Get out of the car," he muttered coldly. Serena hesitated. Heero wore a dirty 'don't mess with me' expression and Serena moved slowly out of the car. She was led in.

They went though a room with a wall full of firearms and a table in the middle surrounded by five chairs. But there was supposedly no time to waste; they pushed her on through another door across the room and down a flight of stairs.

The door that opened at the bottom of the steps led into a surprisingly well-lit room with two rows of doors, one on either side. Her escorts stopped at one particular room, unlocked her cuffs and shackles, unlocked the room, and pushed her inside, slamming the door behind them. The three walked away, knowing they would have to stand in with Ryo tonight. Serena looked around the room. The room was very small, perhaps the size of a solitary confinement cell. A dark closet was wide open beside her, and to the left of it, an over-accessorized bed with the headboard against the wall. A few feet away to her left against the wall was a beauty stand to match the bed, trimmed with naked light bulbs and French designs. Serena, not knowing exactly how to process the situation that she was now in, looked around the room some more and hugged herself. The door opened. She jumped out of the way, fearing the escorts' return. Instead, a frail, shy young woman stepped in with platinum blond hair and silvery-blue eyes.

"Hello," the frail girl greeted quietly.

"Hello," Serena reciprocated, appreciating her courtesy.

"My name is Relena. What's yours?"

"Serena."

Relena's face glowed for a second. "Relena and Serena. What a pair."

"Yeah," Serena smiled, still hugging herself.

"I'm going to take you somewhere where you can get washed up and get some more clothes. Come." Relena stepped slowly out the door, waiting for Serena to come on. Serena hesitated, then, not knowing what else to do, kept a hold of her herself and followed Relena. Heero was hanging around.

"Come here, woman," he called to Relena. Relena sighed, and gave Serena a 'stay put' glance. She went to Heero, her eyes focused on the ground. He shouldered his rifle and held her body close to his, putting a grip on the small of her back. She laid her hands gently on his chest for support, and because that was what he liked. He whispered in her ear and opened his mouth into hers, and she received him as if forced. He gave her a 'get on' nod, and she turned her back to walk back to Serena. Heero slapped her good and hard on her behind.

"Ouch." She muttered under breath, rubbing her bottom. Heero smirked, and smirked at Serena. Relena continued on with the same mediocre dignity that she'd originally presented herself as having.

Relena led her to a door on the opposite side of the side Serena's room was on, the right side. A dressing room with a remarkably clean bathtub and toilet waited for her, along with a black version of the evening gown that Master Wildfire had purchased her in. Relena pointed out her towels and soap and left her for twenty minutes. When she came back, Serena was dressed. Relena put some make up on her, not letting her thank her until she finished:

"Relena, you look really beautiful."

Relena smiled modestly. "Thank-you." Relena wore a black evening gown with a high split in the front, low-cut, slinky opaque material for the bodice, and translucent material that covered her collar, arms and faded into the end of the skirt. Her dress sandals laced halfway up to her knees. Relena wore thick black eyeliner and heavy mascara with her bight red lipstick and rosy cheeks. She looked like a mysterious femme fatale that could steal your heart and tear it to pieces with one wink of her glittering eyes. "You look lovely, too." Serena wouldn't hear it; lovely or not, Relena was an angel. Relena laid down her makeup brushes and liners and what not and led Serena to a mirror. Serena was startled to see another angel in the mirror beside Relena. Relena smiled even more modestly than before, and led Serena to the dining hall. Serena was edgy. She started asking questions:

"Where are we going?"

"To dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"Ryo wants to see you."

"I'll be in my room." Relena stopped. Her expression hadn't budged, but her eyes were very serious.

"You have to come to dinner." Serena looked doubtful. "You will be punished."

"Does Heero punish you if you don't come?"

"Yes he does," Relena's voice fell lower than Serena thought could be achieved. Her voice made Serena feel so sad.

"He's horrible isn't he?"

"I have to get you to dinner on time," Relena took Serena's hand and led her the last fifty feet to the dining hall.

A long, banquet-sized table sat before them with women on one side and men on the other. Wufei was standing closest to the door in front of his seat, then a fair, blond young man beside him, then man with long brown bangs beside him, then Duo, then Heero, and two empty chairs, and at the end of the table a throne. In front of Wufei, a Chinese woman with intertwined braids and light blue eyes stood quietly, and beside her a tall, light blond with even lighter eyes and a glassy gaze, and beside her, what looked to be a shorter version of the tall, light blond, and beside her, a woman with short, dark blue hair (and a very short dress with a bodice that pushed up on her bosom), and beside her a woman with dark hair that bore some resemblance to the woman sitting across from Duo, and beside her, a tall, slender man with a quiet stance and an constant eye on the woman beside him. Serena and Relena moved to the two empty seats closest to the throne. Relena stood next to Heero, and Serena stood next to her. For a few minutes, they stood, the men having friendly conversation and all of the women totally silent. Heero said something to Duo and squeezed Relena's behind. He looked at him.

"I'm not talking to you," he replied coldly, and she looked away. Serena was disgusted.

The door Relena and Serena had entered through opened, and the man with long black hair that had bought Serena, Master Wildfire, Ryo, strode in casually, greeting his friends. He took Serena's hand and guided her away from her chair.

"Whaddaya think, boys? Pretty nice, huh? Let's just hope she performs well." He let go of her hand. Serena was insulted, but decided to let that slide and sat down with everyone else quickly. Several female cooks emerged seconds later, carrying huge, scrumptious dishes: roasted turkey, dressing, Chef's salad, thick soup, beef stew, rice, beans, grilled chicken, tortillas, all sorts of seasonings, salad dressing, and sour cream. These dishes were placed in front of the men. Serena and the women received bowls of chunky, oatmeal-looking stuff that smelled like fish and was room temperature. Relena spread her napkin in her lap and began to eat in little lady-like spoonfuls. Serena didn't think this was even food sitting in front of her. She followed Relena's lead though, and ate with small, lady-like spoonfuls. The stuff wasn't too bad, but it could have stood to be warmer with a pinch of salt. Two strikes, Serena thought. Serena didn't pay attention to their conversation until they started talking about her:

"Yeah," Heero said with a mouthful of fajita, "She's a feisty one. You better watch out: she's that kinda chick that'll kill you during an orgasm."

The other men found this immensely funny and laughed out loud. Heero went on, pointing to Relena:

"Now, Lena here, this is what I like: just a real solid bitch that knows when to keep her moth shut and knows better than to complain about stupid shit gals complain about, you know?" Heero gestured while talked, and Relena accidentally bumped his arm while she was eating, causing him to knock over his wine.

"Ah, shit, bitch, now look what you did. Just clean it up." He washed his hands of it. Relena took the napkin from her lap and blotted up the mess while Heero went on about how great she was. Serena turned to Ryo, who was obviously the central authority around those parts.

"Are you just going to let him treat her like that?" Ryo gave her a blank look, and ignored her. That was strike three.

"Uh, excuse me, Heero," Serena said. He looked at her with a sneer on his face.

"What?" he demanded.

"I don't appreciate the way you treat Relena, and I'm sure she doesn't either." Relena snapped her head around to Serena, a hurt and astonished look on her face.

"Oh, is that right?" Heero said, commanding Relena's attention, "You don't like the way I treat you, Lena?" He put out is cigarette in the middle of her bowl. "Go to your room."

Relena looked very hurt, but scooted back from the table and left the room. Serena watched her go.

"Can't treat her bad if she's not with me, can I smart ass?" Heero rubbed it in. He went back to saying the last of his 'Relena's Great' hypocrisy. Serena scraped her food into Relena's bowl, set her bowl aside, picked up Relena's, stood over Heero, and dumped the commodity on his head.

"Bitch!" he screamed, jumping up and slamming the back of his hand into her cheek, knocking her flat. Serena hit the ground hard, but slowly pushed herself up, a hand mark outlined on her cheek. Ryo got up and pulled her to her feet.

"You've caused enough trouble for one day," he growled. Heero jerked her away by her arm and stormed down out and down the hall, leaving a trial of oatmeal-stuff behind him.

Another room on the same side as the bathroom is where he led her, a small, dark room with a bench and a whip hanging on the wall. "Bend over the bench," he ordered, cracking the whip near her. She didn't move.

"Bend!" he screamed, cracking the whip above her head. She shrieked, and hunched down, finally leaning over.

"Now, let's see," Heero said tauntingly, "One for kicking me in the cell, two for being so much goddamned trouble, one for that look you gave me in the hall with Relena, one for getting her in trouble, and five for the dinner incident. Ten lashes."

Serena trembled. Heero raised the whip high and brought it down hard on her back. Serena cried out.

"Damn right it hurts! And you'll never do it again! Never!" He whipped her over and over, stinging her back and crippling her emotions. She hurt all over, inside and out, with every lick the sting deepening until she was sure he smacked her heart with the cursed piece of leather strap. She wailed and screamed with all her might, not holding back, not considering her dignity, just pure, animal howls of pain. She felt his hatred as he drove it into her bare back with an arm worthy of such a burning vengeance. It suddenly began to sting worse. Heero hung up the whip.

"Get up," he pulled her arm up and half-dragged, half-pulled her to her room. The pain was so intense. So hateful. She gasped and whimpered loudly. Heero opened the door to her room, and pushed her on her back in. She landed hard on the bed, and cried. Heero slammed the door, and stormed off to get cleaned up.

"Quatre, may I be excused please?" the tall, light blond asked he who owned her.

"Where ya going?" he asked.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

Quatre looked at his watch. "You better be back here in two minutes."

The girl nodded and left the table.

She didn't go to the bathroom. She scurried to her room, grabbed a big bottle she hid from Quatre, and scurried to to Ryo's room. She opened the door. Serena was laying on the bed, face down, wounds open for the world to see and take pity on her. She lifted her head to the sight of the blond.

The girl smiled. "My name is Dorothy. I have some ointment for your beating."

Serena didn't say anything. She felt cold drops hit her back and gentle hands rub it in. Her heart healed, too. Dorothy didn't make any conversation, just did her business with the lotion and took her hand off Serena's back. Serena got up. There was no more sting. She looked in her vanity mirror. The welts were almost completely gone.

"What…how…"

"I made this tonic a while back, the first time I got beat. You're name's Serena, right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really a virgin?"

Serena smiled. "Yes."

"I don't believe it. Really?"

"Really."

I didn't think there was such thing as a chaste woman any more."

Serena nodded. Dorothy looked at her watch.

"Oh, shit, I gotta get back before Quatre gets mad. It was nice meeting you, Serena." Dorothy left, and left the door open. Serena's mind filled with feverish impossibilities. She shook herself. She undressed, being wary of her poor back, and redressed in an old shirt she found in the closet, an old pair of pants that were a bit too big, and a house robe too keep warm. She stepped quietly out of her room and looked around. Relena looked down at her from the balcony. Her gaze was blank and sad. Serena returned the gaze, and exited stage right. There was the door that led to the stairs and then to the small room, and then to freedom. She found that the door was unlocked, she closed the door behind her, and went on, thinking to herself, I don't care how dangerous it is: I have got to get help.