Yes, Master

Chapter 6: Worse Than Death

I awoke to find myself still in the car, and still blindfolded. I sensed someone next to me and I assumed it was my master. I didn’t want him to know I was awake so I laid there and continued to fake sleep. Within just a few minutes the car had stopped and my master's voice broke the silence.

“I know you are awake, slave. Now take off the blindfold and follow me.”

I quickly obeyed his orders, sliding the blindfold down to my neck. I was tempted to feel if there was a scar, but I didn't. I couldn’t break down again, not now in front of the monster.

I stepped out of the car and my master came around to grab my wrists and cart me along like cattle once again. Looking around, I gasped at the beautiful landscape in front of me. A regal mansion stood on a green and tall hill. Red bricks and green moss decorated the towering home, making it seem as if it came from another era. Because I lived in a small town, this was the first I had ever seen of a mansion.

Avoiding the grand house that must have been master’s, he led me to a barn that was sitting humbly in the backyard. It was wood that had been painted red long ago, and had a deformed black roof sitting atop. The only thing out of place was the huge wooden doors that sat leading into the barn.

“This will be your living quarters. You are to stay here unless directed otherwise. If I need you, I will send someone.” We had stepped through the doors and into the building. Lining the walls were stalls with wooden gates and iron locks. There must have been at least ten. He took me along to the end of the building and pulled out a key. After unlocking the gate to what I assumed would be my room, he turned towards me and pulled out a knife. I flinched and started to try and walk back, but he only sighed, clearly annoyed. He pulled me close to him and cut the ropes that bound my wrists together. Directly after, he roughly shoved me through the door and into a pile of hay. Without another word and the click of the padlock, he left me.

I was sitting on a pile of loose hay in what looked like it was supposed to be a horse’s stall. A steel bucket stood in the corner of the room and a small window rose high above me. Where the straw wasn’t littered around, dirt laid dry and dusty.

This was my new home.

I choked back a sob and huddled into a corner. I was interrupted by the growling of my stomach shortly after. However, looking around I found no food or water. I definitely wasn’t going to last more than a week in this place.

“Is someone there?” A weak and young voice cried out.

“Shut up! You’ll make him come back!” Another rang out.

“Y-Yes! I’m here! Where am I? Who are you?” I had crawled to the wall next to me, trying to get a better hearing advantage for the voice.

“I don’t remember my name.” It was a young girl's voice that was speaking to me. “I’ve been here as long as I can remember, and I am a slave, just like you. Who are you?” I had to listen closely, for her voice was barely above a whisper. 

“My name’s Samantha, and that man just bought me and brought me here. What’s going on?” I was thrilled to be speaking to someone else.

This time, a new older voice spoke to me. “She already told you. We are all slaves to that vampire. I assume you already know that he’s a vampire?” The voice was soft and almost mocking me.

“Yeah, I know that now. Doesn’t make it any easier to live with.” I sighed. Just as I was about to ask another question, a sound came from outside.

Everyone quickly hushed their voices as the barn doors creaked open. Footsteps echoed along the pavement and down the way next to my room. There they stopped, and hands started fiddling with the lock to my door. After a faint click the heavy wooden door was pushed open to reveal my master. He stared inside the room, looking at me expectedly.

What did he expect me to do? I’m not just going to willingly go to him.

With an angry grunt, he marched into my room and picked me up by the wrist. A blindfold slipped over my eyes and I was then dragged across the barn floor and outside. I picked up my footing and stumbled alongside my master for a couple of minutes before he stopped. Another door was opened and I was pushed inside.

I fell knees first onto a hard concrete floor. Before I could get my bearings, master had pulled me up to my feet and taken off the blindfold. I was in a dusty room with concrete walls and floors. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling illuminating the room in a white light. In the corner of the room a fire pit sat with burning coals. Next to it sat a closet with chains wrapping around the handles, locking it tight. After taking in my surroundings, I turned towards my master only to find him looking back at me. He seemed to be studying me, trying to predict what I was going to do. His head sat tilted on his square shoulders and eyes narrowed at me. We sat staring at each other for a couple of minutes before he shook his head and smiled at me.

“Tut, tut, girl. You should know never to look a master in their eyes. It may look like an act of defiance.” I scoffed as he proceeded on. “I, however, am understanding and realize that this is your first day as a slave. So I will be kind.” He said these things as he advanced towards me and backed me into a wall. This man was scaring me, but I had to stay strong. I wasn’t anyone’s slave.

“I am not your slave.” I tried to emphasize every word and sound braver than I actually was.

“Oh? Would you prefer to be called my toy? Or perhaps my slut?” Each word he spoke dripped with sarcasm. 

“No!” I retorted. “I prefer to be called by my name. And I am not yours in any way.” He now laughed, a very loud and hearty laugh at that. 

“Oh, you’re such a stupid girl. They said it might be hard to break you, but I can tell it will be quite enjoyable.” This man was starting to annoy me. I wouldn’t allow someone to treat me like that. 

“I’d like to see you try.” I said each word with as much force and venom as I could put into them.

Master’s eyes quickly narrowed and he scowled down at me. “You need to learn your place. I’m going to go over some rules with you and you better listen well.” He was now practically spitting the words in my face. His anger only fueled the annoyance within me. 

“I’m not listening to anything you have to say. Beat me and kill me for all I care! I’m never giving in to you.” I glared unsuccessfully back up at him. I tried to keep a firm scowl on my face, but his red and burning eyes made me cringe. 

He half smiled and took my arms to hold above my head. Then, closing any distance between us, he whispered, “I’m glad you said that.”

Before I could process his change of mood, he had my wrists bound in handcuffs above my head. I tried to bring them down and hit his skull, but a clink of metal prevented me from doing that. He had my arms chained above my head to where my feet could barely scrape the ground. A menacing grin was now on his face as he stared at me, helpless and at his command. I let a whimper escape my lips as all courage drained from my body. Master only smiled more at that, taking delight in my pain and fear.

He now paraded around the room, making his way towards the hot coals in the fire pit. “It seems as if you don’t like being owned, or being called a slave?” He looked at me expectedly to answer the question. 

“That’s because I’m not.” I tried to be brave and spit back at him, but my words only came out as a whimper. He laughed at that. 

“That, my slave, is where you are very wrong.” He turned his back to me and unlocked the closet door, taking a long stick from inside. Once in hand he advanced towards the fire and let the iron rod crash into the coals. My mind rushed with fear as realization of what was happening came upon me. I struggled in my chains and tried desperately to get free. 

“Please! Please, you don’t have to do this to me. Just let me go! Please!” I was now reduced to begging for mercy. 

“Ha! I spent quite a bit of money on you, slave. You’re here for a while, whether you like it or not.” He left the fire and was once again coming towards me. I was shocked to see that his hands were empty of the poll he carried earlier. “Now, I am going to give you one last chance. Submit to me.” He stood a foot away from me with eyes boring into me like the coals that rested on the fire. I knew what would happen if I didn’t submit to him, but I couldn’t admit that my freedom was lost. 

“Please!” I begged once again. “Please. Just leave me alone!” Tears were now streaming down my face as I poured out all my desperation into those two sentences. I searched the master's eyes for some sort of mercy, but they only held darkness.

With a very dark smile plastered across his face, my master closed the distance between us. In a flash he had ripped apart my shirt and dug his nails into my skin. The pain from him ripping me apart was unbearable and I screamed as loud as I could to try and block it out. His claws dug deeper and deeper into my stomach. With each new mark a new scream escaped my lips. Deeper and deeper he bored into me, each time ripping out a piece of my skin.

By the time it was done I was surprised I had a voice left. Blood pooled around me as master backed up to assess the damage he had inflicted. As if satisfied, he nodded his head and looked at me once again. A question danced in his eyes as he continued to stare at me. He didn’t have to speak for me to know what he was trying to say.

“Please, just leave me alone! You’ve done enough damage already!” The words came out as sobs.

“I see you still have not learned your lesson.” Master said curtly. “Fine by me.”

He now turned his back and headed towards the burning coals. In less than a second he had picked up the iron stick and was back in front of me. Tears still streamed down my cheeks as the blood seeped out of my wounds. The pain was agonizing and it looked like it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Master advanced upon me, the burning red pole in hand. 

With a flick of his free wrist, he unchained my arms held above my head. Before I could try and scurry away from him, he was sitting atop my bleeding and excruciating stomach. With his knees he held down my arms. I screamed once again as he brought down the burning metal rod to my arm. He held it there for a while and then started to drag it in shapes and letters. I was screaming so loud by this point it was a miracle no one had come in this torture room to stop this madman. After a while my voice was completely gone and I laid there with tortured sobs racketing through my body. The smell of burned flesh filled the room and I felt as if the end were near. Still, he dug the pole into my skin deeper and deeper. The burning was now filling my entire body and I managed one last scream. Just as I was on the very brink of losing consciousness, the pain ceased for a moment and a weight was lifted off of me.

I opened my eyes and looked up to see my master putting the stick back into the closet and locking it shut once again. He turned towards my broken and mangled body with disgust in his eyes. I didn’t even care anymore. All I could feel was the pain escalating once again and consuming my thoughts. 

“You’re pathetic.” He was now leaning over me. With an angry shake of his head he threw something white at me and stormed out of the building we were in. The heavy iron door slammed behind him and I heard the sliding of a lock put in place.

Once he was gone I laid there on the concrete floor, motionless. I didn’t even bother to look at what he had thrown at me. My body was suffering an immense pain and I had to give myself a minute before I assessed the damage. 

Once I felt like I wouldn’t black out if I sat up, I slowly lifted my head and torso. Looking around, I found what master had thrown at me and was confused, yet grateful. I picked up the white bandaging and started to wrap it around my mauled stomach. It stung to say the least, but I knew I had to stop the bleeding. Once I was satisfied with my bandaging, I turned my attention towards my arm. I was terrified to see what he had done to me there. All I knew was that it felt as if I didn’t even have an arm anymore. Slowly, I turned my head and looked down my right shoulder. There, on my forearm, was the most unbearable marking I could imagine. That monster had branded me.

In black and charred skin, the word SLAVE ran across my arm.

I stifled a sob and tried to distract myself from the word, and focus on the wound. I had no idea how to treat a burn so I just wrapped it in gauze like my stomach. Once done, I decided to rest and lay back down on the floor. It didn’t matter to me that I was laying in my own blood, or that every muscle moving seemed to send agonizing pain through my body. No, what mattered most was that I had been on the brink of death and that monster let me live. What was left of my tears streamed down my cheeks. All I ever wanted was a simple life with my family. Now I was a slave to a monster who decided to treat me as cattle and brand me. I wished beyond anything he had let me die, but I had a feeling he had other things in store for me that were worse than death.