Chapter 10

"Are you OK?"

They put us in a dark room.  I don't know where we are.  My heart is racing with fear.  The only comfort is the fact that I'm in the room with Ronin.  We can barely see each other.  There is only a faint light  down the hallway but that is flickering on and off.  There is a window in the door that's about four inches.  The darkness surrounds me.

It begins to eat me up almost.

"I think I may be having a panic attack," I state.

Ronin kisses me.  It's the same kiss that he's given me a million times.  It's the kiss that lets me know everything is going to be OK.  It's sort of like my medicine and almost immediately like shot of adrenaline to my chest, it brings me back to reality.

"You have to stay strong for me, OK?"  Ronin explains, "I can't do this without you."

"Do what?"

He stays quiet.

His breathing is heavier than normal.  His eyes are bulging out of his head a little bit.  The fact that Ronin has this look on his face at that moment is what is scary  I'm so concerned with myself that I haven't taken the time out to really realize how this could be affecting him.  I brush my hand up against his cheek.  I pull him close.

"Ronin...you're having a panic attack," I realize.

It makes sense now why Ronin is so good at taking them in.  I grab his hands in between my fingers.  We breathe together as one.  Slowly, together we ease ourselves.  Together we make sure each other are strong. For a moment it seems as though our breathing has merged into one another.  It seems as though we are breathing purposely together.  It is completely in tune.

It's almost as though...almost as though we are one person.

"It seems like the darkness isn't as dark without you," he explains.

I smile at the idea, "Well maybe there is an upside to all this.  I don't have to keep pretending like I'm not in love with you."

He raises his eyes for a moment.  He's not expecting me to say that.

"You mean it?"

I nod, "Yeah."

There is a pause.  A thought comes over him.  I know what the thought is.  It's the reason we are taking breathing exercises.   It's the reason his hands are shaking in the darkness.  This glooming shadow outside that we can both feel coming.   We both know it in our hearts.  The sadness was all around us and we couldn't shake it.

"I need to prepare you because I feel love for you as well," he tells me, "I don't know what your world would do but in this world, ...we are going to be tortured.  They are going to attempt to drain as much information from us as possible."

"Should I tell them anything?" I ask, "Anything about the Blind..."

He shrugs, "If the torture is going to become too much I want you too.  They'll make it fast that way.  Either way, ...we are going to die.  They are going to kill us.  You understand that don't you?"

I nod, weakly.

He had more of an idea what was about to happen to us then I did.  All I knew was that this may have been the last moments and I wanted to be with him.

So I start kissing him.  Fiercely.  I'm ripping his clothes off at that moment.  I expect him to be surprised at my aggression but he matches it tenfold.  When I rip off his clothes he damn near tackles me to the ground, spreads my legs and seeks his way inside.  He begins to grind all up inside of me.  He's humping me slowly.  It's as though we both know this could be one of our last times together so we have to make the best of it.  It's as though we both know everything comes down to these last few moments of pleasure because after this all we will feel is a pain.

Our tongues smash against each other.

"Yes..." I moan we are both naked and I can finally feel his manhood growing up against my leg.

It goes from soft to hard up against my inner thigh.  Soon I feel the soft wetness of his precum as his dick finds it's way underneath me, scooping slowly into the area around my asshole but managing to miss each time.

We don't care that we are in a dirty dark cell.

We don't care that we are prisoners.

At this moment it feels as though we are in a plush warm bed in a house just for us.  My imagination runs wild and it teleports me somewhere else.  But where?

"It almost feels like we're in another dimension," I tell him.

"I know..." he surprisingly agrees.

I'm lying on my back and he's on top of me.  He uses his hands to scoop up the smalls of my back just enough to lift my ass off the ground.  He pushes himself underneath me resting me on his thighs.  Then his dick begins to slowly start stroking me again.  When there is a sense of tension when he comes to me and when his dick enters me for a moment I feel like I'm floating among clouds.  I'm a dimension where the ground is made of thick smoke.

And as he strokes inside me again I'm transported into a dimension where everywhere there is a bed of roses.

Each time he thrusts into me it feels as though my entire world changes.

And when he is done...when he lays his final thrust in me... he roars, "God..."

And for a world without religion, it feels as though I'm in paradise...

We lay together after it's done.  He's still inside of me.   Our bodies are still merged as one.   We look up at the ceiling of our cell and it's as though we're looking up at clear stars.  It's as though for a moment there are no cares in the world.

"I don't regret it," I tell him out of nowhere, "You know what I mean?  I don't regret any of this shit.  Not coming here.  Not even to this world.  Because I got to meet you and damn... I finally understand what it all really means."

"Regardless of whatever happens..." he explains, "Our hearts will always find each other.  They'll find a way to merge paths.  You believe that?"

I smile at the thought.

"Yeah, Ronin. I believe it."

Just at that moment in the darkness as Ronin gives me his promise we hear the boots on the ground.  They are marching towards us.  My heart is beating so damn heavy.  He squeezes me a little tighter but that's all that happens. We don't move.  Not even when the door opens.  Not even when the Eyelids behind the door dressed in white gather in the room.

They pull us apart.  I'm screaming as they take Ronin away first.  I'm wrestling with the Eyelids completely naked to get to him.  It doesn't matter.

They take Ronin away and they leave me in darkness!

I reach for him desperately reaching my hands, "RONIN!"

He reaches for me.  He isn't screaming though.  He's calm.  He's so calm.  I'm tearing past the eyelids but then I feel one of them pull me back hard.  The other one has a rifle in his hands.  He turns the rifle around and jabs it across my face so hard that I hit the ground and almost pass out.

When I look up Ronin is gone.

So close and yet so far...

~

I don't know whether it's hours or days before I hear the footsteps again.  I wonder if it's happened already.  I wonder if they've killed him.  Had they dragged him around on the street until all his limbs came off.  Had they shot him in a town square?  Had they done something even more awful to him?  All those thoughts are running through my head.

And honestly, when they come to get me I don't know how to feel.

The only thing that comes to mind is hopeless.

"Ontario Vaughn," the voice says.

When I open my eyes I see there are multiple soldiers around me.  The Eyelid Soldiers are all in white.  They have these disgusted looks on their faces when they see me.  It's almost personal.  It's almost like they hate me.

"With us," another one says, "Now."

As though I'm fighting it they grab me and pull me out of the doors.  My clothes are barely hanging onto me as earlier Ronin almost ripped them to shreds to make love to me.  Still, I manage to try to maintain some sort of dignity.

I'm led down a hallway.   As I walk I smell blood.  What is this?  Some sort of torture room?  I can feel crying all around me.  Every corner.  It feels like a death in these hallways.  I'm shaking and it's not because of fear.  It's because it's beyond cold in these hallways.

They sit me in a room.

Two minutes later these two strange men come to me.

"So your name is Ontario Vaughn?" the one man asks.

The man who asks me has eyes like a lizard.  The other man is bald and doesn't even look at me when he walks in the room.  Behind them are several guards with guns.  They look like guards at least.  Guards or sentries.  Were they guards though or were they executioners?

"Yessir," I state.

"Start recording," the lizard-eyed man tells the other man.

There is an old fashion camera on me.  It looks like something out of the 80s in my universe at least.  I look at the huge camera and see the red dot that lets me know it's recording.

"Do you believe you are from another universe, Mr. Vaughn?" the lizard eyes man asks.

"I'm sure I am from another dimension," I express.

"Are you on any special medication?"

"No."

"Do you have any history of mental disorder?"

"I'm not from here," I tell him more forcibly, "I live in the United States, but in my world, there is no place for Taured because there doesn't need to be a place like Taured."

Both men look at each other.  I watch how they both turn to me all of a sudden interested.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Because everywhere is Taured," I explain to him, "People live in privacy.  People don't have to worry about `blinking' or being dragged through the streets because they don't want to expose themselves."

"And it's a wasteland," the lizard-eyed man assumes almost immediately.

"No, it's beautiful."

"IMPOSSIBLE!"  He slams his hand on his the table, "Revealing yourself is the only way to live.   If people don't know about your successes and your failures then you barely even exist."

I laugh at the idea.  I laugh at the idea because in my world social media had become a way for people to share every aspect of their lives.  But it was by choice.  They weren't forced to do this.  Could this be a world of the future somehow?

"No," I respond to him, "Not everything needs to be shared.  Love doesn't need to be shared.  My world is just as good as yours.  Your laws are meaningless."

"He's lying," the bald man states.

He says it in this way as though he's not completely sure though.  The other man seems to notice it too because he gives him a harsh stare, "Of course he's lying.  He's probably just a madman."

I laugh at the idea, "I assume you spoke to my husband.  If I'm lying then how do you explain the fact that I'm no longer allergic to basil?"

They both got quiet.  They definitely spoke to Adrian.  They definitely knew something.  Otherwise, they wouldn't be so secured.

"People's bodies change."

"I used a Parallel Heart...." I state, "Lockland's law was activated and I'm here because of it..."

"ENOUGH!"

I'm slapped across my face.  I'm slapped hard.  I'm making sense to them.  So much so they don't want me to talk.

I laugh that they are so bothered by me.

"I'm assuming people can't see this video of what you guys are doing," I state, "I'm assuming this video is private isn't it..."

I look at the old school camera.  No way they are streaming off of this thing.

"This is government business," he states.

I laugh even harder, "You're trying to hide it because you know I'm telling the truth.  Lockland traveled to my world in the 50s.  He saw what it was like.  And you got rid of him and the woman he brought back in the same way you are going to get rid of me.  Aren't you."

There is a pause.  Silence.

"Nonsense," they state, "We are going to kill you because you are a member of the Blind.   Do you deny it?"

"Yes."

"Do you deny affiliating with them?"

"No."

The lizard guy smiles.  He thinks he's getting somewhere.   Ronin already told me they were going to kill me anyway.  There was no point in lying.

"Where are they?"

I shrug, "I don't remember.   I'm not from here.  I wouldn't be able to show you even if I did remember.  Don't you guys see everything?  Why do you need me? "

"You're a smart ass aren't you?"

"A little."

I'm hit across my face!  Hard.  My lip busts.  When I fall on the floor the bald man grabs my chair and smacks it across my back.  I lay there on the floor feeling the pain streaming throughout my body.  It hurts so much that it gets numb.

"Again, where are the Blind?"

"I don't know," I state, "I swear."

"Where is the device?"

"What device?"

"The Parallel Heart Device."

I turn up at them and smile, "If you don't think the Parallel Heart device is significant and can bring someone from a different world then why does it matter where it is?"

Me asking them questions gets me kneed to the face.  I get kicked over and over and over again.  I can feel the pain drill all around me.  For some reason, all I can do is start thinking about Ronin.  All I can do is start thinking about how his lips tastes.  How his hair smells.  I'm removed from this place of pain and instead, I'm transported somewhere completely different.

"He's smiling," the bald man tells the other.

"He doesn't know where it's at," the lizard eyes guys said.

I laugh, "Told you guys."

"The other one does," the lizard eye guy says, "Surveillance was able to see that he was the last one with the Parallel Heart.  He knows where it is. "

"Call Mr. Vaughn... ask him what we should do."

Mr. Vaughn.

Were they talking about Adrian?

The man picks up his cellphone and starts talking.  I can see a smile building up on his face more and more as he's talking.  I know he has to be talking to Adrian Vaughn and he seems to enjoy everything that he's hearing.

"Grab him.  Take him to room 202."

~

I'm taken to a room.  My heart is beating.  I'm nervous.  The laughter is gone.  I'm back to being afraid.  My body is sore all over but the worst pain is just the anticipation.  That's when I'm brought in a room and I feel something that I haven't felt before.  I look over at the other side of room 202 and realize that someone else is in there.

It's Ronin.

One eye is sealed shut.  He's bruised all over.  He's naked and I can see that he's been beaten.  He has lashes around his throat.  When I look up I can see that there are several men there.   They look like important men.  Not just soldiers.  No these are politicians as well.  They have made a big deal of having Ronin here.  It's clear they are trying to torture information out of him.  Among these men is none other than my husband.

Adrian.

Adrian looks at me when I walk into the room.  I've been beaten but not as much as Ronin.

"Ronin!"  I run into the room.

I don't feel as strong anymore seeing him like this.   They could beat me all they wanted but seeing them beat him was something else.  It was something else entirely!

"Keep them apart," Adrian says.

The Eyelids grab me and restrain me.  They pull me away from Ronin.  Ronin is too weak to respond.  He's just in the chair barely able to move or do anything at that moment.

I see Ronin desperately whisper my name.  He does it softly.

Adrian gives him a hard look, "Hand me a gun."

One of the Eyelids gives Adrian their gun.  I can see the anger in his eyes.  Adrian is desperate as well.  Desperate and angry.

"Adrian please don't..." I beg him, "He's your brother."

"Shut up," Adrian says, "Ronin, this is your last chance.  Where did you hide the Parallel Heart?"

Ronin is quiet.  Truth is I didn't know where the Heart was.   Only Ronin knew.  Adrian's hand is itching.  I know he's going to shoot.  I can feel it.  I can see it in his eyes.  There is this cloud all around him that is letting me know Adrian was about to kill.

"Just tell him," I beg Ronin, "PLEASE!"

Ronin mutters something.

Adrian leans in, "What was that?"

Ronin mutters it again.

It seems to piss Adrian off.  I can see Adrian hand on the trigger.

"You lying piece of shit," he tells Ronin.

I'm not sure what Ronin said to Adrian.  I'm not sure why it pissed Adrian off so much but Adrian has the gun pointed at Ronin at that moment and my heart almost stops when he shoots.

 

 

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