Post by Mimi on Aug 18, 2006 10:13:46 GMT -5
Marlena ran through the dense forest as fast as her legs would carry her. Her pale pink sleeveless nightgown billowed behind her as she ran. Her feet hurt like hell from not wearing shoes but she was too frightened to stop running. She tripped on one of the many logs that were scattered amongst the forest floor. She fell to the ground, her knee hurting from where an errant rock cut into her skin. Her hands were filthy from trying to break her fall on the mud and leaves around her. She didn’t have time to inspect her scrapes and cuts. “Marlena,” a man yelled. Marlena looked around from where the voice was coming from and realized that he was still a quarter mile away. She had to reach the main road before sunlight. As she was getting up she glanced up at the position of the moon and guessed that she had a couple of hours until dawn. “Goddammit,” she muttered under her breath trying to be as quiet as possible. She felt liquid running down her leg; she assumed from the gash in her knee. With every step she took she felt a throb in her left leg. The forest was eerily silent and the abject darkness did nothing to calm her fears. “Marlena, come back here you bitch,” the man yelled, this time a little louder and more harsh. Marlena knew that he’d lost his temper. She hadn’t meant to provoke him earlier but really had no choice. She knew what the punishment would be when he caught up with her, the same as it always was. Tonight she felt bold. Tonight might be the night that her nightmare could finally end and she could find some peace. “Marlena, I know that you’re out here and when I catch you there will be hell to pay.” Marlena continued to run, looking behind her, hoping to god that he couldn’t see her. “Marlena, I’m losing my patience with you,” he screamed. She instinctively knew that he was closing in on her. She continued to run for her life. “You get back here now or Samantha’s going to be punished,” he yelled. She knew that he was now only a couple hundred yards behind her. She looked behind and saw a glimpse of his bare chest in the moonlight. She picked up her pace and yelled, “No, leave her alone,” as she continued to run. “You little bitch,” he screamed at her. “Leave me alone,” she yelled at him as she continued to run. “Never,” he yelled back. “You belong to me.” “Please,” she yelled as she ran. “Please, leave me alone.” She knew that he was quickly gaining ground on her, his legs being much longer than hers. It was only a matter of minutes before he caught her. “Stop now you little bitch or you’re going to get it bad,” he yelled as he reached out to grab her nightgown. She could feel him breathing behind her, and lunged forward at the last minute. In her attempt to flee she tripped down a steep embankment headfirst. She felt cold water around her. She couldn’t see where she was. The forest canopy was thick, blocking out what little moonlight there was. She flailed around in the water trying to get her bearings. When she couldn’t touch the bottom she began to panic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him slowly make his way down to the embankment to where she was. “Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone,” she pleaded with him. He was now ten feet from her and entering the water. She started moving herself backwards in the water, not knowing where she was or where the other side was. “No, Marlena. You belong to me and I’m never going to let you go.” He started swimming towards her. She turned over and started swimming as fast as she could away from him. She felt him grab onto her long blond hair and pull her towards him. She continued fighting him as he grabbed her neck from behind and pulled her under the water. She struggled to come up to the surface but he prevented her from doing so. She kicked hard and connected with what she assumed was his shin. He lost his grip on her and she made her way to the surface grasping for air. He pulled her body close to his, restraining her arms. She felt his legs kicking in the water to keep them buoyant. “Marlena, Marlena, Marlena,” he whispered into her ear as he held her tight. “Don’t you know by now that any attempt to escape is futile.” “Please let me go.” She wasn’t going to beg him, not this time. “Never. You belong to me and always will.” She felt his hot breath on his neck and felt his arousal poking into her backside. “We’re going to go back to the house and you are going to apologize to my guest for your rude behavior.” He ground his erection into her buttocks. “He was an ass. I won’t apologize.” She shook her head and tried to escape from his clutches. He grabbed her face and squeezed her chin, “You will or I’ll drown you right here in this lake.” She knew that he was capable of doing it, but just didn’t know if she cared. Maybe death would be an easier way out. “Do you understand me,” he said as he spun her body around to face him. She fought to escape his grasp, but failed. He started swimming with her in his arms toward the shore. “Stop fighting, it’s no use,” he threatened her. “Take off your nightgown,” he demanded once they reached the shore. “No,” she said as she attempted to cover herself in the see-through fabric. She was dripping wet and shivering. He reached for her and she backed up. “Take it off now,” he screamed at her and slapped her across the face. Her cheek stung from the impact. She was determined that she wouldn’t cry. “No, I’m cold,” she said looking him in the eye. “I said take it off. You either take it off willingly or I will.” He reached and grabbed the fabric of the nightgown and lifted it over her head. She stood silently waiting for him to make the next move. “You are a beauty,” he said as he reached over and touched her breasts. Marlena closed her eyes, hoping that the moment wouldn’t last long. He continued to stroke her, “Someday you are going to make a man a mighty fine wife, yes sir, you will.” He bent down and took her right nipple into his mouth and proceeded to suck on it. “Aren’t you going to tell me to stop Marlena. I love it when you beg,” he said as he pulled her body towards his. She realized that he wasn’t wearing pants. She closed her eyes tightly. “This too shall pass,” she thought to herself and she felt herself being lowered to the forest floor. She felt the roughness of the leaves against her back. She recited the periodic table of the elements in her head as she tried to ignore what was happening to her body. Suddenly he flipped her over. Dirt and leaves invaded her mouth and nose as he held her head tightly face first into the forest floor. She felt what she assumed were spiders and ants crawling on her. She tightly closed her eyes willing herself into another time and place where she was loved. He grabbed her with his other hand and lifted her hips toward him. “No,” Marlena screamed louder than she had ever screamed in her life. The pain was unbearable. She grabbed her chest trying desperately to get more air into her lungs. Tears streamed down her face. “Marlena,” John shook her. “Wake up, Doc. It’s just a bad dream you seem to be having.” “No,” Marlena continued to scream. John sat up in bed and pulled her body into a tight bear hug trying to get her to wake up. “It’s just a dream Doc,” John whispered into her hair, as he rocked her back and forth. “Please don’t touch me,” she begged him. Her body was physically shaking. “Doc, it’s me,” he said as he smoothed her sweaty hair away from her face. “John?” she whispered suddenly becoming aware that she was lying in a bed, not a forest. She looked around the room for reassurance of her surrounding and then tightly closed her eyes. “Doc, care to tell me about your dream?” John asked as he rubbed her bare back. “I don’t remember,” Marlena lied. She cringed at the fact that he was touching her. John luckily took her response as a residual terror from her dream. “It seemed pretty terrifying. You were yelling at someone to please let you go. Right before you screamed you were listing things like hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, and boron. I don’t remember all of what you said, just that the list went on an on. Are you sure you don’t remember?” he asked as he tilted her face towards him. He noticed that her eyes were tightly closed. “I’m sure,” she said. “I need something to drink.” She pulled out of his embrace and got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Marlena approached the counter and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Marlie, you’ve got to keep it together,” she said to herself as she turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. She couldn’t believe that she had a dream about HIM after so many years. She had thought that he was safety tucked into the recesses of her mind where he could no longer hurt her. She sat down at the vanity and looked at herself. John approached the bathroom after Marlena had been in there for more than ten minutes. “Marlena,” John said quietly knocking on the door. When she didn’t answer he slowly opened the door, unsure as to what he would find. She was sitting at the vanity, staring at her reflection in the mirror. “Doc,” John said as he touched her shoulder. She looked up at him in the mirror, a vacant look in her eyes. “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked as he gently touched her bare shoulders. She visibly flinched at the contact. “Please, don’t touch me,” she whispered. “Doc, you’re scaring me,” John said as he gently touched her hair. She saw that he was going to touch her in the mirror and moved her head before he could. “Okay, I promise I won’t touch you. Please tell me what’s wrong,” his blue eyes pleaded with hazel ones in the mirror. “Nothing’s wrong John. I’m fine, just a little thirsty.” She weakly smiled at him. “You never were a good liar, Doc,” John said as he smiled back at her in the mirror. “I said I’m fine,” she said assertively. He looked down and saw that her hands were shaking. "John, could we leave here now.” “Sure, where would you like to go?” he asked. She looked so sad in the mirror. “I’d like to go back to Salem. I need to see Roman,” Marlena admitted before she burst into tears, no longer able to keep the demons of her past inside.
