Chapter 3 - Of Rain and Flame.

She struggled, the ropes that bound her dug into her wrists. She couldn't see through the mask, she couldn't scream through the gag, and all she could hear was rain striking oiled canvas. But she writhed more as the hand in her hair dragged her from the bed of the hay-littered cart. She felt the rain first, then the blow as he struck her across the mouth. She fell into the mud. She could taste her own blood, smell her own fear. It was madness. She couldn't remember how this had happened. He kicked her in the ribs, in the stomach, in the shins as she curled up in a feeble defense. He was cursing, ranting, disowning. She cried, pure misery that tightened her chest and left her gasping. She couldn't breathe, couldn't believe. Darkness took hold...

[...]

She awoke with a jolt, naked, wet, shivering with cold and fear. Her hands were bound above her head, where she sat on the wet, leaf-strewn ground, her back against a large tree. Her captor squatted nearby, stoking a small fire. She started to cry again as she saw the expression on his face. Hate, mingled with lust, with just a touch of disgust. He would kill her, she realized, and worse. She tried to scream, but it just came out in a whimper. He stood to his full height and swaggered towards her. A whipping gust of wind brought her his familiar scent, and with it an array of heartbreaking memories. Love turned to chill panic.

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"Why." She sobbed, more a statement of pure bewilderment than a question. "Why." But he just undid his trousers in silence, madness playing in his eyes. Her world shattered. Fury replaced grief. Will replaced fear. She struggled against her bonds again, the anger rising up like a great tide. She tried to kick him away, she tried to scream. His unmistakable touch forced her legs apart, and his stench was all she could breathe. He tried to kiss her, forced her to kiss him, and that's when it happened.

She breathed out as if to scream, but all that emerged was a lungful of intense heat. He gasped and coughed, and ignited from the inside. His eyes rolled back and fire burned holes outward from his chest. He collapsed against her writhing form. She tried to get away, her feet scrambling to get purchase, but the ropes that bound her made standing impossible. She panicked like an animal caught in a trap. She felt it when the fire inside him began to eat away at her flesh. She screamed, cried, begged for someone, anyone, to help her. It ate her raw, from the outside in. She felt it eat both of her legs before she was finally free.