Page 31 of Draped in Plaid
I woke sometime later, my back flush to the wall, arms raised over my head, wrists shackled in metal. The cloak no longer sheltered my body, but a canvas hood covered my head. I couldn’t see anything. My mind was sluggish, my eyes stinging.
“Rory! Shona!” I called.
Groans sounded from my right and to my left.
“Ewan! Emma! Logan!” My throat was tight, dry.
How long had we been left to hang against the wall? What had been done to us before now? What couldn’t I remember?
“Moira…”Rory. My husband was beside me on the left. His voice was weak, but at least he was alive, and there.
I tried inching over on my tiptoes, but the crack of a whip snapped the dirty ground just near my feet.
“Ah-ah, don’t do that.” The scientist’s voice was filled with excitement, glee.
Only a sick man could enjoy our discomfort, our torment.
“Take this bloody cloth off my head,” growled Logan somewhere to my right.
“Shona are ye all right?” Ewan asked.
Shona whispered her response and I couldn’t hear what it was. I was afraid whatever hallucinogenic they blew in our faces was bad for the baby. Had weakened her enough that she might not even know that anything was wrong.
“Shona! Take that hood off her. Can you not see she is with child! You could have killed her babe,” I screeched.
The scientist made a clucking noise with his tongue. “I should whip you just for shouting at me. Who are you to make demands?”
“Please,” I begged. “She is with child.”
“I shall remove the hoods from all of you, if you promise to behave. And her baby is fine. Moving in her belly like an avalanche as we speak.”
The man must have moved to take off Shona’s hood because there came a gasp I recognized as her sister’s.
“What’s happening?” I asked. “Take off my mask.”
“What have you done with our clothes?” Shona murmured.
The scientist only laughed in response.
Our clothes… I’d been naked when they arrived. After drugging us and chaining us to the wall, they must have removed everyone else’s clothes.
“Clothes are not necessary for our work here,” the scientist said.
“But you are wearing clothes,” Shona retorted.
“A saucy wench,” the loon murmured.
“I’ll fucking kill ye,” Rory bellowed. The chains over his head rattled as he furiously shook at them.
“You get to keep your hood on.” The whip sounded again, the air beside me shifting and then it hit flesh, and Rory groaned.
I squeezed my eyes shut, even though I couldn’t see anything with the hood on anyway. I wanted to block out what was happening, but I knew I couldn’t. I had to remain strong, to keep my wits about me. This time, I couldn’t fade away like I had before. This time my friends, my family, my love, were at stake.
And this man was capable of inexplicable things.
“Please, do not hurt him,” I begged.
“I have always been fascinated by the bonds men and woman share.” Footsteps thudded dully toward me. I shrank back against the wall, trying to meld with the force of it, asking nature to give me the strength of the earth and stone that surrounded us. “You love this man, do you not?”
