Getting Centred

Part 3/?



I lay down and considered the facts. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I must have. Because, when next I opened my eyes, Lyle was there. He'd already unbuttoned my shirt, and it lay open, baring my chest to him. His hand was caressing the naked flesh, and he paused to twist one of my nipples. I whimpered softly, remaining as still as possible, but unable to prevent my body's betrayal.

Lyle smiled at me. "Your body is very responsive to me, Jaro. Have you ever had sex with another man?"

I wasn't sure how to respond. The guards raped me, but did that count as sex? "Yes," I finally answered.

He looked angry, but his voice was calm when he asked me, "How long ago?" I opted for honesty. "Night before last," I couldn't imagine admitting this to Sydney, but Lyle wasn't Sydney.

"With who?" His voice was now as angry as his expression, and I realized he was jealous.

"The guards," I whispered, "they said I'd been asking for it. I didn't want it, I swear to you, I didn't."

"They forced you?" Lyle's voice was dangerously soft, and I knew what that precluded. He didn't believe me, and I flinched away from him. I could already see myself strapped into the chair, being tortured with electro-shocks.

This time, he surprised me. "What did they look like, Jarod? Describe them."

I was relieved that he hadn't hit me, so I answered him, "One was blonde, he was taller than myself, and was kind of paunchy- the other one was oriental, not very tall, he had dark, short hair... well built,"

"Tom and David. Did they hit you?"

I pulled away from him and turned onto my side, "Yes," I remembered the punch to my stomach, doubling me over and the kick to the back of my knees, getting me into position. I was naked in the cage, and it didn't take much effort for them, once I was kneeling.

"I had wondered why the cameras were off that night. I thought maybe Angelo had visited you," Lyle muttered, sounding disgusted.

"I didn't ask them for it," I whispered, not really listening to him.

Lyle forced me to look at him, and he said, "I believe you, Jarod. That's what rapists do. They'll fill your head with doubt, placing the blame onto you. It's why so few rapes are ever reported," he explained, caressing my cheek.

I was confused, and my eyes must have shown it, because he asked, "What?"

"What's the difference with what they did, and what you plan to do?"

Lyle sat up taller, his back stiffening and I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. "I won't do anything you don't ask for," he sounded insulted. "Like I said yesterday, you have to offer yourself to me," he explained, and I saw his hands clenching into fists.

Not wanting any more bruises, I opted to not ask him the difference between force and coercion.

As I watched Lyle's reactions, I had a strange thought. "Have you ever been taken like that?" I voiced my sudden suspicion.

Lyle lowered his eyes very quickly, before nodding and lifting his eyes until they stared straight into mine. "By a guard, back when I was in my teens. Raines had brought me here for training. It was why I had two guards stationed at your door. I figured a partner would prevent the other from getting any ideas. Hell!" he stood up and began pacing, furiously muttering to himself.

From what I could hear, there wasn't going to be anything left for me to avenge. He really sounded mad. It vaguely occurred to me that this was a charade to gain my camaraderie, but why would someone lie about being raped? No, he wouldn't go that far... would he?

Finally, he stopped, standing before me. He pushed a lock of hair out of my eyes with a tender touch and asked, "What should we do to them?"

"We?"

"Don't tell me you haven't considered something already. Besides, you'll need some type of closure, if you're to get past this; and what better closure than revenge?" he reasoned with me.

I stared at him.

"Hey, Jaro! Snap out of it," he snapped his fingers in front of me.

"Why do you care if I 'get over it'?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't, not really. It's just that I want you effective, for as long as possible. If you start dwelling on what happened to you, you'll become worthless as a Pretender."

That made sense... sort of. "You seem to be your normal psychotic self," I suggested, wincing, even as I said it. I wonder where my survival instinct had gone.

Lyle actually laughed. "I'm a hell of a lot stronger than you are, Jarod."

I nodded. My instinct for survival had finally kicked in, and I wasn't going to argue with him again. It didn't matter what he said.

"So," he changed the subject, "what were you thinking we should do?"

I sat up. Since it appeared he was serious about my contribution to this little venture, I started considering different scenarios. I usually preferred to put the perpetrator into the same type of situation that the victim had been in, force him to confess and let the authorities deal with him. Here though, the Centre took care of their own problems. They would deal not only with the guards who had abused me, but also with Lyle, because he had assigned them to me. Because Raines wasn’t allowing Sydney near me, the likelihood was great that my next ‘keeper’ would be worse than Lyle. So, what Lyle and I did would be the only punishment these two bastards would receive. I wanted it to end up being as memorable as possible.