Lunar Bachelorette Ch. 02

Trying to post again on here, now that I have some time off of work to get things uploaded. Thanks for sending me messages even when i couldn't.

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It felt like an eternity since the Inspector had been by her cell, however no new food had been brought to the women here. The sounds from upstairs seemed to amplify more, if possible, and she could hear the muffled sound of the door above her head being opened. The footsteps directly above her were muffled, but she could tell they were lighter than when the boss was in there, perhaps someone sneaking around? "Clean this mess. The Boss will be here today and take care of that thorn in his eye. This room needs to sparkle!" The words were so loud Sam swore she could feel dust fall from the floorboards followed by a hard thud and some muffled whimpering. Heavy footfalls trailed away but the crying sounds remained. There was some scuffing and then the slight creaking of metal and suddenly it sounded like Sam could hear everything more clearly; the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor, a corn broom sweeping, a cloth being fluffed, the flick of a lighter, the slight whimpers of a female who seemed to be doing the cleaning.

Heavy footfalls came again followed closely by the creaking of old hinges. "Good, now show me what good little bitch you can be, back to the kitchens." The menacing growl made the girl whimper some more and a set of light, quickly retreating steps were heard. An evil snicker seemed to follow the female as she darted away. This male was not one she recognised by voice, it certainly was not the Inspector, nor the Boss. Both of those two men, males something fluttered in the back of her mind, had very distinctive voices. The Male above her head had a distinctive accent, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Kürten," that was the boss, "How goes things here?" The footfalls came into the room until they were almost above her.

"Well, The Bitch was here, acting like she deserved extra sausage!" there was a snap of jaws there, "und the Fontenot dog has been sniffing round."

"Jaques? I had not expected that. I was unaware he was interested in what was going on here." Boss man must have sat down above her as there were no more footfalls.

"Do not give me that, He has been a thorn in your eye from begining! It be as clear as dumpling broth what he wants."Kürten seemed to growl then a thud sounded, "He wants his brother."

"Not to worry Kürten, Sebastian is far out of his reach. He wants to know what is going on here why not show him." there was a slight chuckle, "Come now, no need for that face. It's past time to get his hands dirty. He has been working rather hard, perhaps it's time for a reward?" The angry man mumbled, "You said Bathory was here?

"Ja, The Bitch was here, in a snit. Dropped off something with Chikatilo in kitchens." There was a few heavy foot falls near the outer edge of the space, Sam could tell by the echo. "The dog, you want I send him in?" The Heavy footsteps retreated somewhere out of the room and Sam could hear a slight squeak, the turning of a chair perhaps?

Lighter footsteps made their way into the room, the pace unhurried. "You wanted to see me?" The voice was deep, but something in it gave her pause. It didn't feel like oil, it felt comforting almost.

"Ah yes, Jaques. Welcome, come in, come in." Jacques moved into the room, "I have heard you have been doing great things with the men, helping out where you can... That's very good, important stuff." The Boss seemed placating to the man, that tone like oil against her spine. "Sebastian has been very adamant that you join into the ranks that he has established, and you have been following his plan very well. According to him, it is time you were rewarded for your efforts." Jacques was quiet and the Boss took his time, "As you know, we offered your Alpha help with the female population here in your pack. The dismal numbers, all that, we have found a way to weed out the weak of the human bunch and find only the strongest mates for us, but it has taken some... Experimentation."

Sam heard the foot falls of both men travel out of the room, and just moments later the door at the top of the steps creak open. "Not all of the women brought here have made it, you see, but these women here..." He stopped at the door in front of her cell. "They are in their prime, ready and able to be mates. All you have to do is take your pick, as your reward. They are still human and need... A steady hand to turn, however once you do, she will be yours." There was a click, and then a grinding sound of metal on metal. The door slowly opened and a slight glow entered the space. Sam needed to blink several times before she was sure that the glow came from an old fashioned lantern. She couldn't see the men's faces, but she knew that the one holding the lamp was the Boss.

The Boss stalked into the cell a few paces, enough to make all the women uncomfortable with his presence. He did not smell of the foul water the way the Inspector did, but he did smell of something... obnoxious and spicy. The scent made her want to sneeze, but she glared up at the Boss instead. He was paying little attention to the women, but Jacques, the other man, was just outside the door and he was examining the women. As he moved closer into the room, and into the light, something painful in his expression let her know that he did not want to be here in that moment, something utterly sad had taken over him. It was then that her sight leveled squarely at him, who was this man, the only man in this situation who seemed to want to help the women stuck here. Sam's fixed stare was a challenge, she knew it, but this man, something about him screamed at her in the back of her mind, this man was going to help her. Jacques gaze adjusted to match hers and she knew he was going to help. "See something you like then? Good." Sam startled at the Boss' words, She was shoved ruthlessly to the side and her shackle unlocked. The Boss grabbed her by her hair enough to make her yelp and laughed, "she's all yours," before roughly tossing her forward onto Jacques' feet.

Jacques pulled her up with a lot less force than the Boss, and pulled her away from the cell and up the stairs. Her eyes watered as they came out of the dank underbelly, trying desperately to adjust to so much light after so long in the darkness. Two flights of stairs and a few turns later she was led into a bedroom, where she stumbled and grabbed at the bed for purchase. A click signaled that the door closed, yet she could feel the second man, Jacques, behind her. "Get up." His sudden yet gruff voice startled her, sounding much like someone who had smoked far too many cigarettes. Stiffening, she removed herself from the bed surface and squared her shoulders, trying to seem bigger than she was. This time when she turned to look him in the eyes, clear blue stared back at her for a few moments before he shifted his attention. "Come on." His voice broke the silence again and his hand reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her into a small bathroom. His touch was surprisingly gentle for such a large man and the situation at hand, yet he warned her, "there is no way out of this room except for this door. The windows here will not break and they do not open." He looked over her then and his face seemed to soften, "shower and clean yourself up, there are some towels there under the sink, and a robe here on the door. When you have collected yourself, knock, I will be out in the room there." He pushed her towards the shower and closed the door behind her.

Sam waited barely a moment before she tested the door, once she was sure that it was locked and that she was alone, she felt herself tremble. Tears she had been holding in for so long slowly started to run down her cheeks and fall from her chin as she glanced about the room. Despite his warning, she quickly tried the window that did not open and found it to be as he said, this caused the tears to flow a bit faster. Knowing that she had no real options, she slowly stripped off her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror over the sink. Gosh, she really was filthy; could she even remember the last time she bathed? She looked too thin, and she knew it was lack of proper nutrition that did it. A sudden thought stuck her, what pudge Halea? A sad sob escaped her lips at the thought of her friends, where were they? Were they still here? Were they okay? Were they alive? Despite all the burning questions Sam had, they would have to wait for the answers, at least for now, so she turned the shower on and waited for it to heat up a moment before stepping in under the warm and massaging spray, seeing shampoo and conditioner on the side of the tub she grabbed the shampoo and worked it into a surprisingly thick lather, coating her much neglected hair. As she went to rinse, the hopelessness of the situation caught up to her and she cried heavily. What was going to happen to her? Here she was, now naked, in a shower, with a man she didn't know right outside the door... And what was up with the Boss calling us Mates? Is that what the Inspector meant? As the hot spray slid down her back, she tried to gather herself together, she wasn't going to go in there a blubbering mess. The little pink razor on the shelf caught her attention and she weighed her options, before lathering her leg to do some much needed maintenance, who knew when she would get a shower again.

Once she stepped out of the tub she dried off and walked over to the sink to see some small toiletries there; a toothbrush, a hair brush, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, lotion, hand soap and face soap, etc.. The toothbrush was still in the plastic, so she opened it and began to brush her teeth then rinse with the mouthwash. In the mirror above the sink she saw her puffy eyes and decided that her captors shouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her cry, so she scrubbed her face and then let herself calm down. Running the brush through her hair she lamented the loss of her short choppy layers from before, it had to have been a while because her hair now reached past her shoulders again. Sam stared at herself in the mirror just one more time before she grabbed the bathrobe that Jacques had mentioned, the material soft in her hands, and threw it on quickly to cover her nudity. She used the facilities and washed her hands before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door, which opened slowly.

Jacque's throat cleared, "I could not be sure if you knocked or not. You were quicker than I expected." Jacques motioned her out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. This time, Sam took extra care to examine her surroundings; there was a extra large king size bed that took up most of the room, there was little other furniture except for a small table and two chairs by the window, a giant wooden trunk at the end of the bed, and a large bedside table. Jacques motioned her to sit at the small table by the window and when sat, she really took in his face for the first time. "Same rules for this window." His large hand gestured to the window by the table, the unspoken 'unfortunately' seemed to ring loudly in the space. "I am going to go downstairs and grab you some food," Sam tensed, "Not the weak broth they have been forcing upon you, an Honest to goodness meal. The door behind me locks from the outside, so I will be locking you in here." He closed his eyes, "I know this might seem difficult, but please just sit here a moment, until I get back."

Sam nodded at him as he walked out the door then fiddled with her hands, a habit that she hated. Trying to distract herself she turned to look out the window, and noted that she was on the second floor of this building. Although the type of building was not as easily defined, whilst surveying the area she noticed a large oak tree in the surrounding landscape that made her heart drop. Bright splashes of color peppered the slightly thinning branches. Pain blossomed in her chest, No, I...it's not possible... I have not been locked away this long... Mind reeling, she grabbed onto the table for purchase, and that is how Jaques found her when as he walked in the door: face drained of color, knuckles white, eyes panicked.

"What happened?" His voice was softer than she expected, and she hadn't heard him return. Her body flinched as he set down a tray and cupped her cheek to bring her face in line with his, "What is it?"

"What month is it?" The sound ripped from her throat, raspy from disuse, but also with the edge of the panic she was feeling. It couldn't be...

"What?" Jacques pulled away from her and she noticed that he was kneeling on the floor in front of her. "October..." The eventual response, when it came, was soft and she almost missed it. If Sam hadn't been straining so hard to hear she would have, but the sound, as soft as it was, made her reel back as if she was slapped. NO! The screams were silent to the room, but inside her head they echoed. Of its own volition, her head shook from side to side attempting , to no avail, to shake away the tears. She pulled her arms around herself and tried to hold off the sobs she could feel coming, that is when she felt him shift closer. On instinct she threw her hand out in front of her to block his approach and her fist caught his chest. The soft sound that left him seemed to draw her anger from her, and she lashed out again, over and over she tossed her fists in his direction until her sobs broke free. Her body started to crumble in on itself and he wrapped his arms around her, "What is it that they took from you?" His words were so cold, like ice, that Sam flinched and jerked her face up to his. "They have taken much from many, what is it that they took from you?"

Sam searched Jacques face for what seemed like years, looking for an answer to the very painful question before she wet her dry lips, "I was supposed to be married early August." Sam felt him flinch as the broken whisper was torn from her soul. Something soft touched her shoulders, making her jump. Jacques had grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed and draped it over her, when he had moved she didn't know. His eyes were closed and he hesitated before putting his hand on her shoulder, it's weight and warmth a strange comfort. That little act of kindness was enough for the tentative dam holding her tears back to break. A soft hiccup was all he got in warning before the sobbs took over, wet trails slipped freely down her cheeks, which seemed to make him hold her harder.

"I'm sorry." The soft words coming out of his mouth, with his deep gruff voice somehow gave Sam a bit of comfort. No protest came from her lips as he maneuvered her into his lap as he sat on the floor, pressed to his chest, as sobs wracked her body. He whispered to her, rubbed her back and her head letting the tears fall freely, "I don't want to do this, I would never want a woman to be here, like this, and I am sorry that we have pulled you away from your mate. I will try to make this easy for you." The words mattered little, muffled as they were, but she could feel that he was indeed sorry. Pulling her back, he wiped the tears from beneath her eyes before he spoke again. "Take a moment to collect yourself, you are safe here, with me."

Sam nodded her head gently and rubbed at her eyes, taking large breaths to calm the trembles still coursing through her. Once he felt she was steady, he helped her up out of his lap and to her feet. "I feel introductions may be in order?" He took a small step back from her and let his eyes search her face. "I'm Jacques Fontenot; you can call me Jack." Nodding mutely, she let him lead her back to the seat, and watched as he moved over to the window and lean against the wall just past it. Her eyes slid from his pensive gaze to the food on her plate, and it was real food. A breakfast of epic proportions was laid out in front of her; scrambled eggs, shredded potatoes, toast, bacon, sausage, and even a glass of orange juice, all in overly large portions.

The food before her made her mouth water and her stomach ache, yet she knew that she needed the food, the real nutrients provided by food and not the nasty broths she'd been eating. Something was holding her back, however, so she turned her head and looked at the tree. After a few silent moments, "Sam... My name is Sam." The quiet words may have startled him, but she didn't know. She never took her eyes off of the tree, but could hear him settle himself more against the wall. What she didn't see was him stiffen and then nod, a curious expression on his face.

"You will need the food Sam." His words were quiet, and he never moved from the wall, giving her all the space that the small room would allow. Sam wanted to yell, to curse, to break something, but she knew there was little to no point the food was something she needed. The smells may have set her stomach rolling in uncomfortable waves, but there was something else nagging at her. "If you eat, I promise to answer as many of your questions as I can." Sam blinked at him a moment before nodding and then picked up the fork to pierce a bit of sausage.

Jack sat there watching her slowly chew before nodding and moving over to the edge of the bed. "Do you believe in the paranormal?"The tone of the question was so soft it startled her. Her mouth hung open a bit as her eyes searched his face.

Sam set down her fork on the edge of the plate and picked up a piece of toast, looking at it she seemed to contemplate her words. "Like ghosts, you mean?" She said eventually, looking up from her toast and she took a bite.

"Well Ghosts, they are part of the paranormal yes, but not what I was looking for," Jack took a breath and looked her over as she chewed. Crunching of toast filled the air before he spoke again, "Ghosts are part of it, perhaps I am talking more folklore than that such as: witches, vampires, werewolves..." Sam looked at him with great skepticism but something seemed to move behind her eyes. "You are someone who believes that unless you see it with your own eyes, it is not real, no?"

Sam set down her toast with a look "I have been living a nightmare, I don't think that the things that go bump in the night from cheesy Sci Fi movies is high on my terror list right now." Her eyes closed and her shoulders stiffened. She took a deep breath before she opened her eyes again, "Look I'm sorry, let me try that again. I know that somewhere in each legend there is a seed of truth, so somewhere along the line people either really believed in this stuff to think of creating the legends, or that the legends were modeled after some odd traits exhibited by someone a group of people never liked. Most traits like that have been written off as medical conditions, it's something I ended up studying in med school. I liked looking into the medical parts behind the myths."

"You believe you know that little hint at the truth?" Jack smiled and something in the glint of his eye made her breath catch in the back of her throat. Her eyes traveled his face and they got stuck on his lips, and his seemingly sharp teeth. "What if I told you that you are mistaken, that those things that go bump in the night are very much real and that you have fallen right into one of the sci fi movies you mentioned?"