The Citadel Ch. 08: Forlorn

The Citadel

© 2020 by Pitchblack

Chapter Eight. Forsaken

Annie stared into the surrounding darkness, unable to discern even the slightest shape in front of her eyes. She tried to steady her trembling legs and catch her breath to ease her body and dispel her anguish and worries. Gradually her eyes adapted to the blackness. She thought that a feeble light was shimmering through some cracks between the massive stones, illuminating the chamber with a waning grayness. She wondered if this was even possible, that deep down in the earth. Or was there another possible source of light? Maybe some lichen or moss, which grew on the rocky walls, she mused.

After some time Annie was able to discern the extents of her prison. Craning her neck to the left she glimpsed the doorway, which led to the passage going up. There was a broad archway in front of her, leading into another hallway reaching farther on. She turned her head also to the right, recognizing another archway, albeit a much lower one.

There was no door there, a passage leading down to some unknown depth beneath her current whereabouts. She could hear water dripping down in the darkness. First she cast fearful glances into that direction. She imagined a hideous beast would crawl out and come for her, pulling her down into its lair. There it would devour her little by little, leaving only a bloody heap of gnawed off bones.

However, even after frightful hours there was no other sound and this area, whatever its purpose was, seemed to be abandoned, devoid of any life.

Straight behind her she could feel the rough surface of the column. In some twisted way she was glad that it was there. Although the coldness of the stones sipped through her skin and into the bones and left her flesh numb and shivering. At least it was something to lean on, to keep her body upright.

Since they were out of her sight, she had to follow the links of the short chain connected to the shackles around her wrists with the touch of her fingers. Link by link the cold metal glided through her hands until she reached the sturdy iron ring where it ended. She tried to pry it out, but it was firmly drawn through a bracket made of solid stone which had its roots in a circular appendage protruding from the side of the columns base. Her strength was far from sufficient and the rattling of the iron links mocked her feeble efforts to free herself. Her unsuccessful attempts to dislodge it by pulling her hands in every available direction fuelled her rising frustration.

Although she hadn't much to drink in the last hours, her bladder told her it was time to release herself. A small nuisance at first it showed her, that chained like this, she had no way to leave her current position, just as using the bathroom facilities. Even squatting down on the disgustingly smelling hole back in her cell would be better than to empty her bladder right where she was sitting and certainly foul herself that way. There was not much distraction inside the empty chamber, which kept her mind occupied and away from the growing ache that spread out from her lower stomach. The need to pee became more urgent with every minute passing. She tried to relieve some pressure by shifting her buttocks around from one side to another. Her options to move were so limited by the short chains shackling her to the column that there was little she could do to easy the unpleasant feeling.

The insides of her thighs stuck together as she shifted, still sticky from her own cum after her violent orgasm by Mathildes hands earlier. She felt already soiled and dirty, but that would be nothing compared to wallow in her own urine. She whimpered while she tried to tense every one of her muscles in her nether region to avoid the inevitable to happen.

It was a fight she couldn't win. During one absent-minded moment, she let go. The release made her blush. Her cheeks went scarlet, as the torrent of pee rushed from her, splashing on the stone floor between her feet. It formed a large puddle around her thighs, wetting her buttock. At least it wasn't big enough to reach her toes. Forced to sit in this wetness, whose growing reek of urine was stinging her nose, was even more distressing and horrific than being left alone in the dark. Unable to clean herself up due to her arms trapped behind her in the iron restraints, added considerably to her displeasure.

She couldn't imagine how long she was already here. Maybe an hour or two, she mused. The air in the chamber was musty and dank, smelled mouldy. The coldness must have increased since her arrival. It chilled her to the bone. An abysmal hole, she thought while she fidgeted about. She was sure there was a lot of vermin around. Spiders, bugs, maybe even some rats. How could she defend herself, if they tried to bite her? The thoughts sparked a panic in her. She wanted to get away from this dreaded place for all in the world. She wriggled her arms inside the tight shackles, yanked at the chains holding her in place. To no avail, the iron didn´t move an inch, they were anchored too strongly into the stone.

She had no option but to wait.

"Where was she and what did these two heinous woman intended for her? Was this detention only a humiliation or a torture?" she mused, speaking loudly to herself, the sound of her faint voice reassuring her upcoming fear.

Did she have to stay all alone for days or even weeks in this damp hole? Maybe there were other guards around? That one of them would come down to her abode and abuse her? She imagined that those heinous women would have fun slipping the information where she could be found to some soldiers up in the barracks so that they could have their way with their helpless prisoner. Not that she could much do to prevent them raping her, she thought bitterly, listening to the clanking noise of the chains when she feebly wiggled her wrists inside the iron manacles.

The floor under her feet felt like natural rock, she could feel the cracks, the ruggedness on her naked skin. Sitting on it, her arms chained behind her back felt more than uncomfortable. She was unable to move or even stand up. Maybe someone other was nearby? A fellow prisoner, who could at least talk to her and soothe her bewildering thoughts.

"Hello! Is there anybody?" she shouted with all her might, "Help! Please help me!"

More desperate shouts, she screamed as loud as possible. There was nothing else to hear except her own voice, shrill and piercing from her rising distress. A faint echo reverberated from some chambers below, returning to her from different directions through the archways. She ceased her cries, tried instead to listen intently into the empty space around her. Tired of listening, she started to shout again. Her high-pitched voice rang from desperation, each of her cries more frantic than the precedent. Yet, nobody answered her pleas. Not a single sound reached her ears.

Eventually she realized that calling out was useless. It was a waste of time and her energy. Waiting in this cold room, the uncertainty was maddening. She shivered from fear and cold. If only she could see more at least. If only the women would come back. She would do anything they demanded from her, only to be released from this dreaded place.

Hours of waiting, hours that didn't pass by. Meanwhile she accepted the fact that she was utterly alone. She had ceased to cry desperately for help. There wasn't a soul in sight, nobody that could hear her. Silence and darkness were her only companions. Since her arrival nothing had happened. She still squatted on the rough stone floor. She felt chilly, her whole body shivered.

At long last she imagined there was a source of sound nearby. She peered into the darkness, tried to find out where the dull noise was coming from. It sounded like the gurgling of water. Faint, as if some river flowed by. A hopeful thrill occupied her mind. Intently she tried to find out what was going on. Maybe someone was nearby fidgeting around with some source of water, probably a well. Maybe he would pass by on his way out. She wouldn't be alone anymore and had to bear the loneliness and darkness all on her own.

"Is there anybody?" she asked eagerly into the empty space.

She wasn't sure anymore that a person was around. The sound of water was still nearby. She felt certain its volume had increased since she had ceased her frantic cries. What if she had provoked something with her shouts, something that wouldn't otherwise pay attention to her presence?

It was frustrating. She craned her neck to locate where the noise was coming from. After some minutes she felt certain that the nuisance came from her right. Something was happening down beneath in the darkness under the small archway.

She wasn't sure, but some light seemed to be playing on the ceiling of the passage down. Something like a reflection from a shiny surface, cast on the dark stonewalls. For some time she was fascinated by the light, by its sparkling pattern. In the end she got bored and turned her head back to watch other parts of the chamber surrounding her. After some more time passed by, it seemed to her that almost every spot in her prison was known to her.

The only thing that changed noticeably during the next hours, was the reflections which drew nearer up the passageway, accompanied by sounds of water, splashing faintly against the surrounding stone. What was happening down there, she asked herself more than one time. At least the reflection wandered out of the passageway and onto the ceiling of the chamber. She realized that the passageway was filled up with water. She could glimpse the shining, rippling surface down some steps below. The water level had risen steadily and silently, without much current from down below. There were some ripples on the surface, which seemed to shimmer with an oily glance.

When the water splashed over the last stair and into her abode a short cry escaped her lips. Panic rose up her throat, slowly and inexorably. How much more water would come, she asked herself. Would it fill the entire cavern until she would drown in the high tide? Like a frightened mouse watching a snake, she followed the approached of the liquid towards her. The water took its time, sending only small rivulets into the chamber, which left one or another puddle in its wake.

It took more than one hour, before she could feel the approaching wetness gracing her toes. She pulled them back as far as possible, as if she had touched something poisonous. The move didn't give her much relief, for the water approached her still. At some point she had to give in, felt the coldness touching the sole of her feet. An embarrassing feeling, which increased once the liquid reached her buttocks.

After more monotonous hours the water reached her belly. The only good thing about its rise was that it swept away the remnants of her pee and cleaned the floor around her prone body. Still, the uncertainty about how far the water level would go up scared her more and more.

Would she drown in this cursed place, fettered helplessly and unable to move away from the flood? Nervously she shifted her buttocks around on the cold stone floor, trying to raise her body whatever inch was possible. Still, the water continued to rise with gurgling sounds, spilling around her boobs, touching her nipples like a frigid hand reaching out from the grave. She watched the sensitive flesh wrinkle up, a sight which made her whole body shiver. Would all her skin become like this, once the water had pressed the last ounce of oxygen out of her lungs, leaving her a decaying water corpse?

To her relief the water stopped beneath her chin. Her whole body was now submersed, small waves and ripples playing against the back of her neck. The glistening, oily surface was only inches away from her eyes as she cast frightful glances down. She could see the rough shapes of her breasts through the small ripples on the surface down in the murky water, floating like small balloons in front of her body. The black chain from her collar reached down between them and farther on into the blackness of the water below. For a moment she had hoped that the water would allow her body to float and ease her uncomfortable position. However the chains and manacles attached to her limbs were too heavy and kept her in place on the rough stone floor.

With all the water around, she suddenly felt thirsty. She hadn't drunk for hours. Her throat felt parched and raw, caused by her screams and shouts before. All she had to do was to bend her neck and her mouth could reach the water. Not completely, she was forced to slobber and lick the water with her tongue. Like an animal or a dog drinking from a puddle on the street. The feeling of disgust and revulsion made her stomach turn. Not only that, the uncertainty about the quality of the water and fear that its ingredients could make her sick let her hesitate. She stared at the water out of her reach, just playing under her chin, but didn't have the heart to quench her thirst.

At first, she didn't notice, but even after the water stopped flowing into the chamber there were still gurgling sounds, reverberating from different places all around her. She strained her ears to recognize where they were coming from or who was making them, but she couldn't find a specific source. Was there a ripple on the surface, like a wave made from a creature swimming through the dark waters? She tried to follow the movement, but inevitable she lost sight of it as the movement wandered out of her field of vision.

Her tension and anxiousness increased with every occurrence of the cursed thing as she was sure something was cautiously circling her body with decreasing distance, coming nearer and nearer towards her. At some point she couldn't stand it anymore, crying out loudly with a shrill voice.

"Show yourself, damned bastard! Don't play games with me! Come and let it be over!" she shrieked, without thinking that her attacker might not be human or was even able to understand her speech.

She nearly jumped out of the water when something touched the skin of her ankles. A soft brush, almost unrecognizable if not her trepidation has made her whole body ultra-sensitive, ready to react on even the slightest prick. Her annoyed cry sounded unrestrained through the room, reverberating from the walls and echoing back to her. She found the touch disgusting as something acidic and poisonous had made contact with her. Frantically she pulled at the chains fettering her hands, trying to dislodge the cursed irons out of their holding. All she could think of was getting away, a scared up doe fleeing for its sheer life from the approaching predators. She felt the strain of her muscles, the tight chaffing manacles around her wrists digging into her soft skin, but they didn't bulge an inch.

Sagging backwards, bereft of her power, she had to bow to the inevitable. The following contact was made somewhere up her arms, as brief and cautious as the first one. Still it made her cringe, although she was able to hold her nervousness at bay. Her eyes darted to and fro, unable to recognize what was assaulting her in the water. More short contacts followed, randomly all around her limbs as if something was exploring her whole body gradually. The thing touching her didn't seem to be that big, more nimble and small, like a small fish or a frail tendril. The surface felt to be scaly, somewhat rough, but it didn´t leave any scratch or trace on her skin. Still she didn't like to be touched at all, as if she was an inanimate object, which wasn't asked or recognized as a human being.

Once the assault on her slowed down and dwindled to nothingness, a sigh of relief escaped Annie's lips. She felt annoyed and agitated as someone has violated her private sphere in a most rude manner. Although her sensitive or private parts hadn't been touched at all, she still had the feeling of being molested. Exhausted, her head sagged forward. Despite sitting up to her throat in cold, murky water she would have loved to sleep, to give herself away to the weariness consuming her body.

This very moment she felt the touch of something both soft and scaly right at the base of her neck. She reared up, shaking violently her upper body to dislodge the vile thing.

"No! Get off me! Leave me alone!" she wailed with loud, despairing voice.

Yet the thing hasn't got off. Like a worm or a tentacle sticking with tiny suckers to her skin it crawled up the spine towards her head. She thought she would go mad, feeling every one of the pricks on her soft skin tenfold. Although her shoulders were beneath the water, she was certain that, whatever it was, it oozed something slimy, a gluey substance which stuck between her shoulder blades.

After some excruciating long moments the thing had reached the base of her neck and crawled beneath the damp tresses of her auburn hair. For a moment despair and hopelessness took over her mind, trying to suck her down into an endless engulfing maelstrom of blackness. Then a white, hot burning flash streaked through her brain, like a raging fire or blinding lightning searing every thought away. Blackness followed and she plunged into an endless void, her mind drowning in the vast sea of nothingness, dragging her away from consciousness into oblivion.