Act 1.
The cold wind hit her naked body making her shiver. Windows flew open and curtains fluttered in side her room, while her breathless and panting body lay sprawled on the small bed of her dorm bedroom.
The pleasant aftershocks of the euphoria that he filled her with all night left her in a breezy daze. And all the while her body tried to calm down, her eyes kept themselves glued to the aesthetic bareback of the man who was responsible for her pleasure, the back which on which he pulled his crisp white shirt on to cover himself and prepare himself to exit.
The man, however, looked empty as always. Like every single night they had for the past three years - he would knock on her door sharp at midnight, pin her to the walls the moment he saw her, and bite and mark her all over her body.
Then he would throw her on the mattress, stealthily tear away all her clothes and would thrust into her fervently like an animal in rut. For the whole night. And would not stop or let her stop to even take a fresh breathe. But everything he would commence would not be before him vehemently edging her to the point where she would beg him to bury himself inside her.
He loved the look of disparity etched on her face. To see her appalled to the brink of tears and insanity, whining and withering under him at his mercy, moaning and screaming so pleasantly that they felt music to his ears.
Again and again and again. Having her undone in pleasure so many times that she would lose count, all the while he chased his own.
And an hour before the huge imperial clock- tower chimed the sixth hour of dawn, the time when everyone was supposed to wake up, he would some how attain his own furious pleasure in her. All the while he damned her of any sleep at night.
But he was insatiable. Unlike with other woman, one night with this woman would never satisfy him. He would come again for more and more, night by night. Even in the fifth hour, he would grudgingly pull himself out even though he would want more.
But as soon as he was done with her, he would repel himself from her as if she was a plague, and without a word or a second look at her state, he would just get up and dress himself. Finally, he would just leave herself to her own accord to disappear before any one else saw him.
This cycle would repeat again the next night, then the night after, then the night after. And had been repeating for years now. And tonight was no different.
It was all the same scenario playing in front of her. She lifted her weak body on her elbows to look at him, who was now putting on his shoes to leave.
His face was almost invisible in the darkness, but she could still tell that they had no feelings or impulses on them whatsoever. Blank - a word that fit his self perfectly.
And she hated how she would never be able to read between his lines. She wanted to find out why did he come to see her every night yet treat her like some malicious disease once his purpose was fulfilled.
Why did he treat her like a pebble all throughout the day, not wanting to even look her in the eye let alone notice her. But she will never know, for despite whispering filthy words to her in the sheets that would pull her on the cliff of euphoria, he barely spoke more than a word with her outside them .
And he was a man of few words. For every one. But towards her, he seemed to be holding a grudge, for those few words would also become non-existent.
She was not desperate for any attention. In this magnificent epitome of elegance called the Frostford Eden Imperial Academy, she had almost slipped by unknown and invisible out of everyone’s sight her whole life. She loved being silently swept off in the corners to her own accord.
But when someone would use your body to their heart’s content and then even refuse to recognise you in broad daylight, it stung your very soul.
But she was not in a position to question or defy him. For the man possessed not only everything one could ask for, but something she treasured the most in her life. Everything she put up with, was for its sake.
All the while her eyes kept gawking at him as he moved, she wondered for how long will this go on. For how long
was she still going to be a prostitute. His prostitute.
But her thoughts were cut short as his feet tapped to the door. When his fingers encircled the knob, he lowly whispered in a voice enough for only them to hear, “I won’t be over for tomorrow night. There will be no need for you to stay awake. Just sleep or study or whatever you do-”
She wanted to scoff at his nonchalant remarks laced with demand. As if he didn’t know that all she would do at night was either studying or pleasing his body. Sleep was reserved for only afternoon naps and when he would not visit her, like one of the nights that were to come tomorrow.
“- and don’t forget to lock your doors and not step out for even a second.” , he finished as the metal of the knob clicked slightly.
She begged to differ.
She never knew why he forbid her to venture out at nights alone in his absence. Though the quiet hours from 8 in the evening to 6 in the morning forbid everyone to step out from the hall buildings, one was still allowed to venture inside the buildings and corridors, provided they were not getting into each other’s rooms. It was highly safe to do so and you could have sleepovers with others if you had the permission.
And to say he cared about her being safe was a laughable mockery to his face. She could be skinned alive to death and he would never even bat even her corpse an eye. That, she knew.
She wanted to fulfill he fantasy of visiting the hall library and read in the eerie silence. But all her midnights were either occupied by him or his commands.
“The guards are standing at the gates and it’s quiet safe - “, she tried, but he cut her off mid-sentence,
“KEEP . INSIDE . AND . DOORS . LOCKED. “, he phrased out word by word in a perilously low voice. The voice that demanded immediate obedience.
She gulped her words down the throat and replied with an immediate ‘yes’ . Her fingers clutched the duvet tighter to cover herself from the stringent aura he emitted. He stood there for sometime with his back facing her, not even wanting to look at her anymore, and she did not speak any further to not annoy him.
Sensing nothing but silence, he moved his feet and stepped out of her dorm room, shutting the door lightly behind him to not make a noise that might wake anyone up.
She heard his footsteps rustle down the staircase in a hurry. He never wished to be seen coming out of her bedroom. And the relationship they shared was utmost secretive, however abstract it may be.
And as soon a the sound disappeared, the chimes of the centipedes rung louder and clearer in the nightly silence.
There was still an hour before the world woke up to resume its mundane life. So she lay down in her sheets covering her naked entirety, in attempts to calm the soaring pain in her body from his lustful actions. A nap would be useless as of now, for if she slept deep she would be late for her classes.
The cold breeze rustled through the window curtains of her small dorm room. She scanned the whole room with her eyes.
A clean, modest, small but not too small dorm room beautifully decorated in vintage furnishings and artifacts, personalized by some articles she placed her self.
A long dressing mirror aligned with a wooden cabinet and a study desk, on which her lay her black satchel she would carry to the academy. Small aesthetic garden plants lining one side of her window sill and portraits adorning the other.
Beautiful, cheap yet colorful tapestries and curtains and sheets lining the furniture and other articles, beautiful maroon carpet giving the room a cozy and warm feeling. And a small bookshelf tucked in the corner, filled with books she loved to keep to her leisure time. Her only companions.
Yet however warm she tried to make her room, however pretty she tried to decorate it, everything fell in vain. It was still empty. Still null and empty of any love and laughter. But just with a melancholy that filled the room and herself everytime she stepped in.
And the disgust that filled her body everytime she allowed herself to feel the sinful pleasures of his fingers despite not wanting too, just multiplied the melancholy.
Her tears had dried up and nothing interest her anymore about this room. For it was a stark reminder of her miserable life and a reminder of his lingering presence that threatened her into madness every night.
Heaving a slow sigh, she shook her head as it dipped further into the pillow. The streaks of sun fell on her face from the window blinds, and she noticed that the bell was just past to ring any minute now.
So she removed the covers off her and sat up straight. Throwing a cotton sheath on her naked body, she limped her paining lower body to the windows and flung the curtains away to let more light in. The breeze now flew and fluttered her locks as she looked past the frame.
And the next second, the grand clocktower chimed the great bell, announcing the start of the new day.
Ding - Dong. Ding - Dong.
It rang so loud sending tremors in the air. The furiously sonorous metal of the great bell made waves that shook up the earth and woke up its masses.
And everytime they rang, the noise of the horribly eerie and heavy chimes would present themselves as a scary dichotomy to her.
On one face they signified that she lived to see another sunrise, and on the other, they sounded like the toll of death bells being rung for her by the grim reaper himself.
So, she stood there every morning, listening to her death warrant and bracing herself for another day of survival.
Breathing in a long fresh streak of air as her eyes absorbed the dystopic beauty of the imperia, she clenched her fist on her skirt hem as the bell continued to chime for another 30 minutes.
And all through those 30 minutes, she could think of nothing. Though she seemed to be all lost in all sorts of thoughts, that was all she could think of.
Nothing.
