Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
A groan comes from his busted lips as they begin to strap him down with black leather belts, buckling him in place. The first one goes over his ankles securing his legs together at one end of the table. The second below his knees and the third over his jean-clad thighs.
My throat tightens, making it hard to breathe at the thought of them hurting him in any way. He was trying to save me.
A Lord steps into view and places a towel under a faucet, getting it wet, and Haidyn coughs up blood.
“Wake up.” One slaps the side of his face. His eyes don’t open, but he groans again as if in pain. “Wake up, Spade. Come on. It’s time for your punishment.”
Punishment? What did he do? They’re punishing him for making his whore his wife. It’s all my fault. I jump to my feet. My hands go to my mouth when I feel the bile burning my throat. Rushing to the bathroom, I manage to make it to the toilet on time as I throw up. My stomach tight and shoulders shake.
Falling down onto my ass by the toilet, my eyes drop to my phone on the floor and see that I didn’t pause it. I go to stop it, unable to watch anymore when they rip his shirt off and move his arms down by his sides. And begin to do another belt over his hips, waist, chest and last his neck. His large muscular body takes up most of the narrow table.
I let out a shaky breath when my eyes scan his chest and see his Lords crest, but he doesn’t have the 666 branding or any other tattoos that I can see from here, but he’s covered in bruises. Some look older than others. I place my hand over my mouth to hold in a sob when I realize this video is old. Much older, considering his lack of tattoos as well. But I have a sickening feeling this isn’t his first time with these Lords.
My chest pounds, my heart in my throat as I watch one of the Lords roll a cart to the side of the table. They put sticky pads on his chest and turn the machine on. A beeping sound fills the room, and lines begin to pop up on the screen-they’re monitoring his heart rate. It’s slow and steady at the moment, but I’m guessing that’s because he’s unconscious.
Tears sting my eyes, and I blink rapidly to clear my blurry vision.
“We shouldn’t have beaten him,” one altered voice speaks.
Another laughs. “No way he would have willingly gotten up on this table.”
“He’ll come around. And when he does, we’ll be ready.”
The screen goes black, and I grind my teeth. My watery eyes continue to scan the screen, but nothing is there.
I bring my knees to my chest and try to calm my breathing, wondering why they are sending me this. I lift my shaking hands and wipe the tears from my face. That acid taste is still in my mouth, thinking I’m going to get sick again.
My phone beeps once more, and I pick it up, immediately opening up the new email they sent me, unable to stop myself. I need to know what they do to him and why.
This video is identical to the previous one. Haidyn still lies on the table, but his swollen eyes are open, and he’s looking around aimlessly as if he’s just waking up. He seems unfazed by the sound of his heart rate. How much time passed between the two? Was it hours…minutes? I wish it’d tell me.
“About time, Spade.” One of the Lords comes into view, laughing.
Haidyn doesn’t say anything.
The guy comes to the head of the table and taps the side of Haidyn’s bloody face. “You took away our chance to play with our toy outside so she said we can play with you.” Laughter fills the room and my stomach drops.
Toy? What toy? It’s a woman. Has to be what he’s talking about.
“Fuck…you,” Haidyn says, and my skin breaks out in a sweat at the sound.
“Boys, let’s begin.” He pushes a button that he has in his hand and the table begins to move, lowering Haidyn’s head while his feet rise. Not much, just enough that his head sits lower.
The towel I saw them wet in the previous video is thrown over Haidyn’s face and the sound of his heart rate accelerates in the concrete room.
“Let’s see how long you can hold your breath.” One says before he walks over to a hose that’s hangs on the wall. He uncoils it and turns on the faucet. Water flows from the end. “Hold the towel tight.” He commands to no one in particular.
One steps to the right of the table and grips each end of the white towel, pulling it tight across Haidyn’s face.
“Someone start the timer,” he orders, and a third guy goes over to the counter and flips an hourglass as the one with the hose holds the end over the towel, and water begins to cover Haidyn’s face.
They’re waterboarding him.
My heart lodges in my throat at the sight. Haidyn fights the restraints, his fight or flight kicking in, but he’s strapped down too tight. There’s nowhere for him to go. Water splashes onto his body and the concrete floor as they wait for the hourglass to run out of time.
I blink, tears stinging my eyes before they fall down my cheeks as I hold one hand over my mouth while I watch.
Pulling away the towel, he’s sputtering and gasping for breath. His heart rate has picked up and is now echoing throughout the room at a fast pace.
“That’s one.” The man standing at Haidyn’s head laughs and places the towel back over his face, doing it again while one resets the timer. “Do you know why they use a towel?” He makes it sound like he’s talking to Haidyn, but since he can’t speak, another one bites.
“Why?”
“Because it allows the water to enter the airways, but at the same time, it prevents them from expelling it.”
Fresh tears fall from my eyes as I sit and watch them torture my husband.
By the third time, Haidyn’s heart rate is less consistent. The sound is much slower and less often than it was as he lies strapped to the table. And one of the Lords speaks. “Take it easy, man. She said to punish him. She’ll do the same thing to you if you kill him.”
“I’m not worried.” The Lord taps the side of Haidyn’s wet and bloody face. His body is shaking uncontrollably while he tries to breathe. You can hear the water gurgling in his lungs while he chokes on it. “Don’t worry, Spade. I’ll bring you back.” He tosses the towel over Haidyn’s face once more. “I’ve never been waterboarded before, but I hear it’s painful.” He goes on. “You put them at an incline, so the water fills the sinuses. It also keeps the water from filling the lungs. But your breathing becomes labored, and you panic because your body thinks it’s drowning, and you can try to hold your breath as long as you want, but it’s impossible not to inhale it.”
Another. Then another.
I’m sobbing, and my entire body shakes as I slowly watch them kill him. Just when I think they’ll stop and let up, they do it again.
During the seventh time, the sound of the beeping finally stops, and Haidyn’s body goes limp as the guys remove the wet towel.
I blink rapidly and choke out a sob into my hand when one of them speaks. “Fuck, man, I told you…”
“I got it under control,” the one who’s been torturing him says.
He walks over to a counter and picks up a syringe. Removing the cap with his teeth, he bites it off and returns to the table and stabs Haidyn in the chest, shoving the plunger.
Haidyn gasps, the beeping returns, and it’s faster than it previously was. They gave him adrenaline.
“Look at that.” The Lords all laugh. “Welcome back, Spade.” He leans over the edge of the table, his face hovering over Haidyn’s while he continues to choke. “You should have just let us rape her, man. That’s all bitches are good for. They’re meant to be used. Especially chosens. You robbed us of that opportunity when you killed her. Now we get to play with you instead.”
He stands to his full height, and I watch Haidyn’s chest rise and fall, trying to catch his breath. His body is tight, veins popping out of his arms and neck. His restrained hands fist tight at his sides. It’s the adrenaline. On top of trying to drown him, they’ve shot him up with speed. His heart monitor is beeping so fast I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a heart attack.
“Now, where were we…”
The screen goes black, and I stare at it waiting for another to pop up, but nothing happens. Blood rushes in my ears, and I drop the phone next to me, cupping my face and trying to catch my breath.
“Charlotte?” I hear Haidyn’s voice in the bedroom.
I open my mouth to tell him that I’m in the bathroom, but nothing comes out. That burning sensation returns, and I crawl over to the toilet once more, where I begin to dry heave.
“Charlotte.” His voice is closer this time, and he grabs my hair as tears spill down my cheeks while he kneels behind me. One hand rubs small circles on my back, and when I have nothing left to get out, I flush the toilet and fall onto my ass.
“Hey, doll face.” His soft voice makes me cry harder, and he pulls me into his lap as we sit on the marble floor. “It’s okay, Charlotte,” he assures me. “I took care of it. You’re safe.”
Of course, he thinks I’m worried about myself and his meeting with the Lords tonight. That’s how this night started out, but that’s not it now. Not at all. It’s what I just watched this man go through. Who was torturing him? And why? One had said that he took away their toy. What did they mean? And who was the she that said they couldn’t kill him? Who did Haidyn kill to keep from being raped? The Lord had mentioned a chosen. Was it Sierra? My friends had asked what happened to her? And that they didn’t know.
There are worse things than dying.
I have so many questions that I can’t ask him.