Unbroken

My days in this room were much the same. Wake up. Eat. Bathe. Sleep. And so I existed. I lost track of time. To keep myself distracted from the seemingly endless days of being stuck in a room with no windows, I began to draw. My drawing skills sucked, but the longer I practiced, the better I seemed to become.

Every time I ran out of paper, Serena would gladly bring me more. And when I would run out of ink, Saruki would go on a search until she found some for me. I drew so much that I was beginning to gain a rough callous on my right ring finger.

I grew nervous as the days passed and it stemmed from many things. Naraku never appeared to me again and for that I was grateful. I was becoming really thin and it was a look that didn't suit me at all. I had to finally break down and eat the rice to, hopefully, gain some weight back. Not to mention that there was a good chance of being pregnant.

A couple days passed and my cycle came and it soon went. I was relieved, glad that I would not bare a child from my rape.

I woke up one morning and groaned. I had been locked up in this hell hole for about a month. No sunlight, no fresh air, and bread and rice to survive on. Some days I would be lucky enough to get a piece of fish too, but not always.

I got up, used the bathroom, and did my exercises. Pushups, crunches, lunges, etc. I went to the desk and sorted through my pile of pictures that I had drawn. Drawing for hours upon hours, day after day, will honed my skills enough to actually draw pretty good. I was beginning to work on shading and shadows to give my flat images a more realistic look.

This day passed like all the others. Completely ignoring my food, I laid curled up in a ball on the bed, facing the fire. I was completely zoned out, remembering the trees, the sounds of birds, playing in the lake with my friends back home in the states, cookouts and barbeques, sleepovers and parties. I remembered that when I was little, my mother would come into my room when I would have nightmares. She would lay on my bed and curl up with me under the blanket. She would sing sweet songs to me as she would rub my hair, assuring me that I was ok. I would fall asleep to her sweet voice and wake up still cradled in her arms. Oh how I needed her to hold me and to tell me everything would be ok.

I began to cry, missing my life so much, missing my family and friends. I completely ignored the jingle of keys and the door opening as I cried, staring into the fire. Serena didn't rush to me like she normally did to get me ready for a bath. I waited and listened as tears still fell down my face just to be soaked up by the pillow.

"Why do you cry?" That voice... I instantly recognized it.

I quickly sat up and backed up to the headboard of the bed and drew my legs close to me, wrapping my arms around them as I stared at Naraku, fear chilling me to the bone.

His appearance was different this time. He had on armor and he had tentacles coming out of his back. Upon closer inspection, his armor had 'eyes??'

"Why do you not eat?" His voice was demanding.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I was terrified as my mind quickly relived every detail of that night a month ago. I sat frozen in fear.

A tentacle from his back shot out at me and I screamed and jumped, my legs falling flat on the bed. The tentacle wrapped around me and drew me to Naraku who had anger in his eyes. He tightened his hold on me.

"I give you clothing, housing, food. Everything you need. Why do you defy me!?" He was yelling at me, which only made me cry harder.

The tentacle tightened around me, taking my breath away. My vision was starting to go dark when I felt a familiar tug. The pull, that I had felt before when I started my journey, took hold of me once more, but it was stronger now. There was a soft, blue glow in the room and Naraku's eyes widened. I looked down at my hands and saw that I was glowing. Well, not me exactly, but the air around me. My aura pulsed with power and grew brighter.

He flung me across the room and, not being able to control my flight, I smacked into the wall, hard. I heard the very loud sound of my head hitting the black stone wall. It jarred me, rattling my teeth. I slipped down the wall, feeling blood ooze from my head. I was no longer crying, I was in shock, and it didn't help that I could feel blood drip onto my neck, its warmness making its way down my spine and quickly being soaked into my white kimono.

I just sat there, my brain not functioning as Naraku stalked towards me. He lifted me up off the floor with his hand around my throat. I was completely limp. I had all feeling to my extremities but I couldn't move.

"Tonight, you will change into a demon again. Tonight, you will lay with me. Tonight," He paused and shook me a little, my head hitting the wall again slightly, causing pain to spread all over and me to whimper. "Tonight I will put you fully in my control."

He dropped me on the bed and walked out of the room. Serena and Saruki quickly rushed into the room and helped me to the bathroom. Saruki rushed out of the room, for what I wasn't sure.

Serena gently took off my kimono, which was covered in blood. She got a rag from beside the large tub and held it to my head. Her eyes were filled with concern.

"I-I'm okay." My voice was quiet and shaky and didn't sound like my own at all. 'At least I hope I am.'

Saruki came back carrying a large bowl with hot water in it. Two other women came in with her, one carrying a towel, rags, and a pale blue silk kimono, and the other woman carrying simply a needle and thread.

As Saruki sat the water beside Serena, the woman carrying the towel set everything she carried down beside Serena and the other woman handed Saruki the needle. Then, with a bow, both women left.

Then Saruki came to sit beside me. "Poor child." She was concerned. "You need to escape this place." She sighed and picked up a rag. "You will need to bite down on this. I need to stitch you up."

My eyes widened. I knew this was going to hurt badly. I had to have stitches once before, but on the top of my foot. I was carrying a glass pitcher of water out the porch and dropped it on my foot. The glass shattered and a large shard got wedged in the top of my foot. Getting stitches hurt really bad.

I folded the rag and placed it between my teeth. I had to escape before Naraku killed me. Serena soaked a rag in the warmed water and gently cleaned the wound so Saruki could see the split where all the blood was coming from. I heard Saruki gasp and Serena's free hand reached out and squeezed mine. I removed the rag from my mouth.

"Its bad isn't it?" I was already slightly light headed from the loss of blood.

Saruki's voice came out just above a whisper. "Yes, and if we don't get it stitched up, you will continue to bleed out."

I replaced the rag and shut my eyes tight, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, I nodded, giving the ok for Saruki to patch me up.

Serena held my hand tightly, letting me squeeze her hand whenever I needed to. It throbbed more than anything. I could feel the needle enter my skin, slide through, then the gentle pull as Saruki slowly stitched me up. It seemed like an eternity before I heard her wash her hands in the bowl. Serena wiped my cheeks and I opened my eyes. I hadn't realized it, but I was crying. I gave her a small smile.

"Let me get some fresh water." Saruki picked up the pan of water and left.

Serena still held my hand until Saruki returned. She sat beside Serena and they both soaked rags and began to clean me up. Serena worked on cleaning the blood of my back and neck while Saruki began to get the blood out of my hair. Cleaning my hair was the worst part. I know they were being gentle with me but my head was still really tender.

By the time they were finished, a pile of faded red rags sat on the floor beside a bowl of red water. They each helped me up, one on each side, and led me to the bed and sat me down. I glanced up at the two slits that were my only windows. The sky was a pretty orange, telling me that night was nearly here.

"Thank you." My voice was quiet. I was seriously depressed.

Both women bowed, Serena hugged me, then they both left. I sat back against the headboard, my knees to my chest and my head leaning on my knees when I heard the door open again. I knew who it was.

I looked up at Naraku as he shut the door. I groaned inwardly, knowing what was to come. He had changed out of his armor and wore the same kimono he had a month ago. He didn't look at me, but instead, he looked out the quickly darkening sky. When the sun finally faded, Naraku smirked and watched me.

I felt a shimmer come over my body as goose bumps rose to the surface. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to pass. Within about a minute, the sensation was gone. My senses instantly sharpened and I opened my eyes. The way how my hair fell over my shoulders told me that my hair was a light blonde and blue again.

"Remember my promise, Daughter of Haruki." Naraku walked towards me and I quickly got off the bed and stood, holding onto one of the posts to keep my balance.

"Do you really want to challenge me?" Naraku smirked at me as he neared.

I wanted to, yes. I wanted out of this hell hole. Unfortunately for me, I was in no condition to challenge anyone. He was the length of the bed away from me and within a blink of an eye, Naraku had me by the throat again, my feet barely touching the floor.

I winced as my head made contact with the wall, making my ears ring. Naraku's lips met mine as he fiercely kissed me. His free hand snake its way up my upper thigh, over my abdomen, over my breasts, then back down. He then threw me on the bed, face first so I was laying on my stomach.

"You WILL serve me. You WILL be mine."

He climbed on top of me and ran his sharp nails nape of my neck. I shivered and goose bumps rose on my flesh. He then slashed the same spot of his neck causing me to scream. I could literally hear the flesh being tore. I could feel him insert something into the wound.

He got off of me and stood at the foot of the bed. I felt the wound heal as a dark power slowly meshed with my own. I felt like I would drowned from the overwhelming darkness, but instead, I fought it.

I was supposed to be a priestess, to have priestess powers, or so the legend goes. I was beginning to fail at fighting this darkness. It didn't help that I didn't know what I was fighting.

While I was fighting the dark powers that threatened to consume me, I transported to my bedroom in modern day Japan. I saw my mother, sitting on my bed in my room. She was holding my pillow and crying. She looked up, her eyes searching.

I couldn't make a sound as I tried to call for her. I couldn't move. All I wanted was to run into her arms.

"Angel?" She spoke with a sob. "Angel, where are you!? Please come home!" She broke down crying again, even harder. "Please...."

Suddenly I was back on the bed in that cold, black stone room. I felt the dark powers that I had been fighting course through my body, taking complete control.

Naraku flipped me over on the bed, and looked me up and down. I felt his desire, and suddenly, I wanted it. I couldn't remember why I had previously been repulsed by him. I couldn't even remember who that woman was that sat in that strange room crying.

"What do you wish to be called?"

"Akumi." I responded instantly.

Naraku leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Akumi is fitting since you are a demon beauty."

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. I groaned as his breath caressed my ear, sending a shiver of delight coursing through my body.

"Tomorrow, I have a task for you, Akumi." Naraku flicked my ear with his tongue.

My voice was breathy. "Yes, anything."

Naraku moved to my neck where he nibbled. "But right now, I have more....pressing matters to handle." His voice was deeper, filled with desire, as he ripped my kimono off.