The Claiming of Naomi - The Cages (ST/Naomi)

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

She awoke in a cage. Metal bars on all sides, and she had a terrific headache. Almost like a hangover, but even more nagging.

In the background, faint music could be heard, but she otherwise seemed alone.

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"Ow..."

She sat up in the cage and groggily looked around. A cage wasn't good... Blink, blink.

"Hello?" She asked as she pulled herself up on the bars.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

Behind her, she could hear the sound of someone stirring. It was a young man's voice that answered her, though it was soft - almost like he was afraid of being overheard.

"Ohh, you must be the new one."

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

She jumped a little by surprise and then slowly turned, holding a hand to her head.

"New one? I don't... I don't follow." She matched his tone.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

The boy who turned to look at her was ... completely inhuman in his beauty. He, unlike her, did not seem to mind his cage. But then, his was outfitted with things that the one she currently sat in did not have. A bed, for one. Several changes of clothing hung from the bars on the roof of his cage, and he even had a small television ... though it was currently turned off.

"The new girl. I'm Richard."

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"Naomi..."

She looked at his cage and then her cage. She even put her hand to her throat to see if her collar was still in place.

She looked taken aback by his beauty, but scared at the same time, too.

"Where are we, Richard? I want to go home."

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

Her collar ... was gone. She was nude - any jewelry that she had been wearing: earrings, necklaces, anklet, even rings or toe rings even - had been removed. Richard's answer, however, did little to comfort her.

"Naomi ... you are home."

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"No, I'm not home."

The collar was gone. Why was the collar gone? That actually made her tear up.

"Did he give me away? Did I screw up that badly? I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

Her panic only caused the incredibly beautiful youth to raise his voice. Just enough to get her attention.

"Naomi!"

He waited for her to quiet, but came to the wall of his cage, the one closest to her.

"What was the last thing you remember?"

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"The woman... And the hotel. And..." she blushed. She'd had sex with that woman... She had sex with a woman?!

"Just... the woman..." She sniffled as she sat at the bottom of the cage.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

He knelt down, so that he could look at her.

"Who was she, Naomi? What did she look like?"

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"Rati... she said her name was Rati... She looked, Mediterranean, I guess? Italian," she sniffled again, wiping her eyes on her arm.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

His head cocked oddly to the side. It was though he was listening to something that Naomi couldn't quite hear.

"Shh. It'll be all right, Naomi. They're coming, so listen to me and listen very, very carefully."

The man leaned closer, so he could lower his voice to barely more than a whisper.

"I know you're scared. I know you're upset. But you have to listen to me. Don't fight them. Do what they tell you to do. Do what they want you to do. It's very important. Don't. Fight. If you want to escape, you'll do what they say, understand?"

And he jumped to his feet, moving to the bed in his cage to lie down upon it, casually, as though nothing in the world other than business as usual was happening.

And just in time. Within ten seconds of Richard kicking back on the bed in his cage, there was the sound of a door opening. A man strolled in. He had black eyes, a pointed beard and arched eyebrows. He wore a top hat and a voluminous black cloak. He carried a silver-handled sword-cane and in the low light, his form seemed to shift unnaturally, as though viewed through cloudy water.

"Where are you, darling. Come out, come out, wherever you are!" cackled the bearded man.

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"Oh my God... For real?" She said under her breath. This was just... disturbing on so many levels.

Naomi stayed put on the floor and in the corner of her cage, hugging her knees to her chest and trying to not cry.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

The man stopped in front of her cage. His head tilted this way and that, and he tapped the silver-handled cane against the steel bars of her cage.

"Ohh, she really is lovely. Come here, dear, let's have a look at you."

He held a hand out to her through the bars of her cage.

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

Naomi backed up a little, uncertain. She stared at him with red, tear stained eyes. But Richard had said to do what they wanted...

Slowly she stood and moved very cautiously toward the odd looking man. Gradually, she held her hand out to him. But she couldn't help herself as she let out a scared sob.

"Please, let me go home...."

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

The man's hand was cold in her own. Cold, like Marvin's hand when Marvin was in what he called 'daysleep'. This man, however, drew her closer to him. He wasn't pulling her against the bars of the cage, but closer, so he could see her more clearly.

"Shh. This is your home now."

He said it in an offhanded sort of way, as though it was something he had said hundreds of times and it was simply scripted now. He looked her over, his dark eyes taking in every inch of Naomi's exposed flesh.

"But don't worry, my dear. If you do well, you might well become a member of the court. Of course, that depends upon pleasing me, and we have yet to see how well you will do that, hmm?"

He laughed, that disturbing cackle that he had given her when he came inside.

"Now, then. You're likely hungry. What would you like to eat, dear?"

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

Eat? She looked as if she was going to be sick. Of course his touch reminded her of Marvin. She missed Marvin already. He would never put her in a cage so readily. Never.

"Just... water... Please?"

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

His eyes narrowed at her for a moment. Judging. Assessing her. Then he nodded. With a snap of his fingers, the door opened again and Naomi could hear movement - but she couldn't see where the door might be.

"I'll make sure that they bring you something, just in case. A sandwich, perhaps? You're not a vegetarian, are you dear?"

Yes, it was wrong. Everything about the situation was wrong. The man seemed to be being kind to her, at least for the moment. He seemed concerned for Naomi's well-being. And yet, there was something so terribly ... wrong about him. He was more than a little creepy.

"After you've decided to eat, we'll get you a bath and some robes. I wouldn't want you to get cold."

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

"No, sir. I'm not a vegetarian. I'll eat what they bring me." She sniffled again and pulled away, looking for the sound of the movement.

"You are.. most kind." Oh, she was going to eat those words later. But it was best not to kick a hornet's nest at the moment.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

He laughed, that same delighted cackle as before.

"Excellent! We will get along famously! Now, if you have any trouble with anyone, you just ask for Rati. She will get you set right up."

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

She only nodded as she sat back down, pulling her knees back up to her chest and waiting.

"Thank you, sir," she said in a whispered tone.

Vampires suck.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

The man smiled at her. He lifted his cold hand to pat her cheek. He really was almost fatherly in his movements. Then he moved past her, to speak to Richard where he lay on his bed. It was an exchange of pleasantries, and much to the man's credit, a tray was brought in and sat just inside her cage, through the bars.

A covered dish was on the tray, the water she asked for tinkling merrily in a very large, plastic cup with a lid on it. Obviously, this was to keep it from getting knocked over and spilled, as well as to make sure she had a good supply of it. Alongside it, though, was a small silver teapot, steam rising from it. The fixings for a sweet cup of tea - something herbal, she could tell - sat beside the large glass of water. When the cover was lifted, the man hadn't been kidding about the sandwich. Ham, turkey and bacon piled high between two slices of bread, two slices of a tomato and a few leaves of lettuce adorned the other side of the plate. It was almost like she had ordered a sandwich in a gourmet restaurant, such was the meal.

The man turned to leave after speaking quietly with Richard, shooting her a dark-eyed wink as he passed the cage she rested in.

Elder Posts : 966 Join date : 2011-07-19

She waited until he was gone before she began looking through the food. Her stomach rumbled. It looked okay... But she didn't really have any knowledge of poisons.

She looked at Richard and then to the tray and then back to Richard... And then back to the tray.

There wasn't much to do but dig in. She took a large bite of the sandwich and then gulped down some water. But the tea called out to her. Tea usually meant caffeine. Maybe it would help her head.

"Does he have a name?" She whispered to Richard after she swallowed as she began making the tea.

At least the tears had stopped for now.

Admin Posts : 20841 Join date : 2010-03-19

Richard had come back over so that he was almost - almost within touching distance. If he stretched and she stretched.

"Sir. Just call him sir. And don't worry. They didn't do anything to the food. They need you alive. They won't hurt you unless you do something stupid like try to escape and get caught or be rude or offensive to one of them."

» Finding Naomi (Naomi) - The Cages (Griselda/Naomi)
» Bringing Naomi into the Family (Naomi, Anton, Dromichaetes) - Dragon's Lair
» Room Details: Naomi - Dragon's Lair
» Lost Continued (Teagan) - The Cages (ST/Teagan)