Under Ground (18 page)

"You are mine and mine only," he
whispers against me. I want to push him away. I can hardly stand
his touch on my skin. His hands are on my lower back, up my legs,
everywhere, intrusive and repugnant. He wraps his arms around my
waist and pushes me all the way to the bed while kissing
me.

He takes off his shirt hastily,
and terror takes hold of me as his hand reaches for the zipper in
the back on my dress. But I can be strong. I can go through with
this and honor my family. I have to. I try to focus on William's
physical beauty, to remind myself that many other girls would want
to be in my place, promised to someone like him. I try to grasp any
reassurance I can think of, but can find none strong enough to
assuage this painful agony.

My mind shifts as Chi's face
appears in front of my eyes. The world is moving around me,
spinning so fast I can’t catch my breath. I try to hold on to Chi,
to imagine that those are his lips against mine. But Chi’s lips are
soft. His kisses are sweet, and he would never force intercourse on
me.

William pulls my dress down,
revealing more of my skin, waking me from my thoughts. I almost
gag. I have to focus so I don’t throw up. He kisses my neck, his
weight heavy, pinning me down. A strange sensation seizes me as I
leave my body, suddenly watching this scene from the outside. It's
not me on this bed; it’s another girl. I am a mere witness to these
unfolding events. But then, William's body presses against mine and
I know for sure that this is real and that I’m dying. My mind is
breaking, slowly cracking to let the insanity in. I pray that I
might be relieved from this, and panic seizes my heart. Everything
in my body is ready to get up, run, and flee. I’m so tense I wonder
how William hasn’t noticed anything yet. I guess he doesn’t care.
Why should he?

And just then, he takes my throat
in his hand and pushes my head back. He looks me deep in the eyes.
There's something hiding behind his pupils that terrifies
me—cruelty. He bends down to my ear.

“I know,” he whispers with a voice
cold and distant. I must have misunderstood him, but there’s a
sadistic smile on his face now, too. I’m scared, really scared. I
know exactly what he’s talking about. He’s referring to Chi and me.
How did he find out?

The sounds...the sounds we heard
when we were at the Arch. Those sounds came from him. They came
from William spying on us.

What is he going to do to
me?
He looks at me and leans toward my ear again, still holding
on to my throat, choking me.

“I saw the way you were looking at
him at the gala, Thia. What kind of a fool do you take me for? I
followed you that day you met him at the Arch. I saw you walk past
the train station, and I knew something was up. I couldn’t believe
it. You betrayed me. I could make you pay for that. I don't like to
share, Thia. You are mine, do you understand? Mine!"

Chills run down my spine. I can
hardly breathe. I’m petrified. I can’t move. I want to push him
away and run, but I’m frozen on the spot with fear like ice in my
veins. William presses his lips to mine again and kisses me hard. I
try not to think about his mouth forcing mine open. He tears at my
dress, pulling it down my shoulders, ripping it off. There’s no
tenderness in his movements, no feelings. And right then, I know he
won't make this pleasant for me at all. William is going to rape
me. The terror inside me grows, overpowering me. I can't move. I
can't breathe. I'm a prey in a predator’s lair, with no way
out.

I regain my senses and try to push
him away, but his body is heavy against mine, pinning me in place.
My fists hit his chest. He grabs my wrists to keep me still, and
his eyes fill with irritation because I'm resisting him. Just then,
something bangs against the door, startling him, and I use that
moment to push him back. I stumble to my feet. But he reaches out
and grabs me by the throat to shove me against the wall. My head
hits it hard and black spots fill my vision. My nails find his
cheek and I scratch hard, but he doesn't let go. I can't
breathe.

“Thia?” The voice comes from
outside the room and my heart quickens. Fear and relief flood my
heart at once.

“Thia?” Chi’s voice grows louder
and more insistent. Another blow shakes the door, and a hard kick
makes it quake against its frame.

“What the hell!” William drops his
hold on me.

He strides toward the entrance
elegantly, recovering his composure as though nothing is wrong. Chi
kicks the door so hard it gives way. He enters the room, his teeth
clenched with a mixture of grief and anxiety. His eyes turn to
William briefly and then to me. Chi catches a glimpse of my bare
shoulders and my dress undone at the seams before his gaze shifts
back to William. The look on his face, filled with hatred and rage,
chills me to the bone. Chi is on the ledge of a precipice—a simple
push needed to tip him over and break him apart.

“Come, Thia! I’m taking you out of
here,” he says, his eyes never leaving William.

“No, you’re not!” There’s such
indignation in William's voice it would be humorous were the
situation any different. A couple of steps and Chi is standing next
to me, extending his hand toward mine. I take it and pull on my
dress at the same time, in a failed attempt at regaining my
modesty.

“Don’t you dare touch her! She’s
mine!” William shouts with outrage and irritation.

Chi curses, drops my hand, and
takes a few strides toward William, fast. He shoves him against the
wall violently and presses his forearm against his
throat.

“Watch your mouth or I won’t be
responsible for my actions!” He hisses the words with venom, spit
coming out with fury while his chest heaves and he breathes
heavily, his body shaking with frenzy.

He lets go of William and turns
back to me. “Thia, we’re leaving. Now! We don’t have much time.” He
grabs my hand and pulls the dress up over my shoulder; it had
fallen down again. His expression is sullen, his upset clearly
coming through. The hurt and rage in his eyes pierce my heart like
arrows.

We head toward the door, but
William reaches for my arm. He grasps at my wrist with so much
insistence it hurts.

“She’s mine. I don’t know who the
hell you think you are! You want a girl? Get one of your own.
Unless your position isn’t good enough for that!”

Chi turns to him, his eyes blazing
with wrath. When his fist meets William’s chin, he hits him so hard
that William stumbles backward and has to reach for the wall for
support. William massages his jaw with his fingers, in shock that
Chi even dared touch him. He recovers quickly though and comes for
Chi, but Chi is too fast for him. He takes William by surprise and
pins him hard against the wall. Chi is beside himself with rage,
holding William by the throat, his fist raised, ready to lash out
at William, but I pull on his arm from behind and plead with him to
stop.

Chi looks back at me before
throwing William a glare filled with such loathing that William
shudders and recoils. Chi drops his grip on William and turns to
me. He strokes my cheek with his thumb, just once.

"Let's go," he tells me. His eyes
fall on the strangulation marks around my neck. Chi turns to
William and takes one step forward, just enough to make William
flinch. "Touch her like that again and I'll cut your damn throat! I
swear I'll fucking kill you!"

Chi doesn't wait for William to
respond; he grabs my hand and pulls me after him. We exit the room
and he leads me down the emergency staircase all the way into the
street. We run a few blocks before he drags me into a dark alley.
There he pulls me to him and looks into my eyes. “Are you all
right?”

I nod though I feel anything but
fine right now. Something’s been taken from me against my will,
something precious. But I can’t tell him that. The pain in his eyes
makes me want to lie. I should spare him my misery, my shame. The
tears reach my eyes and I blink them back inside. I suppress the
sob rising in my throat, but not fast enough. Chi pulls me hard
against his chest, the wounds inside him reopening slowly under the
salt of the tears I can no longer suppress.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay, Thia,”
he says and kisses my hair while holding me tight.

I want to believe him. I can’t
find the strength in my heart to disagree with him. My sanity is
slipping away, so I choose to trust him and ignore the little voice
inside my head whispering maliciously that nothing’s going to be
fine ever again.

Chi cups my face with his hands
and kisses me with all the despair he has felt tonight. I abandon
myself to him, letting him take me to a place of comfort as he
wraps his arms around me, protecting me from the ugliness of
tonight's events. He kisses my tears away gently and brushes both
my cheeks in turn with his lips before wiping them off with his
thumbs. His compassion and the tenderness of his touch clash with
William's previous callousness.

When Chi pulls away, a sudden
flash of reality awakens me. “They’ll be coming for us," I say.
"They'll be coming for
you
."

"We need to leave. I know a place
we can stay for now while we make plans for later.”

He moves his head around the
corner, to sweep the alley with his eyes quickly before pulling me
behind him in a hurry to escape. We start running, one street after
another. Passers-by look at us strangely. It’s not common for
proper girls to tear through the streets. The last thing we need is
to draw attention to ourselves, so we slow down and walk at a
normal pace. Chi takes my hand. His eyes are still shifting from
side to side, like a prey being chased.

“William must’ve called the
authorities by now and reported you missing,” he says, taking
another look behind us. “He’ll tell them who I am, and when the
portrait gets out, we’ll need to be far from here.”

We keep on walking.

“We can’t go to the Wilcoxes’
house; it's too dangerous. William knows me, and the authorities
will make it there in no time. We’ll go to another friend’s place.
He’s part of the Underground. He lives in the slums outside
Eboracum City. Everyone goes to him when they need a place to
crash. That’s his job, to rescue people who need help and
shelter.”

Chi and I walk for at least a
couple of hours, taking nothing but dark alleys, hiding in the
shadows when we hear cars go by. It’s completely dark outside. The
night is like a cloak around us when we finally reach our
destination.

Chapter 23

The houses here
are made of concrete.
They are all falling apart with cracks
showing through the walls. I’ve never been to this part of the
metropolis before, but I've seen places like this during my train
rides. Everyone in this neighborhood is probably sleeping after a
long day spent at work tending to the rich. Guilt seizes me as I
look around. I didn’t choose where I was born or what class I came
from, but I still feel responsible for the way these people are
living. Crushed by the wealthy and persecuted like parasites, the
poor’s access to water and resources has been reduced to the bare
minimum needed to survive. These houses they live in belong to the
authorities; they are just rented to the poor. Any rebellion can
lead to the poor losing lodging and access to food. I clench my
teeth and follow Chi through the streets.

When he finds the house we've been
looking for, he follows the instructions and code he was given by
the Underground. He knocks a few times using the required pattern.
An older gentleman opens the door almost immediately, as if he were
waiting for us. He's excessively skinny and a bit disheveled. His
skin is ivory white and wrinkled. He glances into the street behind
us before letting us in.

The house is decrepit, and the
furniture is old and worn-out. But the place feels cozy and
welcoming, like an old antique shop. The kitchen opens to the
living room and dining room area. Oliver leads us to some wooden
chairs and invites us to sit down.

Chi explains the precariousness of
our situation. “We need a place to stay tonight, Oliver. I’m sorry
for dragging you into all this.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here, aren't
I? You guys can stay here for a few days. We’ll contact Taylor in
the morning and see what he advises us to do.”

Oliver looks at me and takes my
hands in both of his, holding them tightly in a gesture of comfort.
“It’s a pleasure having you among us, Thia. Recruits are always
welcome and it was courageous of you to run away. Chi told us all
about you. We knew it'd only be a matter of time before this
happened.”

His welcoming warmth dissipates my
original fear of being blamed for all this trouble.

“You can stay in the guest room.
There are two cots there. They're not comfortable, but it’s better
than sleeping on the streets.”

Chi and Oliver talk for a while
longer. It sounds like they haven’t seen each other for quite some
time.

“Taylor said things are on the
move and the attack’s going to happen soon. We’re still working on
getting more man power and weapons.”

I'm not sure what attack he's
talking about, and Chi doesn't fill me in. Oliver stands up and we
follow him to a small bedroom. It's not luxurious, but it has a
quaint, homey feel to it. I couldn't care less about opulence right
now. I am free for the first time in my life; it's
exhilarating.