Sunday at 10:43 A.M….

Our buses had been traveling together for the few days. They would be heading towards the east coast with a few day stops through the states. They wouldn’t get to the far side of the country for another week or so. We were in North Dakota right now, right on the western border.

I was sitting, just like a good girl, on the couch in the front lounge. Kellin was riding in the bus today, along with Jesse and Gabe. I was extremely intimidated by their presence, but then again, I hated basically all of them.

Except Ricky, he was still….ehh from that last “marking”.

Anyways, the MIW band had been doing some charts and mentoring this morning, and my presence had been requested now. I guess it was time for some demos…

I had a million sarcastic remarks but they had all vanished as soon as I had sat down on the plush cushions of the couch. Jesse, Gabe, and Kellin were all looking at some sheets Chris had passed out. They were costs of up-keeping, scenarios to look at, and other rules. I don’t really know what was on them. I wasn’t allowed to look at them. When I attempted a peek, Vinny had just smacked me sharply and I let out a little yelp, shying back to the couch again.

Kellin had just eyed me the entire time. Gabe smirked.

“Okay, demo time.” Ryan chuckled. Ricky passed me a quick glance. I ducked my head to floor. I had a feeling that whatever this demonstration was, it was going to involve me being in pain.

“First things to learn about it punishment: delivery and amount.” Ryan started. Chris brought out some things which made me cringe. Of course the first lesson had to be punishment! Why couldn’t it be how to give good back rubs!? Ghost was great at back rubs and my sides were hurting!

“Wonderful.” Gabe chuckled. One of the boys must’ve seen me twitch to get off the furniture because Vinny grabbed me by my collar before I could make a dash for it. I was hauled off the couch and thrown on the floor.

“Normally Rory here is pretty good. We’ve…broken her…sufficiently.” Ryan started. I whimpered a little and got a little kick to the rib. It wasn’t so hard, but well placed.

“So what do you do if she acts up?” Jesse asked.

“Different things depending on what she did.” Chris proceeded to get up and come over to me. I struggled against the death grip, silently begging one of the newer boys to aide me.

“Help!” I squeaked out my last little breath. Vin let go of my metal collar as Chris slapped me. I felt the red hot sting spread through my pale skin. There would be a nice mark there that would start to appear.

“Just for little things, you just need to remind the pet of her place.” Chris growled. I fell to the floor as he kicked bruise. I yelped and curled into a ball.

“For higher punishments, you can use whips, chokers, and more…intimate punishments.” Ryan chuckled lightly. I wouldn’t consider this a really light subject, but I was in so much pain, I didn’t say a word against it.

“Thing is, you need to have a reason to punish her. There’s got to be a little bit of logic behind it.” Ghost chimed in.

“For example…Rory, go give Gabe a lap dance.” Vinny commanded darkly. Gabe raised his eyebrow in awkward confusion. I looked up long enough to shake my head. No, I wouldn’t do that.

I could be punished, and I knew I would, but I’m not doing that in front of all of them. Let their dirty minds conjure up another imaginary person to do that, but not me.

“See? For disobeying a command, now you can use something else.” Chris said and flicked the whip. I felt a flicker of pain strike my back. It flooded my vision so I lay helpless on the floor. I writhed in that dear agony.

“Okay, enough.” Ricky barked and hauled me to my feet. I winced in the tearing flesh rubbed against each other.

“She looks like she’s in a lot of pain…” Kellin murmured hesitantly, throwing a look to Ghost. The man patted my leg. There was a silent exchanging of words that prompted the promise of a later visit to this topic.

“Anyways, I can show you some other things in a little.” Chris suggested. The meeting was dismissed. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows as I curled up on the couch. Ghost offered me his hand. I took it with no other option to object.

I don’t think I wanted to be a part of another punishment demonstration…

“Come on.” Ghost whispered to Kellin. Ricky trailed our little procession. We made our way to the back lounge where we quietly shut the door. I immediately started to panic.

“Hey, nothing bad is going to happen.” Ricky grabbed my face, cupping it in his palms. He promised me this, but could I really trust that?

Ghost had magically somehow conjured up a medic kit and sat me down next to Ricky and Kellin. Ghost closed the shades and made sure the window to the bunks was covered and the door was locked. Kellin looked curious.

“What’s this for?” He asked.

“Chris doesn’t always like us helping patch up Rory. He tells us we’re babying her too much.” Ghost shook his head. Kellin bit his lip. Ghost knelt next to me. Before I knew it, Ricky had put me in a headlock and had his fingers tangled in my hair so I couldn’t escape. I struggled a little bit, but my voice was muffled into his shirt.

“So you’re trying to help her?” Kellin asked, obviously confused. I pushed against Ricky’s leg, trying to escape, but I was in so much pain, only tears were freed.

“Shh…Little One. I’m trying to help.” Ricky rubbed my neck and I let more tears flow free. I was scared of what they were going to do. Ghost rolled up my shirt. There was clicks as the medic box was opened.

“Oh dear. You see, sometimes Chris can get a little crazed with the punishment. Although the whip mark isn’t going to need stiches, it’ll all need some disinfectant. This might be a little…painful.” Ghost whispered. Kellin’s cold hands traced little scars on my back. I knew there were many.

“Man, she’s scarred.” He gasped. I pushed against Ricky, not wanting anymore pain.

“Rory’s a bit of a…fighter.” Ricky grunted as I pushed against his chest. He held my wrists, keeping my head pressed against his chest. I kicked my legs out until Kellin held them.

What the hell were they doing!?!?

“Ricky, you got her?” Ghost asked.

“Yeah, just go!” Ricky said. I felt the cold liquid dip onto and around my wounds. It was first cold…

But then I felt like I was on fire.

Everything was alight with the agony. I tore my wrists free of Ricky’s grasp and held onto his jacket, letting out a muffled howl of pain. I was shaking badly and holding onto the man’s shirt for dear life. Ghost continued to swab at my back with a cotton ball and the disinfectant. I yelped every time it contacted with my skin.

“Little One, it’ll all be over soon, I promise.” Ricky soothed. I was still sobbing into his shirt as I was subjected to this agony. Kellin was struggling to hold my legs down as I twitched and shook. Rick’s hands were tangled in my hair and I continued to struggle. He held my head against his chest, restricting all movement.

The fire, the agony, the torture.

I can’t let them do this to me anymore.

And so, I felt a seed of rage be planted, just a spot of fury at the ones that kept me captive. I felt such intense hatred, that I knew it would grow to be a wildfire. I felt it bury into my bones, soaked by my blood. I felt everything crash down on me.

Oh how that seed would sprout…

Notes

Hehe so there's been some ships going on....Ghost/Rory is Ghory and Orion/Ricky is Oricky. Who do you ship? We've got a little bit of both going on. Credit to @Bands for Life for the Oricky ship name.