Chapter Six

Bowie avoided her eyes – choosing to look pointedly at her chin – and placed the thick strap of leather into her mouth, ensuring that her top teeth were separated from the lower teeth. The two men took their places on either side of the table. Bowie glanced at Ellie and grimaced, remorse showing on his unusually angular face. Jack poured some warm, clean water over her protruding bone and Bowie grabbed the other side of her leg, securing it in place. She trembled as Jack’s hands hovered above the bone.

Without any warning, Jack shoved the bone painfully back into place. Ellie bit down hard against the leather, her muffled screams causing Jack and Bowie to wince. She felt her world spinning as she writhed in pain before she finally lost consciousness.

Bowie carefully poured the medicine on her leg while Jack held it in place. They worked together quickly, bandaging her leg tightly and placing it in a makeshift splint. Jack removed her bindings and pulled her into a sitting position. Bowie brought a long white gown to the table and began helping Jack dress Ellie. It was a long, off the shoulder dress with puffy sleeves that fell past her hands. The hem of the dress fell just below Ellie’s knees and hugged her body tightly.

“Are they coming?” Jack asked Bowie softly as he began lacing up the back of the dress. Bowie barely nodded his head, but it was enough for Jack to register it. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and became silent, focusing on the task at hand. When they had finally dressed Ellie, Jack brought another bowl of clean, cold water to the table. He began sprinkling droplets gently onto her face. Ellie stirred slightly, so Jack continued until she began to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings. She was confused at first, but then suddenly remembered what had happened and practically jumped out of Bowie’s arms.

“Oh, son a bitch!” She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I thought I was fucking dreaming.” Jack chuckled next to her, and Ellie lowered her hands enough to shoot him a dirty look. “Fuck you, Jack.”

“Jack?” he asked in a deep voice, confused by the name she had given him.

“Yeah, Jack. You know? Like ‘Jack Frost?’” Jack only looked at her quizzically and Ellie snickered. “You don’t know about ‘Jack Frost?’ Where am I? Mars?” Ellie laughed at her own joke and then winced as pain shot through her leg.

Jack exchanged a glance with Bowie and shook his head slightly. Ellie sat up straighter, intrigued. It was obvious that she wasn’t meant to see the exchange between the two of them. The table Ellie was sitting on had her hands level with both of the men’s waists, so she took advantage of that fact to get the information she wanted. She turned toward Jack and opened her mouth like she was going to say something. Instead, her hands shot out and grabbed Jack by his balls. He yelped in pain and tried to back away, but Ellie only squeezed tighter.

“Stay still, or I will rip your sack clean off of your body and shove it down your throat,” she warned. Jack froze in place, panicked – and apparently slightly aroused. Ellie rolled her eyes and ignored the twitching she felt in his pants. “Tell me Jack, where the fuck am I?”

“I – I can’t really say,” he stammered. Ellie began squeezing tighter and he cried out in pain. “Alright! Alright!” Ellie loosened her grip, but only slightly. “You were brought to our realm,” he choked out.

“Your realm? What do you mean? Is this some kind of weird ‘larping’ thing? Because let me tell you, I am not interested in that at all, thank you very much.”

“We don’t know what that means. All I know is that you were brought here, to our realm,” Bowie offered.

“Your ‘realm’?” Ellie yelled, frustrated. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that you were brought from the human realm and into the mythical realm,” a cold silky voice said from behind them. Ellie jumped, surprised, and Jack used the opportunity to step away from her. He and Bowie both dropped to their knees, bowing deeply to the man in front of them. Ellie carefully swung her legs off of one side of the table so that she could turn and face the man behind her.

The man was tall, like all people here seemed to be. He wore a black velvet half-face mask with tinted glass at the eye holes, covering the true color of his eyes. A long, flowing black cloak hung ominously from his lean physique. The hood was pulled up, completely covering his hair. He waved his hand carelessly, dismissing Jack and Bowie from the room. They rose quietly and left without a word. The man turned his attention back to Ellie and glided toward her until he was standing in front of her. Ellie had the urge to kick him in his groin, but the man placed firm hands on her knees and shook his head, laughing.

“Don’t even try it. I’m not as dumb as the helpers are, you won’t get me with such a dirty tactic.”

“Shame. You seem like just the kind of guy that deserves a good kick to the sack,” she said sweetly. The man grinned widely at Ellie, displaying a set of unnaturally perfect teeth.

“You’re not like most of the humans that come through here. You seem to have no fear of us at all.”

“Fear? Why would I fear a man who hides who he is? You’re either butt-ugly under that mask or someone very powerful. Either way, I don’t really care. I don’t plan on staying here for longer than necessary,” Ellie said conversationally. She brushed some imaginary dirt off her dress and looked at the man coldly.

“You are a very spunky one. I quite like your moxie,” he said with interest. His eyes roamed over the tight-fitting dress and Ellie’s face burned in anger and frustration. She hated to be looked at like a piece of meat.

“My moxie? What are you – a 1920’s gangster?” The man laughed again. He seemed to find everything she said interesting or funny, though his reactions set Ellie on edge.* He seems dangerous. I should probably be nice and shut up*. Ellie, against her better judgment, ignored the thought. “Where do I go to get out of here? I’m not too fond of the people here.”

“You, darling, are going to have to wait until the auction is over. Then, I’ll bring you home and we’ll have all sorts of fun together,” the man said seductively. He leaned in closer to Ellie and she instinctively leaned away from him.

“Ugh, you’re kind of creepy, do you know that?” Damn. I really don’t know when to stop talking. Ellie swallowed as the man suddenly became very still. She could practically feel the anger rolling off of him. Ah, I fucked up. She mentally face palmed and watched the man cautiously, waiting for his response.

“Creepy, am I?” He shoved Ellie’s legs apart painfully and stood directly in front of her, his masked face inches from hers. She gasped and tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her throat and held her in place. He brought his face to her jawline and inhaled deeply. Ellie shivered, disgusted. The man licked her chin, dragging his tongue from her jaw to her earlobe. She tried to stay still so that he wouldn’t he squeeze her already tender throat. “Darling, you have no idea just how creepy I can be. Oh, I can't wait to get you home, pet.” Ellie felt her stomach drop as he released her. He strode back to the opening that he had entered through and paused. “Oh, and one last thing. Don’t try to escape. You’re in the mythical realm. There’s no chance of you escaping here without a fairy like me to guide you. And trust me, there are plenty of dangerous things that lurk in the forest around us that would just love to sink their teeth into you.” He laughed coldly and exited the room, leaving Ellie feeling more hopeless than she had ever felt before.