The Archaeologist's Dig

"Arianna, where do you live?" Nathan asked thoughtfully, as he sat back down in his chair and began to spin slightly from side to side.

Arianna pondered her answer for a moment. Was he really going to intrude into her personal life now, too? If so, was this job really worth keeping? There was something inside her that made her continue on with the sudden events that had unfolded, even though she knew that if she looked at the bigger picture, she'd realize how absolutely ludicrous it all was.

"A small apartment downtown," she said finally, quickly remembering to add "sir."

Nathan paused momentarily, his eyes scanning the monitor on his desk.

"You have exactly an hour to go and retrieve all of your necessary belongings. You will be living in this mansion until..."

His voice trailed off.

"Until what?" Arianna retorted, suddenly growing fearful.

Nathan exhaled gently with a smile.

"Until I'm done with you."

Dr. Gold stared at her mentor once more. Nathan's eyes flickered back to the screen.

"58 minutes."

She bolted suddenly, stumbling on her heel but quickly regaining her balance. She dashed down the stairs, through the twisting hallways, and stopped only at the front door to quickly fix her hair and clothes before hopping into her car and keying her ignition.

As Arianna placed her hands on the wheel, she stopped once more.

"What am I doing?"

She stared ahead for a moment, before a trembling hand reached down beneath her skirt and slid itself across her panties. They were absolutely soaked. Arianna had gotten her answer.

The drive to her apartment took 20 minutes, and she was sure that she had sped through several red lights along the way. She pulled up and quickly proceeded up the stone steps to her high-end abode in the thick of the city. Arianna took a moment to fumble with her keys, before finding the right one and heading inside.

As she entered the long hallway of her apartment, Arianna heard something. Something she'd forgotten about, but something that was very, very important. Or was supposed to be, anyway.

"Ari, is that you? Why are you home so early?"

Arianna stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the voice of her fiancé, Evan, emanate around the house. Her face contorted into a wrinkle as she whispered, "fuck" under her breath.

Slowly, she relaxed herself and sighed, regaining composure.

"Yes, Evan, I'm home. I just need to grab some things then I'm heading back to work tonight. It's a busy schedule today though so I don't think I'll be home at a decent hour. You should just head to bed without me."

The tall, extremely muscular, tattooed, intimidating man stepped out one of the rooms and into the hallway as he gazed upon his tiny significant other. Evan was as much of arm candy to Arianna as she was to him. He was a semi-professional boxer; around 6 foot 5 in height, and almost all his weight was in muscle. Arianna had been trying to break up with Evan for almost a year, and although the man claimed to love her, his anger issues said otherwise. On many occasions he'd left her bruised and bloody, and she'd tried to leave him, but he'd begged her to stay and promised he'd change. Arianna was too afraid to know what would really happen if she left.

Evan leaned against the wall, his expression and tone turning cold. "Does your boss not realize you have a life? It's been days since I've had you in bed with me. I'll have to resort to fucking other women if this keeps happening."

Arianna rolled her eyes and sighed, irritated, as she rushed past Evan into the bedroom and pulled out a suitcase, throwing various items in at a rapid speed.

"Fine, Evan, fuck other women then."

Evan lunged toward her and grabbed her arm tightly, causing her to inhale sharply and stop what she was doing. Her irritation quickly turned to fear as she looked up at him.

"What did you just say?" He asked menacingly, his eyes turning to slits.

"I- I'm sorry. I'm just in a rush right now." She responded, her worry now showing through. It only fueled him on.

Evan cast her down to the floor, and with a yelp, Arianna landed with a thud onto her arm. Quickly, she dug her heels into the wooden floorboards and pushed herself backwards, distancing herself as much as possible from the towering giant. She could see his rage was building rapidly.

Arianna's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. She had less than half an hour to deal with the situation, get packed, and head back to the mansion. Her mind was and heart was racing.

"I'm sorry, Evan, please. I'll make it up to you another time."

"Maybe another time isn't good enough anymore, huh, Arianna? Maybe, just maybe, I want you. Now."

Evan leaned down, and with a blood-curdling cry that came shooting out of her throat, Arianna felt herself yanked into the hair by her hair.

She dangled there for a moment, her hands wrapped around Evan's thick wrist as she tried to alleviate the pain, but tears were already streaming down her face. She found herself hurtling through the air and onto the bed as Evan tossed her like a rag doll, and immediately her hands went to her head, rubbing the strained patch of scalp he had been gripping.

Evan approached her, unbuckling his belt and sliding it off. He folded it in two, causing the middle portions of the leather to snap together.

All Arianna could do was squeak, "Evan, no!" before the folded belt came whipping across her face, leaving a seething wound. Arianna burst into tears again, her hands cupping over the mark as she avoided touching the raw skin directly.

Evan threw down his belt and grabbed the female once more, as his free hand moved to his jeans and boxers, pulling them down. His thick, eight-inch member sprung out at Arianna, who tried to pull away in vain.

"Open your fucking mouth you stupid bitch!" Evan yelled in a rage, only to be answered with Arianna crying louder. He quickly changed his tactics.

"Please, please baby, I'm your fiancé. This is normal; we're supposed to do this." He was begging her suddenly, his face twisting strangely from murderous, to wounded.

Arianna lifted her gaze to greet his face, her bawling subsiding for a moment. A moment too soon.

Evan yanked her head back once more, and as Arianna let out a cry of surprise and pain, Evan stuffed his tool down her throat.

She gagged hard, and brought her teeth down on him. Her eyes widened quickly as she realized what she had done, and the pain caused him to release his grip. Arianna pulled backwards to try and apologize, but was greeted by the sheer force of his first on her cheek bone.

There was a crack, and Arianna fell off the bed as a small section of her face distorted. She curled into a fetal position, screaming in agony.

Evan merely watched her, with resentment, and hatred. He pulled up his jeans and walked out as though she were not there.

The pain was overwhelming, and as Arianna lay on the floor, her head spinning from the pain as she wavered in and out of consciousness, there was only one thing she could think of.

She needed to get back to the mansion.

Having given up on packing her clothes, it took Arianna ten minutes to lift herself to her feet by using the door frame, before she stumbled outside of the house and back into her car.

She sat there for a moment, her head lolling pathetically from side to side, before a shaky hand managed to slot the key into the engine and start the car.

Arianna leaned to the side to check herself out in the rearview mirror. Undoubtedly, she was an absolute mess, but she was far better off than many of the other times Evan had unleashed his rage on her. She'd been hospitalized on many occasions. All Arianna wanted now was to be back at the mansion. Somehow the thought of Dr. Tarrant being close to her made her feel safer. She knew he was powerful, and in control.

Arianna drove slowly but consistently back. She hoped she would not be punished for neglecting to bring her things, but she was almost certain that if the doctor saw the state she was in, he would understand.

She pulled up at the mansion and turned off the key. Arianna sat for a few moments more, thinking everything through. That morning, she had been in control and independent. She had had domestic violence problems with Evan for a while -- that wasn't the concern -- but now she felt like she was starting to lose herself. What was she even doing here? Why had the man who was previously just her boss suddenly become her...?

Arianna looked up, but she was still lost in thought. Become her what? What was she to Dr. Nathan Tarrant? She had so many questions that needed answering, and she was dead set on getting her answer.

She shook herself back into concentration, wincing once at the pain from her broken cheekbone due to the shake, and then yelping a little at the pain from wincing.

Slowly, she got out of the car, and walked precariously inside the mansion, letting herself in through a retinal scan near the front doors. She made her way along the hallway and up the winding staircase to Orion's Nebula, feeling nervous once more as though she were being summoned there for the first time again. Reaching the top of the staircase, she knocked daintily.

"Doctor?" Arianna called out in almost a whisper. She waited a moment.

"Come in."

Arianna took a deep breath and opened the door. She hobbled inside, closing it as carefully as she had become adjusted to doing over the time she had worked with the doctor, and stood to face him. He raised his eyes and stared at her, taking it all in. There was a silence in the room, but not an awkward one. She knew he was properly analyzing the situation.

Nathan stood up, placing his palms flat on the desk, and to Arianna's surprise, a smile spread across his face.

"Arianna, you didn't have to get all made up for me" the doctor cooed.

Arianna's eyebrows furrowed. She began to speak but the doctor quickly interrupted; "Sir, no, I-"

"Hush," he smiled again. "The work of Evan Lewis, I suppose?"

Arianna stood there, staring in confusion, before remembering her manners as she noticed Dr. Tarrant's expression begin to waver. "Yes, Sir." Nathan exhaled through his nose sharply, straightening his back and stretching a little, before responding.

"It's such a pity that he's unable to get his rage under control. He'd make fine security."

Arianna was dumbfounded. She was sure that her boss was going to be shocked to discover her looking as she did, but the doctor was treating it like a daily occurrence. It was, but how did her boss know that?

The doctor pulled out a drawer from his desk and grabbed a bundle of keys attached to a single key ring. Arianna knew they were the spares for the mansion, in case of a power failure, red alert or a general problem with the bio-metric security system. However, none of those things were the case right now, so why did Dr. Tarrant need the keys?

Arianna watched carefully as Dr. Tarrant crossed around his desk, brushing past her and headed out of the door. As he passed her, he briskly added, "Come, girl."

Arianna did as she was told, and followed him down the twisting staircase. She then noticed something she hadn't really taken into account previously -- as they reached the main hallway, the staircase descended even lower than the ground floor. There was lower floor to the building.

Ignoring the brutal pain in the side of her face, Arianna watched in amazement as the atmosphere of the mansion changed very quickly. The once elaborately decorated and furnished halls and walls of the area became glum, cracked concrete.

The air grew thick, and the smell of musk and mold entered her nostrils. The staircase also changed; the once beautifully polished mahogany turning into thin, uneven slabs of concrete. It was as though they had entered another building entirely.

The staircase ended in a single door, which was far from ornate or impressive, unlike any other door in the mansion, but rather a plain white metal single, which was rusting at the corners. There was no apparent advanced security on it, and Arianna found herself questioning how she had never entered this area of the mansion before.

Arianna couldn't hold in her questions. "Sir, where- "but she was immediately silenced.

"You are not to speak unless spoken to. Do I make myself clear?"

Arianna was taken aback, and a lump grew in her throat. She could feel her heart begin to beat a little harder. Earlier, she was trying to hold onto her job. She thought a little bit of sexual harassment was a small price to pay. But now, things were getting strange, and very, very serious. She felt the sudden urge to call it all off, to quit, to go home, but something deep down inside her caused her to respond.

"Yes Sir."

Nathan Tarrant found the correct key, and upon inserting and twisting it, the metal door creaked open. The source of the damp smell was revealed. The room was entirely dark but Arianna realized now where they were. The basement.

Nathan's hand moved to the wall, and a switch was flicked. A single bulb in the center of the room illuminated it, albeit barely.

"Welcome to The Quarters," he spoke, as he moved inside the room and under the light, which case shadows across his face that scared Arianna to look at. Still, she entered.

"This is where you'll be living now. You will obey my every order. If you disobey me, you will discover what it is like to linger between life and death. Do I make myself clear?"

Arianna had crossed the boundary. She was petrified.

"No, I don't want to. I'm leaving. I'll get my things tomorrow."

She turned to leave, but her eyes grew wide as the doctor had suddenly stridden behind her. He leaned over her shoulder, slamming the door shut.

Arianna's hand quickly moved to the handle, but no matter how much she shook it, the door remained closed.

She felt Nathan's hot breath on her ear and froze. He spoke quiet, but the evil in his voice was now undeniable.

"Too late, Arianna. You told me you wanted it, and now it's going to happen. You belong to me now. I own you."

"N-no," she resisted, but her words only came out as a strained whisper. She felt her head grow light again; overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. Arianna passed out.

When she awoke, she found herself in The Quarters. It took her a few moments to adjust in the dim light and realize that she had just come-to, and once she did, she was overcome with panic. Arianna tried to move, but it was worthless. Something was holding her back.

She squinted in the dark to try and identify what was keeping her pinned, and tried to scream out, before realizing she had a gag in her mouth. All that came out was a muffled cry. Arianna looked down and realized she was bare. She looked to her left and right, and noticed that her wrists had been cuffed to something.

Arianna used her knowledge from excavations, and forced a little saliva out of her mouth. It dribbled directly down her chin, so she knew that she was upright. She continued to writhe, feeling the parts of her body that were holding her back. It was her wrists and her ankles together. That was when Arianna realized that she was cuffed against a board, and was held up in an X shape.

Suddenly, the metal door creaked, and a figure walked in. Arianna stayed motionless, observing the situation. As the figure walked forward and into the light, she could see it was the doctor.

She felt herself go bright red at being presented in front of him, before realizing she had much bigger concerns. This was far past the limits of sexual harassment. Arianna was being held here against her will now.

A bright flash went off, and the click of a camera. The doctor waited as the picture developed, and then took a few more. Arianna closed her eyes, unable to handle the sudden change between the dark room and the piercing flash. She tried to object, but the gag silenced her words.

"This is much better, Arianna," said the doctor finally, as he placed his camera down. "This look suits you so much better than that silly pencil skirt of yours."

Arianna struggled, anger and humiliation slowly creeping in.

"Don't bother," chucked Dr. Tarrant, as he pulled up a shabby metal chair and reclined against it, observing her. They watched one another for a moment, and as she struggled, it began to dawn on Arianna that she truly was unable to control the situation. For the first time in her life, Arianna felt completely powerless. With one last full body twist and a small squeak from behind the gag, Arianna gave up on freeing herself. She glared at the doctor, ignoring the pain from the metal cuffs as it dug into her now limp body.

"Ah, good, you understand. Now, in order to reply to my questions, you may simply nod "yes", or shake your head "no". Understand?"

Arianna glared at the doctor a little more, before slowly nodding. The doctor responded with a quick flash of his teeth.

"Marvelous! So, are you a virgin, Arianna?"

She shook her head.

"I see. And do you have any immediate family who will be looking for you?"

Arianna looked down, thinking for a moment, before shaking her head once more.

"Perfect." The doctor folded his hands behind his back and began to pace gently back and forth, thinking to himself. He then stiffened suddenly, and moved over to a dark corner.

Arianna peered as hard as she could, but the pain in her cheek made her shortly give in. The doctor reappeared with what seemed to be an old-fashioned cork board.

Arianna's heart stopped as the doctor flipped the board over and a wide variety of tools were displayed. She felt the life drain out of her.

This was it, she knew it now. She was going to be used as a human laboratory experiment. She began to cry uncontrollably.

"SILENCE!" yelled the doctor, the evil tone seeping back through.

Inhaling and exhaling quickly, Arianna managed to pipe down, though her heart rate doubled now. She had never in her life heard Nathan Tarrant raise his voice before. She watched on, all hope lost, as he picked up a hammer.

Nathan walked toward her, observing her a little, and Arianna's face screwed up as she held back the tears, watching the instrument move only inches away from her body.

It was then that the doctor flipped it over, holding the metal in his hand, so that the wooden end was away from him.

"I want to see how much you can take, girl. It is very important you stay silent now, because when it gets too much for you, you must alert me by making a noise. My wish is to watch your boundaries right now, not to inflict pain. However, if you disobey..."

Not to inflict pain? But Arianna was sure she was going to be in pieces within a short amount of time. Was this not an experiment? All the questions lead Arianna to simply nod her head. She inhaled lightly, feeling the smooth wood of the hammer handle slide into her with ease. It was fairly small -- much smaller than Evan -- and although she felt a slight amount of discomfort due to the fact that she had lost all of her wetness, Arianna closed her eyes and took comfort in the fact that Dr. Tarrant wasn't planning to kill her. She allowed the handle to slip in and out, and soon her natural lubricant began to kick in. She opened her eyes slightly to see the doctor with what appeared to be a pleasant smile on his face. The handle slid out.

"Good, that was very good, Arianna." He said genuinely, before heading back over to the board.

Nathan then selected a sledgehammer, and Arianna quickly grew worried. The handle was far bigger and thicker than the hammer before it. She also felt slight amazement at how Dr. Tarrant was able to pick it up without a problem. He was certainly much, much stronger than he appeared.

He placed it at her now wet hole, and began to push lightly. Arianna squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and a slight squeak came out of her. The doctor stopped instantly.