John moved his chair back to the table and shook her awake gently. She hadn't felt like she had been asleep, her eyes felt dry and scratchy. "Come witch, they will be here soon." He pulled her gently from the table by her still restrained hands, back to the ceiling hook. Her muscles were stiff and sore as he extended her arms back above her head to the hook. This time she was unable to hide her tears. "Shh, my sweet, be strong." He wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb and kissed her, melding his lips perfectly to hers and gently exploring her mouth with his tongue. It had the intended effect of distracting her, but ended much too quickly as noise came from the hallway. John moved away back to the chair near the table as the large iron door creaked open. She took a deep shaky breath and tried to take John's advice and be strong. She didn't feel strong, she felt beaten, but she knew that the battle was just beginning.
Jonathan's uncle Gerald entered the cell with the minister close behind. Elizabeth may have technically gotten a couple hours of sleep, but she looked the part of a sleep deprived woman who had been verbally interrogated all night. Her eyes were red and puffy from her tears and her hair hung loosely, a strand falling in front of her face. John on the other hand, looked completely unaffected, even without the couple hours rest that she had been allotted. He looked as perfect as he had when she'd first seen him, with the addition of a nights worth of stubble adorning his strong jawline.
"Ah, thank you nephew for keeping the girl up all night." Gerald said, patting John on the back roughly. "She should be nice and pliable to reveal any secrets she may hold, or has she already broken and revealed her alliance with the devil?" It was the most she had heard Gerald speak, she definitely detected an Irish accent, though it was not very heavy.
"She has not." John replied stiffly. The teasing and flirtatious version of him was gone, he now stared at her blankly, behind the mask that he showed his audience.
"Oh well, we will find the truth. You are free to go and get some sleep my boy." He patted John's shoulder again.
"I'm fine for now, I will stay." John answered seriously. She noticed that his uncle glanced at him curiously, the minister was to Gerald's back and unable to see his face. Gerald did not push and the moment passed quickly, almost imperceptibly. Gerald turned towards the minister as John's eyes stayed on Elizabeth.
"The first order of business will be searching for a witch's mark." Gerald stated. Elizabeth was expecting this as John had told her truthfully what to expect. Even the prior knowledge of what was going to happen to her did not stop her shock when it was said. She instinctively tried to pull away and take a step back from the chains that restrained her, with no success.
The minister nodded. "Absolutely." He walked over to the chair on the far side of the table and sat, facing her.
"Please, uncle, sit." John motioned for Gerald to take the other seat at the table. She saw the corner of Gerald's mouth twitch up for a moment as if he was tempted to smile. He sat and John walked over to where she was hanging. For once she was glad her hands were held taunt to the point of being numb, because they were unable to shake. She knew her eyes were wide with fear at what was going to happen next. She had a small amount of relief that John would be staying and the one undressing her for examination. Yet the relief was nowhere near substantial enough to outweigh her mortification that she would soon be naked in front of these three strange men. She bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming her protest, a hysterical episode would just work against her case.
John looked down into her eyes sympathetically with his back to the other men in the room, his easy-going, carefree demeanor sufficiently extinguished. His hands came up to the top laces of her black wool dress, his fingers drifting over the side of her neck and feeling the rapid flutter of her pulse there. She knew he wouldn't be able to speak to her here in the way he had, not with the other men watching on in complete silence. Though he was still only a stranger she could imagine the reassuring remarks he would make under his breath, 'easy, my witch', she could hear it in his voice and it provided her the smallest relief. His fingers were quick and deft as they moved down the lacing, loosening the garment as he went. A smirk returned to his lips when he reached her breasts, his fingers surreptitiously grazing over them more than was necessary to remove her dress. She scowled and tried to pull back but he held her dress tightly, keeping her in place. His hands moved on down to her waist where the lacings ended and the skirts of her dress began.
He then surprised her by picking her up by the waist, causing her to yell out in surprise. He didn't respond to her, simply lifted her to where he could remove her from the hook, then set her on the floor fully. She had to lean into him to get her bearings as her arms and legs cramped under the change in position. He pulled a key out from a pocket and unlocked the restraints on her hands. He rubbed her raw and chafed wrists in his hands as he removed them, out of sight from the minister and Gerald. As soon as her hands were released to fall back to her sides her loosened dress fell from her shoulders. She reflexively tried to pull it back up but he pulled her hands back down with his own and the dress fell down to her waist. He bent down on his knees in front of her and she saw the minister and imposter witch hunter sitting at the table looking on. She clenched her eyes closed with mortification that she stood in front of them with her breasts only covered by her thin shift.
She felt John unlace her leather shoes beneath her dress and pull her foot up to remove her right shoe, she stumbled slightly and instinctively grabbed on to his broad shoulders to prevent from falling. She felt the thick muscles of his back and shoulders under her fingers tense as she made contact with them. Her eyes had opened automatically at the sensation of falling and she saw him toss her shoe aside. She saw his hands disappear and felt his fingers inch higher and higher up her leg to graze the top of her sock where her garter was tied around it. She could not stop herself from fighting him then, she pushed frantically at his shoulders and the leg that he held kicked on its own volition.
"Do you need help holding her?" Gerald asked from across the room, causing her to stop struggling immediately. John's hands had firmly restrained her leg, preventing all movement.
"No, I have her. I'm sure she will be more compliant with the process from now on." He looked up at her with an questioning arched brow. His fingers pulled the tie on her garter and the top of her sock fell down her leg. He pulled it down the rest of the way, she lifted her foot to allow him to remove it disheartenedly. He repeated the process on her other foot, avoiding touching her more than was necessary this time. Her legs were bare underneath her petticoats and shift. John stood in front of her again and looked down at her seriously.
"Now I am going to take the dress off, do not struggle." He said with a tone much more harsh than she had previously heard from him.
"Do what you must." She was glad she sounded more confident than she felt. He pulled her dress down over her undergarments and she stepped out. Her mortification it seemed could only last for so long, its replacement was anger. Elizabeth decided that Jonathan Davis was the perfect target for that anger right now. He was no savior, he had come to this town to make some money with his uncle at her expense. How many women had he played these games with before? Had he taken their bodies before they hanged? Had he kissed them the same way that he had done to her? His voice alluded to a man well-traveled, had he done this routine throughout Europe before coming to the Colonies? Elizabeth felt a deep resentment growing in the pit of her stomach against the handsome man that she had been so stupid to trust. He would pretend to be on her side because it was easier to take her body that way. She vowed to herself that she would not allow that to happen. She was sickened by her behavior the night before, at taking pleasure from his assaults. She was disgusted with herself, and she was disgusted with him.
She was sure he could see the change in her eyes when he looked up at her again from picking the pile that was her dress up from the dirty floor to place it on the table. She saw his irritating smirk but did not react. He pulled her petticoats down quickly and she stepped out of them as well, resolved to continue the inevitable process. She knew that her thin shift revealed her erect nipples, it didn't matter, they would be further revealed in a moment. As John walked slowly back towards her after depositing her petticoats on top of her dress he looked conflicted. She couldn't tell if he was looking forward to the next part or not. He probably wished that they were alone so he would be able to take advantage of her exposed body more freely.
He bent to grab the bottom of the white shift and slowly lifted it, exposing her bare skin along the way. She lifted her arms as he pulled it from her body completely. She stood completely naked in front of the three strangers and looked at all of them as they gawked freely at her body. She looked at John last to find him looking back at her eyes with that same hooded expression that he had when he first kissed her. He looked lustful and aggressive. He moved disconcertingly close, blocking the view from the other men with his large body. She wasn't sure what he was trying to convey with his intense look, but she glared at him nonetheless. He grabbed her right hand with both of his and pulled her arm up, looking down at it as his hands moved up her arm touching every inch of skin until he reached her shoulder. Once he was satisfied that there were no skin abnormalities that could be interpreted as a witch's mark, he repeated the process with the left arm. He seemed to take no extra pleasure in searching her body like he had when he undressed her.
She hated that a part of her felt unsure with the possibility that he did not approve of what he saw. Maybe she had misinterpreted the look of lust she believed she had seen in his eyes briefly. She added self-consciousness to the mix of emotions that swirled around in her head during the surreal experience. He looked down at her chest and examined each of her breasts before moving down her stomach. She clenched her teeth and turned her head away as he reached the patch of curls at the apex of her legs. His movements were brisk and efficient, without any lingering. She felt her core respond to the touch nonetheless, infuriated with his ability to seemingly force reactions from her body so effortlessly. Finally his touch moved on to her legs, finding the skin there to be just as flawless as the rest of her body. He stood again and placed his large hand over her bare shoulder and turned her to face the cell wall. Her back stiffened with anxiety at not being able to see her captors. As John's hands moved over her back she heard the minister speak out.
"There, on the right. Do you see the mark?" She wasn't aware of any marks on her back, but she hadn't exactly ever taken a talley. She stayed away from the sun and stayed covered, so her skin had always remained unblemished, but she supposed anyone could have a mark on them if you looked for one hard enough. She felt John's fingers suddenly move much lower than they had been previously to a spot right above the swell of her posterior on the right side. His finger moved back and forth over a spot, it didn't feel any different to her than the other areas of skin he had examined. His hand there caused a reaction in her body that felt like electricity, and she found she both wanted him to stop and to continue in the most perplexing way.
"The mark will not bleed if it is truly a witch's mark." If it was possible, her muscles stiffened further at his words and their insinuations.
"This is true." Gerald seconded.
