Warning: Violence and Sexual Assault

Part Two

Cassy tried to open her eyes as awareness slowly returned. When she realized that something was covering her eyes, she attempted to reach up and pull the offending material away. As realization hit that her hands were cuffed to the headboard, she struggled to become fully awake. A noise alerted her to another's presence in the room.

"Thomas Patrick Ryan, what the HELL do you think you are doing?" she snarled. "Get these damn cuffs off and quit fooling around! This isn't funny. I'm sorry about the dinner okay? And all right, I admit I shouldn't have mixed the pills and the wine! Now get me out of these things!" She received no response to her demands.

Suddenly she felt someone climb onto the bed next to her. Cassy flinched as she felt the intruder's lips softly kiss her neck. She shivered involuntarily as he continued kissing, making his way down her chest to the area between her breasts. As she attempted to struggle, a strong feeling of unease mixed with her anger. Though her heart knew that Tom was not the other person in the room, her mind was not yet able to accept it.

"All right Thomas! This has gone far enough! Get me out of these damn cuffs right now, or I'm gonna press charges!" She tried to bring her legs up to stop him but soon realized that they, too, were restrained. Fear replaced her growing sense of unease. Among a number of realizations was the fact that she was no longer wearing the satin pajamas that she had changed into right before Tom arrived. Cassy was now wearing nothing except her rather skimpy bra and panties. She now had to admit that Tom was not the one doing this to her. He would never go this far, not for a joke nor for revenge over the forgotten dinner.

"Okay, look I know you aren't Tom, so just tell me who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" She wondered for a moment if Tom had forgotten to reset the alarm system before he left, but quickly concluded that wasn't a possibility. That left one of two probabilities. Either Tom had been overpowered and taken out, or the guy managed to by-pass the system. Neither was a comforting thought. She struggled harder against her restraints. "What the hell do you want from me?"

Her voice appeared to fall on deaf ears. The attacker remained infuriatingly silent, though Cassy could still feel him on the bed with her. He began kissing her again, this time working his way down from her breasts to her panty line. Gloved hands began to roam over every inch of her body.

Terror filled her being as she anticipated being raped. Her voice shook as she tried to reason with the assailant. "Look, you really don't want to do this. No one has been hurt here yet, but if you don't stop now things are going to be really bad for you. And when my par. . .my. . .my Tom finds out, he won't stop hunting you. Not till he finds you. Just walk away now, while you still can."

Her reasoning was again met with dead silence. The hands had stopped roaming, but he hadn't moved from the bed. He then answered her, not with words, but a sharp blow to the side of her head. He followed this with more blows, leaving her feeling dizzy, spots dancing in front of her eyes. She felt blood trickle out the side of her mouth from a split lip.

The next thing she knew, her assailant moved his attention to her midsection. After receiving numerous punches to that region, Cassy felt something being smeared on her abdomen. She bit her swelling lip to keep from crying out as her assailant worked. Even the slight pressure he was exerting on her bruised skin was agony. She shivered again, fearing what was still to come and praying for the attack to be over soon. Praying also that her partner was not dead or injured downstairs, but alive and well, and soon coming to her rescue.

The smearing sensation stopped as suddenly as it had begun. It felt as though he might have written something but she wasn't certain. Terror continued to rise within her as she awaited his next move. She wondered what the obviously disturbed assailant would do next. He had yet to utter a sound.

She was startled when her attacker suddenly climbed off of the bed and walked over to her nightstand. Cassy flinched when he slipped his hand under her head lifting it slightly. A glass met her swelling lips, and she gagged as wine stung the injured lips and then found its way to the back of her throat. More wine ran down her chin onto the pillow as he tilted the glass higher, forcing her to swallow. She felt light-headed by the time the glass was finally empty. He then lowered her head back onto the wine-soaked pillow.

Cassy waited, expecting him to climb back onto the bed and continue the attack. She wondered briefly if there might have been something in the wine. She was almost certain that there had been. Why else would he have bothered with it? As several minutes passed, she lay there debating whether to try to talk some sense into him again. She opted to remain silent fearing words might provoke another vicious attack. She listened as suddenly his footsteps retreated from the bedroom and proceeded down the stairs.

She relaxed completely, basking in the relief that the attack was over, at least for the moment. Then, her heart began to race. The assailant had gone downstairs. 'Oh my God! What if Tom is hurt down there? He could be killing Tom right now. Oh my God, no!' Tears welled up in Cassy's eyes, spilling over into and soaking the blindfold. She listened intently for any sound from the first floor, but heard nothing. Finally, she could stand it no more.

"Tom! Tom, can you hear me? Dammit, answer me! Tom, are you okay? Oh God! Tom, help me!" she screamed as loud as she could. Cassy struggled to get enough air in her lungs, terror again filling her being. She started to feel light-headed again, wondering if it was the terror or the tainted wine causing it. She felt the room begin to spin and awareness faded into nothing...

End Part Two

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