Chapter 204: One Life For Another

Nathan looked, first at Crystal and then at Helen. “Okay,” he said. “Before we start accusing anyone of insinuation, let’s have the doctor take a look. In the meantime, the guards will lock Miss Smith up and keep an eye on her.”

Two strong men took hold of Crystal and escorted her out of the room without being told directly. She was led down the hall and pushed into the first room on the left. “We’ll be on the other side of the door,” one of the guards said, “so you may as well be good.”

Crystal sat on the ground without saying anything, and as the door closed, she began to cry. Why does nothing ever work out right? - she wondered - And why does Helen have it out for me? I never did anything to her...

After about half an hour, the door was pushed open, and Nathan walked in. He had several bodyguards with him, including Jack, who was another one of his right-hand men.

Jack waved his hand, and two lower-ranking bodyguards pulled Crystal to her feet and out into the hallway. She assumed that they were taking her to Helen’s room to plead guilty, so she did not struggle. But once she realized her assumption had been wrong, she asked, “Where are you taking me?”

The bodyguards ignored her question, and as they led her into the basement, she began to tremble.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long hallway. There were many doors on either side of them, but the guards did not stop until they reached the room at the end. Crystal looked around frantically, and she nearly wet herself when she saw the wooden cross that had been fastened to the wall. “D-D-Did N-Nathan asks y- you to k-keep me here?” she stuttered.

One of the guards chuckled as they fastened her to the cross, but neither of them answered her question. As afraid as Crystal was, she didn’t start to cry until Jack entered the room with a whip. He gave her a cold and gloomy smile, which looked incredibly creepy in the dark, dank basement. “You killed Master Davis’s baby,” he snarled. “I am here to make you pay for that!”

Without waiting for a response, Jack let the whip taste her skin.

Crystal shrieked in pain. And he whipped her again. After that first cry, though, she refused to make a sound.

Jack continued to flog her viciously, and the more stubborn she was about keeping her pain to herself, the harder he whipped her. She was in agony, though. The expression on her face and the tears that ran from her eyes were evidence of that. Along with the physical pain, there was also emotional pain. It broke Crystal’s heart to think that Nathan would subject her to this torture, and as time passed, she realized that she had lost the capacity to love. Her heart had died.

The whip flicked the side of her ear. It was the first attack that had targeted her face, and she nearly cried out. By now, her clothes had been shredded, and her body was one big open wound. Time had lost all meaning to her, and she began to prepare herself for death.

One life for another - Crystal thought absently. She no longer cared if she lived or if she died.

Suddenly, the overhead light turned on, and Crystal was momentarily blinded. The room fell silent, and then Eric’s voice broke the silence. “Crystal?” he gasped. “Oh. My. God. Look what they’ve done to you...”

The man with the whip stepped up to Eric, but before he could say anything, Eric punched him so hard that he collapsed.

“Take me away from this evil house!” Crystal cried.

Eric: “I will ask the doctor to treat your wounds first. Then I will take you away, and I will never let anyone touch you again.”

“What about Helen and her baby?” Crystal asked. “Do you believe me? I didn’t push her!”

Eric replied without hesitation: “I believe you. Of course, I do!”

Crystal: “But she is your sister...”

Eric: “Ever since you saved your friend with a glass bottle, I’ve known that you are an honest person. In my heart, you are kinder than anyone, and even as you are, you are still my pretty.” He embraced her then, and she began to cry tears of gratitude without saying a word. “Besides,” he continued. “Helen has always been a conniving little cunt. I wouldn’t trust her any further than I could throw her out!”

Despite her pain, Crystal chuckled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Eric replied as he carefully took Crystal off the cross. He carried her into one of the spare rooms, and he had one of the servants call for the doctor to come and treat her wounds.

****

While Crystal was being tormented in the basement, in the master bedroom - Helen’s stomach was twisting and turning nervously. She was lying on the bed, and when the doctor finally entered the room with Nathan and the other guard, she felt like she was going to vomit.

The doctor came over and sat on a chair that had been positioned beside the bed. “You’ve been through quite a lot,” he said softly. “Now, I need to check on the baby. Can I do that?”

Helen nodded, and the doctor put a stethoscope against her belly. After a minute, she smiled and said, “It seems that everything is fine. You should still make an appointment for an ultrasound. Do you understand?”

Helen nodded again but said nothing. She knew what was coming next and she was terrified.

The doctor looked at Nathan and said, “Do you still want the Paternity test?”

Nathan: “That is why you’re here.”

The doctor nodded, and she began to rummage through her bag for what she would need, but before she was able to find what she was looking for, Vic rushed into the room. His face was white, and he was out of breath.

Nathan glared at him, and when he asked what the problem was, Vic whispered into his ear: “Someone has absconded with Crystal. I think it was Eric...”

Nathan’s face turned red from rage, and he pushed Vic away as he stood up. He went directly to the room Crystal had been sleeping in, and he barged in - and when he found her in Eric’s arms, he began to clench and unclench his hands at his sides.

Eric looked Nathan in the eyes and said, “Master Davis, I must take Crystal away from here.”

Nathan scowled and said, “She can’t leave.” He would not let her go. He wanted to tell her that Helen’s child was not his, and he still had to explain why he had been mistreating her.

“Mr. Davis...” Crystal whined. “Is it your intention to end my life?”

It broke Nathan’s heart to hear her call him Mr. Davis. “Jack used the punishment arbitrarily...” he explained. “Surely, you understand.”

Crystal: “Mr. Davis, I don’t owe you anything anymore, and you no longer have any authority over me. We are over. You had no right to punish me, even arbitrarily...”

Nathan’s head began to hurt as he realized that she was right. He rubbed his temples and squinted his eyes against the overhead light. “This has to stop,” he muttered. Without a word of warning, Nathan strode forward and reached out to pull Crystal into his arms, and when Eric tried to stop him, he punched him in the face. Eric stumbled backward and fell on his ass.

Eric shouted his sister’s name as he stood up, and Nathan punched him again, this time in the gut. Nathan was going to hit him a third time, but as his fist swung, he felt cold metal against his forehead, and he froze.

Crystal was holding a gun in her hands, and the muzzle was pressed against his head.