We last read Chapter 45, in which Sapphire Angel returns to her garage, where she is surprised by a net dropping on her from the rafters, before gas canisters fall around her, releasing fumes that weaken and daze her as she struggles on the floor to free herself from the net. As she starts to slip into unconsciousness, a woman appears, dropping a pile of chains on the ground next to her and telling her they have much to discuss.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
*** Warning: This chapter contains violent content and interrogations that may be disturbing.*** I’ve struggled with how to handle such scenes in my writing, and want to be sensitive to those for whom, for understandable reasons, this could be a trigger. I’ve written previously about my thoughts as I try to figure out this issue. Admittedly, I’m still working through my feelings on this, and recognize I don’t have all the answers. Please read no further if these type of scenes could cause issues.
Sapphire Angel wasn't sure how long she had been out. The room spun about her as she stirred, like she had awoken from a long night of drinking. She forced her eyes shut and took several long, slow breaths. In... and out. In... and out. After a few moments she opened her eyes again, willing her vision to stabilize. She focused on the ceiling of the garage above her.
Something wasn't right, and it wasn't just because she was looking up at the ceiling. She could barely move her arms or legs. When she tried to move them, she felt resistance around her wrists and ankles. A jolt of worry hit her when she realized her arms and legs were extended away from her, pulled tight. She craned her neck as much as she could, and with a sinking pit of dread in her stomach, saw the reason. She was chained to her car, spread-eagle. Even with her senses still short-circuited from the lingering effects of the gas and the chemical-soaked rag, the gravity of the situation hit her like a bolt of lightning.
Most of her lithe body was stretched taut upon the hood of the famous vehicle, with her upper back flat against the windshield. Her arms and legs were spread wide above and below her, accentuating their tight, lightly muscled form. Metal cuffs, attached to chains, secured her wrists and ankles. She gave a tug with her right wrist, flexing, but the chain barely moved. Either she was too weak from the effects of the gas, or the chains were too strong. She tested her other wrist and both ankles, with the same results. As she sank back against the car, she closed her eyes, exhaled, and let out a soft moan. The totality of her capture hit home.
The groggy heroine sensed movement, and raised her head to look down the length of her body at a woman striding toward her. The woman wore all black, including a black ski mask. Sapphire Angel didn't scare easily, but an innate sense took over and fear swept over her as the stranger got closer. It was like the black-clad woman was counting down the heroine's fate with each step.
Sapphire Angel tore her eyes from the woman, examining her surroundings. She panicked when she saw four cameras on tripods, arranged in a semi-circle around the front of the car and pointed directly at her. To her right was a table, filled with what looked to be medical equipment — syringes, IV bags, needles, and more. Sapphire Angel gulped, and a pulsing pit of angst formed in her stomach.
The masked woman stopped in front of her, surveying the superheroine.
"What do you want with me?" Sapphire Angel asked, fighting a tremble in her voice.
"Information," the woman replied in a hoarse whisper.
"Infor — What do you mean?"
"It means you will tell me all of your secrets, which I am now recording on video," the woman explained, her voice devoid of emotion.
Sapphire Angel tensed. Did the woman want to know her identity? The source of her powers? She wouldn't reveal any information willingly, but sensed this woman intended to extract the information whether she was willing or not.
"Secrets?" the heroine asked. "I don't know what you mean." She needed to keep this strange woman talking and find out as much as possible. Perhaps then she could find a way out of this predicament.
"I already know much about you — Beth Harper."
Sapphire Angel's heart froze at the sound of her real name. She was too stunned to reply.
"You will tell me how you come by your powers. What your weaknesses are. How you came to put on that costume and become Sapphire Angel. Everything."
As she spoke, the woman came closer and ran a finger along the heroine's flat stomach, caressing the soft fabric where it clung to her abdomen. Her eyes moved up the superheroine's body, lingering where the blue fabric stretched across her firm breasts, before staring into Sapphire Angel's brilliant blue eyes.
Sapphire Angel sank back into the car, shying away, and gave her a hard stare. "I'm not telling you anything."
"Then this will be very uncomfortable for you," the woman said with a shrug, before turning and bending down to reach for something out of sight. As she did, the woman's shirt hiked up on her back, revealing a red tattoo in the shape of a scorpion. She had to be with the Red Scorpions, the Harrisburg gang Sapphire Angel had been methodically dismantling. But how had they learned her secret?
A dull electrical hum came from the ground, but the costumed heroine couldn't see the source. The woman stood, holding a small rod in each hand. She gripped a rubber handle, but the rest of the rod was solid metal, crackling with electricity. A cord extended from each handle, disappearing beyond the superheroine's field of vision.
"What... what are those?" Sapphire Angel asked, her eyes wide.
"These are what will compel you to tell me everything. Well, these and a few other things," the masked woman replied, still with no emotion in her voice. She stepped forward and extended the rods towards the heroine. "Now, tell me your name. Your real name."
"Get away from me!" Sapphire Angel yelled in an angry voice. The stranger had already spoken her name, which could only mean one thing. She wanted the famed superheroine to reveal her identity on camera. The blond girl gritted her teeth in defiance. Her captor sighed and jabbed forward with the rods, touching her legs with the metal ends.
Sapphire Angel's eyes bugged out and her throat tightened as a searing, sizzling pain started in her legs and raced through her body. Her back arched on the hood of the car as she clamped her jaw shut.
As the woman pulled back the rods, Sapphire Angel collapsed back to the hood of the car. The woman leaned over toward her face, putting the rods in one hand and taking the blond woman's silken hair in the other, feeling it between her fingers, as if she were in awe.
"I'll ask you again. What is your real name?"
Sapphire Angel closed her eyes and bit her lip. She said nothing.
The rods touched her again, and the pain returned. The pain cascaded through her for several seconds, causing her to writhe on the hood of the car.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" she let out a long, pathetic cry.
She continued thrashing and crying out as the stranger didn't relent, holding the metal tips against her and sending electricity coursing through her body. When it finally stopped, Sapphire Angel turned her head to the side, her eyelids flickering as she murmured, "Ohhh... "
Along with the pain came confusion. She had thought her necklace muted most pain, but this was horrific. She trembled thinking how it would feel without her powers.
The woman grabbed her by the chin, turning her face upward. "Your name?"
Sapphire Angel shook her head slowly, dreading what was coming. And it came. Any thoughts of a respite were interrupted by another jolt, and another cry. The jolt lasted even longer than before, and when it stopped her body quivered and her breathing rasped.
"Please no..." the blond girl's voice was almost a whisper now.
"Your name!" The demand was simple, but the determined heroine didn't respond.
The pain and resulting cries of pain came again. And again after that, when she once again refused. Back and forth they went, for what seemed like an eternity, until Sapphire Angel didn't think she could take any more and her body sagged with exhaustion. If she had looked into the woman's eyes, she would have seen what almost looked like admiration. But she was too wracked with pain to notice. Too determined to keep her identity off camera.
"Please don't do this," she rasped between choked gasps, her chest heaving as she tried to regain normal breaths.
"There is a very simple way to make this stop," the woman replied. She moved to Sapphire Angel's waist, taking the hem of the girl's pure white skirt between her thumb and forefinger, rubbing it between her digits as if admiring it. "You need to accept that you're all mine. I control you now. Tell me everything." The stranger released the heroine's skirt and extended the rods toward the bare skin of Sapphire Angel's upper arms. The captive woman shied away, but there was nowhere to go.
When it connected, the superheroine's scream tore through the garage, louder and longer than before. When the woman stopped, Sapphire Angel's shoulders were heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She bit her lip before speaking in a halting, pained manner.
"I... will... never... tell... you... anything!" she spat, the last word coming out with a ferocious intensity. The black-clad woman paused, studying her, before turning to the table. Sapphire Angel could hear her rummaging with the items on the table. What was the woman doing? The heroine didn't want to find out and pulled fanatically at her bonds.
Sapphire Angel saw the woman place what looked to be an oxygen tank — or a tank of some other sort — on a stand next to the car. A tube ran from it to a clear face mask in the woman's hand. Beth recognized the mask as the type anesthesiologists used in hospitals to sedate patients. The captive heroine tugged at her bonds with renewed vigor, knowing her efforts were futile.
The woman approached her prisoner and moved toward her head. Sapphire Angel tried to turn her head away, but had nowhere to go. She was helpless to stop the woman from sliding the mask over her head and covering her mouth. She tried to turn her head to dislodge the mask, but it held tight.
The ruthless interrogator stepped back and turned a knob on the tank. A sweet smell filled the mask, and Sapphire Angel tried not to breathe it in. It was pointless, however, and the masked woman waited. Eventually the determined superheroine had to take a breath, and within moments her body slackened as grogginess came over her. Her eyelids drooped and she struggled to keep them open. Moments later, with a faint whimper, she slipped into unconsciousness once more.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
I appreciate any comments or email.
This story is fantastic. I am really enjoying. The only thing I am not sure of, how would Raven know the gas or the electricity would be effective on her? I wish there had been something that would have clued her in on that, which she used in her plan. Don't get me wrong, I know its nit picking. The story is amazing, you are a talented writer.
Anyone can be a creep, sadIy, regardIess of who they are. Wonder how Sapphire is going to get out of this one.....
Anyways, it feeIs great to be back here! I have a few hours, so Iet us get through as many chapters as we can!