The Doll's House

16

The pain was horrible. It coursed through her eye sockets straight into her brain. Her nerve endings screamed in protest, her head throbbed violently. She buried her face in the bed sheets, praying that it would end.

She had been lying in bed when it happened. The approaching footsteps had not alarmed her, as they had before. She was ravenously hungry and wanted company – even his company – after a long and cold night. The wicket hatch slid open, then shut and Ruby had expected to hear the key turn in the lock next – already a strange kind of routine was developing.

Instead, she was suddenly and unexpectedly blinded. The main lights in her small cell snapped on without warning. She had clamped her eyelids shut, but the damage had already been done. Her eyes, which had grown used to the darkness, were suddenly assaulted by the three heavy-duty sodium lights that were fixed to the ceiling.

Her eyes crept open, clamped shut again, then very slowly opened once more. Weird shapes and lights danced in front of her as her startled retinas scrabbled for some kind of focus.

He was standing over her.

‘Don’t touch me.’

‘Did you sleep well?’

‘No. I bloody froze to death, you stupid freak. I’m going to die down here, is that what you want?’

‘I’ll get you an extra blanket.’

‘Please let me go home.’

‘Get up.’

He barked out this order, his tone suddenly impatient and unfriendly. Ruby realized that she knew nothing about this guy or how his mind worked. Could he turn violent? Could he be reasoned with? Was he insane?

‘Take off your clothes.’

‘Please…’

‘Take off your clothes,’ he repeated, raising his voice.

He wouldn’t look at her. Oddly, his hands were trembling. Ruby tried to speak but her heart was beating too fast, making her breathless and panicky.

‘I don’t want to’ she managed eventually.

‘Do it now or God help me…’

As he took a step towards her, Ruby scrambled off the bed.

‘I’m doing it. I’m doing it.’

Still he wouldn’t look at her. Sobbing quietly, Ruby took off the thin cotton pyjama top that he’d given her in place of her own night gear. She hated the feel and the smell of it, but it kept her from freezing to death. Now she shivered, her naked skin exposed to the cold air. Hesitating, another sob escaping her, she removed her pyjama bottoms, placing them on the bed next to her.

She felt intensely vulnerable, naked in front of a stranger, her gaunt frame illuminated by the overhead lights. She looked ghostly, her pale skin framed by the darkness of her tresses and pubic hair. She stared at the floor, refusing to meet his gaze.

She could tell he was looking at her now, appraising what he saw. ‘Go to Hell,’ she thought, but her empty bravado did little to cheer her. She was exposed and powerless here.

He stepped forward. Still Ruby stared at the floor. Then another step – he was right by her now. His hand reached out, lifting up her chin. She was looking straight at him, they were virtually nose to nose. His peculiar aroma filled her nostrils once more. She refused to blink, or smile.

His hands rose and Ruby flinched. There was something cold pressing against her stomach. She flicked a glance down. It was the end of a tape measure. He was measuring her.

She tried to stay stock still, but her body was quivering with fear. He measured her hips, her shoulders, her chest. As the cold tape pressed against her nipples, another tear escaped, a sense of rising horror overwhelming her.

He slipped the tape round her neck, pulling it tight.

Then, satisfied, he stepped away.

‘You can get dressed.’

Ruby gathered her pyjamas, tugging them on quickly and clumsily.

‘I have to go out now, but I won’t be long,’ he said, watching her change. ‘And because you’ve been cooperative, I’ve brought you a present.’

He pulled something from his pocket and placed it on the table.

An inhaler.

Ruby took a step forward, then checked herself.

‘It’s yours now. Don’t make me take it away from you.’

It was said with a smile but chilled Ruby to the core. It was obvious to her in that moment, as it should have been from the start, that this stranger now wielded the power of life or death over her.