The 27th

Chapter 28

Her skin felt extremely soft after the repeated bath, her toes were wrinkled from the amount of time they remained submerged yet her hands remained dry. Her hair was also supple, having been scrubbed with the same scented oils as her body, leaving a shine in her hair and a glow on her body. The smell that had been lathered on her body was one that left her lungs feeling cool, as if she were inhaling the frigid air. She had chosen this scent, had been drawn to it, that and one other. The second, being a faint and sweet one, one that had a calming effect that made her one to fall asleep in the warm water. She almost did but the water began to grow cold, awakening her from the thoughts she had been swimming in.

As she stood from the tub, her eyes met her image in the mirror, she's noticed how much she's changed she's changed these past months. Her figure has filled out some, leaving her with a more sturdy look, no longer the weak, brittle looking body she had. Her hair had also grown slightly yet still remained uneven. It now touched her shoulders, and every time is surpassed her shoulder blades, the women would come and pin her down, yanking at her locks and snipping them off in jagged lines. They would cackle as they did, the closest thing she came to joy whistle she was there; their pleasure from her suffering.

They often cut her neck with their blades but mostly snagged her ears, even if she kept her head still and didn't fight. These cuts maimed her neck and the cartilage which caused severe pain to the sensitive area, also bringing forth a lot of blood. She would then half to sit in her bloody, soiled clothing until they felt like giving her another.

Turning away from the mirror, she hid her ears with her hair. She had never seen for herself how mutilated her ears looked before but now seeing them for the first time, she felt ashamed. She knew they weren't supposed to look like that and wanted no one to see them. She was dreading the day her hair grew past her shoulder blades in which they would cut her hair to her scalp, exposing her ears

Though it annoyed her to have her hair hanging in her face as she dressed, she refused to tuck her hair behind her ears, even if she were alone in the bathroom. This clothing was much lighter than the thick furs, made of some sort of cloth.

The injuries on her hands no longer ached and managed to hold the brush and detangle her hair without any real pain. Glancing up one more to make sure her hair was throughly brushed, it slipped though her fingers and it hit the floor as the stared in the mirror. She has been too occupied looking at her weight gain and ears that she managed to overlook her inner arms.

Covered they were in small, circular scars that came from them repeatedly inserting needles in her. The needles she though she could forget, to get away from, were now permanently etched into her skin. A constant reminder of the pain she suffered through and with that, she realized that she couldn't run for they would always be there to punish her, just as her captors said they would. Though her captor might not be in her presence, their memories always would be, and that was enough, torture in itself.

"Dear Child, are you okay?" Aria's mother's voice sounded from the other side of the door and though it wasn't locked, she didn't enter. "Thaelia? Are you alright? I heard a noise. Did you fall?" She asked again when Thaelia did not answer her the first time.

"Y-Yes." She broke from her trance, uttering a weak and broken word. "Yes, I'm okay." It wasn't necessarily a lie, but it wasn't exactly the full truth, either. Her eyes stared back into them as they reflected in the mirror. They seemed empty, absolutely defeated that they could find the effort to express how she felt internally.

"Okay, Dear, dinner will be done soon but take as long as you need."

"Oh, ah, yes. Yes, thank you." She sputtered, clutching the counter, eyes still staring blankly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes. Yes, I am fine. I'll be out in a moment."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything." The floor boards creaked beneath her feet as she walked away from the door, inevitably making her way back to kitchen to finish preparing the food she was in the process of making.

Her golden eyes peered back, standing out against her pale skin, just as the pink mutilations to her body did. Yet, despite being ruined physically, she did not feel sorrow towards her body. Those wounds did not cause her anymore pain. They only brought her shame and humiliation.

No, what finally broke her was the memories of that pain, what wouldn't go away. She could recall every mark they inflicted on her, every name they called her, every bruise that had since faded. The internal conflict their words had over her tore her. Whilst they were mean, were their words a lie? Or were the ones who brought her into a world of kindness lying? The kindness she so desperately wanted to believe in could all be a facade. Especially now since she only found out that she was being treated kindly because of this bond a random person has with her, that may or may not be another lie.

It was the internal damage, the mental abuse that had been driven into her for years that finally brought a tear to fall down her cheek.