The Breaking Wheel

Chapter 30: Loser!

"I must say, I'm impressed. You've lasted three months. The most anyone's ever gone before was two and a half."

Dr. Collingwood snarled. She wished she could wipe that stupid smile off of Naga's face so badly.

"Wishing violence against another? Tut-tut, that's quite unlike you."

"You've sexually harassed me and tortured me in ways I didn't think were possible. Do you expect me to not want to punch you in the face?" she snapped.

Naga paused, turning around as if considering it. He'd taken his "man in a white three-piece suit" guise again, and she hated it more than ever.

Naga pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her, propping his head on the back of his hands.

"I never had a mother. Tell me, what was it like to see her death?"

Her mother's bloodied, mutilated corpse flashed through her mind. Every detail stood out to her. The scratched left eye. The mouth pulled open into an agonized scream. The torn-open ribcage. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered. Sirens wailed in the distance, banshee screams heralding death. Her father rushing out of the house to find her kneeling over her mother's cold body, sobbing and begging her to wake up.

She gasped when she was pulled out of the memory and forced back her tears when she saw the wickedly delighted look on Naga's face. No matter what, she wasn't going to allow him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

His grin grew wider than ever. "I wonder how it felt at school, seeing others being so disregarding of her death."

"Shut up, shut up!"

"You must have felt like you had no mouth," he inserted two fingers into her mouth and ripped out her tongue, "and yet you had to scream."

Another memory came back. She was standing in the girl's locker room, and around her was a group of girls, all older than her.

"Girl, if you wanna cry about your momma, do it at home!"

Another imitated her voice. "I want my mommy!"

"Get over it, Molly. It was years ago!"

"What a loser!"

The rest of the girls gleefully joined in with singsong voices.

"Loser! Loser! Loser! Loser! Loser!"

She covered her ears, trying to block out the hurtful chants, but it was no use.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she cried, tears finally spilling down her face.

"Loser! Loser! Loser! Loser! Loser!"

The scene melted away, leaving her tied up in a chair, sobbing uncontrollably. Naga simply laughed.

"How pathetic. I thought you said you weren't easily broken. Empty promises, I guess."

He stood up and left her there to wallow in her own suffering.