tw: gore, sex trafficking, and many other triggering topics.
"i never thought he'd comfort me like this and i'd actually feel safe." -salem woods
S A L E M ༺♱༻
"Dad?" I say in disbelief. The man himself walks into the room. He's covered in scars from head to toe. He looks entirely different from the last time I saw him.
He scoffs at the name I call him, "Don't call me that, bitch."
My stomach sinks down. He's the only man I'm scared of. The only man that I know can hurt me and have it destroy me. That terrifies me.
He grabs a seat and sits down in front of me. I'm in a room, tied down to a chair. Ropes are on my wrists, legs, and even on my stomach. If I tug too hard, I can't breathe.
"Why are you marrying him?" he asks me. "He doesn't love you."
I tilt my head, "You know exactly why." I tell him. "I thought it'd be a way to be safe, protect myself and him. Because I actually care about people, unlike you."
His eyes darken as he looks at me with hatred, "Is that so?" he raises a brow as he reaches into his pocket.
No. No. No.
He pulls a baby blue knife out. One that I recognize very very well. I can still feel him cutting into my back every-time I'd mess up. I'd always mess up.
"Please no!" I beg. "Please."
He nods to his guards and they untie me and replace the ropes that were once on my wrist with handcuffs. My dress is torn off my body and my hands are held up by two men, "Please stop!" I scream and try to force my way out of these people. "No!"
The blade presses down onto my back and I freeze. It doesn't hurt like it used to. Tears are running down my cheeks, but I don't feel pain. He drags it down my back carving, but I don't feel a thing.
He stops as he realizes I'm not screaming anymore. He knows I can't feel it, "You can't feel it." he states. "Why is that?" he smirks knowingly.
I clear my throat and blink my eyes to get the tears out of my view, "You taught me to not give into pain." I sniffle. "You'd write what I did wrong in blood; and if I cried you'd go over it again until I stopped."
Everyday I have to see those scars, feel them, touch them. Everyday. Not one moment goes by where I can't feel them tingling from those moments. Not a single one.
He nods his head and smiles wickedly remembering those moments. I know he can. I know he does, "Do you realize how much I cherish those moments, daughter? How much I loved hearing those screams."
I feel bile rising up my throat as he pulls out a larger knife. His missing finger catches my eye. My mom cut that off. She said it was the best thing she ever did in her life. He finally got a little bit of what he deserved.
Abel where are you???
"Your mother used this same knife to cut my precious finger off. Sad she'll have to find out it's the same one that killed her daughter. The same one that's going to slice all those pretty little limbs off." he smiles and approaches me.
I close my eyes tightly as I prepare for what's to come. It's going to hurt. I know it will. It'll be over before I know it, and I will never have to deal with pain again.
There's already blood all down my back from what he did earlier. I feel disgusting. Now I have to die a painful death and I'm not even hot doing it. Just naked and bloody.
He presses the knife to my foot and I wince. And then startled as the next thing I know the door to the room flies open. Abel rushes in and tackles my dad to the floor. My brother springs into action by killing the other men in the room and then untying me.
Abel punches my father repeatedly and my dad just lays there and laughs. "You already tried this once, Ricci. You know the Woods always win." he winks as blood pours down his face.
"When I find you again Salem, because you know I will. Just think of all the fun we'll have. Daddy and Salem time. Just like when you were little." he laughs manically.
No.
I grab a knife and walk up to him, "Tie him up for me will you?" I direct Abel. He looks at me like I'm insane and then does as I say.
My dad is tied to the chair I was just in. He actually looks scared. Like he knows that I can hurt him just as bad as he hurt me. That I will hurt him just as bad as he hurt me.
"You hurt me for over 10 years, 10 years of your stupid abuse! You were supposed to be my dad!" I shout. He flinches slightly, then scoffs, "I was never your dad." he says pulling out his gun and putting it to his head, "It was him all along. She fucked him, leaving me to take the blame for her mistakes."
My heart drops. "What?!"
He puts his fingers on the trigger, I lunge towards him but it's too late. He pulls the trigger and he's gone. I won't describe what I saw, but it made me fall to the floor screaming.
Abel hurries and picks me up and hurries me out the room and into an empty one. He holds me while I cry. It feels nice to be in his arms. He's warmer than any heated blanket I've slept under, "Shhh. It's gonna be ok. I'm here."
And I believe every word he says. My tears slow and I grip him harder. I'm safe. My dads finally gone. The wars over. I can finally heal.
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