"Where are you, Drea? I'm not gonna hurt you." Antonio sang in an amused voice. Shivers started to run down my spine as a single tear escaped my eyes.
--------------------------
Drea Ricci has met many monsters in her life. But the biggest monster...
"Hi, cutie pie." She poked her nose and she giggled adorably.
The young girl, whom Drea soon came to know as Poppy tackled her with a comforting hug.
She needed this. A hug from a little girl to remind her that she was once a little girl. An innocent girl that was too naive but had finally grown up to escape her bad situation and finally live an independent life in a town far away from the nightmare life she survived.
Through her locks of dark hair, Drea could see the same lady watching their interaction with a soft smile on her face.
Drea stood back up and held Poppy in her hands. The kind old lady who she assumed was Poppy's grandmother opened her arms wide and gave her a gentle hug.
"Welcome, dear."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After a long conversation that felt more like twenty questions with multiple townsfolk, I finally found myself standing in front of my new place of stay.
It was a rustic hotel that looked as if it was hanging on by the thread, literally. The outside of the building was a color it probably wasn't originally supposed to be. The windows were practically slimy and brown like they'd never been cleaned at all.
It was crowded with druggies I assume and other people that probably have a home but choose to roam the streets for free injectables.
The floor was littered with waste like a crown of trash and there was someone, hopefully alive, unresponsive on the sidewalk of the hotel.
Is this new location of mine ideal?
Definitely not.
I'm used to living in a hygienic and expensive environment, which is the opposite of this one-star hotel.
Hell, I never thought in a million years that I would ever miss my nightmare of a mansion that I probably ended up breaking every bone in at the hands of my husband. But I somehow do.
For one, it was gated and shunned from humanity. It wasn't gated completely hence my ability to escape but it was gated partially nonetheless.
There were more rooms than I can count and they were all as tidy as possible.
Antonio was a really clean and pristine man. Much to my contrast, I've always been disheveled and unorganized.
His hygiene routine is probably ten million steps, he's too perfect in terms of self-care.
We never needed the maids to clean up our room or his office because it just never was messy.
It's like a cloud of sparkly bubbles followed my husband's path. He always looked good, smelled good, and made sure everything around him was good.
