Wretched || H. Lecter

} CHAPTER SEVEN {

} CHAPTER SEVEN {

Hot, thick steam fills the room around me, leaving me naked in my bathroom breathing in the damp air. With my hair a mess and my under eyes dark and prominent, I climbed into the shower to get ready for the day.

I had work again today so I took a little extra effort to get myself out of bed but I didn't have a choice in the matter. I needed the money to pay for my shitty apartment and if I didn't want to starve, it was kind of critical.

Under the burning temperatures of the shower's stream, I scrubbed my skin to the point where my skin became an unnatural, bright red that stood out drastically against my pale, ghost-like skin. I made sure every square inch of my body was clean before switching off the shower and stepping out onto the navy blue bathmat beside the tub.

I stood in the steamy room with a weighted chest, every night I battled my dark, painful memories only to wake up and feel everything all over again. It was a never-ending cycle of hurt and it was draining.

I swiped my hand across the mirror over the sink to my right, clearing a streak through the condensation that had gathered on the glass, obscuring my reflection. As I cleared the mirror of moisture, my eyes locked on to the sight of my face.

Dark, hazel eyes sunken back into their sockets as they sat atop puffy, dark circles. My soaking wet hair dripped water down my ridged back, sticking to me like black leaches.

I ran my fingers over my chest feeling the smooth skin transition into rough, raised flesh at the tops of my shoulders. Collecting my hair in one hand, I draped it down one side of my neck before twisting to catch sight of the ugly scars that haunted the skin of my shoulder blades.

Long, pink marks dragged themselves down, reaching the middle of my back and then made their way back up like a twisted pair of wings. Both of them serve as a constant reminder that I was not normal and would never be able to forget what I had endured as a child.

As I stared at those scars, the memory of the day I got them, pushed to the front of my mind and I felt myself falling into the deep depths of my mind.

A light buzzing noise vibrated from my phone keeping me from reaching places I couldn't afford to visit right now and I had never felt more grateful for Bev's name to come up on screen.

'Have a good shift, Rach.'

That was all it took to remind me of why I was in the bathroom in the first place and I began dashing around in an attempt to not be late for work. Any thoughts of my father fade temporarily.

}----------{

I was tasked with stocking shelves with new products pretty much all day because we had a large delivery this morning that dropped off loads of new dog and cat toys. We were in desperate need of more as they had been selling out faster than they could be imported from our local provider.

Business had been surprisingly slow today which caused a frustrating silence to fill the shop as I refilled the pet bedding section. One or two people weaved between isles but I didn't pay too much attention to them thinking they would come to me if they required assistance.

Dan was up the front of the shop ringing out the customers who needed to pay and spent the rest of the time in the back going through documents and bills that needed paying.

A distant ringing sound came from the back as the shop phone suddenly came to life, drawing my focus to the office door momentarily before going back to what I was doing. Dan always preferred our product to be organised by brand so I spent some time grouping them before putting them on the shelves in front of me.