Amore In The Shadows

Chapter 8: Plans & Punishments

Sadie

I've showered three times, my skin is red raw but I still feel dirty. Before leaving the shower the third time, I caught myself staring in the mirror. The girl I once was is gone. My eyes are bloodshot and sore, my skin is littered with bruises, my hair ruffled and messy. I'm not myself, but there's no escaping this hell. My hell. I've tried to escape, each attempt ending with me curled up on the floor in agony as men kick and punch me, laughing in my ear like it's their perfect picture of entertainment. I've been to multiple deals now, standing in expensive dresses, serving drinks while grown men stare at me and drool over their service.

Tonight's another deal, but I plan to leave before it starts. I'm sitting on the mattress in a dress two sizes too big due to the weight I've lost. Every night before it starts, I get an hour out of my room. The door unlocks, and I'm free to roam the mansion as I wish, as long as I don't go outside. I rush upstairs into the one bedroom with the unlocked window and survey my surroundings. No footsteps. No noise. The coast is clear. I lift one leg over the ledge, then the other until I'm dangling out the window and above a porch that the front door attaches to. I go to jump down when an arm pulls me backward, and I'm led back into the room on my back.

"I read your little notes you made in that book. Not very smart now, was it?" I look up to see Marcus above me, smiling sinisterly. Before I can move away, his foot connects with the side of my face, then my stomach, then my arm, which crunches beneath his grip. A scream erupts from my lungs.

"Please stop! Please, it hurts. I'm begging you, I'll do what you want," I beg as a knife slices down my stomach. He pulls the knife away, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. My vision goes blurry, but I pull myself away from the edge and train my eyes to look at him.

"You better be sorry now. Get to your room. No food for you for a week, and you can forget the privilege of going to the deal." I whine and stand slowly to walk to my room, careful not to injure myself further. As soon as my head hits the hard mattress, darkness takes over, and I sleep.

What feels like hours pass before I awake to the sound of gunshots. Did the deal go wrong? Thoughts race through my head while I curl up in a ball in the corner, hoping whoever's here will go past my room instead of peeking inside. Marcus is ruthless, and I hate to think there could be people worse and more brutal than him.

"It's all going to be okay, it's all going to be okay," I try to hype myself up so I don't hyperventilate and go into a panic attack. I've had a lot of those recently. I screw my eyes shut and count back from 10. "9, 8, 7, 6..." That's when I hear footsteps getting closer and closer to my room. Panic claws up my throat, and bile starts rising up my stomach. The gunshots get louder and louder, nearer and nearer. The door swings open, and my eyes meet a pair of brown ones.

Enzo