Absolution | +18

Chapter 52

Val

⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️

I woke up to the world spinning, my vision a blur of shadows and faint light. My heart pounded erratically, but as the room slowly came into focus, the panic shifted to something colder, more sinister. I knew this place. My breath hitched as the familiar walls closed in around me, the weight of memories crashing down like a tidal wave.

This was the room—the one that haunted every corner of my mind, the one that had tortured me in my nightmares for years. The distant sound of cries, the desperate pleas for mercy, echoed in my ears, as if the walls themselves were saturated with pain. My own cries. My own pleas.

I twisted, instinctively trying to move, but the clinking of chains stopped me cold. My arms were stretched above my head, wrists bound by heavy metal shackles that bit into my skin. The sharp pain radiated down through my shoulders, growing more unbearable with each passing second. I could barely touch the ground, my feet brushing the cold floor, leaving me suspended, swaying slightly. Every movement sent a fresh jolt of agony through my body.

Panic began to bubble in my chest, but then, a more visceral fear overtook me—where was Silas?

I scanned the room frantically, my heart pounding in my ears, but there was no sign of him. My stomach twisted into a knot. What had they done to him? Had they hurt him—killed him? I couldn't breathe as my mind spiraled through every worst-case scenario. The last thing I remembered was him falling, the sound of that sickening blow as they hit him, his body slumping to the floor.

Please be okay. Please be alive.

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my already fuzzy vision, but I forced them back. I had to stay strong. I couldn't let them see me break. Not again. I pulled against the chains, wincing as the metal dug deeper into my wrists, but the bonds held firm, cruelly unyielding.

I had been here before. I had been trapped in this very room, helpless and afraid, but I wasn't that broken girl anymore. No matter how much this place tried to pull me back into that nightmare, I wouldn't let it swallow me again.

But the longer I hung there, my body aching, the weight of everything began to press down harder. The voices of my past whispered in the corners of my mind, reminding me of how easily I had been broken before, how helpless I had felt in this very spot.

And now, Silas was out there, possibly hurt or worse because of me.

I had to find him. I had to get out of here. I couldn't fail him—not like I had failed the others.

I clenched my teeth, pushing back the pain as I scanned the room again, desperately searching for any sign of weakness, any possible way out. My arms screamed in agony, my feet barely touching the ground as I hung there, but the fire inside me was still burning.

The door creaked open, and I froze, my heart pounding in my chest as I heard the familiar, heavy footsteps approaching. It was him. The man from my past—the one whose touch had poisoned my life.

He stepped into the room, and his gaze locked onto me, a sickening smile spreading across his face. My stomach twisted with nausea as he sauntered toward me, his eyes glinting with malicious intent. He looked almost pleased, like a predator savoring its trapped prey.

"Valentina," he drawled, his voice sickly sweet as he came closer. "Look at you... all grown up. I've missed you so much."

His words slithered over me, sending shivers of revulsion down my spine. Every fiber of my being screamed to move, to fight, but the chains held me in place, my body betraying me. I tried to turn my head, to avoid the inevitable, but he grabbed my face roughly, forcing me to look at him.