Ashes

Arch III. The Longest Road. Entry 15. What have you done to me?

Hope opened her eyes and it felt like she was blind. The darkness was pitch black. Her attempts to scream were muffled. Memories of the last few days, full of pain and fear, suddenly came flooding back.

She tried to move a little, but immediately felt a burning pain in her wrists. The metal of the handcuffs was squeezing her skin. The girl felt that her arms were raised slightly above shoulder level, which increased the tension in the muscles, causing discomfort. Hope tried to concentrate, but the feeling of numbness and tingling brought her back to reality.

Suddenly the door creaked and Atreus walked into the room, turning on the light. His cold gaze met her frightened eyes, although somewhere inside the girl hatred for this man continued to grow.

"Good morning, my dear," he came up to her and ran his hand over her cheek. "How are you feeling today?"

"Let me go and you will know how I feel." Hope tried to sound serious

"You know it's impossible," he sighed, "but I know what we can do now. We need to eat."

The echo of his last words brought her back to that day. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she shook her head. Even though hunger was a monster she couldn't fight, she didn't want anything. Especially not from the hands of this asshole. Atreus looked at the girl calmly and smiled. "It's probably you're going the bad way," he said. "But just say the word and I promise it won't hurt." The girl remained silent in response, and Atreus, realizing that she didn't want to cooperate with him, turned around and left the room, turning off the light. But what did he mean? Is he going to use the same way to feed her or...?

Atreus was gone for several more days. The hunger she felt became even stronger, developing into an unbearable burning in her stomach. Every second without food seemed like an eternity. Hope felt her body crying out for energy. Weakness gradually overtook her body, and her head began to spin from lack of food.

The door slowly opened. Atreus graced her with his presence once again. This time he brought her some food. The girl felt a slight chill coming from the corridor. It made her shiver a little.

"Good morning," he said mockingly, slowly approaching her. The girl closed her eyes, hoping that he would just go away, leave her alone, but he hit her hard on the cheek. "Open your eyes! I didn't let you sleep." The girl felt her cheek burn from the blow, but what bothered her even more was that he had brought food. On the one hand, hunger tormented her, but on the other, she could not allow herself to give in to Atreus' tricks

"We're not going to refuse food, are we?" Atreus said in her ear, covering her mouth with his hand so that she wouldn't say anything. His warm breath made her tremble even more. He felt how fast she was breathing. She was scared, but so defenseless. "You're a good girl, aren't you?" In response, she only shook her head, hoping that he would let her go." You leave me no choice, in that case..." Atreus sighed and went to the cart. Taking some kind of syringe, he offered the girl one last time to be a good girl.

"F-fine," she said barely audibly. She didn't want him to do what happened last time again. The girl just gave up at that moment.

"That's good. Now let's eat. Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I'll let go of your hands so you can eat yourself? Hahaha... No. But there is still good news for you. I changed my sponsor, and now your food is much better." He smiled, bringing a piece of meat to her lips. Seeing her eyes, he only laughed. "Don't be afraid, I didn't kill him so I could cook you something better."

-----

At one point, the shackles opened with a clanking sound, and Hope fell to the floor. Her body met the cold surface with a dull thud. Her wrists, which had been under the pressure of the handcuffs for so long, burned with pain. Even the slightest touch could cause severe pain.