Run (#Wattys2016)

18

Chapter 18

It’d been a week. One week since I’d last seen my family. Since I’d been dragged into this living nightmare. In that time, a little water had found its way to me. One glass every three days. But still no food. My stomach was starting to growl. But Emily was true to her word. She would always try to get me to eat some of her breakfast. I was also true to my word. I wouldn’t let her feed me. No matter how weak I got.

Aaron had taken to keeping me in a strait jacket and chains every night. That made it extremely hard to refuse Emily’s food advances. Why didn’t she get that she needed the energy? I could see how much thinner she got every day, even with her eating all the food. Along with all the other girls. 

The worst part of it all; the tortures were every night. Starting in bed and then going to whatever he had planned for the rest of the night. Then he would wrap me up in the strait jacket and chains and take me back. I think I was getting about two hours of sleep every night. They didn’t help either. But without them, I wouldn’t be functioning as well. 

“Come on, Lekia. Just one bite,” Emily pleaded, trying to spoon some oatmeal into my mouth. 

“Emily, that one bite will give you more energy than without it. And you need all the energy you can get!” I closed my mouth quickly and turned my head away. 

“Lekia!” Emily was getting frustrated now, she put the spoon back in the bowl and took a deep breath, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re getting thinner too. You haven’t eaten for a week, you need the energy. I get three meals a day! The least I can do is give a bite.”

“No, the least you can do is nothing. Emily, I have gone weeks without eating before. You haven’t. My body can function just fine without food. It’s not you he’s mad at. It’s me,” I convinced her. She gave me a searching look and then turned away. I let out a breath I was holding in. 

The door slammed open. All of the girls jumped and looked around. Aaron was standing in the doorway. The smirk on his face seemed to bring storm clouds into the room. 

“No need to glare, Lekia,” he said in his snake voice, “It’s just me.” He walked closer. Kneeling down in front of me, he picked me up. My teeth gritted as the pain shot through my back.

“I have a special treat for you today,” he whispered as he carried me out and shut the door, “We’re going to mess with your mind. And it’s going to be fun for everyone. But you that is.” He gave a slight chuckle.

“I’m surprised that you don’t have a hood on me right now,” I stated, “I’m not even fuzzy in the head. What’s up with that?”

“Truly? I don’t really care at this point. You know this way anyway, so what’s the point? And anyway, you’re about to get ‘fuzzy in the head’, as you put it. So I have complete confidence you’re not going to escape.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. 

He took me to the torture room. In the center of it was the Chinese water torture table. I went stiff with fear, my mind in overdrive. There was no point to fight yet. But once he unchained me....

Two goons emerged from the dark. That limited my chance of escaping. But I still had to try, right? Aaron placed me on the wooden table and started to undo the padlocks. Once the chains were undone, I kicked out at the goons. It caught them by surprise. They lurched out of the way. I managed to kick one in the jaw. But then they grabbed both my legs. I kept kicking and thrashing. Then there was a pressure on my throat. 

“I’m getting awful tired of this kind of behavior, Lekia,” Aaron growled, putting more weight on his arm. I gasped for air. None seemed to be coming in. I grabbed his arm, trying to get him to pull away. Wait, how could I move my arms? Someone grabbed my arms and pulled them above my head. The world was going fuzzy. I could barely breathe. Suddenly, the weight was lifted. I gasped as the air rushed into my lungs. Then coughed back up. ‘Breathe in, breathe out. Come on, nice deep breaths,’ I coached myself.