Saving Beth

Part 4

*BETH*

I couldn't breathe. The smell kept me awake every night, and I lost track of time. I might have been there an hour, or it could have been a week. "Daddy" kept me in a room with no windows, and the only way out was through a locked door. I tried to escape once, but Daddy punished me, and I didn't want to be punished again. My room was pretty, I guess. It was all pink, with flowers and ponies on the walls. I had a big soft bed, with my very own princess canopy. Just like I always wanted. But whenever Daddy asked me if I was happy, I had to make myself nod. I wasn't. I was miserable.

There was one other little girl here with me. Daddy said her name was Mindy, but she looked a lot like my friend Jenny from back Home. She didn't talk much, and I don't think she showered very often. I wasn't allowed to play with her much either. I guess she was bad a lot. I felt bad for her.

"Annabeth, sweetheart, are you awake?" I heard Daddy's voice through my bedroom door. I was too scared to speak, so I stayed under my covers and pretended to be asleep. I didn't want Daddy to know I stayed up again. He would beat me again and I don't like when he beats me...

I heard my door open, and Daddy's heavy footsteps started coming towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to lay as still and quiet as I could. The footsteps stopped right by the end of my bed, and I almost whimpered. But I remembered I couldn't let him know I was awake.

It felt like Daddy stood there for hours, just watching me. He did that a lot. Sometimes, I could hear him moving, and it sounded weird. But I never dared to look. Usually he pulled my covers down first, and sometimes I felt something wet and sticky land on me. I tried very hard not to move, I didn't want Daddy mad at me. He always cleaned me up, and kissed me goodnight. I didn't like his kisses. They weren't like the normal kisses daddies give their daughters. His kisses felt wrong and scary. But I couldn't tell him I didn't like it, or he would hurt me.

He stood there a few minutes longer, and when he thought I was asleep, he left the room. I sighed in relief, Daddy wasn't going to be bad tonight. I sat up and looked around my dark room. I didn't know if Mindy was awake. I hoped not, Daddy would be really mad if she was. I waited until I was sure Daddy wasn't coming back, and I got out of bed. I went to my "window" that Daddy had painted and tried to listen through the wall. I couldn't hear Daddy, so I knocked lightly. If Mindy was up she would knock back. I listened really hard, and I heard the weird noises Daddy makes sometimes, and I ran back to my bed. I messed up really bad this time, I'm going to get hurt. I started crying, waiting for Daddy to come punish me.

But Daddy never came. I waited and waited. I started getting really hungry, and I could hear him talk to Mindy sometimes. I thought it was breakfast time, but he never brought me food. The lights never came on, so I stayed in the darkness. I tried not to cry; Daddy didn't like crying. It felt like forever before he came to check on me. And even when he did, it was just to stare at me and make those weird noises. And when the wet sticky stuff landed on me he left it there and walked out. I tried to stay awake, but I was so cold and hungry... My eyelids grew heavy, and I decided a little nap wouldn't hurt. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard my door open and Daddy walked in, and he did lots of bad stuff to me... But I was so tired I couldn't fight.

Daddy didn't like me to fight... I had to be good, or he would do the bad things more often. I didn't like making Daddy mad, I didn't like him doing the bad things. I didn't want to be like Mindy.