FEAR began to form in the deepest pit of my stomach. A sweat broke out on my forehead and my lips began to tremble.
"No," I whispered, "That can't be true." The man chuckled and drew nearer to me, taking a deep breath in through his nose.
"I smell it on you," he growled, a sadistic grin stretching across his face. His eyes scanned over me through the mask, scrutinizing me hungrily. The man grabbed my forearms and pulled me closer, so that I could feel his breath on my face. I whimpered, my body burning with pain as the man buried his face in my matted hair.
"You know what? Why don't we film today?" He asked, kissing my head. Suddenly, I was released and blindfolded. The man picked me up and carried me to the film room, mumbling the whole time. The smell of blood and sweat hit my senses like a wall and I knew we had arrived.
Within seconds, I was set down, chained, and unblindfolded. Squinting against the bright light, I took in the scene before me. Jonah laid slumped on the floor, blood matting his hair to his face. He squinted at me through swollen eyes and smiled slightly. The man set up the cameras quickly and the distorted voices of the live feed filled the room.
Once finished, the man made his way to me and unchained me before leaving the room and locking the door. I stared at the door in disbelief, rubbing my wrists. Glancing from the door to the camera, I slowly crawled toward Jonah. Cupping his bruised face softly, I examined him. He winced, forcing me to stop in terror of furthering his suffering.
"What happened?" I whispered. Jonah shook his head, glancing at the camera. The voices roared at my question, eager to answer for Jonah.
"He took your beating, filthy slut!" One shrieked. My stomach turned and I caressed his face softly.
"Do you already know?" I asked him.
Jonah nodded, "It's not mine."
"Then who's?" I asked clutching my stomach.
"He wanted a bigger family," Jonah managed to whisper through labored breathing, "I never wanted to hurt you."
I shook my head and smiled sadly, "I know."
...
The voices quickly became bored of us and left. We had been trapped in the film room for hours. I had already looked for anything in the room to help Jonah, but came up empty. The man's absence terrified me. I didn't know what he wanted me to do. Jonah slipped between consciousness and unconsciousness. I managed to place his head on my lap so that he would have something soft to lay on. For hours, I sat and watched him sleep. Every once in a while, a voice would pop up and tease me, but other than that, the room was eerily silent.
I spent the majority of my adolescence in this room, withering in the man's hands, wishing to be dead. How did I get dragged back here? I had been so careful, I even changed my name.
"Elysia," Jonah murmured and I looked down at him, "He's going to be back soon. You have to get away from me."
"What? No, I'm not leaving," I said, "I'll be okay." The voices on the live feed began to rejoin, discussing with each other what they might experience today. The locks on the door clicked open and I watched in terror.
In the doorway stood the man in his usual mask, pointing a pistol directly at my head.
YOU ARE READING
VICTIM
Mystery / Thriller"I let you go once, I won't be so foolish to let you go again." ❁ Elysia Mills is seemingly normal, until you look into her past. As a teen, she was abducted and obsessed over by a young man. When the police found her, she was told she had been "lu...
