Two months later.
I've been being tortured for two months straight. My broken bones were healed but it wasn't going to be long before Hera breaks them again.
But it was like I barely felt the pain anymore, like I've gotten used to it.
I sit with my eyes staring at the floor as Hera and Iza come in.
"What game shall we play today, Avia?"
I don't reply.
"Oh, I know. Cleaver, bring them in!"
Cleaver then brings in two young girls, one honey blonde with straight bangs wearing a torn white dress and white tights, looking about six. The other looking about four or five with brown hair and a teddy bear and was wearing a torn pink dress and they both were shoeless and bloody.
"Choose one for me to kill. If you don't choose, I'll kill them both."
"I can't! They're little kids!"
Hera holds my hair back pulling it, forcing me to stare at the suffering children. The blonde one looked me in the eyes and sobbed.
"Which one, Avia?"
I had a feeling that no matter who I picked , they'd probably both die anyways.
"Avia, you've killed four people. You're a murderer. How is this hard?"
Cleaver suddenly drops the girls on the ground and comes over to me and cuts me free with a cleaver.
"Cleaver!" Hera shouts.
"Hold her down, Cleaver. We've got work to do."
Cleaver nods at me and grabs Hera by the neck and holds her up against the wall.
"Time to make you suffer like I did." I reach on the cart and grab a knife. "But I'll make it quick."
I smirk and plunge the knife into Hera's chest.
"Yknow. After all you've done , I begin to like you more and more...the less that you breathe , anyway."
Hera's lips turn blue and her skin goes pale grey as she falls to the floor. I kick her to make sure she's dead.
"One down. One to go." I kicked Iza to the floor and put my foot on her chest. Cleaver held her hands down as I slit her throat.
Cleaver and I rushed over to the girls and picked them up off the floor. They both were crying into our shoulders. "It's okay. You're safe now. We're getting out of here." Cleaver says softly to the blonde girl.
"Lets get the hell out of here then. Where are the others?"
"Come on."
We go into a tight, dark, room with steel walls and see a girl with blond hair curled up in a ball.
"That's Brace. She's the second craziest here next to you, no offense."
"None taken."
"Brace. Get up. We can go home now." Cleaver says to Brace as she slowly crawls up.
"Who's the—what is that?" She said pointing at me. "Is it a monster?"
"No, that's Avia. She's not a monster."
Cleaver goes to help up Brace.
"How'd you escape?" Brace asks.
"Killed them."
"Y-y-you're a k-killer?"
"It's okay, Brace. She did what she had to do. It's nothing to be afraid of."
"How many more are there?" I ask.
"Three. They're locked down in the basement. You all stay up here." He puts the blond girl down then heads off toward the basement.
"What's your name?" I ask the blonde one.
"Alice." She says with a innocent tone.
"I'm Avia."
"And what's your name?" I ask the younger one.
She just stares in silence hugging her teddy bear.
"It's okay. You don't have to be afraid."
"That's Selah, you don't want to know what happened to her before she got here. She's been lucky, she was just locked up and starved for days at a time." Alice says.
"That's lucky?"
"Yeah, for here. The rest of us were continually tortured just like you. I've been kidnapped twice including when I got kidnapped by Iza and Hera. I've been in here a year."
"What about the other time?"
"It's a long story."
Cleaver then came up with three girls . Both had messy hair , well, all of us did. And they could barely speak or move.
"One with the brown hair is Harolynn and the one with blonde hair is Maisie. One on the ground is Jovie, she's practically blind." Jovie wore a blindfold and wouldn't let us take it off. I don't know why.
"How are we all gonna get home?" Alice asks.
"Hera's car?" I ask.
"Great idea. But how will we all fit in there? There's not enough room for seven people."
"Two of us go in the trunk then."
"Alright, let's get out of here. We're finally free."
_
"Don't you think we need new clothes? So people don't suspect anything? Our clothes are all bloody and torn." I say to Cleaver as he drives.
"Yeah, but where and how will we get them? We don't have money and like you said, our clothes are all bloody. And you're wearing a white hoodie, you can easily see the blood."
"We need a plan."
"Can you come up with one?"
"We wait until night and break into a store and steal the clothes."
"But won't there be security monitors?"
"Yes, but we can find a way to turn them off."
"Okay. Let's just hope it works."
—
It was now midnight and all stores were closed. I creeped into a clothing store that Cleaver had parked in front of.
The guard was asleep and I quietly turned off the security monitors.
I grabbed all the clothes I could and creeped back outside and ran to the car.
"Girls, go in the trunk and put these on." I say throwing back the clothes.
I climb back in the trunk to get changed too.
I still wore a solid white hoodie, black jeans, and black sneakers.
For the others, Alice now wore a black dress and a black peacoat with black shiny shoes.
Selah now wore a different pink dress and brown boots.
Maisie wore a red shirt and white jeans while Harolynn wore a grey sweater and white shorts. Jovie wore a black hoodie and blue jeans.
I climb back over the seat and help the little ones up.
"What are we going to do with all our old clothes? Burn them?" I ask Cleaver.
"I'd say yes but we have nothing to burn them with , just keep them hidden in the trunk for now."
"Cleaver, mind if I ask what's your real name?"
"It's Killian."
"Why do you go by 'Cleaver'?"
"That's a story for another time."
"Oh okay."
"Mind if I ask what's up with your—"
"Face? You wanna know why my face is so fucked up?"
"I don't wanna talk about it again."
"Especially your eyes. They look burnt. Did you burn them open?"
"Yes..."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I was completely out of my mind that night."
