Luxuria's Darkness

Chapter 8: Hope is a miserable thing. 🔞

Jasmine opened her eyes. She had to blink several times for her eyes to adjust the light. By how heavy her head felt like, she realized she had been drugged again. She covered her eyes with her hand and the cold metal touched her face.

"The shackles." Jasmine had a metal shackle tied to her hand, and the chain went all the way to the wall. She got out of the bed and made her way to the bathroom. There was no mirror, only a sink and a toilet.

The monster made sure she wouldn't escape or hurt herself in the process, so he removed everything that could be used as a weapon, including the bed sheet. She couldn't exactly pin point for how many days she was locked up, since she always struggled to stay conscious. She washed her face and walked back in her room, she called it her torture room. The walls were white, the floor was white, everything was white, it made her feel like she was in a mental hospital. The situation itself was dire and she had no hopes of getting out alive, and it made her want to smash her head against a wall. That was the only thing she didn't try.

At first, she tried everything to get away, she fought him, she tried to kill herself, but the monster would never allow her that. She couldn't call herself alive or dead, she just existed in a hell of torture. She looked at her body who once was beautiful, now she was skin, bones and bruises. She sighed and sat on the bed. She tried many times and different ways to remove her shackles but the damn thing did not want to move, she had to wait until he got back. She was allowed to walk outside her room only when he was present, the same it went with taking showers.

Her mind often drifted to a time when she was truly happy. Life seemed easier, she had a perfect job she liked, a great relationship with her parents and sister, she seemed to have it all, until the monster decided to step in. She missed her old life, she missed her sister, her parents, most of all, she missed the love of her life. Once, she dreamed of a future with him, now, she was too ashamed to even to face him. The monster forced her to steal money from him, threatening her with Sophia's life if she didn't. She had no choice.

She considered going to the police when she was out of his grasp, but who would believe her? She was pointing her fingers to one of the country's most rich and famous. They would have laughed in her face. She even considered telling Jin about it. She shook her head. The monster was a very good friend of his, he wouldn't have believed her. The only remaining option was for her to do what she was told. She couldn't risk the safety of her sister, or her family. If she had ran away, she couldn't bear the guilt of letting her sister take the fall for her. So she preferred living a nightmare, it was the only way she could protect all of them.

When days were better and he wasn't at home, she often looked through the window. She tried many times to open it, with no luck. Even if it did work, jumping from the tenth floor wasn't a good idea. The world seemed to move on, everyone was in a hurry to get to where they had to be, yet her life was on pause. Growing up, Jasmine thought that women were the architect of their own lives, well they were, until shit happened and monsters were met. She heard stories from the women she worked with, and she always wondered why didn't they left. She realized the truth now, sometimes leaving is not even a choice. When you are scared for your life, and you feel like you are completely alone and no prospect, what else could you do?

After so much time, she hated herself. She couldn't even bare the sight of her own face. When the monster was there, he allowed her to take a short shower, and that bathroom had a mirror. She would often see her own reflection, she was sick of herself. She sometimes felt like she deserved it, sometimes she felt an intense urge to fight back. She wondered how many new bruises will have on her body. He made a disaster out of her life, she should have trusted her instincts and ran for her life. If only he wouldn't have threaten her to kidnap her sister and sell her, her life would still have been the way it used to be.