Fifty-six: Restful Darkness
Temperance
I'm conscious, but I keep my eyes closed as I realize the all-too-familiar sensation of pain littering my body.
My head pounds, and I'm suddenly fearing that my brain is going to explode and then leak out of my ears and nose.
With my eyes still closed, I try to make myself aware of my surroundings as much as possible. My legs are cold; whatever I'm sitting on is made of cement. My arms are stretched above my head, my wrists locked in cuffs that dig into my skin.
I don't know how long I've been here, but my arms ache from the low amount of blood circulating through them.
I slit open my eyes, trying to see through my eyelashes as I fear that someone else is in this room with me.
Through my blurred vision, I see that I am still in my dress and I'm sitting on the ground wherever I am.
I try to keep my breathing calm. Every time I inhale, my ribs ache, which makes my face tense slightly. I move my neck slightly. My hair brushes across my shoulder. I can feel the dry blood embedded in my hair, causing it to be stiff.
"You're awake." The voice that haunts my everyday life speaks, causing my whole body to tense with fear. I can't stop the tears from flooding out of my eyes, rolling down my cheeks and dripping onto my chest.
My head spins with the flurry of emotions that tortures me. Fear takes over the feelings of sadness and anger. The fear takes away all other thoughts I could've had if he didn't speak at that moment.
"Can't say I've missed you, daughter." He crouches in front of me and puts his hand on my chin, lifting my head up to look at him. My eyes aren't in slits anymore. They are open now that he's figured out I am awake.
Every voice in my head is screaming at me to rip my head out of his hands and kick him where it hurts. Every voice is screaming, trying to force me to resist.
My body doesn't listen. My body doesn't move. I feel like a deer in headlights as his grip on my chin gets tighter. Why can't I move?
He turns my head with ease, looking at the sides of my face like he's studying me.
MOVE TEMPERANCE.
My body continues to deny me, leaving me frozen in place. In my helplessness, I am unable to stop my tears from wetting his fingers.
"Your friends here caught you out there being a little slut, Temperance. I can't tell you how disappointed that makes me. I thought I raised you better."
There's hate laced in my name when he says it, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. He leans in, staring at my face before he backs up.
I can faintly smell the alcohol on his breath, which isn't normal since I know he should wreak of the smell.
"Should we call her dear boyfriend now?" I see a figure walk into the room. Unsurprisingly it's the man who bought me. A menacing grin is plastered on his face, his eyes dark, making him look more twisted. My father lets go of my face, slightly throwing my head back into the brick behind me.
A small whimper leaves my throat as I feel blood wet the back of my head.
"You know what our plan is?" My father's leg rushes towards me, landing on my stomach as he sneers. As his foot rearranges my organs, I feel the breath leave my body, a stabbing pain shooting throughout my body.
It takes me a few moments before I am able to inhale again, but a part of me wishes I would've just suffocated at the moment.
"We are going to lead him here in some way. Then..." He pauses, "then we are going to end his life in front of you. With him gone, you're going to go back into the trafficking ring."
My eyes ache from the tears as they begin to slow. It's not that I don't want to cry. It's that I feel like I've run out of tears to cry.
My father backs up and looks at my buyer, telling him to "rough me up".
My eyes go wide once I'm able to process his words. With my father leaving the room, I can feel my arms begin to move of my own accord. The paralyzation is over as I try to rip my hands from the cuffs.
"You're going to fuck up your wrists." He scoffs at my wrists which are rubbing raw.
The man walks closer to me, and I tense up, trying to prepare myself for the hits. But I know that no matter how much preparation I do.... the pain will still overtake me.
I take a breath before his fists fly at me, bloodying my face before my body goes numb. I've felt this abuse on a regular growing up, but now there's a risk to this. Now Alec is involved. They are going to kill him in front of me, and I can't do anything about it.
Grief takes over, hitting me like this man's fists as I am unable to bare it.
I don't stay with the thoughts for long once he bashes my head back into the bricks for a second time. My body goes numb, and I lose touch with everything around me aside from his punch. It is like rapid fire. Hit after hit. With his punches starting to lag, I know that this is going to end soon because he is growing tired.
Between each hit, he mutters things like, "You're pathetic" or, "we are going to torture your boyfriend to death". Trying everything he can think of to break me.
During a punch, his fist loses coordination and slams into the wall. Through the ringing in my ears, I hear a crack from his knuckles before his pained voice fills my ears.
He holds his wrist. My eyes swelled to the point of seeing through slits again.
I'm in the middle of losing consciousness when he calls the others in through his gritted teeth.
He turns towards me, and I can hear him scream something else to the others as he realizes the state I am in.
I close my eyes, leaving my body to blank out before I feel something cold splash on my face.
My eyes open back up, dizziness deciding it wants to cloud my mind as the water leaks down my body. There's a woman's face that comes close to mine, scanning mine. Erin?
I can hear their voices speak to each other as she pulls her head back.
There is a few seconds of mumbling, my brain not being able to make out their words as they put what seems like a phone to my face. Their voices get louder, probably yelling at me before they go silent.
A flash goes off in my face, and then they are talking into the phone again.
My body threatens to shut off on me before I feel a sharp pain in my leg. I can tell I just screamed from the way I tensed up, my mouth falling open.
I can only stay conscious for a few more seconds before my body falls into the restful darkness.