Chapter 88: Chapter-88. (A Worn-Out Doll).
[WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT AHEAD. SKIP IF YOU WANT]
Sometimes your one mistake could lead to a lifetime of pain and hurt.
It happened to me, but the only thing I could not figure out was which mistake led me to this imprisonment.
The surroundings were dark. No one was here.
Even the voice in my head felt dead. The silence felt stretched. Too stretched.
Anyone would have thought that it could only mean one thing. Death.
At that moment, I really hoped that it turned out to be true, but alas, that was not the reality.
The reality was far worse than death.
***
The first thing I felt was...weight.
Something hard was pressed against my ankle, preventing me from moving. I wanted to open my eyes, but my eyelids resisted opening up. Mostly from the exhaustion.
Even my muscles were screaming, indicating how he whipped me with his belt, and it stung badly.
Only God knew how long I had been here since Josh kidnapped me. After I came into my senses, I was locked in this same room, my leg chained like an animal.
I swallowed my saliva, hoping that it would give some satisfaction against my thirst. As I gather up the courage to move, a gasp escaped from my mouth from the pain slapping on my skin.
It was impossible to move, yet I bit my lips and tried to sit up. After two miserable attempts, I finally sat up, leaning against the cold wall.
My eyes were half open, but I could still see the blurry room around me. I tried to take in some air when I almost puked from this weird smell.
My mind started to process as the last night’s memories started to come in front of my eyes, just like a film.
His words kept ringing in my ear just like a curse, "You are gonna eat food just like a sweet little wife you are, or else..."
My whole body again shivered, my mind recalled those painful and unbearable moments when again a sharp pain shot through my spine, making me wince.
I looked down at my stained shirt. It was all covered in orangish fluid and food particles, recalling when he forcefully tried to make me eat food.
My body could not handle pressure, and I vomited.
He was not so pleased with this gesture of mine and beat me until I was half dead. In his words, it was just a lesson that needed to be taught.
I was still dealing with the aftermath of last night’s memories when the sound of metal screeching jerked me from my thoughts, forcing me to look in that direction.
The metal door, which was closed a moment ago, was dragged or pushed from the other side. The pain vanished in a second, as my body jerked behind trying to get away as far as possible.
I kept dragging my body, ignoring the hurt, but as I was about to reach the corner, the chain wrapped around my ankle got pulled, making me scream from the sudden move.
The metal slightly tore my skin as red liquid dripped on the floor. I looked at the other corner where the other end of the chain was locked in.
My eyes stung as I spiraled with a similar feeling of helplessness, which stabbed my chest repeatedly. Josh appeared from behind the door, but he did not enter instantly.
His eyes met mine, and my whole body jerked with panic. All those horrible memories started to cloud my senses. My breath started to get shallow and faster as my hands trembled.
Josh ignored all of it as I was not having a panic attack; instead, a wide smile was glued to his face, which made my stomach drop. Oh lord, what was he going to do now?
My gut already alarmed me that something was definitely wrong, and after hearing him, it was all confirmed: "Hey darling, I got you a surprise."
My brows furrowed not at his words but at the tone in which he spoke out those words. I could not pinpoint what changed.
He moved forward, but he did not instantly close the door behind him like he usually did to prevent me from escaping.
I blinked, not able to process his weird behaviour. My eyes went to his other hand, which was still behind the door as if he was trying to hide something.
His eyes too darted towards the door as he again spoke, "Come in, darling, your mommy is waiting for you."
My eyes, which until now were half sunk, got wide open the next moment as he pulled someone into that nasty and rusty basement or wherever I was.
And there that figure stood.
A little girl holding his hand.
Her hair was dark, straight like mine. Her big brown eyes felt too familiar as they stared back at me.
I could not think straight for a moment before my breath caught in my throat. I finally noticed what was happening here and why that girl looked too familiar at first sight.
It was like I was staring into a smaller, or should I just say, a younger version of myself.
Josh’s grin widened as he saw realization appearing in my eyes as if he had won some sick game he was playing with me. With us.
He pushed her forward as he spoke up, breaking my trance, "Beautiful, isn’t she?" he said with this too-sweet, sadistic tone, which sent a shiver down my spine when he turned to that little girl and introduced her, "Emma."
Emma.
My eyes straight landed on that little figure standing beside this monster, whom she thought was some saviour or a good person.
She clutched a worn-out doll in her tiny hand.
She looked scared at first, her small fingers tightening on the toy, but when her eyes met mine, they softened without any hesitation.
She tilted her head, as her eyes carried the nervousness and excitement at the same time.