CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AMIRA
Sunday
March 21, 2021
Water pelts my back as I lean my forehead against the slick shower wall. My spine sizzles under the scorching downfall, but I welcome the pain because it takes my thoughts away from what I heard at the barbershop.
I felt joy in my heart when the news anchor declared the manhunt was practically over, but that brief moment of overwhelming bliss was quickly snuffed out by the two men sitting in the seats next to me. All it took was a glimpse of that damn article on their phones and their hushed slander to sour the pleasant mood I was in.
“You think he killed the girl too? The one he kidnapped?”
“Probably. Who knows what the fuck they found at that house or what the fuck this guy is into. For all we know, the police are looking for a sick fuck who likes to rape and store girls in his freezer.”
It was absolute bullshit what they were saying. I wanted to scream that I was right fucking there! But I didn’t! I couldn’t!
I can’t risk Roman, so I sat in my seat until tears of anger ran down my face, and my nails reopened old wounds on my palms, letting slow streams of blood pool under my shorn fingernails. Roman shared what his barber said with me, and not even those inspirational words could get me out of the funk those two assholes put me in.
Scorching showers have helped somewhat in the past, so here’s to hoping it helps now.
It doesn’t.
I stand under the current of water until the droplets hit my skin like shards of ice and the comforting pain of my skin burning off my bones becomes unbearable as ice tries to make me solid once again.
Shutting off the shower, I let my head rest a few moments longer before reaching through the curtain for the lemon-scented towel hanging on the rack.
My eyes lock on the faint tracing of a scar on my wrist, the only proof I have of the one attempt I made at taking my own life.
Holding my wrist in my palm, I drop against the shower wall, sliding down until my ass collides with the porcelain tub. I feel nothing as I stare at the scar, but the memory plays out behind my eyes, fresh and vivid as if it happened yesterday.
“How does that feel, Mira baby?” dad asks, grunting against the nape of my neck as he drives himself into my rear. Blood cascading down my thighs while I gasp for breath against the hold he has on my neck.
The staircase railing digs into my abdomen as he shoves my face forward, and from the throbbing in his revolting member and the disgusting sounds he’s making in my ear, I can tell he’s close.
“Come for me, baby. I know you want to. I can feel in it how tightly your pussy is squeezing my cock.”
I don’t want to.
I don’t want to!
Please don’t make me come…
But my body is against me, and as hard as I try, I can’t stop the wave of euphoria from crashing over me. My climax gushes down my legs, mixing with the blood and semen, creating a vile, toxic mess on the floor.
Breathing doesn’t become any easier once he releases me from the crook of his elbow. In fact, I find myself falling to the floor the minute his hands are off me, my hands clutching at my chest, right above my heart as I beg for breath.
“Get off the floor and make us some dinner. I’m fucking hungry,” Dad barks, moving on, but not without a nice kick to the ribs before descending the stairs.
Groaning, I use the top of the railing to lift myself, only to end up slipping in the puddle of our combined juices.
I cry out as my knees collide with the floor, feeling the fragile bones implode on the impact.
For a moment, I consider staying on the floor, but the beating I’ll most likely end up getting from Liam isn’t worth the rest.
I end up crawling to my room, panting, with little bits of blood spilling from my lips from the wound I created when I fell. The journey feels like miles, when in reality, it's only a couple of feet away.
My body is ready to give out once I get into my bathroom, crumbling under the crippling exhaustion. But if I don’t get cleaned up and start dinner, dad will make me pay for it, and not only will he make it fucking hurt, he’ll include Liam, and I can’t handle his form of abuse tonight.
