Chapter 3
Dawn
We are borninto this world as equals. Once we take our first breath, we depend on our parents to take care of us, to keep us alive by giving us the food and shelter we need. There are so many people who want children but are unable to carry any, while so many people are gifted a child and want nothing to do with it. Then, there are the people who would give their children the clothes off their own backs ifneeded.
When I was young, my parents worked hard to make sure I had everything I needed. Dad worked at a supermarket at night, while Mom worked for a cleaning company during the day. Growing up, I didn’t know how poor we really were. Neither did I know who my parents truly were as people. I was a small child, and they were loving parents, no matter what they chose todo.
I didn’t have the same things that other kids my age, and I never asked why. I just thought that was how itwas.
When my dad was murdered at his job one fateful night, my life changed forever. I was eleven when my mom began to work more shifts at the cleaning service—or so she said. Little did I know at the time that she was getting into something she would never be able to stop. She became distant, and I began to take care ofmyself.
The night I turned fourteen, I was taken out of my home by a man I thought I could trust. A man I thought was halfway decent compared to many of the other men who hung around my mom. Mom was at work that night, so I allowed him into the apartment, since he had popped up a few times a week for a while. Besides, he brought food, and I was starving. I never thought he’d be one of those men who turned out to be my worst nightmare. It was my birthday, after all. I hadn’t thought anything was awry until it was toolate.
Looking back, I wish I knew how much of a monster he was. I wish I could turn back time and then maybe things would have ended much differently. All this was because one stupid man thought he deserved to dabble with mylife.
I was at the sink before we were going to eat, filling up the green plastic cups with water, when he came up behind me. He grabbed me around my neck, nearly choking me in the process. The cup bounced along the floor as it fell from my grip, water splashing my feet. I didn’t realize this man could be so cruel. I knew he had some dirty thoughts, just by the way he would look at my mom, and how he said things with a glint in his eye. However, I was only fourteen and a virgin; I didn't realize then how evil men couldbe.
I struggled against him, kicking and screaming. I did everything I’d been taught to do. I bit the hand he placed over my mouth in an attempt to silence my screams. My heart beat fast and hard in my chest as fear consumed me. I hastily used a chair to block his path when I got away from him, and then I ran, my feet taking me away from him on their ownaccord.
It didn’t deter him long, as he caught me when I reached the door, grabbing me around my midsection. He then poked a needle into myneck.
When I awoke some time later, I was in a dark, damp cell. The walls were filthy from who knew what. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry or yell. I just sat there quietly, lost in my own mind. Looking back, I was probably in shock. I waited for someone to come kill me. That would have saved me a lot of pain. I often wished for death to take me during the years I was there. I still wish ittoday.
For over five years I was held underground. I was forced into submission, molded into someone I didn’t want to be. It became harder and harder as the days passed to remember who I really was. I lost my mind, my dignity, and mybody.
The clothes I wore were no longer mine. I slept on a cot until it broke, and then I slept on the cold cement floor with nothing to fend off the cold that permeated the air. After so long, my body became numb to the horrors and abuse. I gave up hoping I’d ever get out of that place. I no longer had any fight left in me. There was nopoint.
Waking up warm and lying on what felt like a cloud frightened me as much as waking to complete darkness. My body was sore; my throat on fire, as though I had swallowed sandpaper. My head thumped with each beat of my heart. I felt the warmth of the sunlight shine upon my face through the crack in the curtain. I wanted to open my eyes, to see the sun, but I was tooafraid.
Everything hurt—even the blood pulsing through myveins.
Please, death. Takeme!
The floor creaked as someone entered the room. I tried to keep my breathing even as footsteps came closer. Of course, when a warm hand touched my forehead, I jumped a mile, instantly sitting up and trying to move as far as I could from the person, almost flinging my body away from the touch. No one had touched me so gently inyears.
Not realizing how small a bed I was on, I ended up falling off, hard onto the floor. I threw my hands behind me, but my wrists hurt and I groaned out indiscomfort.
“Well, good morning,” said a man as he walked around the bed. His voice was filled with concerned humor. He had short, dark brown hair that had a natural curl to it. His heart-shaped face had some stubble growing. My eyes refused to move from his as his dark eyes, so much so, that I couldn't lookaway.
What was he going to do? Who washe?
“You still have a fever, girl,” he said kindly as he kneeled next to me, ignoring the way my body flinched. My eyes were wide as I stared at him. He slowly moved his hand to my upper arm and I jerked away from his touch once more. I couldn’t help the response my body made because of the years of abuse. “You need rest,” hesaid.
Although I was frightened, his voice was calm—nearly the type of calm that might easily put me to sleep,though
Too tired and confused, I didn’t fight as the man gently lifted me and laid me back on the bed. He handed me a bottle of water, which I gladly gulped half of right away, not caring that some spilled down mychin.
“For now, you are to rest. I want you to sleep as much as you can. The bathroom is the open door across the room.” He pointed to the direction of the bathroom and I followed the line of sight. “You’re welcome to use the shower to get clean. I’ll bring some food soon, as well. Once you’re feeling better, I’ll go over the rules of this house and what I expect from you,” he said quietly but firmly, in a way I knew to obey. He handed me one red pill, Advil, and I swallowed it withoutquestion.
“I put some clothes on the counter. I’ll be back in a little bit to check on you and change your sheets,” hesaid.
After he left, I looked around the room. I sat on the bed. On either side of the bed stood nightstands. A door across the room most likely led to the hallways, which was next to one of thebookshelves.
Slowly, I got up off the bed and made my way towards the bathroom, craving a warm shower. I was only allowed to bathe once a month at the place I was kept, if I was lucky, and in cold water. Not the best of options, but at least I did get a chance to be cleansomewhat.
This bathroom was huge with a heatedfloor.
I wondered if I had died, because there was no possible way I’d ever see something this grandanywhere.
