“What’s she doing here? Why did you bring her?” Killian’s anger, although bold and loud, held no power. At first, I was hurt by his words and wanted to ask him why didn’t he want to see me? But his terror at the sight of this man was blatant. It made me want to comfort my sweet husband. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt her if I let you do it to me!”
“Although I’ve grown quite fond of you, little man, my son comes first, and that little bitch you’re holding so dearly is going to be his whether you like it or not.”
“Magdalena ismy wife! She’s mine! You can’t take her from me!” Killian’s furious scream echoed. He banged and kicked at the metal, hurting his hands and feet.
Mael walked closer, taunting, “I already took her from you, you idiot. And your little fake Gypsy wedding meant absolutely nothing.” The air from his vile mouth and words hit my ear. I cringed into the iron bars, then turned to face Killian. I had to be strong for him. I couldn’t help tightening my grip on the metal and deviating my gaze from Killian. The shame kept me from facing him and telling him how Mael beat me on the daily.
Killian placed the tips of his fingers under my chin and raised it so I would look at him. “Is he the one who gave you that black eye, angel?” I didn’t have to answer. Killian knew the minute our eyes met. What he didn’t know was that Mael beat me every time he realized I had not yet forgotten him. Every day, he’d come into my room. Of course, I’d tried to hide it, but he could always tell. There were days I wished I could forget Killian but the abuse made our memories that much sweeter. Every beating was followed by another drowning session. The doctor said it was to help me forget.
“You have to force her to be with you, don’t you? You’ll never really have her,” Killian warned before spitting on Mael’s cheek.
“I swear to God, I’m going to kill you one day when my father is done with you,” Mael threatened while Killian and I stared into each other’s eyes. Mael kept throwing insults, but I could hardly hear him because I was safe and warm in Killian’s beautiful eyes. I was home and didn’t want to ever leave again. I never wanted to return to reality again.
If this was death, then fuck life. Suddenly the edges of my vision started darkening. “I love you too, angel.”
“Miss Michaelson!” They were performing CPR on me, blowing air into my mouth. I shook my head, trying to stop them then vomited water again and again and again. “Goddammit! I told them this was too long for her! Always pushing the limit. I’m not going to be responsible for anyone’s death.”
Please go away…All I wanted was to enjoy the little time Killian and I had together, even if it was seconds. The warmth of his fingers interlaced with mine comforted me so deeply that I dared feel safe. Safe. God, the sensation was heaven.
I love youI mouthed.
Desperate for Killian to ignore Mael’s ranting, I whispered, “Shhh… Killian, look at me.” He did. “He just wants to anger you. We’re together. That’s all that matters. We can be togeth?—”
“Magdalena, this isn’t a good place.” Killian’s eyes filled with tears and his face wrinkled with anguish. I thought he was in pain. Big hands wrapped around my waist, shutting down my thoughts, my voice.The man yanked me away from Killian with very little effort. I was weak from all the drowning sessions they’d been putting me through. Guilt flowed through me because I couldn’t hold onto him anymore.
“Killian!” I wailed while twisting, kicking, punching, and biting.
“Enough! Come, you little whore,” Mael’s father yelled as he carried me like a ragdoll.
“What are you doing?” Killian’s voice overspilled with terror. “No! Francois! Don’t hurt her! I’ll do anything you want. Did you hear me? Anything!” He kept trying to pull the cell posts out of the cement while Mael laughed.
“You get to watch me make her all mine.” Mael chuckled at Killian. “Me first, Papa.”First?What was Mael talking about?
“What are you doing? First what?” I screamed.
“You refuse to forget him,” he explained to me. “You wanted to see your Killian, didn’t you? Well… here you go. Nowhewill watch everything.” Mael yanked at my dirty hair, dragging me so fast and hard that I tripped. I tumbled, facing the door as other boys marched into the room in a single file, followed by men, until the gigantic room was filled to the brim. They were naked underneath black gowns with hoods opened down the middle.
I thought he would beat me up, like always. It was so much worse.
The images exploding in my mind drew screams out of me.Even half awake, I felt them pinning me down, the helplessness, the pain, and their disgusting bodies on and inside mine. They held me down in front of Killian and forced themselves on me, every one of them. And then?—
“Ahhhhhhh!” Running away from the dream, I screamed for as long as possible, trying to move, punch, and scream.
21. Slave number 5156A
The coldness in the room was so extreme it woke me. The smell of bleach assaulted my airway. Leather restraints dug into my arms, waist, and ankles, and a rubber ball held my mouth open. No matter how much I tried to force it out with my tongue, it wouldn’t budge. I’d been on the hospital bed so long the sores on my back burned into my muscles. I couldn’t remember anything after the water chamber.
His twin brother. I’d never heard of him. Bessie had never spoken of him. He was never at our school, why? What would they do to me now that I’d killed him? I did kill him, right?
I opened my eyes to find myself alone in a hospital room.Please God, let it all be a bad dream or even a hallucination, a psychotic break, anything but reality.Any attempt to shift my body intensified the aching. The frigid temperature had me quaking. A machine beeped faster as I lost the last bits of mysanity.The light was too bright, worsening the headache and pushing hot tears from the corners of my eyes, or was it from my frustration and terror at being forcibly immobilized?
Two strangers in lab coats walked in, one with a stethoscope hanging from his nape. “Slave number 5156A. Oh, you’re finally awake. We had to induce a coma. You had a few seizures. Don’t worry, it was just a little too much fun in the water chamber,” he explained with a smile, then picked up my chart at the foot of the bed.
“Oof, look at that list, declawing, a tracker, slave number tattoo, birth control, and blood work. That should be fast.” He paused and dragged a chair to the side of my bed. The sound of the chair’s legs scratching against the floor was like a nail piercing my ear drums.
“Bring me the proper tools. I want to get this over with before lunch,” he commanded the other younger guy.
Looking from him to the sheets, I tried to communicate to him how cold I was. My mouth was extremely dry and my jaw ached just as badly as the bedsores.
