Introductions
The second I heard the door to my bedroom close, Icollapsedonthe floor. For thefirst time in days, I was finally alone. I sat against the wall andpulled my knees to my chest, clutching my legs tightly as thoughthey would fly away if I didn’t. I felt the shakes coming on as thepanic I had buried deep under my rationality finally clawed its wayback up. I lost my breath in the wake of the aftermath of what Ihad been holding back for so long, and all it took was a singularmoment of clarity to come along and shatter me.
I had been sold.
Me—a human being capable of love, compassion, andkindness had been sold like a prized dog breed. What was worse wasthat a man who was capable of none of the above had been the one topurchase me. And it terrified me. I now officially belonged tosomeone, and I didn’t even know his name.
I glanced up from my dirty and dry knees to find aglimmer of my reflection in the full-length mirror across the room.I didn’t know if I had the guts to look at myself and what I hadbecome, but I decided I wanted to remember every horrible thingthis man did to me so when the day finally came that I brought himto his knees, I would remember exactly why.
Not having the strength to stand, I crawled my shakybody over to the mirror, the sight of my reflection becoming worseand worse with every move. When it was clear and unmistakable, Inearly broke down all over again. It took everything I had to lookand face the ghost of the girl who peered at me from the mirror.There were so many bruises; I thought I looked like a damnDalmatian. They were everywhere. My face, my throat, my hands andknuckles, my arms and legs, but the most prominentwasthe long shoe-shaped one that stretchedacross my entire chest. It was healing, but far too slowly for myliking.
I had lost a lot of muscle tone since my time inthat cage, and I thought I looked far too skinny and sickly. Purplebags hung under my eyes from stress and lack of sleep, and my skinwas pasty as fuck and paler than usual. My hair was a tangled messand the red “dress” I had been given was already ripped at theside. How did this guy even find me attractive? I looked and feltlike total shit.
I hated looking like this; it was the image ofweakness and vulnerability. I preferred to look strong and healthy,and I was definitely lacking, but I vowed I would return to mysuperior physical state and then some as soon as I was able.
The new diamond studded silver rings that adorned mywrists and ankles glistened under the lighting of the room, and Ibecame instantly angered by their presence on my body. They werehonestly beautiful; like jewelry, if I didn’t know any better. Ifiddled with them for a second before realizing no matter how muchI wanted them off, they would still remain. But what hurt my pridethe most was the collar resting around my neck. The true sign Ireally was a prisoner. But it would not be for long. This was onlytemporary.
Fighting the strain of my body, I stood and slowlypadded over to my new bathroom, completely unimpressed with thelush beauty of the all-white marble and bright natural light. Whatreally caught my attention was the giant Jacuzzi tub nestled infront of a large bay window. It held a perfect view of the ocean atthe back of the house, the shore beckoning me to swim away with thetide. I stared out the window and took in as much of the scenery asI could. Though the scene was picture perfect, I hoped to God Iwasn’t on some estranged island.
I walked away from the window, noting I would haveto take advantage of that tub another time. I headed to the largeshower in the corner, which sported three showerheads and even asmall seating area. I turned the shower on and continued to explorethe bathroom as I waited for the water to heat up. I wanted itscalding.
Looking in the drawers and cabinets, I discoveredthousands of dollars’ worthof designer makeup, hair products,and styling tools. It was a girl's ultimate fantasy. Luckily forhim, I actually knew how to use all of this. My mother had been acosmetologist all her life, and I didn't escape my childhoodwithout knowing a few tricks on how to make myself look pretty. Ijust never indulged in it much.
Once the steam started to fill the air, I turned andjumpedintothe shower letting thehot jets spray all over my still damaged skin. It felt amazing, andfor a long time, I just stood under the spray and let the waterwash away all my anguish
As my body began to relax and finally find comfort,I felt the tremors return. My body trembled and shookuncontrollably, and I knew what was coming, what needed to happen.If I wanted my body to be strong, I would have to expel myweakness. I needed to purge every last drop of my affliction inorder to conquer my nightmare and I didn’t resist any longer as Ifully unleashed the hell in my aching, bleeding heart.
I violently released all the pain and grief I hadbeen holdinginand screamed andcried the hardest I ever had in my entire life, slamming my fistsdown on the wet tile until they throbbed. My tears fell hard andheavy as I eventually curled into a ballonthe floor of the shower and cradled myself under thespray. I could have sworn that even though the shower was scalding,its heat had nothing on the liquid fire that flowed from my eyes. Iweptwith everything I had as Icried for the loss of my family, the loss of the love of my life,for the loss of Kayla and the other girls, and for the loss ofmyself.
I had worked so hard to get to where I was, and now,it had all been snatched away from me like some cruel joke. I haddreams and goals, but they’d been replaced with the demand toplease another who thought he owned me. I wanted so badly to gohome, to wake up in Jason's embrace and find that all of this wasjust a twisted nightmare. God, I missed him so much, and it killedme not knowing how long it would be before I felt his arms aroundme again.
But I vowed I would get back to him. Come hell orhigh water, I would escape this place and exact my revenge on thisfuck who thought he could rule me. I would somehow have to fool himinto thinking that he did, let him believe me brainwashed andcontent. I would play the part perfectly. I, of course, would haveto keep up myfight,at first, lethim think he really was breaking me down to his liking, and playhis perfect little submissive pet. Then, when I finally had hiscomplete trust, I would strike. And I would strike hard and withoutmercy. I was going to make this man actually care about me until hefinally fell in love, assuming he was capable of love … and thenturn his world upside down. And in turn, I would make him think Iwas in love with him, too. I’d have him so tightly wrapped aroundmy finger, he wouldn’t be able to feel himself slowly choking todeath.
And fuck his empire. I’ll take that shit down,too.
Once I felt I had forced out every last tear my bodyhad banked, I pushed myself from the floor and finishedcleaningnot only mybodybut also my soul. After washing and pruning the shitout of my skin, I emerged from the shower a brand new person.
I grabbed the towels I had placed on the counter andwrapped my hair and body. Looking at myself in the mirror, not onlydid I look a hell of a lotbetter, butIalso felt it. I still had scrapes and slight bruising hereand there, but nothing I couldn't fix with my makeup skills.
Toweling my hair dry, I put in some leave-inconditioner and let the damp strands air dry while I applied mymakeup. I went for a soft smoky look that brought out the hazel inmy eyes. Thankfully, I was able to conceal some of the redness andbruising from my lovely owner’s handling of me. I even managed tocover the ones on my arms and legs, but the one on my chest was alittle harder to conceal. By the time I was done, it hadappearedas if it was simplyfading. I hoped it would be gone in the next few days.
I then gave my hair a perfect blow out, and it feltso good to have my tresses finally brushed and styled, mymid-length red-layered locks falling beautifully down my back. Iwas beginning to feel human again, but I knew once I went down todinner, I would magically turn back into the object I knew Iwas.
Heading into the walk-in closet, I managed to find asoft navy blue ombré high-low dress that, of course, fit meperfectly. How did he even know my size? I also found a matchingwhite lace bra and thong set in the drawers, thongs apparentlybeing the only source of underwear he allowed me. Studying my shoeselection resting on the shelves next to the clothes, I eyed thevast number of stilettos, pumps,wedges,and boots that dominated the minority ofsandalsand ballet flats.
Surprisingly, there was a single pair of black andhot pink Nike running shoes on the bottom shelf. I almost went forthembut figured he wouldn’tappreciate my sense of humor. I thought about the stilettos andenjoyed the idea of gaining a few inches and possibly stabbing himwith the heel, but it was too difficult to fight in heels; whateverinches I gained wouldn't make a bit of a difference anyway. Thefucker would still tower over me.
I decided on a pair of plain black flats and slippedthem on my feet. Another perfect fit. He had some speedy shoppers.I figured it had probably been close to two hours, and deciding itwas much better to be early than late, I walked out the door andheaded downstairs.
As I took my sweet-ass time walking down the hallwayand taking in what was supposedly my new home, I scanned everysquare foot in front of me, searching for any flaw I couldfind.
Various pictures of black and white adorned thewalls, and the railings and sidings all appeared well kept andclean. Making my way to the stairs, I took them slowly, each stepon the darkwoodenstairs notmaking a single sound under my weight. I took note, as that wouldcome in handy with my later attempts of coming and going unnoticed.I would definitely be testing my ninja skills here.
But as I lookedatthe walls and ceilings, I noticed little blackbulb-likeobjects stationed in the corners.Fuck, he had cameras everywhere. I thought I had even noticed a fewin my room. I suppose that was to be expected.
Descending the stairs, I looked over the portraitshanging on the wall—family ancestors, no doubt. This sadistic fuckmay actually be a family man. But then I saw him, only it wasn’t;he was young in this portrait, maybe eight or nine years old. Irecognized the hard features of his face immediately as he stoodnext to an older man with dark brown hair and a full beard. Afrail,beautiful woman with longblack hair sat in a chair in front of them while an even youngerchild, maybe four or five, stood beside her as she held a toddlerin her lap; another boy maybe one or two years old. They lookedlike the perfect family.
As I looked them over, I wondered what kind ofmother raised a monster like the one dwelling in this house. Wherewas she? Where was his father? Was he the true responsible partyfor all this? And what about the younger brothers? What were theylike? Questions spun in my head as I continued my way down thestairs, questions I wanted answers to.
