Demon's Cage

Chapter 12

Nancy slowly walked into her marital room to find Damon lying on the bed. It was quarter to two. The only source of light in his room was the moon shining from the large windows. She was standing naked. Her wedding gown was still lying close to the couch. The balcony was closed with its doors drawn.

She limped her way to the bathroom. It was her first time in his bathroom. Previously, she had used the guest bathroom. It was larger and had a small pool for the bathtub in the middle. She walked ahead with her one hand holding the wall but the moment she looked at herself in the mirror she indeed looked pathetic. Her makeup was ruined. Her lip was cut and bruised. Her temple had a bump in his full wake. The right cheekbone had a bruise from when he hit her head on the table. She was indeed most worried about her wounded arm. With such treatment, she couldn't heal. Her belly had a dark purple bruise and it hurt the most. It was the place he had kneed and punched. In the area where the edge of the table had bruised her skin was sore. And, a deep red mark appeared there too. His bite marks had turned purple too. His deep marks on her pale skin were too apparent. He was right. She was indeed pathetic. She walked to the other side of the bathroom where the wine bottles were placed. She picked one and started chugging it down her throat. She wished it could numb some of the pain.

She wanted to soak her body in the hot water for some time but didn't want to use such a huge bathtub. So, she stood under the hot shower instead and cried holding the wall. Or else she could fall with this sadness that was consuming her. And, once she got tired she sat on the floor and let the water wash the traces of him. She couldn't help but wonder how such people could be cruel. She was right to decide that she will never marry such a person in her life. But here she was. Married exactly to the kind she hated the most. Mafia, trafficking, killings and drugs were the stuff she knew her husband was involved in to make his family strong and powerful.

Nancy walked out wearing his bathrobe. She was very careful about not waking him up. She didn't want to take one more step but had to pick her wedding gown and get it aside so he can't recall any of what had happened the night before. She looked through Aria's stuff but none of her inner garments were her size. She indeed had more obvious curves than her. Nancy could recall how beautiful Aria was. She knew a thing or two to make her customers crazy for her lap dance. Nancy was still convinced that Aria had used her stupid and good-for-nothing brother to execute her eloping stunt. Or must have dumped Ken already somewhere.

There were no dresses that she could wear for casuals. Every dress was more spectacular than the other. She had to choose a silver one. It didn't have any ornaments that could hurt her during her sleep. She dropped her bathrobe and slipped into the dress. It was a little loose on her and it seemed like a good thing because it would let her breathe a little while she have some shuteye.

She turned around and wondered where to sleep. His bed was out of option. She didn't want to wake up with a punch or yet another assault. She walked to the couch and sat there for an hour before she slept on the couch.

Damon woke up around eight in the morning. Nobody had the authority to wake him up. It was morning for him when he would wake up. He raised his hand to have a look at the clock. "Coffee!" He yelled making Nancy jolt out of her sleep. 

"What?" She gasped and wondered what had happened. But the moment she realized where she was, she regretted making that word. She noticed how Damon too had gotten alert. In the middle of the night, she had slipped into sleep and was lying on her back on the couch seemingly just fine. Damon slowly turned to the other side and looked at her lying on the couch. There was a surge of anger for a moment. But then his eyes looked at her body to her face and then back to her body. A smile appeared on his lips. Nancy looked battered.

Her hair was air-dried and while all the makeup was removed from her face nicely, the traces of all the abuse were apparent even more. It was painting all over.