Storytime

Chapter 11~ Subjection

Illeya POV:
Wiping my eyes, I get up to open the door. The next minute, darkness...

I screamed. Pain shot through my body as I moved.
"Shut the hell up, you bitch!" My eyes refuse to open but there is only one voice I know of that has the villainous, vicious tone to it.
"Let me go!" I scream, causing my throat to burn.
"You rejected me. I'm getting what I desire."
"Why me? There are so many girls out there."
"Don't you understand? You're the only girl for me." I can almost hear his menacing smile appear on that face of his.
"Please..."
"Beg all you like. I'm not letting you go. Now, open your eyes little Missy." I whimper.
"OPEN YOUR BLOODY EYES!" He yells, his face right close to mine. Slowly, my eyes flicker open. Ben stands there, a large butchers knife in hand. He slides his hand down it so as to scare me.
"Ben, please. Don't do this." He smiles almost lovingly and starts unbuttoning his shirt.
"I love you Illeya." He stands expectantly and raises his knife to my neck, gesturing for me to say the words.
"I love you too, Ben." He smiles and kisses me. I let him do what he wants with me. After all, what do I have left to lose? I can't escape anyway.

It never seems to end. Kisses planted all over my body. I guess at least I can numb myself to the rest. Somehow, I feel good. It is almost as if he loves me. Even though I know he's drunk and delusional, it almost seems real. That is, until he's had enough and it all turns deadly.

"Ben, please. Let me go." He brings the knife up to my shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I really am." He says with that mocking tone. He draws the tip of the knife in a circle on my shoulder. I bite my lip so hard it bleeds, just to stop myself from screaming.
"I did what you wanted. Please. Just let me go." I say as firmly as I can.
"I'm not done." He smirks and does the same to my other shoulder. With my wrists restrained, I am defenceless.
The torture continues for hours until the sun starts to go down outside. The sky is tinged with darkness and my body is battered and bloodied. He places the knife between his teeth and I watch the blood drip from its tip. My blood. Deep scratches litter my whole body, extending from my shoulders to my feet. Ben stops at nothing to make my last seconds with him as painful as possible. I beg him to stop, I beg and plead. But nothing stands in his way.
"Ben, please!" I want to scream at him. I want to hurt him. Part of me likes the way my body aches, the way parts of it are numb. But most of me wants to put my hands around his neck and tighten them until he can't breathe.
"Oh, Illeya. You just don't get it."
"You're right. I don't. But I don't think I want to."
"You're right. You don't want to." He laughs menacingly and I subject myself to his fake love once again. How he even manages with my body in the state that it is, I don't want to know. But if there's one thing I do know, the torture isn't over.

"Shit Ben, what more do you want from me?"
"I don't want anything from you. I have no need for you anymore." He places the knife in my right hand.
"What...?"
"I'll let you make your own choice." Before I can even make sense of those words, something collides with my head and I am consumed by a black abyss.

Josie POV:
I run into our last class. The bell is about to go, to signify the end of the day but I can't give up now. Since she ran, I've been searching every nook and cranny for her. Everyone I've asked hasn't seen her since this mornings events. Every class I've been to says she never turned up. Even Charlie, the last person to see her and her only friend, has no clue where she's disappeared to.
I burst through the door, shocking the teacher and the students.
"Nice of you to turn up Josie."
"I'm sorry miss, but I'm not here for class. Have any of you seen Illeya?" Every student shakes their head. I recognise one of the heads to be Ben's and the teacher hasn't seemed to notice the blood specks in his eyebrows. He catches my eye and that dark grin appears on his wretched face once again. Shit. If he's done something to her...
"No, Josie. Like you, she never turned up to lesson."
"Thanks miss!" I yell backwards as I run down the corridor and out of the school doors.
Oh god what has Ben done to her? More importantly, what has she done to herself?

Illeya POV:
Opening my eyes makes me feel like I'm still in the nightmare that I had whilst I was in the black. I cannot move. Not because my body is too numb or too painful but because there is no space. In fact, there is barely enough room for me to be in here in the first place. It is confined and I breathe heavily. He must have known about my severe claustrophobia. He knew all my weaknesses and he played on them. He never had to play his cards close to his chest.
And I realise what the knife was for.
My chest burns and my head feels like a million needles are stabbing it at a thousand times a second. I'm surprised I can even open my eyes. It's so dark and I'm so empty. My heart hurts more than any of my body parts. And considering how much pain I was in, that is almost unimaginable.
Using my foot as a kind of battering ram, I smash the door open and it splinters all across the floor. Man I have one strong foot.
In my attempt to move, I find myself able to somehow manoeuvre myself out of the tight space. I fall onto the floor in a pathetic ball, splinters of wood digging into my skin. I don't cry out, I don't scream. In fact I don't do anything. I use up the rest of my strength to crawl across the floor to the window. Thankfully, it is already open so I don't have to smash it.
I hear what sounds like footsteps and I pause, afraid of being discovered by Ben. But then I realise the knife is still in my hand. With some of my confidence flooding back, I haul myself up and jump fearlessly out of the window, landing with knees bent and a ripple shooting up through my feet. I sigh a sigh of relief, knowing that this could finally be over. My mind rushes and I have one thought and one thought alone.
I have nothing left.
My Uncle for all I know has forgotten about me. My dad is dead. My mum hates me. I have no friends. And the one person I love rejected me in a way more painful than I ever imagined could be possible. In my head, I recite many possible goodbyes but then I realise I have no one to say them to. No one to say goodbye to. No one to miss me. No one to love me. Not even me.
And that's where it ends for me. If whatever my purpose in this world was has been accomplished, I can only see it as being this. To understand. Maybe I have understood it. Maybe I have. But whatever it meant, it doesn't matter anymore. This is where it was meant to end for me, regardless of my life in the other world.

Josie POV:
With my hands in my pockets, I stagger home, guilt weighing down my shoulders. I have never felt a burden so big as I have never had a burden to carry. Who knows what he did to her. Who knows what she did after what I did to her. I feel so bad not even my favourite quote can motivate me. And that quote never failed me before. What the fuck do I do now? I hurt her so badly. So badly. She could be anywhere and it's all my-

"Illeya?" A female figure stands up ahead at the edge of the road. I hear stifled sobs and a muttering of one word. Goodbye.
My feet control my whole body and I sprint towards the figure. She takes one step forward and I am so afraid I won't reach her.
"ILLEYA STOP!" She still doesn't hear me and steps forward once again. She stands on the verge of the middle of the road and my feet drive me faster than ever. I stand beside where she now stands. She is out in the middle of the road and, as I look sideways, I see cars coming from both directions. Oh shit!
"ILLEYA!" She glances sideways at me. I jump.

Illeya POV:
The car grinds to a halt.