The Pain that Made Her Beautiful

PMHB ch 37

Nayeli blanched. She threw her arms up in front of her as if to stave off harm. She was petrified: it was Thanos’ old name for her, ‘Rose’. Nayeli’s breathing started to quicken and she could feel the blood drain from her face as her head became unbearably dizzy. The fear he had instilled in her, alone, still haunted her. Nayeli remembered what Thanos had told her the night before Claudius Deangelo had come to pick her up after purchasing her from him.

The feeling Nayeli had in her stomach was still vivid in her mind. After the months, years, of abuse at the hands of Thanos, the empty pit in place of her heart, and the constant despair and fear she had lived in causing her to lose all faith that there was any good in the world there was a light coming back again. After all the blackness, hope was again blossoming in Nayeli’s toes and worming it’s way all the way up to her heart, saying, “I have a chance again. I’m alive. I have hope!”

Nayeli lay in bed. It was late in the evening and she was just drifting off, peacefully. The tent flap flung open. Nayeli shot up and she stared wide-eyed at a fuming Thanos.

“I’m not letting you leave before I have my chance again!” He shouted.

Thanos stalked forward, menacingly, and shoved Nayeli backward.

She was leaving tomorrow, she had promised herself, from the moment of the sale, she would never let Thanos lay even a finger on her again.

He got on the bed, and because of the spirit she had regained, Nayeli fought, like she hadn’t in years. Her nails sunk in his skin as she desperately struck back with everything she could.

With every blow she made, Thanos’ sadistic desires grew, and he pursued the act even more forcefully.

The law stated, even after the purchase is made, until the buyer picks up the new merchandise, it remains under the ownership of the seller.

That’s all Nayeli was, an object! Well, this item breathed, had a heart beat, and blood in her veins and she would not die an object of a buyer’s money. Her life had returned to her and she had become strengthened by the hope she once again felt inside her. She would never forget what it felt like, this blossom in her heart, warming her life again and her faith, in life and the mere concept of happiness, had come back to her.

She fought, she kicked, she hit, she scratched, she kneed, she elbowed, and anything else that she think of in order to get free. She would not let Thanos extinguish that which she knew again; after the years of hopelessness, this glimpse of hope within her grasp, it would not elude her again.

The moment, the sadistic deed, seemed to last for an eternity. Nayeli was weak and bruised and bleeding from between her legs… this familiar feeling would never leave her, but this night, the pain was more pronounced than ever, it seemed. Because of her awareness, Nayeli could still vividly recall the memory of the sense that something had just been taken from her, again. This time, however, was worse than the first time Thanos had invoked his ‘punishment’, cruel and brutal.

Nayeli sobbed silently as Thanos, looking as bad as, if not worse than, Nayeli, stalked up. She did not cower like she had done so much in the past, it infuriated Thanos incomprehensibly, and Nayeli felt something inside her recoil.

Thanos grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back up against the bed. He climbed back up on the bed and Nayeli felt her eyes widen with fear. Thanos straddled her and then pinned her with his other hand on her shoulder. He lowered his head so his face was no further from hers than an inch. Thanos gave a wicked smile and then leaned down further and kissed Nayeli’s lips hard. He retreated.

Thanos studied her for a moment and then spoke in a coarse, low, menacing whisper, “Rose, I know your name.”

Shock and a thick plaster of disbelief, terror, and trepidation coated her face and she felt the blood drain from her face as her eyes widened in foreboding anxiety. Thanos smiled nefariously again, though this time his eyes followed suit.

“Yes, Nayeli, I know your name. I saw the poster for your rescue up in the last town and tore it down before Claudius came by. You are rather valuable to the empire, you know, Princess.”

He knows, he found out—I’m dead.

“Nayeli, when I knew you only as Rose, I could not fully suppress your liveliness. You know, I feel powerful now. Don’t forget, now that I know your name, I own you. You will always share my bed with me, no matter how much you try to run away from it, you will always be mine: you will always belong to me. I will always find you, no matter how far away you are; my name, my voice, and my face will always haunt you in your dreams; through your whole life; in your mind. You will hear my voice around every corner, you will look over shoulder when you feel like you’re being watched in the market and you’ll see my face staring back, and when you fall in love, on your own wedding night, it will not be your husband you make love to, but me. You are mine, Nayeli.”

By the end of his life long curse, Nayeli had hopeless tears flooding from her terrified eyes, her face mortified. She was petrified by fear now. Nayeli could sooner move than blink her eyes without seeing Thanos’ evil, smiling, face as vividly as clearly as she did now; however, what was the scariest part was that every word, though spoken think with malice, with the intent of intimidation, was true.

“Nayeli, are you well? What did I do?” The voice was vague at first as she snapped out of her flashback.

“Nayeli! What—I don’t know what—please, tell me what—how?” Marcus’ voice was frantic and Nayeli could one of his hands on each of her shoulders, squeezing, gently shaking her: trying to break her trance.