delicate

30

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Evelyn

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Nothing has healed. That's the worst part. He keeps cutting the bleeding wounds. Every time I start to choke on blood in my throat, it goes away, but I don't know why.

Joshua's the only person I've seen in-

How long have I been here?

The door opening doesn't even startle me this time. I swallow the lump in my throat, taking away his satisfaction of seeing me cry. I watch as he walks closer. As close as he always does.

"What are we feeling today? The knife? The saw? The blowtorch?" He gasped as if he was shocked. "What about something new? Hmm?"

My eyes were too heavy to hold open. "Go to hell."

I felt his hand wrap around my throat. I gasped for air as I looked up at him. "Care to repeat yourself?" There were black spots in my vision. "That's what I thought." Instead of pulling his hand away, he moved it to my chest. Bile filled my throat. "How about a new one?" His voice was low and chilling. I bit my tongue to keep myself from screaming. When I scream, he likes to find places to put his hand. Before he could get his hand past my stomach, he stopped and looked at my face. "I almost forgot." A sinister smile formed on his lips. "We have a friend joining us today."

The thought made me feel repulsed. The door opened as he stepped back. The sound of heels clicking against the steps filled my ears. As she moved closer, I felt worse.

"Hello, Evelyn. It's so nice to see you again."

Lillian's voice made me want to cry. I remembered the night on the bridge. The woman who was in front of the car. "You..." My voice caught in my throat.

"Yes. Me. I helped my friend here kidnap you. You were an unfortunate part of our plan, but a convenient one." She walked closer, standing on the other side of me where the IV drip was to keep me from dehydrating. How kind. "This should be a warning for you to never get close to bad men. They'll ruin your life."

"And, my, how he ruined yours."

I shook my head slowly, "He didn't do this. You did."

She grabbed my chin, forcing me to stare at her. "You did this to yourself, Evelyn. You got close to someone you knew you shouldn't have. And now you're enduring weeks of torture because you were stupid enough to fall for him."

I felt like I was being bitten by her words. It physically pained me to listen to her. She let go of my jaw and stepped back. A high-pitched cry rose up my throat as Joshua's hand was on my skin again. His hand rubbed my thigh. My bare thigh.

When I passed out, I was wearing clothes. I looked down at my body. There was a bloody, white dress on me. It hadn't crossed my mind this entire time that they would do things when I was sleeping. I shut my eyes to hide my tears from them.

"So, shall we try something new?"

...

The ceiling felt like it was getting further away. The thoughts in my mind had finally left, but they were replaced by the memory of Joshua's hands touching me and his body on mine. I wasn't able to resist him because they numbed my body, but it wasn't enough for me not to feel him inside of me.

I felt the urge to cry, but no tears fell. The thought of escaping has crossed my mind countless times, but it's impossible to get out of whatever this is.

"We need her for the ritual! The prophecy spoke of a woman bearing a-"

"To hell with the prophecy, Lilly. I can finally have the life I want and get back at that monster."

"Joshua, please. I need her for the ritual."

Their voices got further away.

Ritual? Prophecy?

What the hell did I get myself into?