Escort Me Baby (#2)

Chapter 1: Memories

Thank you so much for giving this book a chance. Don't forget to vote, comment, and share if you like it. Please don't be a silent reader. ENJOY!

-------------------------------------------

          "Why do you keep doing this to me?" My dry throat barely ripped the words through my chapped lips as my droopy body scurried to a filthy corner of my daunting room. "What have I done?" No tears seemed to escape my eyes due to dehydration. This man didn't think I was worthy of any source of water, not even my own tears.

A slap landed right over my bony cheek along with a kick to my lower abdomen. He yanked my hair back and spat on my face. "Shut up, bitch!"

"Mama!" I yelled for her with blood oozing out of my mouth alongside mucus and saliva. Shouting out for her once again, I get no response in return. "Where is my mother?"

He grabbed my jaw tight and forced me to look into those chocolate brown eyes that once seemed to calm me, but now only revolted me. "She can't save you anymore. You scream again and she'll have a fate worse than you."

"Please don't hurt her." Hastily, I crawled to his feet and grabbed them. "I beg you. I'll do anything you want me to, just don't hurt her."

"Now that's like a good girl. Isn't it easy when you just comply with me?" He smirked maliciously and commenced unbuckling his belt. "Remove your clothes. It's time for your punishment, little owl."

          Wobbling to my feet, I remove the light fabrics from my bones that only had a thin layer of skin sitting above them. One sharp poke and I'd be a dead girl. But I had to do this for my mother; for her life. This didn't scare me as much as it did five months ago when it all started. I had become accustomed to it as I would let him scar my body up everyday in new ways his deranged mind thought of.

          "Okay," my voice stumbled as I steadied myself for the blow and all that was to take place after that.

"You don't deserve the name Athena, little owl." He whipped the belt across my bare chest, making me seal my eyes shut right away. "You don't live up to it." Whip after whip landed on my body without a pause. My nerves gave up and numbed themselves, rendering me of any pain sensors and I was glad they did. This was an everyday thing, but today was the first day that my mother wasn't there to see my suffering. The woman I needed the most... wasn't there to save me.

          After it was all over, I stood still with blood trickling down various wounds on my body; wounds that would always remind me of my unstable past, wounds that would always haunt my soul and break me, and wounds that I'll wear with pride when I end this man.

***

          "Athena!" A soft voice speaks next to me while a lean hand feathers my caramel hair and tucks the sweaty strands behind my ear. "You alright?"

          Swallowing my saliva, I try to soothe my parched throat as I slowly let my hazel eyes adjust to the sunlight that penetrates through the glass wall. "I'm fine," I croak out and rip my head away from the sweaty pillow to throw it to the floor and sit up against the headboard.

"Same old?" Mandy lightly squeezes my hand that rests on the bed.

"Same old." I give her a half smile then look out of the large glass pane wall and watch the sun rise from behind the tall New York buildings. "What time is it?"