Foster father? Lover?

Part 24

I awoke to soft singing. It was coming from the room but I didn't see anyone in here. The singing got louder as I sat up. I heard a voice that I had almost forgotten.

"You're up. It's a good thing you're awake. You have to be good you hear? He's not happy when you misbehave." The stranger spoke.

I must be hallucinating again.  The voice was coming from underneath the bed. I slowly got to my knees and crawled closer to the bed.

"Who are you? And how did you get here? Are you being captive as well?" I asked the mystery woman.

There was only silence. I must be losing my mind. There is nobody here but me. I start moving back to where I was until I heard the scraping under the bed. I moved in again and called out but again no response. I slowly pulled the blanket up and a hand start pulling me under. I screamed and fought back trying to release my hand from her grip. She released me and I fell back unto the floor. Just then someone unlocked the door.

"What's going on in here?" Victor asked.

"There's someone in here under the bed."

" I know. I sent her in a while ago. You might think I'm the devil but I brought her to show you otherwise. Hey, come on out now. That's a good girl. I'll leave y'all for a while. "

Again, I turned to see who the woman was that was left with me in this hell hole. I called out to her again and this time, the woman slowly crawled out. Her hair was extremely knotty and her fingernails were so bloody. Her dress was covered in what looked like mud and her body very fragile. There was something about her eyes though, so familiar to me. My eyes widened as I realized the woman before me was my mother. My mother is alive.

"Mom? How is this possible? Have you been with him this entire time?"

"Har Har Har. She will come for me. My daughter will come for me."

"Mom I'm here. It's me. I'm Harmony. All this time I thought you were dead."

I reached out to her to embrace her and she just sat there looking very confused and broken. She slowly reached her arms up to hug me back. Tears streaming out of both of our eyes.

"Harmony? Can it really be you? I've waited so long to see you again. You're so beautiful. How are you here? I made sure I'd send you far enough to be out of his grasp?"

"He found me mom. We have so much catching up to do but we need to get out of here first."

"There is no way out. I've tried for years and never found a way out. I've given up. My only wish was that I'd see you again one day before dying and I really tried. He wouldn't let me die."

"I thought you were dead all this time. What happened that night?"

"I finally tried leaving. I had found a place just for us, saved enough to go and was planning on leaving while he was out but he came home early and caught me getting our things together. He beat me pretty good and tried to shoot me but I was able to get out just in time. I quickly called your aunt and told her to get you out as soon as possible. She was the one that brought you to where you've been living the last couple years. The plan was to come back for you when I escaped and that obviously never happened."

"I am so sorry mom. All these years thinking you were dead when you were suffering and all alone."

"There was no way you would have known and I'm glad you weren't around all of this."

The door unlocked and Victor walked through. 

"That's enough for now. Back to your cage Haven."

"No please! Don't take her from me again. Let us go. Haven't you put us through enough? I will never love you and I will never stop hating you or trying to escape!" I screamed.

"We will see about that Harmony."

My mother slowly got up and start walking and I blocked her away from him. I told her I wouldn't let him take her again. I charged at Victor and began fighting him with the strength I had left. He had me in a chokehold and threw me to the ground as he began kicking me in the side repeatedly. I saw my mother try to stop him by jumping on him and trying to choke him. He pushed back into the wall and she dropped to the floor. There was no time to react; he took a gun out he had hidden in his jacket and shot my mother.

I cried out for my mom as I saw her leaning against the wall bleeding . I crawled to her and applied pressure to her wound and heard her trying to speak.

"I'm sorry this is the life you were given. You deserve so much better. I should have been more and should have done so much better. My beautiful Harmony.. Don't ever stop fighting. You will get out of here. I believe it. I need you to believe it too. I love you beyond what words can describe. Please-"

"Please what mom? Mom? Mom?! I love you too! Please don't leave me."

I saw the life leave her eyes and I held on screaming for her to come back to me, to survive. I just got my mother back and now she's dead because of me.

Victor looked just as horrified as I but snapped out of it and start dragging me out of the room as I screamed and kicked to stay with my mother's lifeless body.