Entangled

Chapter 8

Liatta sunk deeper into the hot water of the bath she drew.

She let its warmth work its way through her muscles and unravel the tension knotted within them. While ignoring the sting of the water coming into contact with her raw skin.

She had just spent the last hour scrubbing her body of every trace of the day until the foam came up pink. Now, Liatta just wanted to soak away the mental remnants that a sponge couldn't reach.

On that front, the bath wasn't really working. But it was relaxing, so it hadn't been a complete wash.

The bathroom had the same color scheme as the bedroom, but every color seemed warmer because it was lit with natural light that came from no visible window.

A collection of scented oils around the bath that stood out from the tans and dark browns were what gave Liatta the idea to take this bath in the first place. Though she ended up not using any of them.

Now Liatta was floating in the deepest bath she had ever been in. Every movement she made sent water splashing over the edges of the glass tub.

The bath was a giant and could easily fit six people with room to spare. It was constructed in such a way that, when filled it, seemed like a cube of clear water. An illusion assisted by the fact that it was raised off the floor, almost as if it was floating.

It was such an amazing sight that Liatta had thought it was magic at first, but, from what she could tell, it was a feat of engineering and architecture rather than the arcane.

Liatta stifled a yawn, the third in the last ten minutes.

As much as she would have liked to keep soaking, Liatta didn't trust herself not to drown in her sleep if she stayed. So this yawn was her cue to leave.

She braided her still wet hair and twisted it into a bun. She didn't think her hair would properly dry in the braid, but it was worth it, so she didn't have wet hair slapping against her back.

After she finished, Liatta wrapped herself in one of the fluffy towels folded by the bath and left the bathroom.

Now, she needed to find something to wear. She, of course, had no intention of continuing to wear her previous 'outfit' but her original clothes were...

Liatta bit her lip. She couldn't afford to be picky she would just have to wash them.

That was the plan, but when she got back to the bedroom, Liatta couldn't find her clothes. She had noticed when she returned that they weren't strewn across the floor where she had left them.

That was to be expected since the room had been cleaned by the time Liatta had returned. She had assumed that they had been set aside somewhere in the room, but Liatta had looked all over the room and she couldn't find them anywhere.

Finally, Liatta was forced to give up. They clearly weren't there. She sat on the sofa thinking.

Her clothes could have been disposed of or put away somewhere outside the room, but the only way to know definitively would be to leave the room and ask one of the empty eyed employees and Liatta didn't have that kind of strength right now.

At the same time Liatta didn't want to sleep in a towel even if it was the softest towel she had ever felt.

She tried to think of another solution and then she was struck with one so obvious, she face-palmed. There was probably a bathrobe somewhere in the bathroom.

She hurried back and sure enough, beside the mountain of folded towels, were two robes made of the same fluffy soft cloth.

Liatta wore the smaller of the two and then left, after refolding the towels she had unfolded in her search. Her handiwork wasn't quite as crisp as the original folds but Liatta thought they were nice enough.

Re-entering the bedroom, Liatta immediately noticed a new addition.

In the middle of the room sat a wheeled serving cart, the kind Liatta had only seen in movies. Its contents hidden by a cream-colored sheet draped delicately over the top.

She hadn't heard or seen anything. Liatta tried in vain to push down the fear that was once again making itself the focal point of her psyche.

In those few moments she had spent in getting the robe someone had entered the room, wheeling a food cart no less, and she hadn't noticed a thing. Would she notice when she was asleep?

A trick question she wasn't sleeping tonight.

Liatta slid the fabric off the cart to reveal a platter covered in a metal cover. She lifted the cover from the platter revealing...food.

To be exact a very appetizing looking creamy beef and tomato soup and spinach salad with a citrus dressing. Beside the food on the platter was iron supplements still in its box and a glass of water.

She hadn't been thinking of food before but seeing, and smelling, it in front of her reminded Liatta of how long it had been since she had last eaten.

She had never had the best eating schedule, one look at her body could attest to that. But since Anita had passed, Liatta had found it even harder to make herself nourish her body. All she had been able to focus on was getting to her grave. Nothing else had mattered because there would be nothing else once she got there but now, Liatta needed to keep herself alive for three more months.

She carried the platter from the cart and placed it on the day table to consider. She didn't trust it. Liatta needed to eat. She even wanted to eat the only problem was the source of the food. Her stomach let out a particularly vicious growl and Liatta sighed.

Even if she didn't trust the food what could she do she had no other source of food at the moment and she couldn't survive three months on a hunger strike.

Besides she had agreed to so much at this point that it felt absurd to start doubting now. Liatta picked up the spoon and began to eat.

The food was delicious and surprisingly easy on her stomach. She finished it quickly and moved to clear her dishes. The iron supplement though...she left it untouched on the platter.

Liatta knew she was supposed to take it, but she couldn't bring herself to. So, she left it on the platter and tried to wheel the cart outside the door and that was when it happened.

Starting from her chest, her body was wracked with waves of pain. It felt as if she was being torn apart atom by atom and each freshly ripped piece of her was being pulled in the direction of the cart.

The more Liatta tried to move away from it, physically or mentally, the more she was torn into pieces.

She collapsed onto the floor panting, unable to support herself in the face of the torture. As she blindly flailed on the floor like a drowning man, her hand grazed against the platter.

The moment Liatta's hand made contact with the platter; the pain eased slightly only to return in full force the moment she drew her hand away.

She placed her hand back onto the platter and the pain eased again. She opened it and the pain eased a bit more. It was obvious what was going on.

Liatta's shoulders shook. She couldn't even be allowed this small freedom?

She opened the box with shaky hands and took the pills, feeling them pass through every inch of her throat.

Sticking to her esophagus making itself known as just another one the violations she would endure before this was over-

Liatta didn't know if it was hours, she spent on that floor with her arms wrapped around herself or minutes but either way the effect was the same, she was so drained.

This was just the first day and she didn't know if she would be able to get through any more.