Heh. Hi.
I know it's been a while, and I don't really have an excuse. Maybe a little bit of procrastination. Just a little bit🙂
ANYWAYS! We're at 125k reads! I can't believe it! I love you guys so much❤️
⚠️PLEASE READ⚠️
Also I changed the breakfast scene in chapter 18 because I decided that I didn't want the family to know about her company this soon, so go back and reread that part of the chapter so you won't be confused in the future chapters.
LOVE YA! BYEE😘
Cleo's POV:
I'm currently walking to lunch with these two knuckleheads behind me talking so very loudly.
Have they never heard of inside voices.
I need a moment of silence.
"I am obviously the best cook out of all of us, and the most attractive I mean look at me." Damien says, posing with his hands and his hands and his chin tilted up.
"Yahhh sure. You know you're pretty cocky for someone who doesn't like cock." Mitra says with a smirk, obviously trying to get under his skin.
*Hehe that was a good one.
Damien gasp dramatically, with his hand over his chest. "If you were anymore of a bitch, you'll birth puppies."
"That doesn't really make sense-
"I'M UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO MAKE SENSE TO YOU!" Damien huffs and walks to me defeated. He lays his head on my shoulder, and I wrap my around his shoulder and play with his curls, amused with the situation.
I turn to Mitra with a playful glare and reprimand her. "Why did you do that Mitra? You know he's sensitive."
"I am not sensitive." Damien mumbles.
*Pshh rightttt. A big baby is what he is.
I chuckle at Karma and Damien looks at me with and offended face. "I am not sensitive!"
"I wasn't laughing at you! I was laughing at Karma." I say back, trying my hardest not to smile.
"What did she say about me now." he says raising an eyebrow, knowing that Karma is brutally honest.
"Nothing important." I say continuing through the halls.
He huffs dismissing the conversation.
*For now anyway. Knowing Damien he'll bring it up later just to be petty.
True.
We continue to walk in silence until Mitra decides to break it. "I have to use the restroom really quick."
"I'll go with you." I say a little too quickly.
"Umm okay then." Mitra says going towards the girls' restroom. I follow behind after telling Damien to go find a table for us.
When we enter the restrooms Mitra goes to do her business in the stall; while I stare at myself in the mirror, thinking.
I try not to think so much. Because if I do, then my thoughts start to destroy me. And yet, I can't stop, because the silence was breaking me too.
I stare into my eyes and I can see her. She's trapped in this dark spiral trying to find her way out of an endless loophole. And yet, she doesn't stop. Even though she knows that she will never get out. She doesn't stop even though she knows that nobody can hear her screams for help. She doesn't stop even though she knows... that nobody is coming to save her.
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⚠️TW: Sexual assault
Flashback
I've been here for over a year now, so I guess I'm almost 7 now.
I've gotten close to the Damien boy since I've been here. He's pretty shy but he opens up to me sometimes, since we're all each us have in here.
We both started our training a few months ago after our 'psych' training was done.
I don't remember all that was done to me during my psych training. All I do know is that I would wake up and Damien would be there sitting besides me every time; with tears streaming down his dark cheeks and a scared look in his eyes. I never could understand why though.
I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he would just brush it off saying that it doesn't matter.
Eh. That's a future me problem.
Right now Damien and I are in combat training. Damien and I are at the top of the class, alongside a few others. The rules are always the same. Boys against girls. Win by knockout or forfeit. If you lose...
I don't want to hurt any of these other kids. We're all no older than 10. We haven't even started our lives yet, and yet here we are, fighting for them.
Because if we don't...then he'll take them.
The Devil.
It's what the religious kids call him. The handsome demon that they've read about in their bibles. The type of man that every parent warns them about when they were children. Innocent children that is.
Ezekiel Ramirez.
The Don of the Mexican Mafia.
I knock the eight year old boy out, before he can forfeit. If he forfeits, he dies. And I don't want any blood on my hands. I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
Just then Ezekiel walks in with a smirk on his scarily handsome scarred face.
Well speak of the Devil and he shall appear.
He doesn't really bother me like he does the other kids. He just watches; like he's studying every perfection and imperfection there is to me. It's unsettling. And I guess today he wanted to change his ways.
He walks over to me seeing me standing over the unconscious body, and smiles lovingly. I give him a confused stare, oblivious to his intentions.
"Hello hermosa." He says in a think Spanish accent.
"Don." I say in a neutral accent trying not to let my uneasiness show. But he sees right through me.
"You've been excelling in all of the training these past few months. Even put some of my men in the infirmary." He smiles dauntingly.
I look down trying not to make eye contact. "They were on a power trip and started hitting us for no reason, so I taught them a lesson."
"Taught them a lesson huh?" I can hear the smirk in his voice. It's terrifying.
"Yes." I say, still looking at the mat beneath my feet.
"Yes what?" He whispers in my ear, making me shiver in disgust.
"Y-yes Don." I say with a shaky voice.
He chuckles and backs away from me. I finally look up, looking everywhere but in his eyes. I see Damien in the corner of the room, next to an unconscious girl, with a concerned look on his face.
"Now I hope that you don't think that this will go unpunished. Do you?" He smirks at me.
"N-No sir."
God! Stop stuttering Cleo. You're showing weakness!
"Good. Now come." He says walking towards the main door. I'm frozen to the mat trying to calm my racing heart. I don't wanna be punished. I've seen what happens to the kids that get punished. They end up in the infirmary for at least a month before coming back to training. That's not what I'm afraid of though. What I'm afraid of is the looks that they have in their eyes when they get back. They look as though they have no soul. Like brain dead soldiers ready to comply to every demand. Like puppets tied to ropes instead of strings, with no hope left in their eyes to fight and be set free.
Now my heart is beating so hard it that I'm scared it's going to burst out of my chest. Deep breaths aren't helping. Why aren't deep breaths helping?
"Cleodoraaa I'm waiting mi amorrr." He says with a joyous smile on his face; like he's enjoying seeing me break before his eyes.
He motions for the guards to grab me and I start to scream and thrash in their arms, but there's only so much a 45 lb. 6 year old girl can do against two strong giants holding onto her limbs.
In the midst of my screaming Damien runs over and takes down of the guards, giving me an opportunity to swing my arm back and hit the remaining one in the throat and face, making him fall to the ground.
I hear an annoyed sigh, and then a gun cock. I look over to see Ezekiel pointing a gun to Damien, and everybody in the room freezes, including Damien.
"Did you really just kill one of my best men you little fuck?" Ezekiel seethes.
"Really. One of your best. He went down a little too easily for your best." Damien says, staring the Devil in his eyes.
What the hell is he doing? Is he trying to get himself killed?
"If you're going to kill then go ahead and do it you bastard!" Damien yells with tears in his eyes.
Ezekiel shrugs and is about to pull the trigger when I step in front of the gun. "Wait! Please..please don't do this." I say looking down the barrel of gun. I see his finger still about to squeeze the trigger when I use my last resort. I run up to him and hug him tight, begging with tears filling my eyes. "PLEASE! Please I'll do anything you want! Just please! Please don't shoot!" I say pulling on his shirt trying to get his attention off of Damien.
I can't lose him. He's all I have. Please if there is a God. Please don't take him from me. I need him.
"Ugh. Fine." I hear Ezekiel grumble. He doesn't make any attempt to push me off of him, so I remove myself him.
"For you." He says looking into my eyes. He moves a strand of hair from my face, to behind me ear. I'm too relieved to feel repulsed right now.
He holds his hand out for me to take, and I hesitantly place my small one into his. I turn around to see Damien looking at me with a defeated stare.
I sign to him. "I'll be okay. I love you."
He signs back. "I love you too.
I've taught him some ASL from a book that I've read, before I got to this place. It's so that we can communicate without many others knowing what we're talking about. I don't remember where I read the book, all I know is that I can see the pictures of it flash through my head sometimes. And muscle memory of course.
"Everybody get back to work!" Ezekiel voice booms through the room making some people jump.
"Come Cleo. I've got a special punishment for you." He says with a devilish smirk, while he drags me out of the room.
We pass all of the cells and infirmary, before entering the elevator. The confusion shows on my face, causing him to chuckle.
If I wasn't feeling uneasy before, I certainly am now. I've never been to the upper level of the facility, since I've gotten to this place. Nobody has. Well, not the children at least. Maybe- no, it's definitely intentional. They feed us just enough to be healthy enough to fight but we lack sunlight and fresh air since we're underground, making us too weak to have a chance to fight back. Well...most of us.
We make it to the top floor of the surface level and I feel the tiniest bit of sun hit my skin when we step out of the elevator. I close my eyes for a moment to soak up the little bit of vitamin D that I can, until I feel a harsh tug on my arm.
"Let's go." Ezekiel growls.
As we walk, we pass many doors before we get to a big red stained wooden door. He takes out a key and opens it allowing me to step inside before he does.
It's an empty room with a bed in the middle. Nothing special really.
I hear the door click, making me turn around and see Ezekiel staring at me with an innocent smile. Yet there's nothing innocent about it at all.
I look down to see restraints in his hands, making me back away slowly from him.
"W-What are those for?" I ask in a voice that was quieter a whisper.
"There for your hands mi amor. Wouldn't want you running away from me now, would I beautiful?" He chuckles sinisterly, coming closer to me.
I'm terrified. My hand start to shake uncontrollably, and I feel as though I'm going to throw up, as I look for an opening to run.
Just when he backed me into a corner of the room; I dashed to the side, jumping on the bed, and towards the door.
Just when I had a little hope that I had escaped the claws of this demon, the door wouldn't open.
It was locked. And he had the only key there is to get me out of here.
No.
He grab me from behind, while I screamed out for help trying to get out of his hold.
"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!"
He slammed me on the bed, and cuffed my hands to the headboard. I kicked my legs around trying to get him away from, but it was no use. He climbed on top of me, and slowly started lifting my shirt up.
"PLEASE STOP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME! AYÚDAME POR FAVO-"
He covered my mouth and smirked at me, loving to see my tears fall onto the sheets. He bent down to my ear and the next thing he says to me, will be stuck in my head for years to come.
"You're stuck with forever my love. Nobody is coming to save you."