Page 86 of Silent Desires

As I whimper in pain, my hands flail uselessly as I try to stop her. I struggle to breathe from pain, pressure, and fear. She punches me again, and it takes almost all the fight out of me. I can barely even struggle now. All I can do is try to breathe around a mouthful of blood as I watch her slowly trail the knife over me, as if she’s deciding what to cut next.

“Hmm… Maybe I’ll take an eye,” she says, holding the knife only an inch away from my left eye. I try to hold still, praying she won’t be that cruel. I have a small moment of relief when she moves the knife down to my ear.

“Or an ear,” she ponders, before trailing it down my arm to my left hand, which is laying limply beside me. Turning my head, I’m able to glance down as I try to move my fingers, but they barely twitch. It’s the same arm she just stabbed me in, she must have damaged something important if I can’t move it. She holds the knife over my ring finger, then turns to me and sneers.

“It’s not like you’ll ever be needing this finger,” she says with a smirk. She doesn’t even hesitate as she plunges the knife into my finger, below the knuckle. My mouth opens in pain, but no sound escapes. The tears pour from my eyes and I watch her lift my hand to get a better angle as she literally saws my finger off.

I turn my head to the side, the need to vomit overwhelming, but instead I start to choke and cough through the pain. When I finally regain my breathing again, she’s done.

“There!” she says happily, dropping my severed finger to the ground beside my hand. I stare at it with a mix of horror and acceptance. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m so weak and useless, I can’t even lift a hand to stop her.

She stands up, glaring down at me as looks over my body. I just lay there trying to breathe and stop the panic from taking over. Is this it? Is this the moment she finally kills me? I try to blink away the black spots in my vision.

She seems to be very interested in my legs, and I guess they are too pristine for her liking because she starts covering them with thin cuts as she whispers about making my outsides match my insides. The cuts aren’t deep, but they’re still painful. But I’m exhausted, broken and can barely move. She easily holds down one leg at a time as she makes the cuts. A part of my mind worries that she can’t expect me to hide these injuries at school, which means I’m not going back. She’s either going to kill me, or she’s never letting me out of this basement again. I’m honestly not sure which I’d prefer right now.

Shecut up the side of my hip, through my skirt and underwear. She tosses my kilt open, leaving the scrap of underwear in place. Straddling my legs, she holds the knife over my stomach as she grins at me. I can see the crazy glint in her eyes. She’s enjoying this.

“I just want to make sure there is no chance of you creating more demon spawn like you,” she whispers before slowly and painfully plunging the knife into my stomach. I tilt my head back in pain as my good hand clutches at the cold cement floor, willing this to be over with quickly. She leans towards my face, tilting the knife to create a bigger wound.

I cough and turn my head to the side and see blood come out as I splutter. She must have hit something important. I’m not going to survive this. I know it. I just wish I had the chance to tell the guys I was sorry for not telling them everything. Telling them about my crappy life, my sadistic mother, my psychotic brother, my father who abandoned me, and the demon that taints my soul.

Finally, after what feels like forever, she stands up. “If you survive the night, there will be a first aid kit waiting for you upstairs.” She tells me in a calm voice. Then she drops to a knee and stabs the knife in my other shoulder, making me open my mouth in another silent scream. This time she leaves it there as she stands and walks upstairs, humming to herself happily.

I look at the knife but it’s in my right shoulder and I can’t reach it with my right hand. My left is still unresponsive at my side. A sob bursts out of me, which just makes a spray of blood come out. I’m so stupid. I should have asked for help when I had the chance. I never should have come back here today, I should have told them and stayed with them.

This is it, I’m not going to survive this. My vision darkens and I welcome the peace that it’ll bring. Before it completely takes over, though, my mind flicks to thoughts of my seven guys. I picture each of their faces, their smiles, their laughs, the looks they give me, their hugs, their kind words.

Atlas… He made me promise him something important.What was it?

All you have to do is ask for help.

Sniffling, I wish I had done that, I wish I had asked.

But my mind suddenly catches on a nugget of hope—My phone! It’s in my bag.

I look around as best I can and almost cry with relief when I find it a few feet to my right. Slowly, I wiggle myself over, one painstaking inch at a time until I can grab the corner. I pull it closer and almost scream at the pain in my shoulder where the knife’s still stuck. My fingers reach in and when I feel my phone, I wrap them around it as hard as I can, pulling it free. My tears come harder each step closer I get to reaching Atlas.

The longest moment of my life is waiting for my phone to switch on while I try to keep myself conscious. I can feel my body trying to shut down. I mentally slap myself and wiggle my toes to remember I am still here, still alive, still awake. Relief surges through me when my screen comes on, giving me the energy to finish this.

I have to do it with one hand, and the darkness is closing in, so I do the fastest thing I could think of. All it would take is two clicks. Contacts. Atlas. I hear it ring as it falls from my fingers near my face. I try to turn my face as close to it as possible. He picks up after only one ring.

“Malishka?”

A sob bursts out of me.

“Mina? What is it? Are you okay? Tap for me, Malishka,” he begs, sounding terrified. I try to move my hand, but it’s unresponsive now and I whimper in fear.I need to ask him for help.

“Mina!?” he yells through the phone.

The blackness is so close now, I’m almost out of time. I take a deep breath and in a raspy, painful voice I whisper the one word I hope he will understand. “Help.”

To be continued…

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