Page 51 of Freeing Souls

Chapter Sixteen

Harley

If he thinks he can break me, he’s wrong. I’ve already lived in hell. I’ve already hit the lowest of lows in my life. No words can break me more than my own thoughts.

Tank.

The man who held me, forcing me to watch my mom be beaten and raped. The man who left a scar on my face to remind me of that day forever.

The piece of shit scum who thinks I belong to him now. “I’ve been purchased, but I’m not yours,” I spit at him from where I am chained up against the wall in a random office he takes me to every night.

At first, I stayed silent, feeling hopeless. What was the point in fighting?

Them. Grayson, Ryker, Cayden, Noah, Colton, Carly, Brielle, Atlas… All of them.

They wouldn’t give up on me, on my dad. So why was I so quick to give up? That’s when I switched to trying to fight back. Fighting someone who is twice my size when I’m living off the bare minimum amount of food to survive and locked in a cage for most of everyday, is not possible.

So now, I push. I will push him over the edge. I will make him snap. Killer doesn’t want me dead, and I know he always has someone watching oursessions.I just need this fucker to snap.

Anger keeps me grounded these days—the fury that simmers deep within my soul, calling out to me, waiting for its moment so I can get my revenge.

Maybe I secretly have a death wish so I just don’t care as much anymore, or maybe it really is the anger at how these people can do this to other human beings and think it’s okay. Either way, I haven’t cried in weeks. My eyes are dry, and my broken heart is locked up tight, far out of reach from even myself.

Without responding, he chuckles softly before grabbing a knife and coming to stand in front of me. Gripping my chin in his free hand, he gently runs the tip of the blade down my cheek. “I’ve been thinking for weeks now about how I want to give you a matching scar on this cheek. I just don’t think it’s fair you only got it on one side of your young face.”

“Or you can let me down and give me a knife, and I can give you a matching one so we can be twins,” I sneer at him, and the bastard laughs.

“Since today is my last day with you, I think I will pass on that.” He moves the knife down and slowly slices through the thin pink dress we are all given to wear. I breathe in, remindingmyself not to let him see my panic. As the dress falls at my feet, he gazes at my naked body, and I can’t help the shiver that goes through me as his disgusting eyes darken.

“I have a gift for you,” he tells me and then walks out of the room. My heart starts to beat harder as I wait for his return, unsure of what his plan is. After being at his mercy every day for a month, I never know what to expect. Everyday brought something different, and even though I try to push him over the edge and never let anyone see me in a state of panic or terrified, it sometimes becomes almost impossible to hide it.

He walks back in with something long in his hand. He doesn’t speak or even show it to me before he presses whatever it is against my chest, a burning hot pain seeping into my skin, forcing a scream out of me.

I jolt in my restraints, but he doesn’t stop as he moves the hot poker along my skin. Tears run down my cheeks as my skin breaks out in a sweat, and I let out another scream. By the time he finishes, my body feels numb, and I can’t catch my breath. He steps back and smiles as he stares at my chest. “Perfect.”

He calls to someone, and a few moments later, Zero walks into the room. “Get her cleaned up and then set up in the guest room. You have an hour.”

She nods and comes to unhook me from the wall as he walks out of the room. “Are you going to talk to me this time?” I rasp out. Zero talked to me a few times the first week I was here, but when I wouldn’t stop asking questions, she disappeared for a few days. Ever since then, she doesn’t speak to me. Most of the time because of me acting out, I get hosed down instead of a shower.

I see Zero all the time when she comes to help the other girls, but none of them will talk about her. She’s a mystery.

“Why can’t you just behave?” she hisses quietly as she helps me steady myself since my legs have gone numb from being chained up for who knows how long.

As she slowly guides me out of the room, I let out a small laugh, “Probably because I have a secret death wish.”

We walk into a bathroom, and she helps me into the shower. When the water hits my chest, I hiss in pain, and she grimaces. “We should avoid getting that wet.”

Without another word, she helps me get clean and then brushes and braids my hair, since my arms have bruises and small cuts all over. I doubt I could hold them up long enough to do my own hair right now.

Even though she is a mystery, and I still don’t know if she is here by choice or not, it feels good to be taken care of. As I drop the towel, I get the first glimpse in the small mirror of what he did.

The fucker branded me.

He fucking branded me.

TANKis burned into my skin directly between my breasts.

Don’t panic.I want to peel my skin off. I feel violated in an entirely new way.Don’t let Zero see you panic. You are strong.It feels like he took a piece of himself and attached it to me. I want it gone.

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