Page 110 of Eternal
But everything was wrong.Everything.
Christian didn’t answer right away, he walked over to me again, like he forgot something.
He didn’t touch me, but I could feel him there, like a shadow pressing down on me.
He stepped closer, and I could smell the sweat on him, mixed with the awful smell of alcohol that always clung to his shirt. And that stupid cross hanging around his neck.
Liar. He’s a LIAR!!!!!
I didn’t flinch though, I couldn’t move.
That would only make it worse. I thought about the box, dark and small, where I’d spent hours alone, my heart racing in the silence, counting like when my mom was too scared of what she could do to me when she drank too much.
“You know what you need to do, don’t you?” His voice was low, almost a whisper, but it felt like a threat. “When theyget here… you don’t say a word. You don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. Got it?”
I didn’t answer him, the words got stuck in my throat, like they were made of concrete.
He took a step closer, his boots tapping on the floor. I flinched a little and he caught it. “What’s wrong with you, huh? You afraid of me now?” He reached down, grabbing a fistful of my hair and jerking my head up to look at him.
It hurts.
His fingers dug into my scalp, and I felt the sting, but I didn’t scream, I didn’t even cry. There was nothing left to cry for anymore.
I thought about the last time I had felt safe.
It felt like a lifetime ago.
He let go of my hair and stepped back. “If you don’t screw this up, maybe I won’t have to make things worse.”
Please, don’t.
Brittany came up beside him then, acting like the loving wife. She ran her fingers through her hair, smoothing it down slowly, then she looked at me, her eyes almost empty. “We’re doing this for you, you know,” she said it with so much confidence, as if I could believe a word of it. “We’re giving you a home. Food. A family.A future.”
It’s not true. It’s not true. It’s not true.
I could barely breathe, I couldn’t look at her, I didn’t want to. She was part of this. Shewatched. Sheneverhelped. She was just as guilty.
Then Christian told her to dress me, like I was some sort of doll. My back ached from where he had beaten me earlier. He had used the belt again, hard enough that it made my bones scream.
My skin had been torn open, and I didn’t even know how much blood had seeped through my clothes.
Brittany pulled a faded dress from the closet, it was ugly, and it smelled bad.
She didn’t ask if I wanted to wear it, she shoved it at me, and I didn’t move. My body didn’t want to cooperate, but then she slapped me across the cheek, the sting burned, but it wasn’t the worst thing I’d felt from her. It was the look in her eyes that hurt the most, like I wasn’t even worth the air I breathed.
“Put it on,” she said, her voice cold. “You better be quiet when they arrive. If you talk, if you say anything, if you think about ruining this, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
I nodded, barely able to keep my head up, there was no other choice, there was no escape.
She dressed me quickly, her hands rough as she yanked the sleeves over my arms. My body stiffened as the fabric scraped against the raw skin of my back.
I wanted to scream, to fight back, but I felt so small, so powerless.
When she was done, she stood there for a moment, staring at me. Her lips curved into a smile, but it was empty. “Now remember what we talked about. You’re not allowed to say a word when they come. No crying. No talking, no nothing. If you do, they'll take you from here and leave you in the streets.”
I nodded again, too scared to do anything else. I thought about what it would be like to be out there, alone in the dark, the thought made my heart race.
The doorbell rang, it was time.
