Page 64 of Alessia
“Shh, shh, shh… It’s okay Harper.”
“How can you say that? I want to die from what you do to me all day. In a few days you’ll sell me off to the highest bidder and I’ll be just a memory to the world.”
He comes over to the bed and picks me up to put me in his lap. As strange as it is, it’s the first bit of comfort I’ve felt in weeks. I curl up in a ball and rest my head on his chest. The tears run freely now, soaking his shirt. His hands rub soothing circles on my back.
“Get me out of here, Gabriele, please I beg you.” I whisper.
“I can’t, Dolcezza, I can’t. They’ll kill everyone I love when I set you free.”
“There must be something you can do.” I plead.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
This night he doesn’t fuck me; he just lays himself beside me and we sleep. It’s the best sleep I’ve had in weeks.
I wake up the next morning alone. Alone but without any more pain than yesterday. Breakfast stands on the table by the window and there’s a little note next to it.
I’ll see what I can do for you.
Keep your head down until then.
A tiny sparkle of hope flickers in my chest. Maybe it’s not too late for me, maybe I won’t disappear into oblivion after all. The spark grows in a newfound will to go on. I eat my breakfast and wait for my door to open for my daily shower.
After about thirty minutes my door opens and Gabriele walks in. His face is stern and sober, not even a hint of the kind man that comforted me last night.
“Hi.” I say softly. Did they find out about last night?
“Good morning, slut.” His voice is full of loathing.
So, I guess we’re back to this. It stings just a bit more now. I walk behind him to the bathroom and find Anna on the floor in the shower corner, leaning against the wall. The water disappearing into the shower drain is a deep crimson. I rush over to her and grab her face.
She’s as white as a ghost.
All the color has drained from her face and her eyes are sunken back into her skull. I take my fingers to her carotid artery and feel a faint pulse.
“GABRIELE!” I shout frightened.
No response.
“GABRIELE, GET IN HERE, PLEASE.”
It takes a few minutes before he sloshes in.
“What the hell, Harper, you can’t call me in here like that, what if somebody heard you.”
“I don’t fucking care; Anna is losing blood and has a very weak pulse. She needs medical attention.”
That got his attention, he snaps into action and picks her up from the floor, his clothes are soaked in an instant.
“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! I’M GOING TO KILL THEM!” I whisper shout.
Anna’s back is covered in cuts, not superficial cuts but deep slits. This isn’t because she’s been whipped multiple times. Someone deliberately put a knife in her back and caused her deep lacerations. I count fifteen cuts all at least ten inches long that all need stitches.
“Take her and get me the fuck out of this hell pit so I can kill every last motherfucker.”
The spark that grew bigger yesterday is now a blazing inferno inside of me. I knew these men where monsters, I’m a twenty-four-year-old woman, Anna is a child.A fucking child. She’s supposed to go to the movies with friends, play silly gamesand have crushes on boys her age. She shouldn’t be bleeding out in some sex slave training camp bathroom.
Gabriele’s eyes are full of remorse when he carries her towards the bathroom door.
