21 - Harper
Two weeks.
I t’s been two whole weeks since my life changed and I became a shell of the person I once was. Two weeks of torture, starvation and rape.
My wish to die hasn’t changed, if anything, it became bigger.
When I’m not being fucked until I can’t breathe anymore by Gianni, Manchini or one of their minions I lie in my bed bleeding and crying.
Bruises paint my skin; my body is aching from the beating they give me with whips and canes.
At least they give me time to sleep and shower.
Meals have been cut down to one a day. They say I need to look my thinnest so that they can get a decent price for me.
Each sound outside my so-called room startles me.
I’m getting more and more paranoid each day.
I know I should find a way to get out of this hell with Anna but I can’t find the strength.
Anna doesn’t deserve to be here; I don’t deserve to be here.
Something inside me just… Broke… That’s the only way I can describe it.
I hear t he locks on my door turn and the guy with the neck tattoo walks in.
He became one of my regulars these past weeks.
Even though he fucks me like it’s his last day on earth he does have a softer side.
Every time, after he’s done with me, he cleans me up before he leaves.
It’s about the only kindness I get from the men in here.
I know his name is Gabriele by now, he likes it when I scream his name.
Whether it’s from pain or pleasure doesn’t matter.
“Good evening, Harper.” His voice is low and the accent seems thicker now that we’re in Italy.
“Hi, Gabriele.” I fake my best smile and turn to lie on my back.
“How are you tonight?”
This is new, he’s never been the one for small talk and pleasantries.
“Real or fake answer?” I ask carefully.
“The truth, please.”
“I’m hurting and I want to go home.” Tears fill my eyes and before I know it, they glide down my cheeks onto the pillow.
“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 m e 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 disapp earing 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 games and 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.
“Where are you taking her?”
“To her room.”
“And then?”
“I’ll see if I can get her a doctor.”
“You’ll see?” I ask confused.
“Yes, Harper. I am still just a lackey to Gianni and Manchini remember? They decide if somebody is worth the trouble of getting a doctor here and paying the medical bills.”
Bile rises in my throat and I can’t stop it, I run over to the toilet and hurl up my breakfast. When I think they’ve reached the limit on being cruel bastards, they cross the limit yet again.
I hear Gabriele leave with Anna in his arms, it’s out of my hands now. What am I saying? My whole life has been out of my own hands these past two weeks. I mindlessly walk over to the shower and clean Anna’s blood off the tiles before I wash myself.
When everything is clean, I go back to my room, I lie down on my bed and stare at the ceiling until sleep catches up with me again. I drift off in a restless dream.
The forest is unnaturally dark, the kind of darkness that felt alive, suffocating.
Trees loom like skeletal giants, their gnarled branches clawing at the moonless sky.
My breaths come in ragg ed gasps as I run, my bare feet pounding against the uneven earth.
The underbrush claws at my legs, leaving thin, stinging cuts, but I can’t stop.
Behind me, the heavy thud of boots and the guttural growls of Gianni and Manchini grow louder.
“Harper!” Anna’s voice pierces the oppressive air, sharp with panic.
I whip my head around, glimpsing Anna stumbling behind me.
Anna’s golden hair is matted with sweat and dirt, her pale face etched with terror.
But it is her back that makes my blood turn cold.
Jagged, deep cuts crisscross Anna’s skin, oozing blood that drips in macabre ribbons, painting the forest floor in streaks of crimson.
“Anna, keep running!” I scream, my voice cracking.
“I can’t!” Anna’s knees buckle, and she collapsed onto the ground with a cry of anguish. My heart seizes, but I force myself to turn back. The world around us seems to close in, the trees leaning forward as if to swallow us whole.
“You have to get up,” I beg, hooking my arms under Anna’s shoulders.
“We’ll get through this. Together.”
Anna’s glazed eyes meet mine, her lips trembling. “I… I can’t feel my legs,” she whispers, her voice faint as the blood loss drains her strength. “Just go.”
“No! I’m not leaving you!” I shout, tears spilling over my cheeks. The sound of Gianni’s and Manchini’s guttural laughter echoes through the forest, growing closer. Their silhouettes begin to emerge from the shadows, grotesque shapes with cruel smiles and glinting weapons.
Anna grabs my wrist with surprising strength. “You have to go. They’ll kill us both if you stay.”
I shake my head violently; my sobs choke me. “I won’t leave you!”
A low growl rumbled behind us. I turn, paralyzed as Manchini steps into view, his face obscured by a twisted mask. In his hand, he holds a long blade dripping with something dark. Manchini tilts his head, as if savoring our fear.
“Run, Harper!” Anna urges me, her voice fading. Her grip on my wrist loosens. My instincts scream to flee, but my heart is tethered to her.
Manchini lunges. I scream and stumble backward, finally letting go of Anna. I hesitate for one agonizing second before Anna’s weak voice cuts through the chaos. “Go!”
I turn and run, the image of Anna lying limp on the forest floor seared into my mind. The sound of cruel laughter and Anna’s fading cries pursue me as I run, twisting together into a grotesque symphony.
As I sprint deeper into the forest, the air grows colder and heavier.
The trees closed ranks, their branches reaching for me like skeletal hands.
My chest burns, my legs scream in protest, but I can’t stop.
Behind me, Gianni’s footsteps seem to echo endlessly, a relentless drumbeat of my impending doom.
I tri p and fall, my hands plunging into the wet dirt.
Crawling to my knees, I glanced back one last time.
In the distance, I see Anna’s lifeless body, her golden hair fanned out like a halo, a stark contrast to the dark, blood-soaked ground.
And then, just as suddenly as they’d appeared, Gianni and Manchini are gone. The forest falls silent.
My scream rips through my room as the nightmare shattered into fragments of waking terror. I sit upright in my bed, drenched in sweat, my breath ragged and shallow. The image of Anna’s bloodied back lingered, a haunting specter that refused to fade.