CHAPTER IX
“ W hat was my mom like as a teenager?” I asked Valarie as we sipped our water, trying to stretch out every drop.
Valarie turned to me, a smile brightening her expression. “She was rebellious and stubborn, especially when things didn’t go her way.”
I chuckled, imagining her moments when she was defiant. Like mother, like daughter.
“She was a prankster, too,” Valarie continued, her eyes sparkling.
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? What kind of pranks?”
She leaned in, her voice a hushed whisper as if she was sharing a secret. “One Halloween, she painted her face pitch black and snuck up on Mom when she was getting ready for bed. The only thing Mom could see were her eyes and teeth, glowing in the dark.”
We both erupted into laughter, a brief escape from our nightmare.
“And she always had this incredible knack for lifting people’s spirits,” Valarie added, her tone softening. “You’d never knew if something was bothering her. She was selfless, caring, and always put others first.”
Her words resonated deeply; my mother was genuinely selfless, and her smile brought warmth and light to any room.
Valarie’s expression shifted as she looked me in the eye, her gaze steady and sincere. “Was she happy?”
“She was,” I replied. “She had this way of singing and dancing when I was sick. Mom knew what to do and say to make my days brighter.” I smiled at the memories.
“She was loving and always prioritized my needs over her own…” I said, trailing off as I stared at the wall. “That’s part of what makes her loss hurt so much. She was always trying to protect me.”
“And she’d do it all over again,” Uncle Malik chimed in from the other cell. I turned to face him, a rush of sadness and appreciation mingling in my chest.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
I managed to chuckle lightly, knowing he could see through my crap.
“It’s not your fault what happened to her,” he continued, his tone firm yet compassionate. “She was just born into the wrong family. Don’t carry the weight of her death; I won’t let you.”
Uncle Malik sat hunched over, the dim light from the window highlighting the bruises on his face. One eye was swollen and nearly closed, and he had a busted lip. He cradled one side of his body, wincing with every small movement, which told me he might have cracked a few ribs.
My heart ached for his suffering. I wanted to reach out to hug him and take away his pain.
The sound of clanging keys echoed through the corridor, followed by the harsh sound of a door slamming.
When I heard the whistling, my body went rigid, and so did Valarie’s. It was Ceaser. According to Valarie, he had been my grandfather’s right-hand man. It appeared he had a new master to follow.
The beatings and torture happened at least every other day. All I wished for was death to put me out of my misery since I didn’t foresee a way out of here.
When the asshole came into view, the Puppet Master stormed right behind him, looking feral as ever. He wrapped his hands around the bars and peered at me. “Your boyfriend is causing me all kinds of problems,” he sneered.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I shot back calmly. Even my voice sounded tired from all this bullshit.
“Open the door,” he told Ceaser.
“You stay the fuck away from her!” Uncle Malik yelled, but no one paid attention to him as the Puppet Master and Ceaser continued preparing for with whatever sick twisted shit they were about to do us.
When the doors opened, Valarie moved in front of me to block him. Ceaser backhanded her and kicked her while she was down.
“Stop it! Please, stop!” I cried out, trying to reach her, but the Puppet Master yanked the chain attached to my collar, pulling me toward him. The metal bit into my neck as he gripped my face, lifting me off the ground. I held onto his wrists so my head wouldn’t be ripped off by his strength.
He pulled my face to his until I could smell the alcohol on his breath. “You need to be reminded of your place. Maybe I’ll have my men do to you what your grandfather had planned for your mother.”
“NO! You motherfucker!” Uncle Malik banged on the bars. “Don’t you fucking touch her, you piece of shit!”
He dropped me, and my weakened body fell into a heap onto the cold ground.
“Ceaser, get the camera ready,” he instructed.
I turned to Valarie, who was in a fetal position and not moving.
But her chest rose and fell, so she was either knocked out or faking it.
We’d both learned to fake it as much as we could to avoid getting beaten even more.
By the look of malice glinting in the Puppet Master’s eyes, I wished more than anything to vanish into thin air and escape whatever hell he had in store for me.
The Puppet Master leaned down until he was bent before me. He tilted his head and grinned like a maniac.
“Nico is disrupting my business by saving the women and killing my men because he’s trying to find you.”
My heart hammered against my chest. The thought that he was looking for me excited me and pissed me off.
“So, I’m going to send him a message back.”
He roughly pulled me to my feet by my collar, and I yelped as a sharp jolt of pain shot through my body. The sudden ache radiated from my shoulder, igniting every nerve ending as I struggled to regain my balance.
Ceaser returned with a chair, chains, and a camera.
He set the chair in the middle of the room and threw me in it.
I almost toppled back, but Ceaser gripped the collar around my neck to hold me in place.
He forcefully began tearing my clothes. I slapped his hands away, but he backhanded me, snaping my head to the right.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” he sneered, slapping me again.
I cried out and continued to struggle, but despite my failed attempts to stop him, I was soon sitting in the chair naked, embarrassed and disgusted by the way Ceaser and the Puppet Master eyed me up and down. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, and sobs started to wrack my body.
Humiliated.
Degraded.
My heart broke even more when I heard the agony in Uncle Malik’s cries, threatening what he would do to the two disgusting villains in my cell.
Ceaser set up the camera in front of me, and I quickly turned my head away. Someone grabbed my chin and squeezed, and I cried out in pain.
“Don’t fucking move,” the Puppet Master snarled. As I met his gaze, there was nothing but hate and darkness in his eyes. “I want Nico to see that his actions have consequences.”
He stood behind the camera while Ceaser slid on black leather gloves and pulled a lighter out.
I whimpered and tried to pull away. He flipped the cap on the lighter and brought it close to my chest.
“Nico, this is what happens every time you fuck with what’s mine. I’ll fuck you ten times back,” he said in a robotic tone.
When the searing flame licked my skin, a primal scream tore from my throat, echoing with a raw fury that I couldn’t contain.
I thrashed in the chair, my body arching in protest against the unbearable pain.
Ceaser continued to burn my skin. I bowed my head, and drool leaked out of my mouth as I tried to withstand the pain from the burns on my chest, arms, stomach, and legs.
“Enough,” he directed Ceaser.
I could see Ceaser’s feet as he took a step back. My heart raced as he forced my head up with an iron grip, and I looked into a set of dark eyes filled with disgust. Ceaser unlocked the chains and threw me to the ground as if I was nothing but trash.
“Would you look at this,” the Puppet Master purred. The sound made my skin crawl.
A searing pain shot through my scalp as he brutally yanked my head backward by my hair. “My beautiful, broken marionette,” he hissed.
An icy dread permeated into my bones as I whispered the words, “Just kill me already.”
“No,” his grip tightened, blurring my vision. “I am the one who will decide your fate and the exact moment when the show will end. Until then, I’m going to enjoy pulling your strings, for I am your master,” he growled, his hot breath washing over my face as his tongue slithered across my cheek.
Without warning, he released his grip and issued a sharp order to Ceaser. “Carry on with the show.”
“Please,” I whimpered, my lips trembling uncontrollably as Ceaser’s fists rained down on me, each blow sending shockwaves of agony through my body.
The Puppet Master’s laugh echoed again, this time sounding even more sinister.
In a desperate attempt to shield my body from further blows, I curled into a tight ball.
His blows left me gasping for air. My body felt like it was being crushed under the weight of his relentless assault, and I couldn’t hold it back any longer.
I puked, the sour taste blending with the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.
Somewhere in the chaos, I heard Uncle Malik’s furious shouts through the haze of my pain, a raw, desolate sound that clawed at my heart.
And me?
Anger coursed through my veins, igniting a fire deep within. I wanted to fight back, to scream until my lungs burned, but all I could do was take hit after hit. With every punch, a part of me shattered, and I felt myself slipping away while the shit show raged on around me.
I closed my eyes, allowing my mind to drift to the image of Nico’s handsome face with its strong jawline and captivating smile that always seemed to melt my heart.
I could almost feel the warmth of his lips as they brushed against mine, making the world around us disappear.
The way our bodies intertwined in perfect harmony when we made love, each movement synchronized as if we were the only two souls in existence.
And when we played music together, it was as though we were suspended in our own orbit, the melodies weaving around us, binding our souls.
I fucking love you were the last words I heard him say as I drifted off into the dark abyss.
“Gigi.”
“Please, wake up.”
“Gigi. Fuck!”
My eyelids fluttered open after hearing Uncle Malik’s and Valarie’s panicked voices. My body was sore and felt cemented to the ground. I slightly turned my head and saw Valarie’s teary, red-rimmed eyes, full of pain as she met my gaze.
She quickly scooted toward me and brushed my greasy hair away from my face.
“Are you okay?” Valarie asked as the tears fell down her cheeks. She was so pale, but I was sure I didn’t look any better.
“How long have I been out?” I asked her in a raspy voice. I attempted to lick my dry lips, but my tongue felt like sandpaper, and the effort drained what little energy I had left.
“Not long,” she whispered, wiping away her tears.
“How bad is it?” I cringed when I saw her sunken face morph into a sorrowful expression.
Valarie scanned between my legs, and her eyes widened in horror. “Oh, Gigi,” she gasped and turned to grab a blanket from behind her.
“What?” I asked, panicked.
With the blanket in her hands, she kneeled between my legs.
“What is it?” I asked again.
“You’re bleeding, Gigi.”
“Bleeding?” I summoned my remaining strength and looked down between my legs.
I noticed the red stain over my underwear. “What the hell?” I cried out, and sudden pain hit me in my stomach.
My God. How long had I been bleeding? Was that why I felt so weak? I thought it was just from the beating.
The pain continued to strangle me. I could barely breathe. What the hell was happening to me?
“Oh, no,” Valarie’s eyes drifted over Uncle Malik. “She’s having a miscarriage.”
Her words made me freeze.
“Uncle Malik?” I asked in a pleading tone, wishing he was here in the same cell with me.
“I’m so sorry, kiddo. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I wasn’t pregnant.
I would’ve known. But then realization dawned on me. My boobs had been sore. I was cramping and nauseated, but I just assumed it was because of what my body had been through while trapped here.
“H-how...how could you possibly know?” I stammered.
Valarie swallowed hard. “Because it happened to me years ago.”
No. No. No. This isn’t happening.
The doors opened again, and I flinched and braced myself for my next beating.
Valarie pushed herself up, her movements shaky. She stumbled over her chains toward the bars, reaching through the cold metal like a lifeline. “Please! She needs a doctor!”
The guard sauntered over, a smirk curling the corners of his mouth. His eyes flickered between my legs, his expression cold. He casually held three bottles of water and tossed two into our cell, the plastic clattering against the floor. He flung the third at Uncle Malik.
“Not my problem,” he spat, turning on his heel.
“Wait! She needs help! She could die!” Uncle Malik’s voice was a ragged growl.
But the guard said nothing; the metal doors slamming shut resonated with a loud bang.
I was too exhausted to cry.
Too exhausted to fight.
I squeezed my eyes shut and allowed the darkness to take over me.