Chapter 8 #2
He caressed her face, and I thought she might pass out. Her breathing hitched, and as her chest heaved, she knelt down in the dirt.
“Write ‘dogs or water’. Do it now,” he commanded, and she sobbed as she scratched the words into the ground. “You know what to do next,” he said, touching her shoulder.
His hands lingered along her neck, caressing it almost. Sobs now wracked her small body, and she gathered four stones. Her hands shook as she passed one to Winter and Spring.
“It’s my fault. I wanted to keep it,” Spring yelled, throwing the stone down.
Anger emanated from the Mask as he regarded her before storming over. I gulped. His hatred of the little girl was barely controlled these days. She was going to get herself killed.
“You will pick up that rock now!” he screamed, balling up his fist and whacking her upside the head, throwing her to the ground.
She lay there stunned, whimpering and rubbing her head. He forced her to pick up her stone. The look of glee on his face frightened me. His next words created a visual I wouldn’t ever be able to unsee. I sent up a silent prayer that she would, for once, listen and obey.
“You’re up first, stupid girl,” he bellowed in her ear. “Crawl your ass over there, you worthless piece of shit and make a choice. Be quick about it before I feed YOU to my dogs.”
Autumn sat by the scratched words in the dirt, her hand covering her face as Spring clumsily crawled over. Her grayish-blue eyes looked around in confusion. He’d knocked her silly. Wailing, she dropped her stone next to one of the words. Winter came up next and quietly laid hers next to Spring’s.
The Mask walked over and reached down and rubbed Autumn’s head, cooing, “Don’t worry, I won’t make you choose, you’re so sensitive. X can choose for you.”
X scrambled over and took the stone from Autumn’s hand and gently placed hers down. Then it was my turn. My stomach heaved, and I walked over. Three small stones stood next to the word water. Shakily, I placed mine next to theirs, solidarity in all ways.
“Water it is. This is going to be so much fun.” The Mask pulled me by the arm and dragged me to the lake. “Go on, take your clothes off.”
I blinked, confused, and dread filled me. Something about the look in his eyes reminded me of the time he nearly killed me in the shower. His hands formed fists, and I quickly unbuttoned my dress.
Once I was down to my underthings, he shoved me toward the edge of the lake. He handed me the bag. I looked at him, and he threw his head back and laughed.
“Go on now, you and your friends chose. All you have to do is hold the bag under,” he said, laughing once more at the look on my face.
I did the only thing I could. I clutched the bag to my little chest and cried. As I spoke softly to Hercules, I told him I loved him and that he was the best cat I’d ever had. I worked my fingers through the knots at the top and tried to loosen them, hoping he would somehow break free.
One paw poked out and scratched my arm. I would have taken a thousand scratches in exchange for not having to do this awful thing. Sobbing hysterically, I lowered the bag to the water, frantically working my fingers at the same time.
By some small miracle, the bag tore at just the right time.
Hercules scratched at me some more, and I welcomed them, knowing that each one was his way of fighting to stay alive.
The Mask was distracted by Autumn, and I swear to this day she and I telepathically worked together to save that cat’s life.
I cried out as one of Hercules’ paws caught my chin, and he broke free from the bag. He bounded away and disappeared into the woods. The Mask stormed over.
Without a single word, he shoved my head into the lake. Only then did I truly understand the fear Hercules had. I became the cat, clawing and scratching, trying to save my life.
Just like in the shower that night, he would pause only long enough for me to suck in air, and instinctively I screamed before he shoved my head back underwater.
Screaming was a big mistake because half of my breath left my body. When it did, darkness came for me as water filled my mouth. He pulled my head out until my lips met the surface. I heaved in the air I so desperately needed.
“We can do better than that now, can’t we?” he asked while I choked and hacked up water.
Uncontrollable fear and sobs wracked my body, and despite the warmth of the afternoon, I shivered. Tears streamed from my eyes, and before I could even think, he shoved my face underwater again.
I tried to move his hands from my hair, but couldn’t. My eyes opened, and water filled them. I realized at that moment that I was going to die. Fighting like hell, I tried to get free. Over and over he pulled me up, only to submerge me again.
Exhausted, I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness of the water beckoned me, and I swore I heard my real name called. Slowly, I stopped struggling as blackness consumed me, and my lungs burned in need of oxygen, but numbly I’d reached a place where I didn’t care.
Opening my mouth, I surrendered fully to the lake, only to be yanked out. To this day, I’m not entirely sure what happened, but the next thing I felt was an incredibly sharp pain squeezing me.
I coughed up water for what seemed like hours and then sucked in the fresh air, hyperventilating.
“You going to feed that cat anymore?” I looked up and saw evil incarnate staring down with his soulless eyes.
“No, Sir, never,” I whispered. My throat burned.
“Well let’s get you inside, then. You’ve got a show tonight. We wouldn’t want to keep your fans waiting now, would we?”
I tried to sit up, but the pain shot through my chest, and I cried out. The Collector came over and helped me up.
“No, she can do it herself,” the Mask scowled.
The other man stepped back, and I slowly made my way to the hatch door, wishing in secret I had died.