Chapter 8: Chapter 6

Trigger warning: Mention of death and suicide

Sophia's POV

“Stop it,” one of the men said quietly as we entered a room.

I kept my eyes on the floor the entire time. I wasn’t allowed to look up. I wasn’t told to look up.

I wondered if this was the room they were going to keep me in. The floor was a lot nicer than at James and Elizabeth’s house so it couldn't be. This room had to be for something else. Maybe they would hurt me here. But why would they want to ruin the floor with my blood?

“I’m not going to order her,” the man spoke again. “She is my sister, not some maid.”

I furrowed my eyebrows a little. So they wouldn't use me to clean and cook, they would just torture me? Elizabeth said that they might use me before they start doing whatever they were planning on doing, but she was wrong. They would start with the torture immediately.

I was fine with that. Everything would end a lot sooner than I thought it would.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” the other man sighed and approached me slowly. “She won't do it if you ask her. Didn’t you see what happened downstairs?”

I wanted to flinch, but I learned not to. They would probably enjoy seeing me scared, just like James did. I didn’t want them to see that they scared me. I wanted to keep the little dignity I had left.

“Sophia, baby, sit on the bed,” the man said and I listened.

Why did he call me baby, though? Was it some weird nickname he would use while torturing me? James always called me his little flower. Would these men have nicknames for me as well?

I sat down on the softest bed my butt had ever touched. I tensed up immediately. Was this a trick? Would he hurt me now? I shouldn’t have been sitting on this bed. This soft bed wasn’t for me. I didn’t do anything to deserve sitting on it.

But I did what he told me to do. I followed his order. Would he hurt me anyway?

“Look up, baby,” the man said and I did.

My eyes found his and he smiled a little. The man in front of me had the same hair color as me. He was tall and muscular.

“Hi, Sophia,” he said as he got down on one knee. “I’m Elijah. I am your big brother.”

He reached out and took my hand in his. I prepared myself for pain. James broke my fingers once when he took my hand in his and crushed it.

This man didn’t do that. He took my hand in his warm one and rubbed it with his thumb gently. I was confused. What the hell was going on? Why was he gentle with me?

It was probably a trick to get me to trust him. Would all of them do this? Would they be nice to me and then hurt me? They probably thought it was the best way to do it. They thought that they could get me to trust them and then punish me. They thought that it would hurt more that way.

And it would if I let them do it.

What they didn’t know though was that I didn’t care about anything other than my life coming to an end. They could try to be nice and make me trust them, but I wasn’t going to trust them. I was going to end it myself if they wouldn't do it for me soon.

The man in front of me tightened his jaw and looked behind him. The other man approached us and sat on the bed next to me. I didn’t look at him. I wasn’t told to look at him.

“Hi, cutie,” the man who sat next to me said. “Can you look at me, please?”

I couldn’t. He didn’t tell me to.

The man in front of me gulped and gave me a small nod.

“Look at him, Sophia,” the man said softly.

I turned my head to the left and looked at the man who was sitting next to me. He had tears in his eyes. I noticed that his eyes were the same color as mine.

“Are you hungry, cutie?” he asked as he raised his hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

I wasn’t allowed food. Why was he asking me if I was hungry?

“Answer him, Sophia,” the other man said as he tightened his hold on my hand.

I shook my head immediately. The man in front of me took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“What happened to you, cutie?” he mumbled as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. “What did they do to you?”

I tensed up. Why was he holding me like that?

“You are safe now, baby,” the man holding my hand said. “No one will ever hurt you again. I promise. Your big brothers are here and we won’t let anyone near.”

Why was he telling me that? I wasn’t safe. I would never be safe. They wanted to hurt me. James and Elizabeth would come back for me. I would never be safe. I was never safe. I was born to be tortured. I was born to be used as a punching bag. I was born to be punished.

The only safe place for me was death.

The man who was holding me lifted his head and kissed my temple.

“We love you, Sophia,” he said. “We love you so much. Elijah is right. No one will ever hurt you again.”

“They could try, but they will have to go through five angry men to get to you,” the other man added with a hint of anger in his voice.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the first hit. He was angry and he would start with the punishment now.

The man who was holding me let me go and caressed my cheek.

“I know that you said that you aren’t hungry, but you still need to eat something,” he said. “We will stay here with you until dinner and then we will go downstairs together.”

I was getting more and more confused. Why were they offering me food again?

“Do you like the room, baby?” the man holding my hand asked. “We can change whatever you don’t like.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and I allowed myself to glance at him. He was smiling at me, but his eyes were sad.

“Look around, Sophia,” he said softly and I listened.

The room was beautiful and there wasn’t anything that I wanted to change. The huge windows were the best part of it. The basement in James and Elizabeth’s house had only one small window and there was never any natural light. It was always so dark there. This room had huge windows and looking at the clear blue sky made me so happy. I never got to see the sky from the basement.

“Whatever you’ve been through is over, baby,” the man said, tightening his hold on my hand. “You are safe and loved. I promise.”

I wished that was true. I’ve never been safe or loved. It would have been nice to know what that felt like.

It was too bad that I wouldn't get to experience that before I left this cruel world.