Author's POV
Jay had left the room, while Amy was left with her thoughts. She laid back on the bed, clueless about what to do next. Her hands fisted her hair, frustrated; it was the first time that she wasn't able to read him, not knowing his intentions or what he felt. She didn't know how to seek his forgiveness.
She looked around the room, noticing the interiors. She realized it had been months since she had last visited his room. It was always him who would invade her room and stay with her. She craned herself towards the table near the bed to have a glass of water. But her eyes seemed to be stuck on a decorated photo frame.
It was a picture of an old woman and a young boy happily standing near each other. It radiated such joy that not only their lips plastered a smile, but it was visible in their eyes too. She lifted the frame, taking a closer look. She looked at it blankly, having no idea when was the last time she had seen such happiness.
She could interpret that the young boy was none other than her husband. And the woman beside him might be his grandmother. Her inner demons had a larger force on her. She continued to stare at the frame blankly with no emotion. The more she stared at it, the more the world felt hazy. Her mind was spinning. She felt her hands trembling. Her brain had started to process something she had been unaware of.
It was giving her a headache. She tried to get a grip on herself but failed miserably. Her body shivered, and could no longer grasp the frame tight, resulting in it falling to the floor and the glass cover shattering into pieces. She crouched down, her trembling hands trying to collect the pieces but ending up with cuts and injuries. The red liquid oozed out of her wound, but she continued to stare at it. She could stop shivering; second by second, she felt her lungs getting knocked out of air.
She crawled to a corner, trembling, bringing her legs close to her chest. She tried to cope with her breathing. She could hear that bitchy laugh again, echoing in her head. She was slowly starting to see blurry figures of people around her.
She felt immense pain all over her body. She could see her stepmother a few inches away, laughing evilly at her misery. She felt helpless, tied to one place, while all she could do was sit and see her misery. She knew she had started hallucinating; she thought she was scrizophenic and would take pills every time without a doctor's prescription.
It was a hidden part of her brain that had the most terrible memories, which she wouldn't like to face. But now it has been unleashed. She was now slowly being absorbed into her past. She leaned her head on her knees, helplessly shivering, bracing herself for what was about to come next. Amy could see her 14-year-old self coming back to life.
Flashback
The laughter echoed through the deserted room. The same shrill laughter that Amy hated the most, a sign of sheer mockery. A silhouette was visible against the rusty and dirt-covered window as a few rays of light entered. A feminine figure with a dark demeanor.
14-year-old Amy found herself in shackles tied to a chair. Shock bracelets were wrapped around her wrist. She remembered that they didn't let her sleep the whole night, until she lost consciousness by getting constantly electrocuted. She stayed at the boarding school after being abandoned by her own father. But the place was not less than hell. People were rude and heartless; no one was pure like her innocent soul. The warden locked her in there just because she thought Amy was being rude. Everything was on purpose. Bad things occurred while the others would silently watch her misery and would later laugh over and unsee everything.
She found her school clothes changed into a uniform of a hospital gown. She wriggled and jerked herself in every direction, trying hard to rescue herself. But her attempts were futile, every time she wriggled, a wave of electricity passed through her veins. Her teary eyes looked at the hazy figure standing near the window.
Amy: Please leave me! Let me go!
The hazy figure started to stalk forward, nearing her with each passing second, making her tremble in fear. The low light slowly revealed her face. It was her stepmom. She looked at her in horror.
Amy: Why are you doing this? I did everything you wanted!
The little girl sobbed again, but her tears had no effect on the elder woman.
Mrs. Park: Oh, my little dove, you seem to fly so high! Do you want to meet your mother? Or shall I cut your wings?
She harshly grabbed Amy's jaw, squeezing it, making sure to leave a bruise. Her attention then diverted to Amy's long hair that reached to her waist. Other than her tiger-like brown eyes, her long hair made her look even more innocent and alluring. And that is what her stepmother hated the most. It made her remember her late friend. A sprig of jealousy burned her.
She pulled Amy's hair from the back, making Amy scream in pain as if she would pull it out of the roots.
Mrs. Park: Your mom cared for your hair so much because you love long hair, right? How about I cut it?
Amy weeped and wiggled more, screaming and denying the woman to not to do so, but she didn't listen to the younger one. She took a pair of scissors and started to aggressively cut her long, lucious hair. For Amy, it was the only thing she cherished as a memory after her mother's death. But this evil woman wanted to snatch that too.
The locks that waved and flourished till her waist was now chopped off till her ears. She felt helpless; other than pleading to stop and cry, she couldn't do anything.
She looked at her lap, feeling hopeless at this point. Her only memory of her mother is now gone. All she wanted was to sleep and never wake up again.
The evil laughter kept resonating in the abandoned room. She splashed a bucket of cold water on her. Amy could do nothing but sob and scream. With a last glint of loathe in Mrs. Park's eyes, she left the room with her head held high in pride after tormenting a little girl, who was clueless about what wrong she did.
Two men who were present there approached her and harshly opened her shackles, straight away throwing her to the floor. She whimpered in pain. After losing her consciousness for hours, she woke up again, finding herself in the same position as before.
They left the room, leaving her alone in the dark. She shivered, but she had a ray of hope. Her eyes glanced at the small window on the nearby wall, broad enough to fit her in. But it was too high for her small height.
Suddenly, there was a jolt of electricity that coursed through her body. It made her scream. She realized her shock bracelets were the reason. Every time she moved, she would be electrocuted, even with the slightest of movements.
She looked around to find a pair of scissors on the floor that her stepmother had unknowingly thrown away. She brisked towards it, finally setting herself free. Her wrists were covered in bruises after being tied so tightly.
She found a chair and used all her power to get off the floor after being numb from all the electrocution and lack of food and sleep. Dragging the chair, she balanced herself, and her hand reached the base of the window. But it was still too high.
Her body shivered, on the verge of losing hope again, but it was now or never! Using all her strength and pressing her bodyweight on her hands, she slowly lifted herself up, finally reaching halfway down through the window.
After a few more minutes of struggle that seemed like hours to her, she dumped herself out of the window, straining her ankles in the process. It was the school's secluded backyard. Her elbows and knees were bleeding after being scratched from the harsh fall. But she knew it was worth it.
She limped forward, slowly increasing her pace. She ran through the streets in the dark. Having no sense of time or direction, she ran with all her might. She couldn't die in that so-called hell. She needed freedom.
She ran to the main road, finding a hospital, but what if her evil stepmother found her? She couldn't take the risk, no matter how weak she was. She ran further in the lane, finding a park nearby. Maybe she could hide until morning.
She scurried towards the garden, taking precautionary steps, trying not to be caught, and looked around, finding a lake in the front, rushing to the bushes she thought to hide in.
There was a sudden buzz of mumbles and yells. She panicked and looked around; she was being paranoid, but to her surprise, she found an old grandma who had been talking to a young boy. Maybe his grandson She thought to ask for help.
She went towards them, being scared. At once, the grandma spotted her, and her eyes widened in horror, looking at Amy's state. She walked forward, holding Amy by her shoulders and examining her.
Grandma: Who did this to you? Where does it hurt?
Amy: Everywhere! Hurts!
Amy couldn't help but cry again, not in a condition to explain anything.
The old woman embraced the fragile figure in her arms, her motherly warmth radiating, making her feel a sense of safety. Amy held her hands, afraid she would have to let it go soon. She heard some shouts from far away, her attention diverting to nothingness.
Within a blink of an eye, everything was a mess, pure chaos. Amy was dragged somewhere and finally got pushed against a hard surface, which was a tree. Her scream was muffled by a palm covering her mouth.
She felt hopeless; her eyes were screwed shut in pain. It was the end of her.
"You'll be safe!"
She heard, not believing, she opened her eyes to find the same young boy around her age who had rushed her to hide behind one of the big trees.
Amy: Please save her; they'll hurt her too.
She cried, looking at the old lady being surrounded by those men. And before they could even process things further, one of them had attacked the old lady.
Boy: Grandma!
He screamed, partly shivering from the situation unfolding. He was flabbergasted, not knowing what to do next. His scream had gotten attention, but no one could locate them between the thick bushes.
He looked back at Amy, trying to do something.
Boy: Do not move! Just stay here! I'll bring some help! Okay! Breathe!
The atmosphere was tense; with no other choice, the boy had left her to seek help, and she could do nothing but look at those predators hurting innocent people just because of her silly mistake of seeking help from them. Her palms pressed against her mouth, scared that her sobs would reach their ears.
She thought of creating a distraction by making movements around by throwing a big stone a little far. It was a successful attempt that made those captors believe that she had run in that direction. The injured old lady was now abandoned on the ground.
She immediately rushed towards her; the old lady was barely conscious. Those men had brutally hit her with a baseball bat and were about to stab her with a knife. Amy knew the old lady was still alive; she would make it.
She weeped beside the body, apologizing and mumbling sorrys, and soon ran away, not wanting to create trouble for others.
She ran to the main road again, finding a truck with its trunk open. She swooped herself in to hide, and the truck took her far from the place, not knowing where it was going to land her. She noticed her hands covered in blood. and a shiny bracelet that dangled from her shirt. She realized it belonged to Grandma. She collected it in her palms, fisting it to her chest, and cried her heart out, not knowing where she was going.
The truck stopped somewhere, and finding a chance, she snuck out of the truck, looking around. There were an ample number of tombstones around. She knew this place. Her heart turned gloomy, remembering her mom being buried.
Her mom had left her alone in this world. Silent tears left her doe eyes while she limped towards the graveyard. She walked across the graves, reaching the dead end of the one that was abandoned. Her mother's. She lay above her mom's grave as if she wanted to hug her tight.
Amy: Take me with you!
She sobbed, shivering in the hospital gown that was thin and barely shielded her from the cold atmosphere. She lay there, wanting to sleep forever and never wake up again.
Flashback over
She felt someone shaking her; she felt a bit woke; hearing a voice that said everything would be okay. Proving her wrong that she could be loved. But she couldn't move; she couldn't reply that she would be fine. She had lost her senses.
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Hey guys! It's been a while that I have updated. Do enjoy this episode and stay tuned!
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Peace ✌️
