Evil Intent

A Story by Rebekah

The ultimate cruelty and the power of dark corruption

The vulgar stench of his breath laced with the smell of urine,sweat and strong whiskey invaded my nostrils and made me wretch. He lowly crawled closer to my already petrified body. I was trapped against the rotten walls, smothered in oozing green fungi, held in the unbreakable grasp of rusty-chained cuffs. I felt my stomach lurch; I feel like I'm part of some cynical twisted fantasy of his, the torture I withstand on a daily basis is excruciating to contemplate..I feel so dirty and tired ;filthy..

I've been here for what feels like eternity. Seconds, Minutes, hours and days all merge into endless despair.

I lie on the cold cracked concrete. Shaking and crying. I can't rid my body of his smell. Every time he crawls in, I feel my breath stick in my throat, A lump appears and cold shivers grab my kin. I shudder as the horrifying images of his last attack stick in my mind's eye. I stay were I am, unable to tug on my restrained wrists any force would only cause the cuffs to cut into my skin.

My name is Red...Elizabeth Hood. Since the age of Fourteen, He has held me here, Trapped. I don't know exactly how long i have been here because It's all so blurry...so blurry and confusing, blinding short flashes of memories.

The day he kidnapped me, he forced and chained me, into a sitting position in a steel box. I was terrified and confused; I jut wanted my best friend back. It was so cold and my clothes were ripped. I sat alone for days on end, starving, until finally he threw a dish of food scraps and water through the the metal door, like I was some kind of animal. As I scampered to grab all the scraps, I was harshly hauled backwards by my chains which cut and dig viciously into my wrists. Now that he has me in this horrid place in total darkness, I feel certain that I'll never return to my old some what care free life.

******

The sun shines brightly and the breeze blows through my short hair as I shoot through the trees with my best friend Thomas. He quickly darts along behind me; never quite managing to catch me. I giggle and continue running picking up my pace until I am eventually in an unfamiliar part of the forest after a few minutes, I notice I can not hear Tommy's footsteps crunching their way across the autumn leaves. I look around, frantically searching for Tommy. Footsteps come towards me and my body relaxes a little.

" Tommy, Stop it now - your scaring me - please- let's go home!"

I feel someone's breath tickle the back of neck, as I turn around, something cracks hard off the back of my skull....everything around me starts to fade into darkness.

******

I don't know how much time passed before I woke up but when I did, I felt my body burning, every inch of me hurt. As I tried to straighten myself into a sitting position; I felt darkness try to overtake me. I pushed it away as I remembered inch beating and vicious attack that I had received. I slowly and painfully examined the cuts and wounds left over my skin from his attacks. I examined the thin jagged scars left up and down my thigh and wrists from him cutting me, torturing me. I looked at my bruised forearms and ankles, then I looked down and seen the source of the fire rip through me, the wounds travel down my abdomen gushing with blood.....I panicked and let out a blood-curling scream....

Time begins to slow as my head spins...my body shakes as I place my paper-thin blanket over my wounds to prevent the flow of blood. I sit and question what I could do. I'm jut going to die here aren't I? Clearly no one cares about me or they would have found me by now, right? obviously , I'm not worth much to anyone. I'm just an empty shell that's used, beaten and bruised; but what I don't understand is, why me? why am i even still alive? what is my purpose in this world.

I add more pressure to my wound and watch as the blood spreads across the sheet, almost as if in slow motion. I start to feel the blood pumping in my head as my body throbs. I hear loud footsteps echo, moving even closer. I look around frantically, panicking. It dawns on me how fast the time must have gone since his last attack. What more does he want to do to me? My body goes into automatic defense mode and I sit in shock. I remain scared, petrified. I begin to feel tears well up in my eyes and I want to struggle against my chains. I silently scream for help but as always my thoughts never reach my lips; they just build up inside; stupid Red, stupid little pathetic Red...

The door creaks open and a shadow is cast across the floor. The light is blinding. I remain too scared to look up, the footsteps come to a stand still.

Slowly the light begins to fade and I feel myself slipping.....I dig my hands into the cold concrete cobwebs, catching my fingers not wanting to slip away again. I will not go back into the black nothingness again. I scrape my horribly sharp nails along the concrete, needing that sense of stability to stay in my mind. I clench my fists as I hold the blanket to my wounds. The thick drying blood causes the sheet to stick to me. A numbness is spreading through my body; starting from my cuffed ankles and slowly traveling up over my beaten and blooded thighs, until I can no longer feel the feel the fire in my wounds. My chest rises and falls more slowly now. My wrists slacken and my arms become heavier, the numbness then travels up to the tips of my ears. My head is resting against the sharp and cobweb-infested walls, I watch a small fuzzy black spider pass over my alarmingly infected legs. I'm too tired to try to move it away. The shadowy figure at the door had seemingly disappeared along with the dazzling light, I lie there, staring at nothing in the darkness. I feel my eyelids growing heavier as I drift off into another world where I'm not beaten and broken.

Everything is dark; so dark, but within the darkness, I hear a familiar voice; A sweet, familiar voice that fills me with some sense of relief I see trees as I run - Only trees - I try to follow the voice. I'm nearly there!

My eye fly open suddenly. I recall the beautifully familiar vice, The bright light scorches my mind, burning deep in to the sockets of my eyes. I feel nothing; I feel...nothing just empty...just a shell of something that once was. Now I'm just existing I want to banish what I have left, no point in having it. A tiny flicker of sanity is all I have now.

I look down at the blanket stuck to my wounds, slowly I take the blanket in my fist. I rip it off causing my wound to bleed again. The large gaping hole in my stomach mesmerizes me as the warm blood spills over my hands as I sit and watch it, fascinated. My mind races, what could I do to hear that soothing voice again, the one that eases my pain and makes me feel normal?

I grind my horribly sharp nails along a dusty part of my leg, digging them deep but feeling nothing. The numbness has taken over. I slowly scrape my nail up my hip and into my stomach. I want to hear that voice again; I have nothing left to lose I want my solace; I don't want this existence anymore; I'm done. I dig my nails into my stomach, still I remain numb and focused on the voice I had heard. Using that as my motivation, I look down one last time. I look away.

I pull! I tear! I rip! I shred! I pull at anything my fingers and nails can reach inside my wound and I pull it out, I feel blood splatter my legs and my face but I don't care I continue until i can't move anymore. My body freezes and the darkness hit me fast.

I'm surrounded by light and the cool breeze once more. I hear a little, happy voice squealing my name, I stop running and spin around and what I see makes my heart stop; the face to the familiar voice, the person who helped me survive; My Solace....My Tommy

I laugh and run over. Tommy stands with his eyes shining and hand outstretched; without a thought, I take his hand. We run off into the light; laughter filling the air.

Even though I was abused and it took everything I had, every ounce of sanity and strength. I had denied my torturer the thing he coveted the most; My suffering. In my last act, I have stripped him of all his power and exerted my strength. Power resides in us all; It's up to us when we choose to realize it.