ARIA‘I’ll break your legs, I’ll tear your limbs apart. I’ve been treating you like a queen. Try to escape. Even if you succeed, I’ll make you crawl back to me and I’ll treat you no better than a slave.’“Shut up! For fuck’s sake, shut up!” I hissed at my reflection in the mirror.Fabiano’s words circulated in my mind, instilling a fear in me.It felt like he was warning.Like he knew something.Did Lina betray me?She owes you no loyalty. You owe her.“You’re going to escape. You’re going to leave this cage, Aria.” I spoke to myself, trying to lessen the fear thar kept elevating inside me.No matter how much my senses told me not to act on my plan, I couldn’t afford stepping back right now.Fabiano had made his intentions more than clear today. And I had no desire to act like a doll. I had no intentions of handling my reigns to him so he could rule over me.I wouldn’t become a puppet in his hands.Tapping my cheeks, I sighed before stepping away from the restroom mirror and left the
ARIAI woke up to the sound of the door opening. Stretching my body, I rolled over and straightened myself, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.“Miss?”I was fully awake at the voice.Eyes snapping open, I jerked my head towards the voice.A pale Lina stood near the edge of my bed, eyes glancing everywhere but at me.“What happened?” I asked, when she didn’t reply, I tensed, “What time is it?”I jumped off the bed, “What happened Lina?”She looked guilty as hell; eyes full of pity.Pity for me.“Say something.” I barked, startling her, she jumped in her place, not meeting my gaze.Her eyes went to the corner of my bed, I followed my gaze, my heart dropping into a pit when I noticed a square box lying there.My gaze flicked up to the woman standing in front of me before it went back to the box, lying there.“What’s in it?”She swallowed audibly at my words, eyes stuck on the crimson box with a black ribbon bow tied on it.“Big Master wants you to wear it tonight.” She paused, waiting for m
ARIAI cursed Lina under my breath at the mere thought of her.I’d beat her dumb ass when I saw her.Somewhere inside me, I knew it wasn’t her fault. She was just doing what her Big Master had told her to.But I was just des—Click. Click.I whirled around, my eyes widening as I watched everything.The door unlocked, someone pushed it open. I saw the shadow and didn’t think twice before running towards the door.Just as I stepped outside, my eyes caught a person running down the hall.What the hell!I stared at the place where the person was before moving in the opposite direction.Lina had told me where the boat was going to be and that’s where I wanted to be.Casting a last look over my shoulder, I ran in the opposite direction.Thankfully, Lina had told me the directions the day Fabiano had nearly raped me. So, I knew where to go.I didn’t stop.I ran and ran, barefoot and didn’t halt when I jumped out of the window instead of leaving through the door.When my feet touched the mois
ARIAPale and afraid, I quietly moved away, wondering what was I supposed to do next.I wondered if Fabiano knew I had escaped his cage.He would be livid.I shuddered remembering his words.I had to leave. One way or other.Shaking myself out of the trance, I looked for the control room.Other than the fact that there is a thing called ‘wheel’, I knew nothing about the boat.I felt like I was in denial because my mind knew that there was no way I could escape from here.But I ignored the warnings in my head and entered the control room, trying to swallow the ball of emotions stuck in my throat.I recognized nothing but the wheel.I hadn’t even seen those weird buttons or whatever things that were in my vision.My hands started to shake with the immense wave of emotions that was forming inside me.Helpless.I was absolutely helpless.I was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.My eyes stung as tears formed in them. This time, they weren’t the tears of happiness. They were the
ARIA“You tried to escape.” He roared like a lion, furious and ready to kill.Unfortunately, I was only one living here so it was clear that I was the prey.His prey.I straightened, shaking myself internally to be strong. I couldn’t be weak.“You think you can leave me like this.” He kept roaring, “A woman!” He spat, glaring at me like he wished to disassemble me limb by limb.He moved my way, heightening my fear and dread“Stay away.”He roared at me, and slapped me again, making my head jerk back.Tears fell from my face.“You’re nothing, you understand.” He bellowed, “You’re a piece of flesh. A property. A slave. A whore.”A sob echoed around me, I realized it was mine.My head spun, the present and the past mixed with each other.‘My warrior princess.’‘Bye, good weirdo’s friend.’‘Your father is dead.’“You’re a whore.” He shouted at the top of his voice, “I’ll make sure you remember that for the rest of your life.”‘I’m sorry to inform you, your parents didn’t survive the accid
ARIAMy head rolled to a side, my eyes fell on the dark sky staring back at me. I looked up at the stars gazing back at me.“You told me to fight, Dad.” I whispered out loud, “You said if I gave up, the world would crush me.”I thought I had no more tears left but I was wrong. It was always tearful when I talked to my father.“I fought like you told me to.” I could feel the sob forming in my raw throat. “You said if I fought, I would succeed.”Tears rolled down my cheeks.“Why didn’t you tell me that fighting brings pain?” I questioned, looking at the stars through my teary vision, “Look what I get every time I fight.”“I get raped.”The sob bubbled out of me, echoing in the silent night.“You fed me lies.” I accused, “You fed me lies.”My body shook with violent sobs, I closed my eyes, praying that they would never open again.***I woke up surrounded by darkness.My body ached, every part of it.I was very much alive, breathing and living.I looked around me, trying to look beyond t
ARIAI ignored the voice inside my head and focused on cleaning my body.I winced from the pain while washing myself.The water beneath me turned pink as I washed the blood off myself.He made me bleed.I had washed off the fluids but why didn't I feel clean? Why did I feel dirty still? When I was done, I turned off the shower and took a cream-colored towel that was hanging from the hook on the wall.I dried myself slowly and carefully.For the first time, I looked down at my body and took notice of the damage he had done to me.His marks covered every part of me; from my chest to my legs.Was this really my body? It didn’t feel like my body.He had punished me, could I be normal again?I settled down on the bed naked because I had no clothes. I covered myself with clean sheets, pulling them up to my chin.I cursed him hell.* * *One day, Lina came rolling a trolly full of dishes that seemed complex to me.“May I?” Lina whispered softly, staring at me like I was a caged animal behin
ARIA“Goodnight.” Lina uttered; she pushed the trolly towards the door. As usual, she locked the door, leaving me in darkness.I scoffed internally at her words.What was good about this night or any night?My gaze flicked to the small window in my cage.I didn’t know how long I had been in this dark room.I layed down on the bed, looking above me.A small smile stretched at my lips when suddenly, my mind went to my sister.Alara.I felt ashamed that I hadn’t even thought about her in weeks. I shook my head and sighed silently.I remembered her little babies.Leona and Konstantin.The last time I had seen her was when she had saw me off at the airport when I left for New York shortly after her bloody marriage.I didn’t know what she was doing but I knew that wherever she was, she was safe and unharmed. Most importantly, she was happy with her family.As much as I didn’t like her husband, I knew he would lay down his life for her and his babies.A part of me felt jealous but I immediat