Page 5 of Master of My Heart

Or a man yelling.

Or a woman screaming.

She stood in one fluid motion, automatically sliding the ring into its hiding place between her mattress and box spring before moving cautiously to the door and listening.

Silence.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember what happened before she woke up. She always purposely forgot what the men did to her. She’d go insane if she dwelled on it. And she wouldn’t let them have that power over her. If she couldn’t die, sentenced to life in this hellhole, she wasn’t going to give them the pleasure of knowing she was afraid of them.

Images flashed through her head and she shuddered. Being hung from her wrists in the arena and whipped until she stopped responding... The cattle prod on her nipples and clit... Ramon’s twisted grin as he brought in...

Sabrina covered her face and fell to her knees as she remembered what he did. What he made her do. What she’d done so many times before.

When the memories rushed in all at once, she was powerless to stop them...

An unfamiliar emotion bubbles to the surface. One that doesn’t come out often.

Anger.

“No more!” I shout and feel the rage consume me.

I am strong. I am powerful. I free myself from my bonds and stagger toward them, even though I’m injured. The men scream. Blood... Bullets... Whips... Cries of anguish... Screaming... More blood... And, finally, death.

So much death.

Sabrina’s head snapped up. I killed them!

Her chest tightened and she struggled for breath. Memories flooded her mind from the other times she’d killed and the resulting punishment... someone she cared about was tortured to death.

But there was no one left to punish for her crimes.

“No!” She shook her head violently, but the memories wouldn’t stay away. They poured into her mind like a flood after a torrential thunderstorm...

I’m so strong, I can fight off Ramon and his men with my bare hands. They shoot me, but I don’t feel it. They deserve to die. They’re evil men who do evil things. Not only to me, but to the innocent, as well. God knows I’m no innocent. Not anymore.

In my rage, I’m unable to distinguish one person from another. The men are all dead now, but there is still a living being in the room.

I attack her.

Sabrina screamed and curled into a ball, remembering what she did. God knew Ramon deserved what he got, but not her. She was just an innocent girl.

I’m a monster. They’ve turned me into a monster.

How many people had she killed this time?

Chest heaving, tears streaming from her eyes, she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling and tried to tamp down the memories of her past that threatened to rear their ugly head. To shove them deep into her mind and lock them away, never to emerge again.

Gradually, the silence of the house crept back into her consciousness as the tears subsided.

Escape!

The thought ricocheted into her mind like a bullet.

Now.

She needed to escape while she could. Everyone was dead. Now was the time to leave.

The idea flooded her mind and body with hope as she sat up.

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