Page 2 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

“May twelfth, Baby.” He tilted his head.

May twelfth? “My birthday,” she said after a long moment, her voice hoarse. Her twentieth birthday, to be exact. Since training began, everyone had ignored her birthday, and she certainly didn’t see any reason to celebrate. Every year that passed simply marked another year passing in her inescapable hell.

“Yes. Your birthday. Which means you have completed your training and will go to live with Devin tomorrow.” He laughed and shook his head. “If you think here was bad...”

Anna shuddered, nearly opening her mouth to beg for him to keep her with him. As terrible as Master Jack was—and he was unbearably cruel most of the time—Master Devin was downright terrifying.

When she’d first moved into the garage room, she’d imagined that if she did everything exactly the way Master Jack wanted her to, then he would stop hitting her. That if she were good enough, the Uncle Jack she had known and loved as a child would return to love her again.

Try as she might, she could never achieve the level of perfection he wanted. As soon as she started improving at a task, Master Jack would change how he wanted it to be done, and she’d fail again. Then he would chain her to the discipline archway and punish her until she passed out from the pain.

She’d cried herself to sleep so many nights, wondering if she would ever wake up from the nightmare her life had become. What had she done to make Uncle Jack and Uncle Devin change into Master Jack and Master Devin? What had she done to make them despise her? They used to love her.

When Anna had realized her new life would not change, that nothing she did would ever be good enough for Master Jack, and that there was no hope of escape, she did the only thing she could. She picked up a knife Master Jack liked to use on her and cut her wrists open, praying that the blood dripping onto the floor would be the last thing she saw.

But her body betrayed her, and the wounds healed before death could take hold. Master Jack was furious and took her to see Master Devin.

Anna shuddered, pushing away the horrible memories of what Master Devin and Ian, his assistant, had done to her. She’d never tried to kill herself again, because she knew she would fail. Master Devin had painfully proven to her that she was sentenced to life. He and Ian had done unspeakable things to her, inflicting more pain on her than Master Jack ever had. And every morning, she’d woken up as if it had never happened. At least physically.

She had no choice but to live.

Master Jack uncuffed her wrists and she fell to the floor.

“Please don’t make me go, Master Jack,” she whispered, hardly daring to believe she’d been so bold as to make a request of him. She coughed and winced at the pain in her throat from so many screams.

He didn’t answer right away. “You don’t want to leave me?”

Anna shook her head and Master Jack laughed.

“Devin really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

Anna stared at the floor.

“It’s not up to me, Anna. Devin sent you to me to train. I’ve completed my job and now you return to him.” He grabbed her hair and pulled her to her feet. “You’re not mine to keep. You’ve always belonged to him. The sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be.”

“Please—‍”

Master Jack backhanded her, and she fell back to the floor. “Don’t beg. It’s disgusting.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she struggled to her knees and folded her hands in her lap. “Yes, Master Jack.”

“Now get up and go lay down on the table. It’s my last night with you and I want to enjoy it.”

She stood on wobbly legs and watched Jack walk across the room to his locked “treasure box,” as he called it. Where he kept his favorite—and most heinous—instruments.

Anna bit back a cry and hurried to the table where he liked to torture her. Master Jack approached, a knife in his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get enough sleep to heal completely before I take you to Devin.”

Chapter 2

Anna awoke the next morning to Master Jack’s shouts from upstairs. She scrambled out of bed, groaning as the skin on her back tore away from the sheets. She glanced back as she stood. Blood. The cuts had healed while she slept, though, as usual.

Master Jack’s footsteps sounded on the squeaky top stair, signaling she had only a few seconds to get into place. Sprinting as fast as she could, Anna slid into her spot just as his foot hit the step where he could see her. Her chest heaved and her heart pounded as she felt him watching her, but let out a slow breath of relief as she sensed his disappointment.

“You’re a mess.” He stopped in front of her and she stared at his brown leather shoes, holding her breath as she waited to see what he would do next. “Take a shower, wash your hair, and get dressed. You need to be presentable this morning, so take the time to do it right.” He spun around on his heel. “Come upstairs when you’re done,” he said as he walked back up the stairs.

Anna stared at the cement floor where Master Jack’s feet had been moments before. Take the time to do it right? Was this a trick so he could punish her later?

She cautiously lifted her gaze, checking to see if he was watching, but he was gone. She bit her lip and stood, listening for the squeaky step, but it remained silent. Wondering why she had received such unusual instructions, she stood and headed to her small bathroom. He never took much interest in her appearance, as long as she was clean, naked, and available to him when he wanted her. She paused before turning on the shower, peeking out of the bathroom and listening intently for Master Jack, but he was upstairs in the kitchen. Making coffee, she assumed by the sounds drifting down the stairs.

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