Page 145 of Nocturne

And how did Bapo “keep me in check”?

Through torture.

Some days, I was hung from the ceiling, my weight bearing down on raw, chafed wrists until my shoulders felt like they would break from their sockets. On other days, he would take me deep into the forest, giving me the illusion of freedom. The hope was intoxicating—a cruel, glimmering light in an otherwise endless abyss. I would run, pouring every ounce of strength into my escape, mentally mapping every twist and turn to avoid going in circles. But I didn’t know the terrain like he did.

He always caught me.

He would spring from the shadows, his predatory grin searing into my soul as he dragged me back to the dungeons. Each capture was a performance, a spectacle to prove I had no chance.

Some days, he tied me to a chair and threw me into the freezing depths of a lake. His laughter echoed in my ears as I thrashed, my bound limbs fighting the suffocating water. My lungs burned, and panic clawed at my chest. He would pull me out just as the darkness began to close in, grinning as I coughed and retched, water spilling from my lips.

“These are tests,” he’d say with mock sincerity, his voice laced with malice. “To keep the god’s energy flowing in you.”

But we both knew the truth.

These were excuses. Justifications for Vir to let Bapo inflict his sadistic will on me. As long as I was alive and coherent, Vir didn’t care.

I was flogged a few times, the whip striking the barely healed wound at the base of my spine, over and over, until my screams were hoarse, and my body trembled. The pain blurred into a haze, but the humiliation cut deeper.

Bapo became the monster in my nightmares. He didn’t just hurt me; he enjoyed it. He lived for my suffering.

Then, suddenly, he stopped.

I should have questioned it when I began receiving an extra meal at night. After weeks of being fed once a day, the sight of food silenced my suspicion. Hunger doesn’t allow for questions. I ate greedily, not caring about the strange taste or texture, not caring what kind of meat it was.

Until one day, I woke up feeling woozy, my jaw aching, and a bitter taste lingering in my mouth. My cheeks were tender, scratched, and smeared with dried blood and…something else. Confusion and dread swirled inside me until I saw Bapo's smirk.

That was the day he took another piece of my sanity.

Realisation dawned with a force that left me reeling. He abused my mouth. He used it…for…his pleasure. I screamed, clawing at my face, trying to scrape away the invisible filth. I pulled at my hair and slammed my head against the wall, desperate to purge myself of what he had done.

He laughed.

He laughed as I shattered, as I crumbled into something I barely recognised. His deranged glee echoed in the confines of my mind, louder than my cries.

Bapo turned himself into fear.

He became a visceral part of me, a dark entity lodged deep within my psyche. His presence alone rendered me compliant, my thoughts drowned by sheer terror. Even Vir’s voice now made my blood run cold.

But I had a reason to survive.

I had a sister.

She was relentless in her search for me, hiring private investigators, pressuring the authorities, and questioning Vir—unaware of the monster she was dealing with. Vir prowled into my cell one day, his fury barely contained. He struck me so hard that my head slammed into the wall, leaving me dazed. Then, he stepped on my ankle, the sharp pain snapping me back into focus.

“She’s becoming a problem,” he hissed. “A nuisance. My men are asking questions. And now, she’s got someone tailing me.”

His threats were vivid and visceral. He painted a horrifying picture of what would happen if I defied him or jeopardised his plans.

“I’ll kill her,” he snarled, his voice dripping with venom. “And after I’m done with you, I’ll bring her here. I’ll have her raped by every one of my men before throwing her into the fire.”

The image he conjured shattered any defiance I had left. His words weren’t just threats—they were promises.

I clung to my sister’s memory, to the promise I made her that I would never abandon her. I clung to the vow I made to my mother to be strong, to survive no matter what.

I had to endure.

For her.

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