Page 30 of Property of Indiana

Tears roll down my face as I quickly rub my skin raw, saying a prayer to the God my grandparents believed in that somehow, He’ll step in and save not only me, but the other women whoare being caged like wild animals. I don’t know where Elodie is, and after screaming so long that my throat is practically gnarled, one of the assholes backhanded me, so now my lip is split and swollen.

“If one hair on her head has been hurt in any way, I’ll bite, kick, and scratch, until my last breath to avenge her,” I promise myself as I step out of the shower stall and quickly dry myself off before putting on a skimpy nightgown.

The irony isn’t lost on me that they’re making an attempt to have me look seductive. But, rape is rape, plain and simple, no matter how the packaging looks. I just hope that I’ll be able to overcome whatever they put me through because I refuse to walk away from Indiana a second time.

I vaguely notice the room I’m taken to because on the one wall is a two way mirror and I see my precious daughter on the other side. When her voice sounds through the intercom tacked onto the upper corner of the room, my knees buckle and I have to bite my already busted lip to keep from sobbing.

“Your mommy didn’t want you any more,” the masked man says to Elodie as she sits in a chair. She’s not bound or anything like that, but it’s obvious she’s too scared to move.

“That’s not true! My mama loves me!” Elodie exclaims, a mutinous glare now on her adorable face.

“No, not any longer, little girl. Now that Indiana’s part of her life, she doesn’t have time for you,” he taunts.

“Indiana loves me too! He says I’m his daughter and I believe him,” Elodie refutes.

Good girl,I mentally whisper as I watch her through the enclosed glass. I wish she could hear me, but I’m sure they brought me in here to fuck with my head somehow.

“He’s not your real father,” the man states, irritation lacing his words.

Elodie shrugs and replies, “He’s been more of a daddy than whoever you think is myrealfather, so I don’t care what you say.” My baby may only be five, but she’s headstrong and knows who her heart belongs to. You never have to question where her loyalty lies. And since her vocabulary is that of an adult, not many grownups know how to manage her volatile, intelligent remarks. Every once in a while, her speech is closer to that of a child, but right now, she’s holding her own against this jackass.

The masked stranger makes a sound that is close to a growl then he spins and hits the wall. “You belong to the Dragons!” he yells.

“I belong to the Kings,” Elodie replies, no doubt in her opinion. “Icer and Indiana said so. I believe them because I don’t know you.”

The man looks at the mirror and a vicious smirk crosses his face. He knows I’m here and he’s fixing to torment me by using my daughter to gain my compliance. “You haven’t been whipped before, have you Elodie?”

“My mama doesn’t spank me, she says that only assholes use force to teach somebody a lesson,” she harrumphs, but I can now see the fear she’s been holding back coming to the surface.

It’s just now that I notice the man is unmasked and my head tilts to the side because I recognize him, but I can’t put a name to the face staring back at me. That thought is interrupted when he opens up a cabinet door and removes a belt-like weapon with fringes on the end.

“Fuck no,” I snarl, banging my fist on the mirror. My skin cracks from the amount of force I’m using to smash the glass and soon, blood is running down my wrists from the shards that are sticking out of my fingers. “I’m going to kill you,” I seethe, angry tears running down my face. He may not hear me because the cracks are only surface deep, but that doesn’t stop me from issuing out threats. “You better hope that Indiana or Icer get to you first, you piece of shit motherfucker.”

A shrieking sound fills the air and I watch as he slings his arm back then forward, the leather strips of the whip whistling as it comes down… on the dresser that’s beside Elodie’s head. I watch her jump as her face crumbles and she begins to cry.

“Mama, I want my mama,” she shrieks. “Icer, Mama, Indiana, I need you!”

As she pleads for us to save her, I slump to the floor, sobs clawing their way out of my raw, abused throat. “I’m right here, baby, Mama’s here,” I murmur, knowing she can’t hear me. I still need to say it, if only to marginally comfort myself.

Not that it’s helping me all that much, to be honest. I can still see through the mirror despite my slouched position on the floor and watch as the man draws his hand back again. This time, I know he’s going to hit her and I start pleading to God out loud to save my baby from this horror.

He’s just about to let the whip fly when his phone rings. Angrily, he tosses the harness down and grabs his phone from his back pocket. “What?” he barks out. I watch his profile as he pales significantly while looking at Elodie. “Are you fucking with me right now? Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here. No. Leave them all.” He turns and looks into the room I’m in and states, “This isn’t over, bitch. Not by a longshot.”

Without another word, he leaves the room that Elodie’s in and I wonder what caused his brash, abrupt departure. I stand and go to the door of the room I’m in, but find it locked. I know she can’t hear me, but I head back over to the mirror and start talking to her, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Memaw and Pepaw are looking down and sending their own comfort to my precious girl.

“Be brave, munchkin. Just a little longer,” I say, praying that I’m right. There’s only a handful of reasons why a man who had his prey in his hands would drop everything and run. My fingers are crossed that two ofthose reasonsare on their way to rescue my daughter and me.

My daughter drops to the ground and begins rocking back and forth. She’s been so valiant and courageous up until now. Since the biggest threat to her welfare left, she’s breaking down.

“Mama,” she cries, calling out for me and I feel more helpless than I ever have in my lifetime. Including the day I found out I’d been knocked up with Elodie and didn’t know who her father was. “I wanna go home.”

“Me too, baby. We’ll be together soon,” I tell her through the two way looking glass, making a promise I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep since I don’t have the knowledge of how to get out of this room and to her, so I’m living on a prayer.

When her rocking stops and her head tilts sideways, I pause and mirror her actions. The crashing and bellowing, that sounds like a wild animal has been set loose, has me lightly stepping toward the door where I place my ear against it.

When I hear, “Where is my princess!” shouted, my entire body sags in relief.

I knew they’d come.

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