Page 39 of Bones

He nods. “Let’s go.”

I rise off the couch and go to put my shoes on, but he says, “Don’t bother. You won’t need those.”

As I move closer, he grips the back of my neck hard, and we walk out of the only safe place I’ve ever known.

I love you, Luca.

I don’t say it out loud, because it will only anger my father. My dad is a monster regardless of his mood, but when he’s angry, it’sabsolutely terrifying. We walk down the steps to a large white van and he opens the door. “Get in.”

Glancing back at the house, I get into the van as my entire world crumbles. He will make sure I never get away again. Luca thinks all my trauma is because of what Manny did to me, but he was child’s play compared to what my father does to me.

I watch as he hands Jimmy a stack of money, before he gets into the driver’s seat and begins driving away. It’s devastating to me that I know Luca will think I ran away from him after the perfect day.

My father gazes at me from the mirror. “You’re going to die in my house, Princess. You aren’t going to the basement this time. You’ll be in the hot attic. If he comes looking for you, he’ll look in the basement, but he’ll never think to look up there. No one will ever see you again. You did this to yourself.”

He thinks death is a punishment, but it’s not. I welcome it. Pray for it. My only wish is for it to come quickly. I know him well, so there’s no suspense as to what he has planned. I already know. This is my version of hell. And there’s no way out. No one to save me. My little slice of happiness is over now.

I stare out the window on the two hour drive to my final resting place. The trees whir by as we drive further into the country. Before long there’s nothing but grass and trees, as far as the eye can see. There are no other cars anymore. It’s just us alone in a rural area nobody even knows about. We pull up to my house of horrors, and a tear trickles down my cheek. I know what comes next, and it causes bile to rise in my throat.

He puts the vehicle in park and gets out, and opens my door. “We’re home. Are you excited?”

As always, he grips the back of my neck hard, until I cry out from the pain, and orders, “Walk.”

I walk up the wood steps to the farmhouse, and he opens the door and I go through it, with him right behind me.

“You remember where the attic is, Princess?”

Without a word, I walk straight through the dimly lit hallway to the attic, which is above the hallway of bedrooms. He pulls on the dingy cord and the stairs appear. I walk up the creaky steps, and glance around the room I haven’t seen since my mother was here. It’s different now though. It used to have chests full of memories, but he’s changed things. Now there sits a metal cage, probably big enough for a large dog, but not much more.

He comes up behind me. “Take your dress off.”

“I came with you without a fight. Please don’t do this.”

My father grins at me. “You need to be punished.”

I stare at his gray hair and bushy eyebrows, and his blue eyes that match mine bore into me. “Do as you’re told, or it’s going to be worse.”

The tears fall as I remove my dress, and he groans in pleasure. It’s not like when Luca does it, this time it’s not a turn on, it’s disgusting. Revolting. There’s a lot I don’t know about society, but even I know this is not okay. However, my father does not, or simply doesn’t care.

“On your knees for daddy.”

As much as it is the last thing I want to do, I kneel. I don’t want to, but what I want doesn’t matter.

He grips my chin in his hand, lifting my head, as he forces me to look at him. “I failed you, Princess. I should have punished you more, taught you what was acceptable, and what was not. I’ll correct that now.”

Walking over to the corner, he picks something up and walks back over to me. It’s a large black leather made item. I think it’s a whip. Soon enough he confirms it. “I’m going to whip you, and then you’ll learn to do as you’re told.”

The first hit across my chest steals all the air from my lungs. He moves to my back and does the same there. The pain is unreal. I close my eyes and picture Luca’s face looking at me. This is how I’llget through this, by leaving my body. The blinding pain punctures my perfect picture of my husband, and I scream his name, “Luca!”

My father laughs. “He can’t save you. Do you think you’re the only slut he was fucking? He’ll be deep inside someone else before today even ends.”

He drops the whip at his feet and unbuckles his pants as I sob, and he drops his pants to the floor, revealing the dick that literally makes my stomach turn.

“Open your mouth, Princess. Show daddy how sorry you are.”

I do, and he does what he always does. He fucks my mouth. My own father violates me in the worst possible way. But I’m not the same girl I was, so when he finishes, I hold it in my mouth. He kneels and grabs my face. “Fucking swallow,” he screams angrily. His face is less than an inch from mine as I spit his cum in his face.

“You fucking bitch,” he says, right before he punches me in the face repeatedly. I fall over, and he grabs my hair and pulls me to the cage. “Get in.”

---