Page 5 of Cages and Crowns
Is this what he has always wanted? A body to destroy? My body is his for the taking, that I cannot control. But my mind? That still belongs to me. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get anything from me that he can’t physically take.
My mind and my sanity. That's all I have left. All I have left of the girl I used to be, and he doesn’t get to take that away from me.
Nobody gets to take that from me.
“No.” I croak, my mouth dry and cracking. I can’t remember the last sip of water I had, the last meal I ate. Blood; that’s what fills my stomach. The blood I am forced to swallow when I cough it up from my lungs. There is nowhere else for it to go.
“I don’t believe you.” He murmurs, his voice soft and amused. If I didn’t know any better, if I wasn’t lying strapped to this slab of rock, I would almost take his tone as one of endearment. One of love and playfulness. But the entertainment he likes isn’t something I also enjoy.
It’s something I can’t wait to inflict on him.
“That sounds likeyourfucking problem, not mine.” He chuckles and walks over to me. He’s holding a thin blade with some sort of spikes on it, but I don’t look at it. I look at him. I always look right at him, into his eyes, as he slices into me day after day.
“I don’t think you’ll be feeling that way soon, my love.” He says softly before running his fingers lightly down my cheek.
“Fuck off.” He sighs, but I can see the hunger flicker in his eyes.
“That mouth of yours, it makes me want to do suchdespicablethings.” He’s smiling, both dimples on full display. He waves the device in front of my face before moving to my stomach. I can feel the sharp edge slice through my skin before the short spikes catch on muscle and tendon, ripping through them. I grit my teeth but keep my eyes open, letting the tears escape of their own free will.
He’s drawing something,carvingsomething into my flesh, but I don’t move. It burns, and I can feel the warm blood pooling on my abdomen before dripping off my sides and onto the stone table that is stained with the blood of his other victims. My limbs begin to shake, sweat beading along my hairline, and I bite down even harder, tasting the metallic liquid pooling in my mouth. He stops and I let out the silent breath that was trapped in my lungs, my limbs still vibrating from the pain. “Nothing?” He asks before he shuffles farther down the table.
The blade presses into my thigh, a long slice down to the knee. I can hear the snapping of my own tendons as he rips through them with ease. My breathing grows ragged, but I keep my mouth closed and teeth clenched. Tears pool in my eyes and drip down the sides of my face. My jaw cramps from the pressure and I feel as if my teeth are going to crack if I bite down any harder. My arms pull at theshackles as my back arches against my will.Fuck.
He’s going to win. I can’t do this.
I’m losing.
“Tell me, Ela, what would it take to hear you scream?” He pulls back and I fight through the sobs threatening to break through my blood-filled throat. I can’t do this. I can’t.
“You won’t break me.” My voice is hoarse, strained, as I relax against the cold stone.
“We’ll see about that.” The tip of the scalpel slams into my stomach, burrowing deep. I flinch and shut my eyes.Breathe, Elaenor. You can do this. “Hmm, I’m disappointed.” He rips the spiked blade out and tosses it. I can hear it hit the stone wall of the dungeon before landing on the floor, echoing through the empty chamber.
“With what?” I stammer, blood and spit flicking off my lips, my heart pounding in my chest. Black edges around my vision and I know that unconsciousness is near.I never thought I would beg for the moments I wouldn’t be conscious, the moments I was unaware of everything happening.
“I wanted to hear you scream, Ela.Screamfor me.” He’s frustrated, his brows furrowed, and jaw clenched as he leans over me.His hair has grown, it now flops into his eyes as he bends down. His sharp jaw is lined with stubble, as if he hasn’t had the time to properly clean up. Part of me wants to care for him, I think it’s the part that used to love him. The other part of me wants to take a blade and slam it straight through his temple. I want to watch the light fade from his eyes before he gets the opportunity to end me.
“No.” I whisper, any semblance of energy gone. He growls before grabbing something off the table. I can hear a click and then I feel the heat of the torch.
“Scream.” He demands.
“No!” I say again, this time louder.
“Very well.” I feel the torch grow close until it is pressed up against mybare stomach. The pain is all-consuming as it blisters my flesh. My back arches as I buck off the table. I’m biting my lip so hard it’s drawing blood as I fight against the screams tearing at my throat. I will not give in. I can never give in.
“Scream, Elaenor!” I hold my tongue as my flesh burns away. As the pale skin marred with his torture is melted away. The heat is pulled off and I smile, a small chuckle escaping my delirious lips as I collapse on the table, numbness spreading through my veins.
“You won’t win.” I whisper between laughs. He’s staring down at me, bewildered. “I. Will. Not. Break!” I spit at him, but it doesn’t reach his perfectly smug face. I’m shaking. From pain, from disbelief, from anger. From everything. My body incapable of staying still.Tremors explode down my limbs; I feel as if I’m vibrating.
“I already have.” He turns away, stomping out of the room as my laugh grows in volume. The slamming of the dungeon door echoes around me. I laugh so deeply I can feel the blood pooling underneath me from my many wounds. The wounds that will be gone when I wake.
I still haven’t been able to figure out how he is able to heal me with no trace of the torture I’ve endured. Not a single scar left behind from his escapades besides theThe branded on me all those months ago.
He wants to know why I’m not scared?
It’s because the wounds are always gone, leaving me wondering if any of this was even real.
Chapter Three
