Part 2

10/25/24- **S/A TRIGGER WARNING**

CHAPTER 1

               She felt something. It woke her up out of a dead sleep. On her 2-inch mattress with her thread-bare blanket she’s had for years, she knows she felt something. It felt like the moment when you first turn the shower on and step under it. Like something new and refreshing was washing over her.  April threw off her blanket and swung her legs out of bed. Looking across her sparsely decorated room, she tries to see what could have woken her up. She raked her messy jet-black hair back out of her face.  Her gaze lands on the microwave in the kitchenette area and she notices the time is no longer lit up.

            Hmmm, the power must be out, she thought. I hope they don’t leave me down here in the dark like last time. A shiver ran down her spine, an uncontrollable fear that ran through her every time she thought of them. The power went out before, in the winter a few years ago, and she nearly died from hyperthermia. She could see dim light streaming through the slim ground level window far above where she could reach. April had been living in the small underground room for almost 2 decades. Her captors had planned everything down to the last detail. Made sure that her room had the barest of necessities but also limited her from having anything she could fight back at them with. That window, which is mocking her with its bright light, is just small enough that she could not wiggle her way out. That was if she managed to get the iron bars that were screwed on, off.  Once she managed to drag and stack what little furniture she had, so that she could reach that window. She spent days trying to scratch, scrape and pry, trying to loosen the screw out. They showed up unexpectedly soon after that. She had scrambled trying to get the place back in order, but it was too late, they saw 2 chairs stacked under the window.  For 24 hours straight, they had rotated who got to torture her. By then, she was broken and bruised. Burn marks on her feet and lower legs. Vince had been particularly vicious; blood was trickling down between her legs like how it did once a month. She never attempted to go near that window again. 

          The only way out of this room was a metal door that had 2 deadbolts on the outside. On the other side of that door is a tiny room only consisting of some shelves of supplies and a ladder that leads to the surface.  Other than when they brought her here when she was 6, she had only left her little humble abode once. That was when the nicest of the men, Ben, took her out for a walk but that ended so badly she hated to think about it. 

            She laid back down and tried to get some more sleep, not wanting to be awake in this nightmare any longer. Sleep was her only solace. It was the only time she felt free. She could bound between the flowers of a field or walk amongst a crowded street like some of the characters in her picture books did. Occasionally a woman with long dark hair popped into her dreams. The face was always a blur but, in her heart, she knew it was her mom. She didn't have very many memories from before. Only glimpses or flashes. But every time she remembers something it's like the knife went deeper into her heart. The ache of missing something she could barely remember was more than she could bear at times. Scars at her wrist are just reminders of the times the pain was just too much. That was when she was still allowed plastic knives and when she tried her hardest to just end her horrible life. Given the chance, she would gladly do it. Sometimes that is all she can think about, falling asleep and not waking up ever again. She had long given up the hope that her family would ever find her. She just wanted to die, a tragic ending to her horrible, tragic life. The only people who would miss her are the ones torturing her. They enjoyed bringing her to the edge of life, just to let her heal and do it all over again.

            Her body was riddled with scars and bruises, nothing too obvious though. They liked it when she looked pretty, their pretty little doll. When she didn't listen or didn’t move fast enough their liking, they punished her by breaking a toe or kicking her in the stomach when she was down. Vince was the mastermind. He had a hold over the other two and could get them to do anything. She was his possession; one he could do anything with. The second in charge, Travis, had a thing for fire. He loved to burn the bottom of her feet, just watch her squirm and scream in pain. She learned very quickly that in order to stay alive she needed to do what they said, no matter what it was. She still didn't understand their fascination for her body, but she hated it when they would touch her, especially between her legs.  When they were done with her, all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die.  But every time, they forced her to shower while they watched and forced medication down her throat. Once she asked what it was, and their response was ‘we don't want no babies.’ She had no idea what that meant but she was scared of what they would do if she tried to resist, so she just took it anyway. 

        Ben was different. He was the third of her captors and he wasn't like the other 2. She felt a rare spark of joy whenever she saw him walk through the door. She knew that she could relax. He never wanted to touch her, and he never tried to hurt her for fun.  When he came to visit, he would just sit and talk, sometimes play games.  He was the one that taught her to read when she was younger and consistently brought her books so she could read something new and learn about the world she couldn't touch. April felt bad for him though, she could tell he didn't want to be a part of this. Vince could even be violent with him if he hesitated on following instructions. And she knows that the day Ben snuck her out for a walk in the woods, Vince almost killed him. Ever since then he barely talked to her but still brought her books and toys. He was her one and only friend in this world, even though he helped restrain her at times.

        April dozed back off for what seemed to be a few hours, when she heard the unmistakable click of the padlocks on her door. She sat up quickly, terror running through her. She tried to calm herself saying that they must be checking the generator. She watched, warily, as her three captors walked in through the metal door.