Little Sunflower

Chapter 21

He walks over to me slowly, I try to back up further, but there isn't anywhere for me to go. "You know I wouldn't do this if you didn't kill your mother." I bit my tongue after he said that. I know I didn't do it, it wasn't my fault. I can't see what he is holding, until the first hit comes, I scream out in pain. The rope hurts more than I thought it would. "I hope this teaches you a lesson, but I know it won't." He brings it down again, again, and again. I can feel my skin rip. He isn't holding back. I can feel the blood run down my sides.

My shirt is starting to rip from the force of the hits. I don't know how long it lasts; my mind goes fuzzy from all the pain I'm in. I try to stay awake; I don't want to close my eyes. The last thing I hear before it goes dark is his boots walking away from me. Throughout the night I go in and out of consciousness, my back hurts and I can feel the tears run down my cheeks.

I shot up at the feel of the cold water hitting me. I gasp thinking that this is all a dream, until I look around and see that it's morning and he is putting down the bucket. "I hope that sleep was worth it, you know I wasn't going to do anything, but I feel like before I go, I need to give you one more welcome back gift." I cringe at the thought of what will come next.

He grabs the chains and puts my arms above my head so that I am hanging by my arms. I can feel the strain of my feet and my hands as I hang there. I don't say anything, knowing that there isn't a way for anyone to hear me. There aren't any windows here and I can smell the alcohol on his breath. I'm guessing he isn't brushing his teeth before he leaves.

He comes closer to me with his belt, I know what's coming and I don't know that my body can take another so-called punishment. "You know, I have to go out of town for a few days, I figured that should give you enough time to think about why you ran away, what you did and why you didn't stay." He grabs the belt and starts hitting me, the metal catching my shirt and some of my skin, I scream out as the pain hits me. He laughs, "You weren't always this loud, I guess I am going to have to make you quiet again." He spoke. He hits me a few times before his phone rings. "Stay quiet." He demands, and puts a knife against my stomach, I inhale. "I'm on my way, had to take care of some trash before I left." He looks over at me. After a few more minutes he hangs up. He cuts my shirt, "There now you can heal." He walks out the door and leaves me there. My head falls forward from exhaustion.

He said that he will be gone for a few days. I try to pull at the chains, but they don't go anywhere. I let my tears fall. "Why me? What did I do to deserve this?" I whimper from the pain; I can't even do anything as the cold air hits me. I start shivering knowing that this isn't going to stop. There is no getting out of this, and what's worse is no one knows where I am.

I wonder if anyone knows I'm missing, I wonder if Angelica got the letter from Mr. Edwards. Does Bryson think I left him? My body is tired, and I haven't been here long. I pass out from exhaustion again, this time I hope that I don't wake up, death is better than what I am going to be dealing with. I wonder if anyone is going to come check up on me, did he tell anyone anything? I scuff, probably not. He wouldn't trust anyone. Not knowing how wrong I was at that moment.

I hear the door open and look up, I don't know the guy that comes through it. I try to move away, before I realize that I can't. I started shaking, I don't know this person, I've never seen him as anyone my dad knew. He looks a little younger than my dad.

"He didn't tell you about me yet, has he?" He looks up and down my body and I shiver from disgust. But I don't say anything. "Well, I am just here to make sure that you survive. He grabs the chains and lets me drop to the ground. I groan in pain, but the cool floor makes it feel better.

He kneels and brushes my hair off my face, I push myself away and to the corner. He chuckles, a dark chuckle. He scares me more than my own father. At this moment I would rather take whatever my father gives me than to see the look that this guy is giving me. He chuckles and walks towards the door.

"Don't worry, soon I will have you." He whispers. It was almost too quiet for me to catch.