Days go by. My arms are still chained. I have no clothes on, and I'm freezing. There's enough space to move within the shack; the chains extend to some extent. It’s a chain similar to the ones used to restrain dogs.

Even though I can move, I prefer to stay still because my wrists hurt a lot.

In my head, I'm constantly talking to Milaz.

Most of the time, I think about Elif. I don’t remember how many days have passed since they came here, but I always wish they would come again. I want to see her again. I wonder where their house is. Can I somehow escape here at night and find their house?

But even if I find their house, what would I do? What would I say to Elif? Would I say that I ran away from home just to see her? But if I escape in the morning, maybe I could say, "I got permission to come play with you."

After thinking about this, I remembered Melis and Hasan. One of them is always at home, and they don’t leave the house. Could I somehow deceive them?

Milaz, do you think we can deceive them?

Taşkın, you can barely walk. Plus, your arms are chained. Even if they weren't, how would you escape?

Whether you help or not, I will somehow deceive them and escape from here.

... What’s on your mind?

It's clear what's happening to me. Anyone who sees me would think I’ll die in a few days. I'm in a pitiful state.

No doubt you’re in a pitiful state.

I’ll make myself look even more pitiful.

What?

You heard me right. I’ll hope that they pity me and take off the chains.

Do you realize what you're saying!?

I know! I know. You can’t stand seeing me in this pitiful state. But didn’t you say these days are temporary?

Trust me, I’ll make them suffer and die in every way imaginable. I’ll tear off their fingers and scalp them alive and gut them.

Milaz was making strange growling noises.

Milaz, I really wonder about Elif. What is she doing now, or did that alcoholic bastard do something to her? These thoughts constantly run through my mind.

Let’s say Elif’s father abused or hit her. What will you do? Turn back time? Or blame yourself for not being there?

I-I don’t know. I just want to be with her.

Taşkın, there is only one person you need to think about, and that is yourself. In this life, you only think about yourself because no one else is thinking about you.

But Elif is not like you. She has a mother who protects her. They will manage somehow.

But your situation is different. Instead of thinking about Elif, think about yourself. Is there anyone else protecting you besides me?

If Elif suddenly disappeared, there would surely be people looking for her. But believe me, no one will look for you.

What he said was painful but true. Still, no matter what, I wanted to go.

I know what you say is true, but I still want to see Elif. Just seeing from afar that she is okay would be enough for me.

Do you know where their house is?

... No, but it can’t be very far from here, right?

Taşkın, if you fail, you know you won't get your revenge, right?

Most likely, they’ll either kill you or beat you to death and leave you badly injured in a deserted place where you’ll die unnoticed.

I told you your endurance is much higher than a normal human, but in the end, you are still human, for now. h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽à̶̖͓͕ͥͩ̊.

What I mean is, you’re not immortal, your body is pushing its limits right now. If you get beaten severely in this state, you will die.

Is that little girl really that valuable to you? More valuable than your own life?

... Milaz, you can’t understand this. So let me put it this way.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

No matter what, I'm going. Elif was the only person in this world who treated me well.

She looked at me and smiled. Can you believe it? Unlike Hasan and Melis, who looked at me with disgust. I felt that she valued me. She treated me like a human being.

I was sobbing as I said these things.

I could hear footsteps approaching from a distance.

It must have been Hasan or Melis coming.

The door slowly opened.

W-what! What is this! It was Elif!

I must have been dreaming. I was sleeping, right!? Yes, yes, I must be sleeping.

I moved my wrists a little, and it hurt. But since it hurt, this couldn't be a dream. But how!

Milaz, is this a dream?

This little girl is braver than I thought.

What!?

Elif froze as soon as she opened the door. I was trying to cover my private parts somehow. I was completely naked. She turned her head away.

"I'll find something to cover you."

The hut was filled with old stuff. There were shelves and such. They had brought old or broken items from the house here.

I was too ashamed to even look at Elif.

Tears were streaming down my face.

Elif was coming toward me with a piece of old cloth she had found.

"E-Elif, p-please don't look at me."

She wrapped the piece of cloth around me. At least my private parts were no longer visible.

At that moment, I started to wonder how Elif got here. It was very late. How could she have gotten here? Unless that disgusting being who was supposed to be her father tried to do something to her!?

'E-Elif, are you okay?'

"I'm fine," she said. Then she hugged me. Small drops of water were falling on my shoulder. Elif was crying too.

"E-Elif, did I upset you? Why are you crying? I'm very sorry if I upset you, please forgive me."

After saying this, Elif pulled back and looked at me with tears streaming down her face.

For a moment, a flash of realization struck me.

Did Elif know about my situation from the beginning?

When she first entered the hut, it was as if she expected to see such a sight.

I was very confused. I needed to ask Elif what was going on.

"E-Eli-

"You idiot! Can't you see the state you're in right now!? How can you still think about me even in this state? Why are you so kind!?"

As she said this, her crying intensified. I could barely understand her words.

She hugged me again. She put her head on my shoulder.

I hugged her back. The pain was so intense, it felt like the flesh on my wrists was completely torn, and the chains were digging into my bones. But no matter how much it hurt, it didn't matter. When I hugged Elif, it felt like all the pain was gone. I can still remember her scent. I don't think I'll ever forget it until I die.

While she was hugging me and crying, I wanted to ask her again.

"E-Elif, did you know from the beginning?"

She started to speak.

"Do you remember the first time we met? My ball had fallen here, in the garden of this hut. You threw my ball back to me."

She sniffled and continued talking. I think she had calmed down a bit.

"I first had suspicions then. I thought you were a normal kid playing in the garden, but then I saw the scars on your body and how dirty your clothes were, and I began to think differently."

"Honestly, I was scared when I saw you. Even though there was a fence between us, I thought you might hurt me-

"Never!" "I would never do such a thing! No matter what!"

Elif laughed softly, almost whispering. I heard it.

"Yes, I know that. Now I understand much better how meaningless it was to be afraid of you."

After saying this, she didn't speak for a while and continued to hug me.

I wonder how long this hug will last?

You make me sick.

I ignore him.

Elif started talking again.

'After you gave me the ball back, I went home. My teacher had given us homework, and I had to do it, but I kept thinking about you. I couldn't get the sight of you out of my mind. I was worried about you.

"Elif, are you really worried about me?"

"Yes, of course."

Hearing this warmed my heart. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what to say, so I decided to stay silent.

Now I had to ask her a few questions. There were things I was curious about.

"E-Elif, are you okay? I mean, are you hurt anywhere?"

How can I ask if her father has forced her to do something?

She was silent for a while. Her silence scared me even more.

"The other night, he came home drunk again. For no reason, he slapped me. Then my mother rushed to protect me, but unfortunately, he beat her up terribly this time. My mother was lying on the ground, her face covered in blood. Then he turned to me and took off his belt. He beat me with all his strength for minutes. My back hurts a lot."

Hearing this, a deep and dark wave of emotion suddenly rose within me. I started breathing heavily, and my face and hands began to tremble.

Someone seems angry.

"Elif, would you be sad if I killed your father?"

h̢̭̬̠̖̙̦̪ͭ͋ě̷̠͎͕̠̎̀ĥ̷̗̞ē̷̫̭̭̳͕͕̏. I like you more this way.

She started to look at me.

"W-What!? What are you saying, Taşkın?"

"I'm saying, what if I tear out your father's tongue alive and gouge out his eyes, and skin his head and throw it to the dogs, how would you feel?"

She wasn't saying anything.

I think she was in shock.

She held my cheeks with both hands and started to speak.

I flinched involuntarily when she touched my cheeks.

When Elif saw me flinch, she pulled her hands back and then slowly placed them on my cheeks again. Her hands were warm. I could stay like this forever. It felt like I was warming up inside.

"Taşkın, your eyes don't look at me the way they used to, they're different now. It scares me. Why are you saying such things? This isn't you. Please come to your senses."

"Elif, I can't stand it. Knowing that you are in pain is killing me, and I can't do anything about it. Run away from that house, escape."

"If I run away-

Elif's eyes suddenly fixed on something, and she froze, staring at it. I turned my head to see what it was, and it was my friend, the mouse.

"E-Elif, look, this is my-

Elif started screaming before I could finish. Then she immediately covered her mouth with both hands, but it was too late.

I don't know what time it is, but it was quite late. If Hasan and Melis were asleep, there's a high chance they didn't hear it, but if they weren't asleep...-

I could hear footsteps outside! If they saw Elif here, who knows what they would do to her! No! No!

I was trying to move, but I was chained, and I had no strength left. I was just flailing in place.

I needed to think quickly. Elif was in shock, just staring at me.

"E-Elif, get under that shelf and hide, don't move!"

Elif quickly hid under the shelf.

The hut was full of old items and shelves. They probably put unnecessary or broken items from the house here.

The shelf she hid under had an old piece of fabric hanging down like a curtain or a sheet.

Elif was almost invisible.

When I looked closely, I could see a pair of eyes watching me, but it would be very hard for someone who didn't know Elif was there to see her.