Chapter Two- love?

ZUMA

People say it takes two to be crazy, well people can go to hell, I say it takes perception to come off as totally insane. One such example was the Father and the good law abiding people of Echo Lane, Father had the chubby face and a disarming smile, no one would think he had unspeakable secrets,no one but the tru insiders.

Sure there were the little ones like how he had the secret stash of hair and face products and always tried to make himself look younger than his current age of fifty four, but then they was the big one of how he liked to go bump with the little girls under the cover of the shadows and sure as hell the good ol’ people of Echo lane knew he was fishy, but his act of piousness had made a name on the streets and for the price of fame, they kept their lips sealed.

I was not privy to this knowledge and it was a kept secret that I had to pay in pain and scars to discover that I was surrounded by monsters of all sorts, in the beginning of the journey to hell, I played defiant, struggling hard to keep what was left of my chastity and I was left with more bruises and scars than I could count.

My sessions with him has come to an abrupt end on one night and as usual my back was littered with bruises from the whip, I’d learnt to let my sobs go quiet or I’d be in for round two when a cold hand gripped my shoulders

“Does it hurt?” Came a meek voice

It was Martha, she was one of the famous ones, of all the girls she at least had the least scars, she whipped out a few supplies and proceeded to clean up some of the wounds as best she could

“The Matron came by today, snuck in these while she wasn’t looking” she said with a faint smile “You’re lucky it’s only a few scrapes, you should not fight back so much”

“Why?” I asked, my voice still raw from the pain “How can I let him do what he wants to me”

I was twelve years, six months and elven days old when I’d first looked into the eyes of a broken person, it seemed to reflect all her past dreams and ambitions, dormant in a sea of bitterness, they crinkled as she gave me one final smile

“Because that’s how you survive, trust me we may be the same age but I have been here far longer than you have” she replied with a laugh that seemed to suck away any chance of hope I had left.

In that moment I knew that I’d soon be her

5 years in

Everyday of my existence seemed to be a countdown, one more day and It’d be over, I’d be free of him and all of it would be a fleeting memory. Paul seemed to know that too, that I would not be his forever and that with each rising of the sun and waning of the moon, our time together seemed to become shorter and shorter still, and so he changed.

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As we grew older his sessions turned into abject brutality and his needs seemed to voraciously devour us, he punished us in anger, demanding absolute authority as he spared no expense to cause us pain, always muttering about how age took the best part and innocence of us.

The Matron always came by after ‘homeschool’ and she’d tend to our wounds, turning a blind eye and never once asking how we might have gotten them, I loathed her and her apathetic ways but then again it was she who had kept us alive all these years.

I thought I could cope that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, until Martha turned eighteen and suddenly disappeared, no trace of her except recently dug up earth in the backyard, I was naive of the world but not that naive, any fool could deduce what had happened.

Call it foolish or madness but I could not help but know and so when he called for me again the words couldn’t help but tumble out

“W-where’s Martha”

His beady eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip around my arms

“Why are you asking?” He growled enunciating each syllable

Common sense said to drop it, but the rollercoaster was in motion and it would not be stopped

“I just thought she-”

“Fancy yourself a thinker now girl” He said cutting me off “there’s too much free time on your hands now isn’t there, or maybe you are just not disciplined enough, but that’s my job, to keep you filthy things pure and young forever!”

Spittle flying and rambling about inconsequential things, he for the whip and one his new toys the mace. Somewhere in-between the heavy beatings, I felt something snap in me and intense pain crashed into me like waves, sending me deep into the depths if unconsciousness

When I came to, I was in the dark and a dull ache seemed to spread from my ribs down, I tried to get up but the pain was incorrigible and I could barely move without feeling a wave of dizziness

“Don’t move” Came a tiny voice “don’t talk too much either, he will find you and hurt you again”

At the moment my name echoed out

“ZUMA!!” Paul yelled “where are you!”

“I can say much but you have to get to the hospital, it’s about two blocks over, you are hurt badly and he won’t stop until you end up like her,, the matron will help, I can’t-”

“ why are you doing this?” I croaked out

“Because she would not want to see you die” The girl said with a hint of regret in her voice “if I couldn’t save her, I should try and save you”

Delicate hands wrapped some bandages around my waist and offered me a thick woolen coat for the cold doing the best they could to stabilise me and under the fall of night and pitch pitch black darkness, we snuck from the back shed to a spot where a hole had been made in the fence

“This is far as I can go, take care” she whispered in a hushed tone

“What is your name?” I asked turning one last time to look at my saviour

“Olga” she whispered “Now go”

The pain seemed to blind my senses as I stumbled onwards, the snow had just begun to fall and the cold played a tune with ribs slowly numbing them, two blocks seemed like an eternity and every form of help avoided me like the plague

My breaths became shallower and I felt my consciousness fading, the red shining cross of the hospital loomed in sight and I pushed myself for one last lap, holding on to the very last bit of consciousness I had left, I made right through the doors before my knees buckled and my eyes began to droop with only a single word escaping my lips

“Help!”