Relinquish Story 1
Mature 18+
© Copyright<>Petra Y Cooper
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Relinquish {Story 1}
WARNING: THE ENDING MIGHT BE A BIT OFF-PUTTING, NOT FOR A SOFT STOMACH 18+ (Violence and Cannibalism)
Alexia
“What’s wrong with me? I’ve been in and out of the hospital for weeks now. Why can’t you tell me why I’m losing my hair and what the sores on my skin are from?!”
“We are running tests now.”
“You’ve been running tests and taking my blood, making appointments, and still nothing!”
I felt like I was losing my sanity. No matter what, I kept getting worse. I was tired of constantly feeling sick. I couldn’t focus, and it had been months since I heard from Amando. I thought for sure after his wife left him, I’d land him. My plan was flawless, he was mine, and I needed him. But I couldn’t let him see me sick like this. I knew I would have to get a wig soon.
“We don’t want to misdiagnose you. We are doing what we can. I will write you some new prescriptions and referrals for a dermatologist.”
I left the office angry. I don’t understand why they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. When I got home, my front door was open. I hesitated, not sure if I should go in. When I heard music playing from my bedroom, I grabbed an umbrella by the front door. and I slowly walked up the stairs. When I made it to my room, there was no one there, and the music stopped. Where was it coming from? I saw nothing out of the ordinary; nothing was out of place. Was I hearing things? I heard the front door slam and ran downstairs. Nothing. What the fuck was going on? I sat on the couch debating whether I should call the cops. I had nothing to show them, though, and nothing was missing, and I saw no one. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t shaking.
I woke up to the fire alarm going off. I smelled smoke and jumped up off the couch. I went to every room, and nothing, once again. Everything was the same, the alarm stopped, and I sat on the top of my stairs trying to understand. Was I having a stroke? I’m too young to die. I decided to ignore it and go to bed. When I woke up the next day, I felt dizzy immediately as I struggled to sit up. When I finally stood, I immediately threw up. I felt worse than the day before. I forced myself into the shower, and I started washing my hair. When I went to rinse, another chunk of my hair was in the palm of my hand. I watched chunks of hair stuck in the drain. I held back tears and went to brush my teeth, but my gums started to bleed. The panic was overwhelming me, the dizziness overtaking me. I reached for the door and slowly saw the world around me swirl as I fell to the floor.
It’s been a week of dealing with dizziness and fatigue. I was happy that I could finally get back to work. As more time passed, I felt less and less sick. So, I let it go, focusing instead on getting in contact with Amando, who has gone missing. He stopped coming to work after that incident, and I haven’t seen him since.
“Amando, call me back. I’ve been calling you for weeks now, you can’t ignore me forever.”
I left voicemail after voicemail after voicemail. I was getting fed up, so I decided to go to his place. I rang the bell and a tall, chocolate man answered the door. I was confused because Amando was tall, but he was definitely white and Greek.
“Yes?”
“Don’t the Arititalls live here?”
“Not anymore.”
“When did they move out?”
“We moved in a month ago.”
“Oh, ok, thank you.”
He nodded before closing the door in my face. How could he move without telling me? That asshole! I called him again, leaving another voicemail
“You moved! How could you move without telling me?! I gave you a year of my life, and you dropped me just like that?! No warming, no closure fuck you, Amando. You owe me an explanation. Call me back before I find you myself.”
I waited three days, and nothing. So, I took a chance and drove to his family home, and waited for hours, and nothing. I went back home defeated and worried. That night, I went home and had a horrible night of limited sleep. Every time I started to doze off, I heard a door slam. After the fourth time, I stayed up staring at the ceiling. The slamming stopped, but up and down the downstairs hall, I heard something being dragged back and forth. Was it really happening, or was it the lack of sleep? The next few nights, I’d wake up to a figure standing in the corner or by my door watching me. But by the time I found the courage to turn on the light, it was gone. It escalated to me feeling fingers crawling up my legs, but I went from being unable to fall asleep to being cemented in my dreams. I would wake up to the sensation of being touched, but it felt like I was slipping deep into mud. I couldn’t move or fully open my eyes. And when I broke through the temporary paralysis, I heard myself screaming, but I was alone. I was sure of it. I started locking and barricading my bedroom door when I went to bed.
A week later, when I thought I’d get over it all, I fell sick again. I couldn’t get out of bed; my limbs felt heavy like they were weighed down with lead. I couldn’t even answer my phone or get up for a drink of water. When I thought it would be all over, my parents showed up, taking me to the hospital. Once again, all the test results came back inconclusive. My parents stayed for two weeks before trying to convince me to return home or to visit the family doctor.
“You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
“We are not every night we wake up to you screaming that you were being watched when there was no one around. Or finding you rambling in a corner.”
My mother looked at me with an unreadable expression as she described things that I had no recollection.
“Why are you making all of that up? None of those things happened. If you don’t want to take care of me anymore, then go home.”
“Who said we didn’t want to take care of you? Lexi, baby, we’re worried about you. That’s all.”
My dad said in a soothing voice. He was rubbing my shoulder as he rocked me back and forth in a hug like he did when I was a little girl.
“I’m fine. I’ve been exhausted, constantly being sick, I’m sure once the doctors figure out what’s wrong with me, everything will go back to normal again.”
They gave each other a look before suggesting
“Maybe just talk to someone, please. We found a good psychiatrist, a part of the community, and they’re close by.”
My mother said, placing a card on the coffee table
“We can go with you if you like.”
“After the test results. I need to focus on work again; I’ve missed so many days, I’m afraid I’ll get fired soon.”
“Well, maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe you should move back home with us.”
“No, Mom, please, I’ll be ok. I’ll go to therapy, please don’t worry about me.”
I couldn’t go back home; not now, not when I was so close to making Amando mine.
“Well, if this continues, you’ll have no choice.”
“I understand, and thank you, Mom, Dad.”
I knew after they left, I wouldn’t tell them anything else about these incidents because I wasn’t going to move back home. Not anytime soon, at least.
Another month has passed, and it all stopped again. I almost felt like it was really all in my head, and my hair started growing back. I walked into the office, and my manager asked me to train the new guy. He had a beautiful smile with a dimple. Amando who?
“This is Dario. Dario, this is Alexia.”
He extended his hand, and I happily accepted, shaking it vigorously
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
We’ve spent every day together, having lunch at work, and after work we hung out around the city. The last three days, I’ve been trying to get him into my bed. It was Saturday night, and we hung out all day. He took me to a fair, out to eat, and I finally got him back to my place. I pushed him through the door towards my couch, and something felt off, but I ignored it. I straddled his lap and started kissing his neck, trying to get him to react when his phone rang. He pushed me off, looking at the screen.
“I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“Why?”
“I have a family emergency.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. Raincheck.”
He rushed to my front door
“Wait.”
But he was already in his car. I hopped into mine and followed. He drove to a small house and rushed inside. I peeked into the curtained window and saw the silhouette of a pregnant woman as he wrapped her in his arms. I felt the wind knocked out of me. I was tempted to knock on the door, but we weren’t that close for me to do something so unhinged. I swallowed it and drove back home when I noticed that my front door was open again. But I could’ve sworn I locked it. I heard someone run out the back door. I turned around to run out of the house and back to my car. When I swore, I saw Amando across the street. I ran to where he stood, but when I got there, he was gone. No, no, no, this can’t be happening again
I looked up and down the block before turning back around and heading inside the house. I was scared, I was pissed, and I was confused. I cautiously checked all the rooms and decided to call the alarm company that had left their card in my mailbox. I scheduled them for the next morning. The next day, I woke up to my doorbell being rung nonstop, and when I peeked out the window, it was Dario. I opened the door, and he held up breakfast and coffee. I let him in
“Let me freshen up.”
“Don’t take long.”
I rushed upstairs and I did the quickest ho’ shower and brushed my teeth, slipping on a tank top and booty shorts in lightning speed.
“So did you get your emergency sorted?”
I asked, sliding my arms around him from behind.
“It’s touch and go for now. I knew you were upset, that I abruptly left, so I had to come and make up for it.”
“That’s sweet of you. I understand, though it was an emergency, you had no choice.”
It didn’t matter if he had someone from his past, as long as I was his future. He turned and kissed the top of my head. We spent the day watching old movies, and we even took a nap. Which was odd, I didn’t feel sleepy, yet I passed out immediately after eating. He woke me and told me the alarm system had been installed while I snored
“I don’t snore!”
I playfully chased him around the living room
“Yes, you do.”
“Whatever. Thanks for taking care of it. There have been weird things going on lately.”
“Weird? Like what?”
“I swear I lock up, but I’ve come back more than once to my front door wide open. And last night I heard someone run out my back door.”
“Really? Now I feel like an ass for leaving you.”
I grabbed his hand
“No reason for that. How could you have known? Plus, we’re not serious right now, so it’s not your job to be my watchdog.
“True. But still, you’re a single woman alone and vulnerable.”
I didn’t like the way he said that, but maybe I could use it to my advantage. I leaned in to kiss him, but he pretended to reach for the remote, dodging it. I wasn’t giving up. I tried his neck again, and he let me remove his shirt, but he made no move to touch me. I unbuckled his pants and took him into my hand. He closed his eyes and remained still. I took it as an okay, a yes, and wrapped my lips around him. I looked up at him, his jaw was clenched, his eyes shut, but he still didn’t tell me to stop. So, I continued using my mouth, and he went soft twice. Yet I still wasn’t ready to give up. When he covered his face with his t-shirt, I tried harder, moving faster, and he finally released into my mouth. His phone rang and he got up so fast I almost bit it clean off. He didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he didn’t care. He dressed so quickly, flying out of here without a word. I sank to the floor, confused. Had I done something wrong? Was I that disgusting? I crawled my way up the stairs back into bed to sleep away the rejection.
I woke up to loud music again. I felt groggy, my head heavy as I forced myself to sit up, confused. I struggled downstairs, but the moment I flipped the switch, the music quit. I felt sick running to the bathroom. I slipped and hit my head against the sink, vomiting everywhere. I threw up all night into the next day until nothing but bile came up. Back in the office the following day, Davio ignored me the whole day. And I felt like a useless waste of space. I didn’t have the energy to chase him. I was feeling sick all over again, my hair was falling out once more, and I was getting sores on my body. My body was sore, and my skin was splotchy and itchy, but if I scratched, it burned and blistered. Again, I went to the doctor, and they had no answers. I heard Davio’s voice as I went in and out. One moment, I was walking to my car, and the next, I passed out in the parking lot. He stayed with me in the hospital, holding my hand before disappearing in the morning. When I returned home, the music and the figure returned. Never at the same time, though. When I felt their touch, it burned. Was I being haunted? Or was I losing my mind?
One morning, I woke up, and I was blind. I opened my eyes and saw nothing. Was it still nighttime? I reached for my phone when I heard it clatter. The crack of my screen shattered as I swiped my finger across it. And then I heard voices coming from downstairs. But how, when I turned the alarm on before I went to bed? They knew I was awake; I had made so much noise, so what did they want? I tried to listen to the voices, but they were muffled. I moved closer to the door, knocking my shoulder onto the nightstand. I felt the panic and fear rising, making it harder to hear as my blood rushed to my ears, my breathing hanging heavily in the air. I stumbled over searching for the doorknob, hitting the wall. I spun in a circle, trying to figure out if I was alone. I tumbled to the floor, tripping on the rug, hitting my elbow
“OWWW FUCK!”
The voices stopped, and I remained still listening for the stairs, but heard nothing. I had remained trapped in my room for two days, only managing to make it to my bathroom, but I was terrified of going downstairs.
I heard my phone ringing, and then heavy breathing. I opened my eyes, and it was dark again, but my sight was almost there. Because I saw my phone light up and realized it was nighttime. I also realized the breathing was behind me. I sat up in my bed and slowly turned to the door. I saw a shadowed face, its eyes covered with bangs as a sliver of moonlight gave me a partial view. I screamed, falling off my bed, reaching for my lamp, and when the light came on, they were gone. My heart pounded in my chest painfully as I dragged in ragged breaths. The hall was pitch black. I stared out into the darkness, waiting for something to reach in and grab me. I couldn’t move from the spot, barely blinking until the sun started to come up, and there was nothing there. I forced myself up, drenched in sweat and shaking. I stood in front of the mirror and couldn’t recognize myself, my cheeks hollow, my eyes sunken, and sores on my chest and arms, and three bald spots. I looked raggedy and haggard. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and when I opened them, Amando stood behind me. Before I could respond, he grabbed the back of my head and slammed it into the wall.
When I came to, I smelled gas. I was confused and touched my head, and the knot on the side of my head bulged under my touch. I stumbled downstairs and checked the stove, but none of the burners were on. I threw up again and fell to my knees, struggling to breathe, when I saw Amando again standing in the doorway before blacking out. I was startled awake by the sound of glass shattering. I ran back upstairs to get my phone, calling the police.
“Officer, I’m telling you someone was in my house. I heard glass shattering, my front door was opened, and I smelled gas.”
“And we are telling you we checked every window and your car, and there isn’t any shattered glass around. Also, we don’t smell gas, and if your front door was wide open, it did not harm you.”
They looked at me as if I was full of shit. They wouldn’t even listen.
“Please, I feel as if I am going crazy.”
“Maybe you should seek professional help because you’re calling us to complain, but there’s no evidence of what you’re saying. We can’t help you with nothing.”
“It was my ex, Amando.”
The two officers looked at each other before writing down his name and info.
“We will look into it. But maybe stop spacing out and actually lock your front door.”
“I did.”
“Well, according to the alarm company, you don’t, and the security system only shows you and the mailman at your residence.”
“That’s impossible, my parents and friend Davio have been here regularly.”
“Well, yes, they also reported an elderly couple from time to time, we assume those are your parents. But other than that, no man has been seen in the footage.”
They looked at each other again before telling me to get some rest and leaving. I slammed my door shut, no one seemed to believe me.
Another month passed, and everything stopped. The sores were still there, but my hair stopped falling out, and no one else seemed to be in my house. Davio started hanging out with me again, but he refused to be intimate. Admitting that he only saw me as a friend.
“Is there someone else?”
“It doesn’t matter. I think we are more suited to be friends.”
“So, if she wasn’t in the picture, would I have a chance?”
He stayed silent for a moment before looking at the ground
“Yeah, you would. But she does, so you don’t.”
“You’re not even giving me a chance.”
“It’s not fair to her.”
“And what about me?”
“What about you? We are just friendly coworkers.”
That stung
“I had you in my mouth.”
“Something I didn’t ask for.”
Without a doubt, one of the most humiliating moments of my life. I watched as he walked off. Well, let’s see how long you can hold out when I get rid of her for us. I started doing my homework, going back to the house where she was living. But no matter how long I waited or how much I followed her, I could never get a clear view of her face. And I was losing patience. Meanwhile, I continued spending time with Davio gathering evidence. One night, he asked me to meet him at a hotel. He said he had fought with his girlfriend. His words were slurred, and I knew this was my chance. I rushed over there after covering my sores the best I could with makeup. I knocked on the door, it opened slowly, but he wasn’t standing in front of me. I stepped into the dim light and was blindfolded from behind.
“Shhhh, trust me don’t fight me.”
So, I did, letting him lead me deeper into the room, and he sat me on the bed. Feeding me chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne, I couldn’t complain, although we remained silent. I felt the bed dip, and after a few minutes, it felt like he was gone when I reached for the blindfold, a hand stopped me. I felt a bit lightheaded from all of the champagne, so I let him undress me.When I woke up in the morning, I woke up alone and sore, not a trace of him except a note on the door. I’m sorry I took it too far. I hope we can still be friends. I smiled to myself; I was sore from the night of fun. From my foggy memories, he took me all night. I was pleasantly surprised and would definitely make him mine after last night. I showered and left. Next time, I’d record us and send it to his girlfriend along with screenshots if he didn’t agree to break up with her sooner rather than later.
After that night again, I felt sick, but this time it developed quicker than before. I was vomiting up blood, and every time my front door was left open, or I saw Amando, I called the cops. I called them so often that they stopped coming after repeatedly finding nothing. Treating me like the boy who cried wolf. The sightings grew more frequent as Davio stopped taking my calls after our last conversation. I grew impatient as he refused to end things with her or see me again. I didn’t get the video, but I did have the screenshots and the video I took on my phone when I gave him a blow job. I printed it all out, sticking the memory stick and pics in a manila envelope, leaving it on her doorstep. I heard him banging on my door when I opened it, and my triumphant smile dropped. Standing in front of me was Davio, but also standing there were Amando, Phil, Michael, and Franco. What the fuck was going on? Before I could get a word in, my world went black.
Amando
“Please don’t leave, I made a mistake!”
I chased my wife around the room as she packed, getting ready to leave me. She paused and turned around slowly.
“Mistake? How is a year-long affair a mistake?!”
“It wasn’t like that!”
My hands were sweating as I tried to think of a way out of this, to lessen this.
“Oh, it wasn’t? What was it then?”
“We were friends and things went left like 3x.”
“I must look stupid to you! It was true that I met her at work, and we were work friends, but one business trip led to a downward spiral. Several times, I tried to end things, and she blackmailed me into continuing. And when I couldn’t keep going, she disappeared, and I thought that was that. That was until this morning.
“No, no, no Tatya, give me a chance to explain. Please.”
“I can’t be near you right now. I need space.”
“Please, you won’t even tell me what happened.”
She threw an envelope filled with screenshots of our convos and pics of us together in bed. When I looked up, she was gone.
That was 11 months ago. Sitting here in my van, looking at the front of Alexia’s house, waiting for the lights to go out. She was going to get what she deserved for blowing up my entire world. If only I had refused that drink from her, maybe Tatya….
I had been investigating her, and it didn’t take long to find her other victims who didn’t have enough proof to get her arrested, but I didn’t want her to sit in jail. That wasn’t enough suffering. Luckily, these men were on board with my plan. We had set up cameras in her home, and tonight was the night we would take her. We had meticulously made her sick and driven her mad on and off for months. Waiting and waiting for her to finally slip up. After she left the envelope, she did what she did every time. This time, we were ready for her.
Davio threw a bucket of ice water to wake her up. We watched her gasp for air as another was thrown, finally opening her eyes. She was slow to react, looking around before landing on us. She stood up off the floor and dragged herself to the cage door.
“What the fuck is going on?”
No one said a word as Michael grabbed the cattle prod and sent a jolt through her wet skin. Again, she gasped for air as he repeatedly did it, gripping the bars, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. When he stopped, her body still convulsed as she slid to her knees, her grip still on the bars. We left her there for a few hours. When we came back, she was unconscious again, and we pried her fingers free from the bars. Leaving a tray of food and music blasting, we left the room we had built for her.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
She asked a few days later as we strung her up and took turns with a whip.
“You fucking bitch! You ran over my sister!”
Davio screamed as he kneed her in her ribs. She cried out and coughed before asking him what he was talking about
“My sister Katey Michael’s wife.”
She looked between the two of them
“Someone ran over Katey? Why do you think it was me?”
Michael used the cattle prod on her again
“We know you did. Don’t lie to us bitch you did it to all of us.”
“Did what?”
I stepped up
“We know your M.O. You find a man you want, and he becomes your obsession. You insert yourself into their lives and try to seduce them or drug them. Carry on with an affair for months. Then you become antsy and demand we end it with our actual partner. When we refuse, you send them proof of the affair, destroying the relationship. And when you still don’t get what you want, you kill them.”
Her eyes go wide as she struggles
“Yes, I admit I do become obsessed, and I do send the evidence, but I’ve never killed anyone, I swear it.”
This time, Franco jumped in, wrapping his hands around her throat
“You don’t expect us to believe you. We know we have videos of you stalking our homes. It always happens after we reject you, and our partners are alone. There’s no way it’s a coincidence the same exact thing happened to so many of us, and it wasn’t you!”
“We aren’t the only ones. Garrett and Will are also a part of this.” They are our alibis, so they won’t be here right now.
“But trust me, we have pooled our evidence, and everything leads back to you. If you hadn’t destroyed our lives, we’d all have our wives.”
“And my sister.”
The veins in Davio’s neck bulged. He wanted to kill her the moment he saw her, but he also agreed that it would be too easy for her. She started to turn blue, I had to force his hands off her neck, not something I really wanted to do, but it was far too soon to let her free, even in death, that would be too easy. When she began to breathe regularly, Franco and Davio took turns using her as a human punching bag as Michael, Phil, and I watched. And even though Garret and Will weren’t here in person, I knew they wouldn’t miss the show that they were watching live from our other location. They stopped when she passed out.
We kept her here for months as we rotated who stayed and who continued our alibi, steady. The brutality turning more and more into savagery. We ripped her nails out, filleting various parts of her and pushing a handful of salt into the wound. Now that she was here, we no longer poisoned her with gas, a slow leak, we exposed her to sneaking into her house when she was at work. It was a good thing she didn’t cook regularly. We also no longer poured Nair into her shampoo bottle. But we continued to feed her tainted seafood. The sores on her body were from a flesh-eating bacterium. She was half the size she was on the first day we locked her in here. She was still denying killing anyone, and now that it had been so long, I no longer had the stomach for any more torture. My Tatya was pushed down a flight of stairs, paralyzing her. Michael’s wife and Davio’s sister were run over by a truck. Franco’s girlfriend was blinded when someone threw acid in her face, also disfiguring her. She killed herself soon after. Phil’s girlfriend was burned alive. And Will’s wife was buried alive. She was rescued, but became brain-dead after her brain went without oxygen for several minutes. She was only discovered by a hunter’s dog as they passed her randomly. Garret’s girlfriend was attacked by a pack of pit bulls on her morning run, but from the witnesses, someone said they were released from their leashes and commanded.
She acted clueless as we described what happened. We even glued pics of them right after the accident, all over the walls. She tried to rip them off, and we got fed up of constantly having to put them back up. So, Garrett and Will broke her hands. And sometime after that, she tried to run out of the cell when Franco turned his back. Franco and Michael broke her ankles.
“Stop, stop, stop, please no more.”
She begged as Davio, and I stood outside the cell and watched Michael drill holes in her arms and legs.
“Davio, how could you do this after the night we had in the hotel?”
He laughed a dry laugh
“You idiot, that wasn’t me. The thought of touching intimately makes me sick.”
She cried out both in pain and shock
“What?”
“It was some crackhead I picked randomly off the street. And apparently, after I left, he brought in some men who paid for your services.”
She took in a pained breath, squeezing her eyes shut. I tasted bile as I fought the urge to hurl. As I watched her body unfurl when he finally stopped. She looked at me before her body went limp as she passed out. I wanted to tell the guys that it was enough, but they didn’t seem as sickened by the depravity as I did. In fact, it seemed to have emboldened them, showing their true faces more and more. And I could only watch it all in horror as I was the mastermind behind where we were. Filled with pain and rage, but watching her this way, it has slowly disintegrated. Hatred is no longer the driving force. What I’ve concluded while she was wrong, I hated myself more for letting the affair go on so long, for letting it go so far. However, could I let her back on the street to destroy more families?
Alexia
I stared at the ceiling trying to ignore the crippling pain pulsating through my body. I tried to ignore the burning of my cracked lips as the little blood dried on them. Trying to ignore the burning of my throat from screaming in pain, hoping it would trigger their humanity. But they were relentless, not giving up. I chuckled at the irony, the sensation making my raw throat hurt. Wasn’t that what got me here? Not willing to let go and move on. Not willing to stop chasing taken men and trying to make them mine. Something I once felt pride in. It fed my ego knowing I took someone from someone else. Letting everyone know, including myself, how much better I was. I fit them better, I made them happier, I pleasured them better, or so I thought. So, I told myself. Was I really as delusional as they’ve said? Along with the beatings and the torture, they’ve talked my ear off. Repeatedly telling me I went too far, that it was all my fault. The images burned into my brain of their wives, girlfriends, bloodied, broken, and dead. I shook my head, which hurt more than I expected. Yes, maybe I went too far with trying to win their hearts. But I didn’t do what they said. I never physically hurt any of these women. I couldn’t have; I had no recollection of any of these things happening. However, I could understand how they would draw those conclusions; it did coincide with my actions of trying to break them apart. However, I knew deep in my heart that these things weren’t done by me.
I heard the familiar sounds of the locks and footsteps, and I clenched in memory of the constant pain they had subjected me to. I wasn’t ready for another round, and why had they come so soon? There was no window, no clock. I had no sense of time in this cell. I closed my eyes, fear gripping me, my body trembling, and I felt the warmth of the pee puddling under me. And then I felt a gentle touch, confusing me. Davio had done this quite often, making me believe he had softened because of the time we spent together. Making me drop my guard before kicking my head into the wall. Or the time before that when he let me believe he was helping me escape, only to slam my hands with the door of the cage, the heavy metal practically cut my pinky and ring finger off of my left hand, which were crooked now. They broke my bones and left them to heal awkwardly, disfigured and painfully. And then I heard my father’s voice, and I thought this was it; I finally lost it. And I decided I was ready to die; I was happy to go with the memory of the only man who truly loved me.
“Lexi, baby, open your eyes, it’s me, Daddy.”
“Daddy?”
I whispered, still afraid of breaking the illusion, so I still didn’t open my eyes
“What have they done to you?”
I heard the pain in my father’s voice as his hands touched different parts of my body. I screamed in pain at every touch. My body jerked and shook, trying to run from his touch but unable to. My body was so broken that I had barely been able to move on my own for some time. Even less so with these new wounds.
“It hurts Daddy.”
I finally opened my eyes slowly and was instantly confused. I looked into my father’s eyes, I heard his voice, but I felt terrified as I got a look at the whole face. The shadows of the cell over his face were similar to the figure that haunted me before. The figure I would see in the darkness of my home. He had the same bangs and long hair, but my father’s hair was short.
“WHO ARE YOU?! GET AWAY!”
He shuffled back, giving me space as he held his hands up. I was breathing rapidly, making me dizzy.
“It is me. It is Daddy. Lexi, baby, trust me.”
He slowly removed his wig, and I soon noticed he was wearing my clothes. What kind of hallucination was this?
“Daddy?”
“Yes, baby.”
“You have to leave, they’ll be back.”
“I will not leave you.”
“No, Daddy, please, I don’t want them to hurt you because of me.”
My dad’s eyes filled with tears, and his lip trembled. Putting back on his wig before he lifted me into his arms as gently as he could, but I still screamed.
“My poor baby, Daddy is here now.”
He carried me out of the cell, and I saw a lot of the men from our community. They were guarding my captors, who kneeled anger clear in their eyes.
“Don’t hurt them.”
“What, why?”
“Because it’s not their fault?”
“Nonsense.”
My mother appeared out of nowhere
“They took you….
She took in my bloody state, her face remained straight, but her eyes gave her away
And beat you, hurt you.”
“Because of a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?! You killed my younger sister and almost killed my other pregnant younger sister.”
I turned to him
“What pregnant sister?”
“The door you left the envelope at wasn’t my girlfriend, she’s my other sister. She was the bait, and I was almost too late when I caught you pushing her under the water. In the pool in her backyard, you ran off when I ran out to save her.”
“No, no, no I didn’t.”
They all looked up, ready to argue before looking at my father and then my mother, and back at me, confusion evident on their face.
“It wasn’t Lexi who did it.”
My father spoke, and I was now confused as well. How would he know?
“I saw her. You can’t argue with me. When I saw her with my own eyes.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Anything to protect a killer who happens to be your daughter.”
Franco looked at me, the hate evident in his eyes
“She isn’t the killer I am.”
They all looked at him, unsure. I looked up at my daddy, I knew he would do anything for me, even take the blame.
“You can’t cover for her.”
“I’m not covering for her. I would do anything to make her happy. Even if it meant her being with someone else.”
“Being with someone else? Are you in love with your own daughter?”
Amando’s tone was appalled
“Yes. She’s meant to be my new wife.”
“Daddy…...”
He looked down at me
You said I had a choice.”
“You do but look what your choices got you.”
“What the fuck kind of sick shit is going on?”
Phil jumped in
“It’s our family tradition. The parents marry their children. Fathers marry their daughters; mothers marry their sons. And when the elders reach a certain age, their blood and body are sacrificed.”
“What the fuck?!”
They were judging us, disgusted, no one understood my family.
“It wasn’t Alexia. It was me. I was the one who removed the obstacles to her happiness. Your wives and girlfriends were stopping you from being with her. So, I got rid of them.”
“You piece of shit!”
“You fucking psycho!”
“Inbreeding sick fuck!”
They were spewing insults at us, fighting their restraints, rage blinding them. I knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to hurt my daddy like they hurt me. I wouldn’t let them.
“I will come back home, Daddy.”
His face lit up
“You’ll come back to me?”
“Yes.”
“We will get remarried; we need to plan a new wedding.”
“What the actual fuck?!”
Michael yelled out
“Remarried?”
Amando looked at me, his face pale
“Yes. When we turn 19, we marry our parents and the whole family watches as you lose your virginity.”
They all made gagging sick noises
“What if you have multiple children?”
“We either have multiple wives or husbands, or they marry extended family members.”
“So, you killed them?”
Michael looked at my father as if he were imagining slitting his throat.
“Yes.”
“There was no reason to kill them.”
“They upset my Lexi. I wanted to kill you, but she was still attached to you, trying regularly to call and text you. So, I spared you, but no one hurts my baby and now I finally get to kill you. Look at what you did to my baby’s body.”
“Are you disgusted by me, Daddy? Will you still touch me?”
“Oh, fuck. Disgusting, your whole family should die!”
Someone hit the back of Davio’s head, and the crack rang out as the bat connected. He slumped forward, blood dripping down his face and neck.
“Of course, I’ll still want you. We will treat your wounds, and I’ll show you how much I want you.”
“Daddy, was it you who was sneaking into my house?”
“Sometimes yes, when I missed your taste, missed you. I suspect the other break-ins were their doing. I didn’t want to sneak in, but you had been so adamant you wanted something different, someone different. I couldn’t help myself, though I needed you.”
“Oh, fuck hit me next I can’t listen to anymore of this disgusting shit!”
Franco yelled, and he got what he asked for
Flashes of what I thought were dreams of being touched in my sleep, of someone over me, it was Daddy.
“I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry, Daddy, I’ll never leave you again.”
“We can heal your body quicker with the transier ceremony.”
I shook my head
“No, Mom, please.”
“I’m ready to move on.”
Dad brought me over to where they had set up a temporary altar. The elders of our family rubbed her entire body in oils and salts before they hung her upside down. My dad gave her one last kiss.
“I love you, Alexia.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
“I love you, Mommy.”
Daddy said, caressing her cheek
“I love you too, Caro.”
They smiled at each other fondly.
“So, your wife is your actual mom, and now you’re about to marry your biological daughter?”
Amando asked
“Yes, it is our way.”
“The wrong way.”
Michael muttered, but we ignored him. Everyone started the prayers before my father took the ceremonial knife and slitting my mother’s throat, draining her blood into the bone bowl. Her body spasming and twitching. He caressed her hair and hummed her favorite song. When she was drained of her blood, daddy and some of the others went to work carving her body. Her meat was put in various bowls as the elders seasoned it. Daddy brought me a bowl of her blood, helping me drink it. The family ate her flesh sucking the marrow out of her bones. My captors continuously threw up, letting us know their opinion that we didn’t ask for. We would collect the remaining bones and use them for various things back home. I did feel rejuvenated. I’ll miss my mother, but her cycle ended; soon it will be the other elders. My father’s generation was next to take over.
“Daddy, how did you find me?”
“At first, we thought you had run away again. But you’ve never gone more than 2 months without any contact. So, I started following Davio around, which was a difficult task; he really covered his tracks, and this was a hard location to get to. But no one was going to keep me from you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
I kissed his cheek, and he smiled
“It’s time to go, baby.”
“What about them?”
My father looked at them before joining the other family, and they beat them and hacked into them with machetes and bats. Before setting everything on fire. We left after watching for a few minutes, the smell of flesh burning. Making our way back to our family compound. I closed my eyes, resting my head on Daddy’s shoulder as I sat on his lap.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, Lexi, baby.”
Unknown
I heard the sounds of the machines and knew I was waking up in the hospital.
