Azure's Hope

It was yet another regular day and Ruth Pierce could only await the return of her father. She had said silent prayers hoping that when he returned home, he wouldn’t be drunk because if he were, it would be one of her bad days.

He would complain about the food saying that it’s too salty, the water saying that it’s too tasteless, the air saying that it had smelled like a cemetery. He would use his fingers to trace imaginary dust on the table and complain that the house was too dirty.

Then to punish her for being so much of a bad girl for one night, he’d take out his belt and whip her until his hands gave up on him, then he’d begin to throw punches, slaps and kicks at her not minding where they landed as he flung her around the room for his own pleasure.

Seeing her crying in pain would then get him aroused and he’d violate her body in every possible way known to man until she’d pass out in agony.

If she were lucky, she’d end up with some large bruises, however if luck wasn’t on her side, she’d have some broken bones and be at the brink of death.

Dare she request to visit the hospital, she got double of what was offered initially. As a matter of fact, since her mum died when she was 10, she’s never left the house. She wasn’t even allowed the benefit of seeing her mum being reduced into the ground.

Sometimes if her father realized some debts with his gambling, she was the price for all of them, she was basically just alive, not living, not doing anything but just breathing and most times, it became so hard she just wanted to take her own life but she just couldn’t ever summon the courage to do so.

Later that night, much to her dismay her father did come back drunk but this time, he had four of his friends with him and she knew what was coming for her once she saw her father point in her direction. She was still very sore from all the beatings she received yesterday for not making him a proper meal despite there being nothing at home.

She couldn’t even summon the strength she needed to fight them, all she could do was let her tears flow as each one of them took their satisfaction from her body not caring about her needs. They had held her already sore neck and had plunged deep into her mercilessly and with much vigour at that. Sometimes she wondered how she still had so much tears when all she ever did was cry.

She had prayed for it to stop over and over again but it seemed as though the more she prayed for her safety, the more strength they received. After countless hours of pain, she heard the door close as all the four men left the room. Her father walked up to her, his movements staggering and he quickly loosened his belt ready to have what he owned.

She begged and tossed refusing him to defile her body anymore but he wouldn’t have any of it. He had asked her to remain silent but she simply wouldn’t listen so getting up, he picked his belt from the floor and hit her over and over again into submission. He was pissed that she deprived him his right to her body and he needed the young female to know who was boss and who made demands.

He picked her weak lean frame like a rag doll he had come to make her into and slammed her on the wall allowing her to fall to the floor only to pick her up and do it over again.

Once again he had won over her, he had subdued her and taken what he wanted and she could do nothing about it. She had passed out once again on the floor in the sitting room and of course he had kicked her out of his way and had gone to the dining table to have his now cold dinner and gone to his room to sleep.

When she slipped into consciousness, she cried silent tears for fear of waking him up.

She looked up at the door like she did every day hoping that one day he’d forget to lock the door and she’d find her escape but once again the door was locked. She managed to get up despite the throbbing ache all around her body.

She knew she deserved better, but ‘better’ seemed so far away she wanted to loose hope. She hadn’t eaten for weeks now seeing she hadn’t had the permission to. Taking little strides towards the dining, she saw the half eaten meal and her mouth watered at the sight but what she saw beside it gave her something she had realized she had lost for a long long time.

Hope.

Her father had forgotten to take the keys upstairs with him and they lay right in front of her. She wanted to grab it but she had no courage, she wondered, ‘If she did get out then what?’

She had no idea how the world had become, if cars still rode on roads or if they now flew, if people still went to schools, if people still had to work hard to earn money.

Would she have anything to eat if she left the house? How were other people in the world? How old was she? How long had passed since she had been locked up?

Did the police still exist and If they did, why hadn’t they come for her?

She felt stupid and weak, she had dreamed of her release all her life and now that she had it she was scared to grab it. She finally decided that she’d eat her last meal before going. She was too hungry and tired to get any where anyways.

She had only taken a few spoons of the meal before she heard her father come down the stairs, she didn’t know what time it was but she felt as though it was too early for him to be awake. She quickly grabbed the key and made her way to the door but due to her weak state, before she could get to the door, she felt him yank at her hair pulling her to the floor and she let out a loud scream at the impact of the floor against her bruised skin.

He resumed his kicking sessions as punishment for her trying to escape but she could only let out cries as he hit her every where calling her names but at the sight of the unfinished meal, he knew she had had something to eat and he was going to make her lose it all.

To him, she wasn’t worthy of a single penny worth of food. She deserved to starve and die without anyone to miss her absence. He used his large foot and stepped continuously on her stomach with great force. He was so callous to her feelings, he took pleasure in seeing her throw up the little food she had taken in while she chocked.

He didn’t care that the meal she had thrown up was chazzerai, he took a hold of her neck and made her eat up her vomit.

Her screams of pain rather than make him feel pity for her turned him on and he was ready to take her body again. Once she heard his button make a sound she began crawling away, she didn’t think she’d be able to survive it once more. She had gotten to the dining table when he got a hold on her legs and pushed them apart not minding the bruising and pain it caused her.

She spotted the fork she used to eat the pasta on the floor and without thinking she reached for it and stabbed behind her, she couldn’t care less what part of his body got hit but she knew that this was her last chance.

She gathered all the leftover strength she could and grabbing the key she made her way to the door once more. She applied much more force to her body than she knew could handle because she knew that if he recovered, then she was a goner and would probably die in here.

She heard his groans and growls asking her to return at once but unlocking the door, she bolted out of the house limping. She didn’t care if she died outside, as long as people found out she existed and gave her a good burial, she didn’t mind.

She ran through the dark hours of the morning to wherever it was her legs led her to despite her body screaming to be well rested first. She had run into the highway and only stopped when she saw the white headlight of a speeding car coming towards her. “This is it. ” she thought as she waited for the impact of the car hitting her and sending her to a place of no more worries.