Page 5 of Dark Consequences
I thought I saw the worst of humanity working as a doctor in a level 1 emergency room in Chicago, but I was wrong. The abuse I suffered over the past six years from men so depraved, they make psychopaths look normal, make every brutal night at the hospital back then a walk in the park.
I’ll admit, the notion of suicide crossed my mind often. Especially in the beginning, when I was drugged and raped repeatedly by Dr. Rodriguez before he sold me to the cartel. The urge grew stronger with each man who used and abused my body for over a year before I was finally sold to the Triads to work as a sex slave. That’s where Xiao, the Triad leader, noticed me one night and became obsessed, eventually imprisoning me here.
I still remember the night when I learned I was pregnant, and the idea of bringing a child, his child, into the world was too much. With the knife in hand, I was about to make twin cuts on my wrists when I suddenly felt Mei’s movement. It was soft, like the gentle flapping of butterfly wings in my abdomen, and at that moment, I couldn’t go through with it. Instead, I vowed to be there for my baby and raise them to be good because blood only makes up half of who they are.
“What’s this word, Mommy?”
Mei points at a word on the page and then looks up at me expectantly. Somehow, she inherited my blue eyes, which contrast beautifully with her delicate oriental features. Another reason I can never leave her. There are men her father employs who love the exotic appeal of blue eyes. They find it makes them feel special to fuck one. But they’re not special; they’re disgusting pieces of human trash that don’t deserve to walk this earth.
My eyes roam over the colorful pictures of my favorite fairy tale growing up. Only my beast will never turn into a handsome prince. “Haggard.”
“Hag-gard,” Mei enunciates. “What does that mean?”
A loud knock sounds through the room, and I glance at the clock on the wall. Right on time. Like always.
“Mei, my beautiful girl,” Xiao announces as he walks in a second later because while I’m Mei’s mother, I’m still a prisoner here. Something Xiao likes to remind me of often. “How are you this evening?”
Mei sets the book down and glances at me. I nod subtly and motion for her to say hello to her father, catching Xiao’s disapproving glare. He hates it when Mei acts like she’s seeking my permission because it makes him feel like a stranger in his daughter’s life. Good. I wish he was just a stranger to her. But I’ll still be punished for it later.
“I’m good, Bàba,” Mei replies, using the Chinese word for Dad to please him.
Xiao, with all his flaws, truly loves Mei and has never laid a hand on her... yet.
“Bàba needs to talk to Mommy,” Xiao says. “Can you be a big girl and go to bed on your own?”
“Yes,” Mei answers.
I get off the bed and tuck Mei in, giving her a kiss on the forehead before leaving with Xiao. He guides me down the hall to his bedroom. The second the door closes behind us, Xiao slaps me hard across the face. Even though I expect it, the sudden impact catches me off guard, causing me to collapse onto the floor. My hand instinctively reaches up to cradle my stinging cheek.
Xiao sighs, as if hitting me somehow pains him. “How many times must I remind you? Mei is my daughter. She doesn’t need your permission to say hi to her father.”
He sends a kick directly to my rib cage. My mouth opens, but nothing comes out because my voice has been robbed of air. Curling in on myself, I try to crawl away, but he grabs my hair and pulls hard, forcing me to rise to my feet or risk my hair being ripped out.
“You should be thanking me that I even let you spend time with her at all. If I killed you, she would eventually forget you even existed and move on. She would know no different.”
He’s right. The only thing that silences me and makes me obedient is the thought of what will happen to Mei if I’m not around. It’s what keeps me capable of surrendering my body to this man whenever he wants it, however he wants it for the chance to spend time with Mei.
“I have been nothing but kind to you,” Xiao continues as he drags me to the bed by my hair. “I could have easily disposed of you the moment she was born.”
He tosses me on the bed before gripping my chin hard and forcing my face up to his. “You think because you’re a doctor, that makes you special? I can get another one in a heartbeat. I don’t even know why I keep you around.” He shoves me away, and gravity forces me onto my back on the sheets. His furious expression flips like a switch to one of remorse, fast enough to give me whiplash. “Why do you make me do this to you, baby girl? Why do you make me hurt you?”
Xiao’s narcissism is matched only by his insanity and bipolar disorder. If you were to look up the definition of a guy who habitually blames the girl for his angry outbursts, you would find his picture next to it.
“I love you, baby. You know this,” he coos, running his hand down my sore cheek. “Don’t you love me too?”
I want to shake my head. I want to spit in his face, kick him in the balls, rip his dick off, and shove it in a blender, but Mei’s innocent face flashes in my mind, so instead, I nod and whisper, “Yes.”
Xiao’s lips curl into the sinister smile of a madman before he moves his hands to undo his belt clip. “Are you sorry?”
I nod again. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
He shoves his pants down and strokes his small, skinny dick. “That’s right. Now show me how sorry you really are.”
As I lower my head, my mind shifts to focus on the little girl waiting for me to come back to her. Xiao can hurt me, torment me, rape me, and threaten to kill me every chance he gets, but he will never break me. Because I know we’ll escape this nightmare one day, and that small sliver of hope keeps me from falling into complete ruin.
3
Raphael