Page 89 of The Harbinger
“If you want your toys to last, you must take care of them.”
There was something about being called an inanimate object that had my fists clenching against my chest and my teeth grinding. “I’m not your toy. I want to go home.”
He sighed. “I am your sanctuary and your comfort. This is the only home you’ll ever need.”
“I already have a home with my mother. I saw her. She was there in my memories.”
“And that’s all they are to you now. Eventually, you’ll forget how she looks and the sound of her voice.”
“Never.” I laid my head back down against the pillow. “Eventually, you’ll become a memory I’ll be happy to forget.”
“Until that day comes, I’ll make sure I’m all that’s on your mind.”
I slipped onto my side, turning my back toward him, praying with all my might that he wouldn’t crawl into bed with me. I’d hated how much I’d missed him laying in my bed, but now dread tensed my muscles.
“Get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow.” Sacha’s hot minty breath caressed my ear as he leaned over me, brushing my partially dried hair aside. “I’d suggest you don’t push me further,milaya. You couldn’t possibly handle the consequences.”
I shivered under my covers as he left my room and shut the door behind him. I stilled when the metallic clang of keys turned in the lock. My stomach clenched, and I flipped the covers off my body, bolting towards the door.
No. No. No. No.
The cool metal handle slid into my shaking palm with ease. Sharp pain bit my hand as I pressed down on it and tugged.
Locked.
It didn’t budge, but my stomach hit the floor. And as if I’d had a death wish, I pounded my fists into the door, cursing his name and everyone who’d allowed him to be this way. My blood smeared along the white door, cashmere smooth and crimson-red.
Trapped.
My chest compressed, and the panic that sent me to the floor earlier seized hold of me. I turned my back to the door and rushed towards the window, throwing aside the curtain.
It was dark outside, the stars high in the sky like pinpricks of light through black construction paper. Galaxies upon galaxies within sight, but never within reach, making me sink in on myself like the small insignificant being he’d made me.
I searched for a latch, ready to jump from the second story if I had to. My hand roamed up and down the seam of the window without any luck. I moved on to the next one, the next, and then another with the same outcome.
My heart thundered in my chest, sending remnants of its energy into my throat, constricting it like a lump lodged in my windpipe. I staggered towards the chair by the bookshelf and plopped down, placing my head between my knees as I fought for control over my body—my mother’s smile coming to mind.
Her curls bounced when she’d moved, and her cupid’s bow would straighten out when she was happy, smiling brightly with love and adoration. I’d used to put my finger in the divot there when I was a child.
A happy sob shook my shoulders as the unexpected memory materialized from thin air. She used to dress me in a polka-dot dress on Monday mornings when we’d visit her friends for coffee. Then my parents adopted Lex when I was six.
She’d just celebrated her thirteenth birthday when my parents forced me away…
“I’m nineteen.”
I wiped the tears from my cheeks and jumped from my seat, only for reality to sink in so deep it hit like a ton of bricks. My ears swooshed, but my heart thumped steadily.
Who could I tell?
My butt hit the chair’s soft cushion as my mother’s fresh voice soothed me. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I released my pent-up emotions, my sobs quiet.
How did I get here?
With a mother like that, how did I end up in a basement, tortured and afraid? My hands shook as I stared at the disruptive, chaotic bookshelf, the colors shifting around like a kaleidoscope.
“I’m fine.”
The words sprung from my mouth as though someone asked me the question. My throat tightened as I drew my knees up to my chin, my nails digging into my damaged palm, leaving half-moon indentations behind. My lip curled as I pressed my hands against my stomach, choking back the nausea heaving in my belly.