They drew a full tube of my blood and took it.
My vision blacked out. I hit the floor.
The heavy iron door ground shut behind them, lock grinding into place.
Darkness again.
:00:00.
The countdown ticked. Every second counting down what was left of me.
I closed my eyes, and the faces of eight children I never held surfaced behind my lids—eight lives torn away before they ever drew breath.
I hated Cecil for his cruelty. Hated Ruby for her poisonous heart. Hated Vivian for standing by and letting all of it happen.
And I hated myself for being too weak to stop it.
But what could I do?
I was locked in a basement where no one could hear me, no matter how loud I screamed.
Was I really going to watch them walk free? Watch my child become Ruby's toy?
No. Never.
My eyes snapped open. Nothing in them but hate.
Even if it killed me, I would drag every one of them to hell with me.
I thrashed against the leather strap binding my wrist, throwing everything I had into it.
The strap cut deep into the flesh, and blood ran down my wrist, staining the radiator pipe red.
Pain. Pain that drilled straight through the bone.
I didn't stop. I clenched my teeth and pulled with every ounce of strength left in my body.
A quiet snap. The strap broke.
I crashed to the floor, gasping in ragged, heaving breaths.
My wrist was raw and shredded.
I staggered up and groped through the dark, searching for a way out.
The basement was crammed with junk.
I lost count of how many times I tripped. My arms and legs were a mess of bruises.
Finally, my hands found a window.
Iron bars sealed it shut, leaving only thin gaps between them.
I pressed myself against the sill and strained to see outside.
The Delgado family's back garden.
The lily bed was right there, not far away.
Under the moonlight, the lilies were in full bloom, their white so sharp it stung.
I clenched my fists until my nails broke the skin of my palms.
Just wait. I will make every one of you pay in blood.
Cold wind knifed in through the basement vent.
My whole body shook, beyond my control.
Blood beaded on my cracked lips.
A soft click at the door.
Aunt Jocelyn crept in through the dark, a bowl of pork rib soup cradled in both hands. She dropped to her knees beside me, crying, and pressed the spoon to my lips.
"Miss, you've suffered so much. Drink a little hot soup. Warm yourself."
The warm liquid slid down my throat, barely pushing back the cold.
The bare bulb overhead blazed on.
Ruby stood at the top of the stairs in a red dress, smiling.
"Sister-in-law—how's the soup? Packed with nutrients, wouldn't you say?"
I shoved Jocelyn's arm away.
The porcelain bowl shattered at my feet.
Hot soup splashed across the tops of my feet, scalding the skin red.
I dropped to all fours and jammed my fingers down my throat, retching violently until nothing came up but bile and streaks of blood.
My stomach seized.
"You're insane! You're not even human!"
I snatched a jagged shard of porcelain off the ground and lunged up the stairs at Ruby.
I was going to kill her. I was going to rip this monster apart with my bare hands.
Cecil shot out of the shadows and drove his fist into the side of my face.
The impact hurled me backward into the metal cabinet behind me.
Agony ripped through my spine.
Ruby, still shaking, grabbed Cecil's sleeve and pointed at the porcelain shard on the ground.
"Cecil—she had a blade hidden on her! She tried to kill me! I'm barely out of the hospital!"
I spat out two broken teeth in a wash of blood and pointed at the soup stain on the floor, screaming.
"You're lying! That was never pork rib soup!"
Cecil ground his shoe into my cheek, twisting until the skin tore open in a raw, bloody smear.
