Elsie
Pinching the tip of my tongue between my teeth, I fisted my hands and fought for patience. Sally stood snivelling, her red-rimmed eyes lowered to the floor, refusing to look at me.
She gasped when my palm found the edge of her cheekbone again, the light smack generating more tears.
“Come on!”
She shook her head rapidly, still not allowing me to see her tear stained face.
Another slap, slightly harsher, brought her hands to her face to protect herself. She cowered but didn’t retreat when I smacked her other cheek.
The kick in my gut gave me a small smile when I saw her fingers start to curl, her hands forming fists as the anger began to bubble away beneath her skin.
“Come on!” I hissed louder, another sharp hit to her already burning cheek. “Stick up for yourself, little girl. No one else here is going to stop this. Only you!”
“Ow!” she whined as she took another hit and another.
“Stop it!” she finally screamed, her small fists hitting out in any direction as she finally attempted to defend herself. “STOP IT!”
“No!”
Another smack, and another.
“Argh!” she cried as her hands pushed out at my chest. She would never be able to move me, but she wasn’t supposed to.
“That’s it, Sally. Feel that rage in your gut. Feed from it. Hit me!”
Her jaw trembled when she launched for me, her small hands grabbing and tearing into any piece of my skin she could get hold of. She screamed, venting the rage that was threatening to hurt her as much as I was.
I allowed her her fight, giving her the satisfaction of hurting me. She needed to feel that gratification, it would be so powerful she wouldn’t forget it.
“Remember this feeling, Sally,” I murmured when she fell into my arms, her rage depleted and the horror of her new life now a reality she would never be free from.
She looked up at me when I held her arms and pushed her away, refusing her need for consolation.
“Remember it, and use it. It will save your life from now on in. That, the way you’re looking at me now, the plea in your eyes for softness, will never be answered. You will waste both my time and yours if you seek solace. Your life is both over, and just beginning. Remember that.”
Despite her distress, she gave me a small nod. “Yes, Elsie.”
Her wide blue eyes still begged me for an ounce of kindness. Angered at myself when I had to fight against every natural instinct in my body to give in to her, I spun on my heels and left her standing alone and scared.
“That’ll do for today. Go wash up before breakfast.”
“Yes, Elsie.”
I watched her shuffle away, defeated and tormented, and let out a long sigh.
I still couldn’t understand what it was about Sally that was different from the rest.
Closing my eyes and attempting to shake my thoughts, I couldn’t help but fill my mind with the image of her eyes. Although they were the brightest blue, they were still full of warmth, the flecks of green a contrast to my own. Her long eyelashes framed the perfectly round orbs, and every time she blinked I caught sight of the heart-shaped mole on the back of her eyelid.
My own eyes shot open, and I stared at the door Sally had just retreated through.
“Fuck!” I breathed out, my heart rate escalating and sending my mind into a wild panic. “No. No.”
Another pair of identical blue eyes filled my head, eyes I would never forget, round eyes with a heart-shaped mole on the back of the eyelid… A mole akin to my own… And to my mother’s.
I stumbled backwards, holding onto the wall as I slid to my knees and puked up the toast I’d had not an hour ago.
“Elsie?”
Ebony’s fearful voice filtered into my ears, and looking up I grabbed hold of her, begging her to help me breathe.
“Shit, Elsie. Breathe, girl. Come on.”
My lungs squealed for air, and my vision swam as my blood tore my body apart, fighting for oxygen.
“Elsie!” Ebony screamed.
The sharp slap to my face finally shocked my lungs into drawing in what they needed to function, and I released the lock of air captured in my chest.
“What the ever-loving fuck?” Ebony blew out as she sank to the floor beside me, breathing heavily with me as she tried to regulate her terrified breathing.
“No!”
She stared at me with bafflement as my head shook rapidly from side to side and I grabbed hold of Ebony’s hand, trying to ground myself.
“Oh my God, Eb!” I puffed out.
“What the hell is going on?” She turned to me, grabbing my other hand as fear sliced over her when she caught on to my terror.
“We have to get her out of here. I won’t allow this for her. Not for her!”
“What the hell are you going on about?” She shook me, both angered and afraid. “For fuck’s sake, tell me!”
Although I knew it to be true, I still had trouble saying the words. It made them a fact when I spoke them out loud.
“Not here,” I whispered, “Every room in this hell hole has ears. Meet me in Benny’s tonight.” It was strange, but a bar full of people was the only place that didn’t have ears.
Her concerned expression was full of wariness, but she nodded. “Okay.”
She stopped and turned to me before leaving, her face full of sadness. “You sure you're all right?”
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully, shaking my head. “But it’s not me I’m concerned about.”
She looked at the floor and sighed before her gaze slowly lifted back to mine. Tears shimmered in her eyes, and she winced. “You know you can’t ever leave, Els,” she whispered, her voice shaky as her breath caught. “Not alive anyway,” she added before she walked away.