Zinnia
Alex sat across from me, her hands trembling as she clutched the edge of the oversized t-shirt she had on.. Her red-rimmed eyes stared at some invisible point past me. I wanted to reach out, to grab her hands, to tell her she didn’t have to do this, but she shook her head, as if she could read my thoughts.
“No,” she said softly, her voice cracking. “You need to hear this.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as a dessert “Alex, you don’t have to-”
“I do,” she interrupted, her eyes finally meeting mine. “You need to know what happened. All of it.”
Her words hung in the air like a loaded gun, ready to go off. My chest tightened as she took a deep breath, her fingers curling into fists. I could feel the weight of what she was about to say before the words even left her mouth.
“It started the day he took you,” Alex’s voice was barely above a whisper. “He told me he was happy to see me and that he would make sure we were safe. He assured me I made the right choice calling him, that people like Reed were evil. God, I was so foolish I believe him. Why wouldn’t I? He was my father after all. He said he wanted me to leave the country, but first, I had to say hi to my mom. That was how we took a detour.” Alex paused, taking in a long shaky breath.
“It was a lie. It was all a bloody lie and I believed him. He locked me up, Zinnia. He beat me, starved me. After all this time, he still didn’t come to terms with my sexuality.”
Her words hit me like a freight train. I tried to speak, to tell her I understood, but my throat closed up. All I could do was nod.
Alex let out a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her face. “The first night it happened, I begged him not to hurt me, that I was his daughter. I got on my knees and begged, Zinnia. But he just smirked at me, like I was nothing.”
My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat. I wanted to scream, to break something, but I forced myself to stay still and quiet. Alex needed to get this out, and I needed to let her.
“Every hour,” she continued, her voice trembling, “he’d bring in two men. Different ones each time. He’d stand there, watching, making sure they did what he told them to. And when they were done, he’d laugh. Like it was some kind of joke.”
I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. They spilled over, hot and relentless, as I reached for her hand. She flinched at first but didn’t pull away.
“He…” Alex broke to tears, burying her face in her hand. “He..” she swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. “He brought my mom and.. he…”
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to continue,” I caress the back of her hand.
“She refused to watch his men rape me. He shot her. In front of me. He ended her life as if she was just another lab rat. As if she she wasn’t his wife who dedicated years of her life to him,”
“Alex,” my heart broke for her.
“He killed my mom in cold blood!”
“When he decided he’d had enough, he knocked me out. When I came to, I was stuck behind a brick wall. I could barely move without scraping my skin. I thought I was going to die,” Alex admitted, her voice cracking. “And in those moments, when I was sure it was the end, all I could think about was you. Not the pain, not the fear, just you. I was terrified you’d think I’d betrayed you. That you’d hate me.”
“Alex,” I choked out, my voice breaking. “I could never hate you. Never.”
Her grip on my hand tightened, her nails digging into my skin. “But I hated myself, Zinnia. For leaving you with him. For trusting him to free you from Reed. For letting him get away with everything he’s done. For letting him win.”
“Don’t say that,” I whispered, shaking my head. “This wasn’t your fault. None of it was.”
She laughed again, but it was hollow, lifeless. “Tell that to the girl who spent weeks locked in a basement, wondering if the next time the door opened would be the last.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces. I wanted to take her pain, to carry it for her, but I didn’t know how. All I could do was sit there, helpless, as she poured out the darkest parts of her soul.
“I thought about you every day,” Alex said, her voice softening. “You were the only thing that kept me going. The hope that maybe, just maybe, I’d see you again.”
I squeezed her hand, trying to ground myself. “You’re here now. You survived.”
“Did I?” she whispered, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. “Because most days, it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like I’m still there, trapped, waiting for the next nightmare to start.”
Her words gutted me. I wanted to fix this, to fix her, but I knew I couldn’t. I was just as broken as she was. All I could do was be there, to let her know she wasn’t alone.
“I’m so sorry, Alex,” I said, my voice shaking. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve have blamed you for-”
“Don’t,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “Don’t do that to yourself. This wasn’t your fault either.”
We sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity, the weight of the conversation we just had pressing down on us. I didn’t know what to say, how to make this better. But then, Alex’s expression changed. Her eyes widened, a flicker of something uncertain darting across her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart racing.
She opened her mouth to speak and I anxiously waited her response. She suddenly woke up and darted out of my room, screaming; “I think I know how to catch him,”
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