𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟜

There I was five years old. I was huddled into a corner, knees to my chest and arms wrapped around my body. Little me had tears streaming down my face. It was the Rose I thought I lost forever. The Rose no one seems to have a memory of.

The room was cold, so cold it seeped into my bones. Little me was shivering, her eyes looking alert throughout the room. She was expecting something. It scared her no, it terrified her. Loud footsteps echoed outside the door of the small room. The wooden floorboards could be heard loudly creaking underneath their heavy feet. Every thundering footstep made little Rose flinch, and now she was shivering in far more than she was of the cold.

The door of the dingy room slowly opened quietly in comparison to the person's footsteps. The moment the person stepped through the door, it was like the universe's knew tragedy was about to strike. The silence was all you could hear other than the heavy breathing of both the people. I looked at the person that walked through the door, causing so much fear in little me.

What I saw was a man's face that caused panic within my soul. Triggered my fight or flight. He was a burly man with brown greasy hair and cold pitch-black eyes. He walked towards little Rose and looked down on her with so much distaste that you would wonder what the girl did.

"You pathetic little girl, stop crying!" the man yelled at the little girl. A scowl forming on his face accentuating his wrinkles.

My heartbeat picked up, almost racing out of my chest. My eyes were filled to the brim with tears. I never had a chance. I watched little me start shaking more, and a loud sob slip past her lips. Angering the monster more. That's what he was to her a monster

I looked at myself, and her green eyes seemed to have glazed over the moment he raised his hand to little Rose, who expected the impact of the man's heavy hand that she was in no comparison to. The eyes that I never knew to be other than drained of life. At that moment was when it happened. When I knew all hope was lost.

That if I were dying, I would not attempt to seek help because my life ended before it could ever start.

I sat up in my bed, breathing heavy with beads of sweat dripping down my forehead. In a rush, I ran to the bathroom and hung my head over the toilet seat, puking my last three meals. I didn't even realize I was sobbing with tears running down my face until a knock sounded on my bathroom door.

At this point, I was hyperventilating. The memory felt so real, as if I was there in reality. That was probably one of the longest memory I have retained. It's not one I wished to keep either. The man in the dream was familiar to me in some way I couldn't place. Just a look at his face, and my mind told me to run.

When I saw myself in the dream so hopeless and lost, even at the young age, I realized I had always been alone. At least now I know I'm fucked up for a reason. However, the worst feeling is knowing something bad happened to you and not remembering. At least then I could know I was safe.

I didn't realize the knocking got heavier, and the amount of air in my lungs was decreasing. I couldn't stop crying. I never cry. It doesn't come easily to me to show my emotions even when I'm alone. All of a sudden, the bathroom door burst open, but I couldn't see who it was because I puked even more, very close to dry heaving.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong?" I heard a male voice ask. I couldn't tell who was talking to me because everything started to get blurry.

When I lifted my head, all I saw was a hazy image of one of my brothers. My eyelids started to get heavy, and it became more difficult to stay awake.

At this point in time, I was close to not being able to breathe. No matter how hard I tried to inhale, nothing would help me catch my breath. I could feel the person grab onto my shoulders and started yelling for help.

Several pairs of footsteps could be heard running upstairs and hallways, only reminding me of the man's heavy footsteps that scared me so much. It pushed me over the edge when my eyes started to close.

The person holding my shoulders started shaking me, trying to keep me awake. I could faintly see their mouth moving, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. The only thing that remained was the ringing in my ears,

My body gave out on me. I gave up and accepted the darkness. Because that is all, I've truly known.

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A/N This was a very sad and important chapter. I will make up for it being this short in the next chapter.