Wicked games h.s.

Chapter 8

''I begin screaming while the exit signs read: Heaven's waiting"

Arabella's POV:

I feel surprised when I wake up the next day, I thought that my body was so weak that it would give up and I would die. I see the food in front of me and the cup of water, I take the cup and drink it, squeezing the plastic cup, it wasn't enough and it didn't even soothe my aching throat. I look at the food and feel even more nauseous, I can't eat it, I don't have an appetite, I can't even remember the last time I ate but I don't feel hungry. I push the food away from me and sit on the hard and cold mattress, my back against the wall, as I pull up my knees to my chest and hug them, I press my head to the wall and close my eyes trying to breathe as calmly as I can. I feel pain everywhere throughout my body, I'm very cold and I still feel nauseous.

The door opens and I don't even move from my position, my eyes still closed shut, I hear footsteps coming towards me and someone stops in front of me. ''Open your eyes, Arabella'' his voice sends shivers down my spine. I obey him and open my eyes as I look at him, he crouches down and wraps his long fingers around my slim hand, dragging me up to stand on my feet. ''Why haven't you eaten anything?'' he asks me. ''I'm not hungry'' I say. ''If you think that you can starve yourself to death it's not going to work little one, next time I will force the food down your throat if I have to'' he threatens me but I don't say anything to him, I have nothing to say to him.

He lets go of my arm and my body starts falling due to my weak legs that can't support me, he catches me before my body could collide with the floor. ''Are you ready to talk, Arabella?'' he asks me and I just look at him not answering him. when he sees that I'm silent, his jaw clenches and he holds my upper arm even tighter.

''Take your shirt off'' he demands as he goes over to the table again, letting me go, I turn around to look at him. ''W-what?'' I ask him, afraid. ''Don't make me repeat myself, Arabella!'' he yells at me and I flinch away. ''N-no'' I say, not moving. If I had my strength right now, I would have beaten him to death. ''Take off your shirt before I come there and rip it off of you'' he threatens and I continue to stay still, not moving an inch.

He looks at me raising his eyebrow as if challenging me to disobey him, and I look down, he comes towards me and rips my shirt off of me like he said he would as he lets it fall to the ground. Even though I have a bra on, I feel so exposed in front of him but he makes me feel somehow comfortable, his eyes don't even travel down my body as he keeps his firm stare on my face. He turns away again and walks to the table as I stand there, not even turning to look at him. I feel him taking my wrists in his hands and he pins them behind my back and ties a rope around them, tightly.

''Tell me why did you decide to get into this mess'' he asks me but I stay silent, suddenly a whip makes contact with my back, as I fall on my knees to the ground. I turn around to look at Harry standing behind me with a whip in one of his hands. ''Talk Arabella!'' he yells and hits me again making me scream in pain. ''I'm not going to tell you, stop!'' I say and he hits me again, making tears run down my cheeks.

''I will continue to do this for hours if you don't talk!'' he yells, hitting me with the whip again as I scream again. My back hurts as I am sure there are open wounds, I feel blood pouring down my back. ''Please Harry'' I say as he hits me again. He starts hitting me with the whip repeatedly, making me scream so loud in pain but that doesn't make him stop, he continues doing it.

I imagine a picture in my head of my sister and me, we were laying on the hot sand, on the beach, my back burned from how hot the sand was but I was going to endure it if it meant being with her. I hear the soft sounds of the sea, moving in front of us, we were dipping our feet in the water and laughing at something she says. She suddenly gets serious and looks at me as if to see if I'm okay or not, to know how I feel. ''Are you in pain, Ari?'' she asks me and I look at her. ''Yeah'' I say to her, there is no point in lying to her, she could always see right through me. ''Because of me?'' she asks me again and I nod, I don't want to worry her she can't do anything to help me right now because I know she's not here. ''Let go Ari, it doesn't matter, you already know the answer it's in your head'' she says and I furrow my eyebrows looking at her. ''What?'' I ask her confused and she smiles sadly at me, her smile not reaching her eyes, like it normally does. ''It doesn't matter anymore, tell Harry and end your suffering, continue living, not for you but for me'' she says and I shake my head as I sit up on the warm sand and look at her. ''No'' I say. ''I am not giving up, all these years I spent preparing myself it will be for nothing if I give up now'' I tell her and look at her. ''You have to let go of me, you'll have to live your life now, you already know the answer'' she says and takes my hand in hers as she squeezes lightly. ''What answer Dahlia? What are you talking about?'' I ask her. ''About my death'' she says and I wait for her to tell me more but she stays quiet. ''I don't understand'' I say. ''You do, you know, you just have to trust him to tell you the truth and open your mind to the possibility'' she says, I have never felt more confused in my life. It's like she's giving me the answer, but at the same time she doesn't, she gives me a riddle that I have to solve on my own but I don't want to think about that right now, I want to know. ''Dahlia, tell me'' I say, pleadingly and she smiles again. ''Don't feel guilty for living your life, you deserve it. My death is not your fault'' she says. ''Tell him and be free, I'm here to warn you sister, be prepared to lose everything, even yourself''

I open my eyes again and look around me, I'm not at the beach anymore with Dahlia, I'm in the dark room that I chose to escape in my mind. Harry has stopped hitting me with the whip, but the pain is still there on my back. ''I'm tired of this Arabella, I don't have anymore patience, tell me right now'' he says as he comes in front of me and looks at me. I notice that tears are still falling down my cheeks as I look up at him. I remember Dahlia's words, she is right, I can tell him and end my suffering, as fast as I tell him, he will kill me and I will see her again. Suddenly death feels more convenient as I want nothing but to spend the rest of eternity with her.

''Stay with me Arabella!'' Harry says and grabs my cheeks in his large hands as his eyes scan my face for any emotion he can find. ''Tell me'' he says, repeating my sister's words. ''I wanted to destroy your life'' I say to him as he still holds me like that looking at me. ''Why?'' he asks me. ''Because you destroyed mine'' I say, more tears running down my cheeks against my will. ''How? What did I do? Tell me'' he sounds almost panicked as if he hates himself right now.

''You killed her, you killed my sister''