Broken

• Chapter 157 •

- CLEMENTINE -

I wake up in an unfamiliar setting, my surroundings are blurry. A jolt of pain flies through my back. My neck is extremely sore my muscles are aching, as though I've been jerked around. What happened..?

I force my eyes open, my vision slowly starts to focus. Everything's coming back to me at once and my heart splits apart. My eyes widen in horror. Oh, no... No no no...

I scramble off the bed in panic, falling onto the cold floor with a loud thud.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Hassan grins as he comes through the door.

My heart hammers in my chest, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

He laughs, "You're so cute when you're angry. No need to be, babe. You're with me. You're safe."

I'm going to gag, "What the fuck do you want from me?"

He shrugs and steps towards me, "Well, now that you're asking..." he chuckles softly, "This is a little embarrassing, really, but I find you... Enticing. And I can't help but notice how hot you look in that tight little dress..." his eyes roam my body hungrily.

Bile rises in my throat, and he steps even closer, shaking his head, "You have to understand how hard it was for me not to touch you while you were asleep..." he laughs, "What can I say? I'm a gentleman."

My eyes widen as he pins me against the wall, "But you're awake, now... So there's really nothing stopping me."

"You're sick," I breathe.

He chuckles, "I love it when you play hard to get."

He grabs my arms forcefully, smashing my back against the wall. My vision blurs, everything is hazy. I feel my eyes move down to his hand, it's rough and clasped tightly around my neck. Flashbacks play in my mind, the lack of oxygen entering my body hits me, and I scrape at his hand to let go. He swears underneath his breath, loosening his grip to examine his injured hand.

I fall onto the floor and gasp for air, swallowing lungful after lungful. He picks me up and pushes me onto the bed vigorously. He climbs on top of me quicker than I thought was humanly possible. I can hear myself screaming out for him to stop, but it feels surreal. I feel disconnected from my body, as though I'm a bystander locked in a snow globe.

I'm unable to rectify the situation, unable to save this helpless girl... I frown as realization dawns on me. The helpless girl is me... I'm the helpless girl. Short snippets of times I've felt completely helpless and put in similar situations flash through my brain. I can hear the fumbling of belts as my mind swarms with horrifying images.

I'm not weak. I'm not helpless. Not anymore.

I feel my fist fly into the air and connect with his nose. He looks down at me in fury, droplets of blood splash across my cheek as he holds a hand to his bleeding nose.

"You little bitch."

Next thing I know, his fist flies straight towards my stomach. I see my life flash before my eyes as an excruciating amount of pain shoots through my body. My gag reflexes act up, but nothing comes out. I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head as another wave of pain crashes over me. Despite the pain, I struggle to get out from under him. I slam onto the floor, clenching my stomach in a desperate attempt to keep everything in place, as it feels like I'm being dismembered.

Disoriented, I take a moment to catch my breath. I can hear laughter behind me, then it surrounds me. It's everywhere I turn. Scraps and bruises form as I drag my lacerated body on the floor, crawling like an animal that's been shot down. He grabs my leg and pulls me up effortlessly to face him, his hands crush my arms. I won't let him win, I won't let him scare me and take what isn't his to take.