Savior (Book One)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I somehow managed to convince Ivory to let me out of the basement. All it took for me to convince her was to tell her that I needed to get something to eat, which wasn’t a lie. I was starving, thanks to adrenaline burning up what little food I had eaten last night. After I told her that, she nodded enthusiastically and held out one of her tiny hands towards me, effectively warming my heart. She never even asked me about the…the gown I was wearing, to my relief.

How could she, a sweet, caring little girl, be related to someone like Henry? Henry was cruel, vicious, a criminal who only sought to use a kid for money. Granted, I wasn’t a child by no means, but he thought I was in my late teens. If he was still willing to do all of this to me, even with the thought that I was not yet an adult, he was nothing more than a monster. I do understand where he was going at, though. He needed money to feed his baby girls, to make sure he kept a roof over their head. However, he was doing it the wrong way. He was hurting someone else to do it, and that should have made him realize that what he was doing was wrong. You don’t hurt another person for selfish reasons, even if you truly needed the money. And I told him, I didn’t ask for much. I really didn’t. All I really needed was a few pairs of clothes and food in my stomach. That was it. Yet, he was still willing to lock me in the basement for who knows how many weeks just for money. It was just wrong.

I gently grabbed Ivory’s hand and followed her as she led me up the stairs and into the kitchen. It had been so long since I’ve seen the light that I had to squint until I got used to it. When I did, Ivory was leading me to the counter, a big smile on her face. I watched as the little blonde walked over to the fridge, opening it to pull out a small cup of yogurt. My stomach rumbled at the sight of it and I blushed when Ivory giggled and looked at me.

“You really are hungry!” She exclaimed, bouncing over to me.

She handed me the yogurt and I took it gratefully, body tense since I still expected Henry to walk in here at any given moment. I tapped my fingers against the cup of yogurt, aggravating my bottom lip as Ivory tried finding a spoon. Every time something banged together, my heart stopped and I looked at the walkway that led to the living room, dreading the moment that Henry woke up from the noise.

My foot shook and I took a breath, looking at Ivory.  “Um…Ivory?”

She looked at me with those big eyes, her hands holding her own cup of yogurt. “Yes?”

I licked my chapped lips and glanced towards the living room, turning back towards her and lowering my voice as to not wake the man in the next room. “I need to get out of here,” I told her, my heart dropping at her crestfallen look. I immediately put down my yogurt and climbed out of the chair to kneel by her, gently taking her tiny face in my hands. “It’s not you, sweetie. I promise you. I just...I have to get out of here before your father…” I trailed off, unsure what to say. Before your father ends up killing me, I wanted to say. But I dared not to say it to this little girl. A girl that looked so innocent and naive to what was really going on around her. I sighed and bit my bottom lip, listening for any signs of Henry. “Can you help me with something?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I yelped and fell back at the sound of Henry’s voice, deep from sleep but still very demanding. Just hearing it sent unwanted shivers of fear up my spine. I looked up at Henry to see him glaring at me, his hands balling up and flexing...almost as if he were thinking of hitting me. And dang it...I didn’t want to go back to that basement. Not when my freedom was a mere few feet away. However...I hated being violent. I hated hurting people. But, it seemed like I had to be in order to survive down here. I wasn’t going to let a mere human treat me like I was lower than dirt.

I looked down at Ivory and my heart sank as she stared at me with teary eyes. I followed her gaze and I realized that I was holding a sharp kitchen knife in my left hand, the tip gleaming brightly to the light. I gasped and dropped the utensil, my heart racing in my chest. Did I really just grab a weapon without realizing it? I...I put a child in danger! What was wrong with me? Was my sanity really diminishing that fast? I’ve only been here for what...two weeks? Three? It felt like more than that...like an eternity, almost. Though, it couldn’t have been that long...right?

I barely even registered the hand that roughly grabbed my upper arm, or my feet tripping over each other as I was dragged back to that dreadful basement. But only one thought certified in my brain…

How long did I have left before I completely lose my sanity?

I was pushed back down the stairs and I fell with a quiet thud on the concrete. I paid the pain no mind, since, I was already used to it, and stared solemnly at the tattered blanket that lay in front of me. Was this really what I’ve turned into? A broken shell of nothingness that let people push him around? I used to be a proud angel, one eager for learning new things. I used to be so happy whenever I was complimented on my skills and I would smile widely at my animal companions, talking to them when I was bored.

Now...I sit here starving, and wishing that I would have at least attempted to get out. But to do that, I needed to fight. And fighting was the last thing on my mind after I watched my brother and sister be killed right in front of my eyes.

Was it too late to not want a part in this? Was it too late to run away like the coward I was?

I tore my gaze from the blanket and looked around in disgust. A spider crawled over my legs, though I didn’t notice as I stood up and winced from the pain in my left leg. I looked down and frowned at the sight of bright red blood, which oozed out of a long jagged cut near my knee. I must have got it when he pushed me down the stairs. I was actually surprised that it wasn’t worse, considering how hard I had hit the concrete. Grabbing the blanket, I tore it into stips and wrapped it around my injury, wincing from the faint pain. I needed a plan of action. I needed to somehow get to a phone...heck, even the outside world would do. I needed to get ahold of Bud and tell him what was going on...tell him what Henry was doing to me.

I looked around the room for the hundredth time trying to find an exit, but like the other times...I found nothing. Only the locked door that sat atop the stairs. There wasn’t even that small window that basements seemed to have on tv.

I sighed in frustration and buried my hands into my hair, grabbing at the dirty, silky black strands in order to vent out. I didn’t feel like punching a wall...since I’d probably break my hand, and that was the last thing that I needed right now.

My stomach grumbled and I sighed, realizing that I had barely even eaten the yogurt since I was too focused on Henry waking up. Not that it did any good, since he still ended up sneaking up to me.

And that’s when a thought crossed my mind.

What was he doing to Ivory? She...she had let me out. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and knelt over, my hair dangling beside me. What if was hurting her for that? What if she was being beaten right this moment. No...I don’t think he would attack his daughter like that. He would probably yell at her and ground her, or something.

I reassured myself with that thought and placed a hand on my mouth, sitting back against the wall. I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes and tilted my head back so I could stare at the ceiling. I tried to listen for any indication on Henry’s whereabouts, like footsteps, or his voice maybe...but I heard nothing but a rat gnawing at the wall behind me. Where was he at? Well...he was probably upstairs. If that was the case, then it was no surprise that I couldn’t hear him. Which meant...he wouldn’t be able to hear me.

I stood up and quietly made my way up the stairs, studying the door to see if there was any way to unlock it from the inside. I saw the keyhole and placed my eye right in front of it. I could actually see part of the kitchen from here. The lights were off but it was still illuminated by the light outside, meaning it was day. It would be harder to run, but I could at least try, right? The worst he could do was kill me, and I don’t think he would want to risk losing his children over that. Well, he could lose his children anyway if the officials found out he was abusing a “child”, by locking him in the basement and barely feeding him.

Gosh I really needed to stop letting my thoughts stray. I needed to focus on a way out...not focus on what will happen to Henry’s family when I somehow get to the authorities. I took in a breath, sending a silent prayer to Father before I began to form a plan.