Vengeance

Chapter 21

Ava's POV

Darkness and silence surrounded me. 

What is this place? Where am I? Can't see anything!

"Somebody here? Help me? Martha?" I cried out and looked around. 

"Please. Get me out of here!" Tears started flowing down my cheeks and I fell on my knees. 

What is happening? Why me?

Just then, I looked up to see a ray of light coming from a distance. I got up quickly and followed the luminescence. I starting running towards it. It led to a door. The light was coming from the eye hole of that door. I slowly turned the doorknob and pulled it open. Suddenly, brightness flooded my eyes. I closed them immediately to stop it from hurting and tried to block the brightness by placing my hand in front my face.
My eyes fluttered trying to adjust with the sudden illumination after so much of darkness. Finally, I could see where I was. It was a room with white walls. There was a long mirror on the opposite wall from the door I just entered. I walked towards it. But instead of showing my reflection it showed a 5 years old girl.
The little girl was wearing the same dress I had, on my 5th birthday.
She was smiling brightly. 

That's me, 13 years ago!

I gave her a sad smile.
"Principessa!" I heard a familiar voice. A man came into view inside the mirror. I recognized him instantly.

Papa!

The little girl giggled as he picked her up.
Tears left my eyes at that sight.
"Ava!" A beautiful woman with a smiling face came towards them. 

Mama!

She kissed papa and the little girls forehead. They all looked so happy.

I miss you!

I extended my hand towards the mirror. But it as soon as my fingers touched it, the picture vanished.
"No!" I shouted in panic. I closed my eyes and let the tears flow. There was so much pain in my chest, I let it out. 

But when I opened my eyes I saw my own reflection. I was all bruised, black and blue. I gasped at the sight. As I stepped back from the mirror in fear, I bumped into something. When I turned around, it wasn't some thing, but a person. The person I hated with every cell of my body. 

Christopher Hunt.

He gave me an evil smile and I gulped in fear.
"I killed them!" He was talking about my family. 

"No!" I started hitting him with my punches, but he didn't even budge. 

Arthur came forward out of nowhere. He gripped my throat and said, "And I am gonna kill YOU!" He squeezed my neck with a psychotic smile on his face.

"NO!" I shot up screaming and panting. I held my neck and looked around to see I was in my own room. Pain shot through my body and I winced. 

I'm alive! It was just a nightmare!
But no, Arthur had almost killed me that night. 

My throat felt dry. I grabbed the glass of water that was placed beside my bed and drank from it. It was too painful to even swallow.
My throat ached and back hurt a lot.
I recalled that night and felt this urge to see myself. So I stepped down from the bed slowly, I winced as soon as I stood since pain shot through my leg as well.

Right, the sprain.

I limped towards the mirror in my room which was across the bed.
I was horrified at the sight of my reflection.
My eyes were puffy, my left cheek was swollen. My lower lip was not only swollen, it was also bruised. I remember I had felt it bleed. I had mild burning sensation over my scalp due to my hair being pulled so hard. Neck had black and blue bruises and so did my arms.
My vision blurred with tears filling my eyes.
"Why?!" I cried. I couldn't recognize my voice. It was low and cracked because of all the screaming. 

I miss Mama, Papa! My brothers! They would have never let me go through this if they had known. No one could lay their hands on me if I had my brothers here!

I sniffled and clutched my chest as pain settled in my heart. 

But they don't even know I am alive! They don't know where I am or what I'm going through. They don't know  how these monsters treat me.

I wiped my tears and went into my closet where I had hidden my diary.
I opened it and began writing all about that night and the incident.
It was my way of letting my feelings out.

Here I cannot tell anyone anything. But this diary is the only means of sharing my life story.

I started writing diary 13 years ago. When I came here, I didn't step a foot out of this room for a month. That was when Martha came in and gave me this diary. Nobody else knew about it other than her. Since that day I wrote everything I felt, it became my best friend. My 5 years old brain couldn't really write more than few lines at the beginning. But it was enough to let things out somehow.

2 hours later, I heard someone knock. It was Martha of course. She saw I was awake and rushed towards me.
"Ava!" She held me in a tight hug. I winced in pain. 

"Oh I'm so sorry dear." She quickly backed up.
Her eyes held unshed tears and sadness. She lowered her head in apology. 

"I'm so sorry this had to happen to you, my dear. I never knew he could go to such extremes." 

"Yes, he has been cruel to me since the day I came here but last night I saw a different side of him Martha. He was not human, he was a monster, Martha." I closed my eyes shut as I remembered his look when he did all those things to me.

Martha shook her head and looked up at me and touched my left cheek which was swollen.
"Jesus! This is going to take a while to heal. But the day after tomorrow is your wedding day. What will we do to hide these bruises?!" She said in worry. 

Is she fucking serious?

"Martha! Are you even listening to yourself?! Look at me! Look what he has done to me! He tried to kill me! How can I still marry him? I absolutely will not marry that monster!" I said with determination. 

Martha looked scared.
"Don't. Don't do anything stupid Ava. You know how dangerous these people are. Mr. Hunt is a very obsessive and stubborn man. He wants this wedding and he will have it. If you try to go against him, I fear what he'll do to you! Please sweetie, please just accept your fate." She begged me. 

"No. I would rather die than marry that Satan. To hell with him and his reputation." I clenched my teeth in anger.

I will not let you win Hunt. Not this time.