The Good Girl (9 page)

“Wake up, Eleni.”

Kicking at her again, I laughed when she attempted to strike back at me with her hand, losing her balance on the bowl, her head dunking into the vomit-filled water before she woke up enough to stop herself from potentially dying the most pathetic death ever – drowning in the bowl of a toilet.

“What the fuck?!” She threw her head back, the water from her hair dripping down her face, over her lips and chin. I grinned and shook my head at the tragic excuse for a person sitting on the floor in front of me.

“You’re pitiful, you know that?” The words escaped my mouth as my tongue darted out to smooth over the ring in the center of my bottom lip.

She looked up at me with unfocused eyes and it appeared as if her head was too heavy for her neck. When she was finally able to hold it still, she squinted up at me, her mouth twisting into a scowl.

“I would look a hell of a lot better if my hands weren’t tied to a fucking toilet, dick.” She laughed. “Hell, I’d look a lot better if you threw a bottle of liquor in my direction.”

Her head was immediately in the bowl again as her entire body moved to expel the bile in her stomach. When she was done vomiting, she cried, not daring to look up at me. I could feel her hatred from where I stood and I imagined she blamed me for her current condition.

“I’m not attempting to hurt you, Eleni. If nothing else, I’m attempting to help you.”

She laughed again, the sound choked and broken by the bubbles in her throat. “Who the fuck asked you for help?”

Looking up, her eyes shot daggers through me, a hint of violence swirling behind the bloodshot blue. I didn’t care about her anger and it was nothing more than amusing to me.

“What would your mother think of you if she found you like you are? Maybe I should snap a picture and send it to her. I bet she’d be so proud.” I only said those words to taunt her – I knew her mother was no longer alive.

The scowl that previously graced the delicate features of her face turned into an expression so venomous that I’m sure had she not been bound, she would have attacked me with the heaviest object she could manage to grab in the small room.

“Fuck you, you sick son of a bitch! What the fuck do you think you know about my mother, about me or about my life? Let me the fuck go or kill me, I don’t fucking care. But for God’s fucking sake, stop fucking talking to me! I don’t want to hear what you think, or what you’re going to do, or why you have me here! I don’t give a shit about you or your psychotic reasons for kidnapping me and holding me fucking hostage! Just do me a favor and SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Pulling at the bindings with all the strength that she had, she screamed an unholy sound when the ties cut into her skin and immediately bent over the bowel again to retch. Her body shook violently and sweat dripped from her skin and hair. Between heaves, she cried, the tears washing over her face before slipping from her chin to join the remnants of her stomach.

I laughed.

Keeping my voice calm so that I didn’t reveal my true shock at her outburst, I responded, “I’m going to release you now. As usual, you look like shit and probably smell the same. You should be ashamed of yourself, Eleni. Soiling yourself like a young child, not caring that a woman of any value or merit wouldn’t be caught dead in the condition you’re in now.” I paused to let my words sink in. When her body stilled and it appeared that she was well enough again to listen and understand the instructions I was giving her, I continued. “When I release you, we’re going to rectify your problem. You’re going to get a shower while I lay out clothes on the bed for you to wear. When you’re done getting dressed, you’re going to join me in the living room. From there, we will get you fed and hydrated. We’ll talk more and I’ll give you additional instructions once those tasks have been accomplished.”

Looking up at me, she opened her mouth as if to respond. I held up a finger to indicate that I wanted her to remain silent. Surprisingly, she stopped - closing her mouth and keeping her stare locked to mine as she listened.

“The instructions are very simple, Eleni. I have no need for your comment or opinion. You’ve fucked up your life. You are worthless. And I’m the man who will not only show you just how little value you hold, but who will cure you of your disease.”

Walking to her, I bent down and noticed how she flinched away from me. When I raised my hand, she flinched again. Slowly reaching over, I ran my fingertips down along her face and over the swollen fullness of her lips. Tears continued to stream from her eyes, the unshed moisture glistening like crushed sapphires within her eyes. Pulling my hand away, I reached in my pocket to retrieve a knife. When I snapped it open, she flinched away even more violently.

“No…please, not ….”

“Shhhhhhhhhh.” A mischievous grin spread across my face and I placed a single finger on her trembling lip. “I won’t cut you … not now anyway.”

I turned away from her quickly to cut the binds. Without a word, I slipped from the room and moved to choose an outfit to place on the bed. Once I’d made my selection, I quietly left the bedroom, leaving the door open for her when she was ready.

It was up to her at that point. Her actions would dictate how the rest of the evening would go.

Chapter Fifteen

~ Eleni ~

Whatever move I made next is going to have long lasting effects on me. I wondered if I would ever make it out of there, or if I would I continue to be his prisoner until he finally took my advice and offed me.

I wanted to value my life and I thought hard about whether I should play the part of the good girl, or push him to the point of ending me quickly. It was a choice between life and death, but some odd voice in me, one I’d never heard before, was telling me to do exactly what he said. Not for safety or because it is the smartest idea. But, because I wanted to. Did I really want to go along with whatever this plan of his was?

I knew he was somewhere on the other side of the house, but I couldn’t hear his footsteps. Since he’d left, I’d been studying the creaks of the floorboards because I didn’t have shit else to do. In my mind, I’d set up the layout of the house on the other side of my prison door; living room, other bedrooms, other prisons, a kitchen and even another bathroom somewhere in his palace.

My body worked on autopilot while I was deep in my thoughts. The thoughts that never left me. The voices that never fucking stopped.

SHUT UP!
I scream in my head as the hot water splashed across my back. It hurt, but the pain was pleasure. I deserved the hurt. And since I couldn’t poison myself with my whiskey of choice, the pain of the water would have to do. I wanted to mar my creamy complexion; reddening it in hopes that it would hold me over.

Without a thought, I worked through exactly what he wanted me to do. Cleaning myself, once again becoming presentable for the world to see, even if he wouldn’t let me leave the walls of my prison. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but it felt good to actually be clean after planting my face repeatedly in a toilet full of vomit. I knew I was an unworthy piece of shit and that I created this mess I called a life. I didn’t blame him for the way he looked at me because I looked at myself in the same manner. I’d always been a disgusting excuse for a human being, but I ignored that fact, using a fucked up childhood as an excuse to not care about being better than I was.

A person can only be put down so much in life before they start to become everything they have been told. Every lie my parents fed into me became the raw reality of who I had become. I picked up the bottle of shampoo and threw it with all the force my weak body had. It crashed off the tile wall and fell to the floor, spilling its contents to flood over my feet, small iridescent bubbles springing up from the puddle of clear soap. I laughed realizing that I’d been reduced to taking my rage out on a plastic fucking bottle. God damn it all. I was more pathetic than I realized.

My stomach rolled suddenly and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the dry heaves started again. My abdomen rumbled with its need for substance instead, which was a pretty fuckin’ welcome surprise, because I wasn’t sure of how much longer I could deal with the side effects of my disease eating me alive. It was enough to make anyone want to off themselves. I’d eyed everything I could possibly use to hurt myself around the bedroom and bathroom where I was held captive; but nothing looked like it would really get the job done.

Stepping out of the shower, I toweled off as quickly as I could. I pushed the memories of my mother as far as they could go, only thinking about what waited for me on the other side of the prison door when I was finally ready to leave.

The voices got louder. They were screaming at me to defy him. Fuck that guy and whatever he demands.

If it was only that easy.

Maybe this was all just a big cat and mouse game. Let’s be real, I was not a fuckin’ stupid girl. I may have done some stupid and self-destructive shit in my time, but ‘dumb’ isn’t a word that anyone would have ever used to describe me … before him anyway.

Smiling like a crazy woman, I eyed my withering body in the mirror. I was pale and so dehydrated that it appeared I’d lost weight. I hadn’t been in his grasp long enough for a drastic change, but even the smallest hints of difference I could spot. I laughed because I knew I could do this. I could play this game. I could give it back to him, and I would win. It was all I could do. There were no other options but to survive.

My body continued to rebel and the nausea came again. Mentally, I pushed the thoughts of my ailments away, hoping like hell that some psychosomatic effect would take place and my body would feel normal once again. It didn’t work and I scowled as I brushed my damp hair and scrubbed the vomit from my teeth for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Dropping the towel to the floor, I was unable to stand the feeling any longer while I was getting ready. I was naked except for the tattoos that masked the majority of my skin. Being naked had always come naturally to me. I was not ashamed of my body like most twenty-something bitches were. It was just some fuckin’ skin. Nothing to go all ape shit over. But in this moment, I felt that shame. Why did I care what he thought or said? Why did the opinion of a madman matter? Why was I so easily affected by someone more fucked up than me?

Turning the corner into the bedroom, I stopped abruptly when I saw the tiny sheer nightgown he’d laid out for me.

“This is what he expects me to wear?” I laughed to myself. This guy can’t be for real.

I looked at the tiny light pink fabric and cringed. Who in their right mind would wear something like this? It was fucking hideous. It wasn’t even real clothing. It didn’t cover anything and it looked stupid with the lace and bows that were supposed to cover my tits. I would’ve been better off walking around this damn place butt-ass naked.

The laughter in my head grew louder as the voices cheered me on. I was sure it would only land me in more trouble than I’d already been in, but I was pretty sure it was a genius idea. Just as I was on the verge of listening to the voices that had caused nothing but trouble my entire life, I could hear a quiet faint voice in the mass of chaos.

Don’t do it, Eleni. Do as he says, Eleni. Play his game, Eleni.

She was quiet and she was new.

But was she smart? That was something I didn’t yet know. As I slipped on the sad fuckin’ excuse for a nightgown, I hoped this quiet lady in my head would be the guardian angel I’d been in desperate need of for the majority of my life.

Chapter Sixteen

~ Gabriel ~

Her bare feet padded softly on the floor as she walked though the hallway. The house was so fucking silent that it felt like I would suffocate within nothingness and loss until I heard the approaching steps and my heart beat stronger in my chest. Finally – she was listening.

I’d considered turning on some music, something light and airy; something – anything - that could induce a trance like state. Serenity, peace, and overwhelming calm; that was what she needed, a small bit of light in the abnormal situation I’d created for her. But then I wouldn’t have heard those steps and I wouldn’t have known the exact moment when the relationship between us had finally shifted into what it needed to be.

From a mirror in the hall I could see her face. I watched as her expression turned from one of wonder to remorse - to fascination and trepidation – and finally, to acceptance. She turned the corner and my breath left me. My eyes searched over her body – the contours and curves accentuated by the sheer fabric that covered her. Her piercings could be seen shining against her skin – the light in the room just barely catching it beneath the light pink fabric that covered her skin. She looked good in pink and I couldn’t help but laugh to think that I’d never before seen her wear the color. Not in the times I’d seen her in person and never in the countless myriad of photos she posted to the web – the ones that now filled the hard drive in the computer I used to follow her.

Her eyes scanned the floors and walls, stopping every so often on the surreal paintings that depicted people screaming or dying – the struggles that I had in myself that could only be conveyed by the stroke of a brush across canvas.

“Nice art.” She commented in a quiet voice and it was obvious she was lost as to where this would go and what I’d planned to do with her.

A true smile spread across my face and it felt foreign over the skin of my cheeks. It was rare that the expression would appear, and I wondered inwardly if it was one she enjoyed. When I didn’t respond, she shifted in her place, nervous and uncomfortable to have lost her fighting edge. Her hands were held together in front of her and her eyes widened when I allowed the silence to become thick as it permeated the space.

“Are we just going to stand here, or … ?”

“Quiet, Eleni. I was merely taking a second to look at how beautiful you are. The color suits you – it brings out a bit of innocence that most would not believe could exist inside you.”