Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 753(@200wpm)___ 602(@250wpm)___ 502(@300wpm)
But there has always been me. And him.
And I hated him.
“Eat.” His words were soft around the sound of meat being torn from bone. Dried white meat and withered green leaves. I pushed my food around and my stomach grumbled. I found it hard to believe that this was the only thing humans could eat. Surely there were other things you could do with a potato.
We all ate in silence.
We drank in silence.
The lights flickered up ahead and I stared up at the concrete ceiling. Acid burned my throat the longer I stared.
Sweat dripped down my palms and I released my fork.
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I wanted to live in a world that I knew didn’t exist.
At least maybe not yet.
I felt his eyes crawl over my body the longer I sat here. Exposed to whatever pain he wished to inflict on me. He wasn’t the man I thought he was… and he wasn’t always like this.
I reread over the words, then fly back to the start with my own stomach rolling. I don’t even realize I’ve stopped breathing until my lungs burn. What was this doing in the guy’s car? Did he know this girl?
I pause a moment, retracking that night. I knew who he was. And I knew what had changed and why they had come to Perdita—it was because of me. Everything was because of me.
The time flashed over my phone screen. 1:32 p.m. I have a while to go before the dinner party, so I peddle through the page. There doesn’t seem to be too much writing.
My fingers graze the torn pieces near the spine. Or at least there isn’t any more.
I continue, tucking my legs beneath my ass and shuffling up my bed.
I felt like an outsider around people I knew most of my life. I guess the first lesson in life is betrayal. Everything else comes after.
The bedding was cold to the touch and littered all over the place. The sins of my ancestors maybe, or the punishments I’ll be passing on to my future self.
“You may go back to your chamber.”
The brutal routine day in and day out, a silent punishment from God.
I braved myself to count how many of us were here today.
Nine.
We did have a lot more than what we do now. They’d slowly been plucked away or taken. No one knew how. I could feel him get more agitated as time went on. As if he couldn’t figure out where they’d gone or how they had.
I wanted to find my own way out. I would find my answer.
I could no longer wait for him to save me. I didn’t want to be saved.
My legs shook as I swung them over the bench. I had to hitch the ends of my robe up to be able to move, but I moved fast. I followed behind the girls who sat beside me as we walked out of the room in a single file. The sun beamed down against my forehead and my chest cracked a little. We moved like cattle. The single file split off into separate and smaller lines as I continued forward with no one else in mine.
The chamber huts curved around the building where a yellow door glared back at me. I used to think it was a pretty color. It reminded me of sunshine.
I wasn’t sure if sunshine was the right word for what went on in there. If I could never reenter that place again, it would be too soon—only I’d be back there tonight.
Bile rose in my throat as I took the steps that led to the front entrance of my chamber.
A single bedding area and a single mirror that hung on the wall. I made a small desk from old wood I found in the forest during a hunt, but other than that, it was simple. All I knew.
I at least got my own room during the day. Whether it was his punishment or his apology, I didn’t know yet.
I should stop writing. I’m afraid that I can hear people outside. Maybe I did… or maybe I was finally going crazy. I was told I would. I just thought that I would have more time than I do.
Time. What we measure everything to, simply doesn’t exist.
Tonight was different. I spent an hour beneath the stream of water, desperate for anything to make sense. Nothing did.
Then I ran. I was running so fast through the forest that my lungs burned with every breath I took. The ground bruised my feet the longer I went on, but I knew that I needed to continue. I’d never get another chance.
But I slammed into someone hard, my hands flying out to stop my own fall, but it was too late, and my head hit the ground.
A shadow came down over me as my eyes tried to adjust to the dark night.