When it was night, I decided to sneak out to pay Matthew a visit as I told Mark. I was dressed and quietly headed out of my room. But just as I stepped out of my room, I saw Catherine standing in front of hers.
"And where are you going?" Catherine asked.
I was speechless. I didn't know what to do but hoped she wouldn't say anything that alerts Veronica. Just as I wanted to plead with her to keep it low she yelled.
"Mom Lucy was about to sneak out the house."
My heart froze, I knew I was in for trouble.
"Lucy? Come here." Veronica called from her room.
It would have been much better if Catherine dealt with me. But Veronica, she's even more the devil. I walked slowly to her room like a person heading for the death penalty. As I walked past Catherine, she said,
"I warned you to stay away from Mark but you wouldn't listen. You deserve every pain you'd receive tonight."
I looked at her, tears in my eyes. "I stayed away from him, I truly did." Those were the words I wanted to say, but they didn't come out. It was no use because I was still going to be punished even if I said so.
I entered Veronica's room, closing the door right behind me. The next thing that followed was my cries, and screams that echoed from her room throughout the house. When Veronica was done, I couldn't walk. She had used a rod to hit both my legs. It felt like my bones were broken and the majority of my skin was peeled out. I had to crawl out of her room back to mine. As I entered my room, I passed out.
The next morning, I was woken by a cold sensation on my untreated wounds. I screamed as my eyes opened. It was Catherine, she had poured ice blocks on my legs.
"Catherine please stop, I'm already in so much pain." I said, trying to roll off the ice from my legs.
"Stop moving will you? Don't you think you need to ice that?" Catherine said, sympathetically.
I tried to crawl away from her, but she got even a much bigger ice block and placed it on my legs. I screamed in pain. The pain was just so much, I cried out until I passed out again.
When I woke up, I saw myself on my bed. There was someone sitting beside my bed, resting her head on it. I wiped my eyes to see clearly who it was, It was Sharon. I was so glad to see her. I looked at my legs and they were wrapped with bandages. The pain wasn't so much again, just that I still couldn't move them. As I shaked, Sharon woke up.
"You're awake," she said.
I burst into tears immediately. Sharon rushed onto the bed and embraced me tightly.
"I know Lucy, you've really suffered so much this time. I'm so sorry, my child." She said,
I embraced her tighter, as I managed to say, "I don't want to stay here anymore, please take me away with you.
Sharon cried too, "I wish I could, but I can't Lucy." She said with a broken heart.
I knew if she could, she would have a long time ago but it was just frightening to live with these wicked people. I don't know if I could take it anymore. Who knows what they might do to me next. As my cry subsided, we just held ourselves for a while. There was silence in the room.
"They allowed you to come and treat me?" I asked, recalling that Sharon only came on my birthdays.
"No, yesterday was your birthday. They only allowed me to stay here with you till you wake up." Sharon said.
"Yesterday was my birthday?" I was confused. "How long was I unconscious?"
"For two days." Sharon said.
"For two days?" I was surprised.
"I really didn't remember my birthday was yesterday, so I was unconscious on my birthday?" I said in tears.
Sharon was still holding me, held tighter. "And when you passed out on Saturday, they didn't do anything to help you. They just left you on the floor the whole day. I was scared when I saw you that way."
"I'm so sorry Lucy. You've suffered so much. And you don't deserve this. I really wish I could take you away from here but I can't." Sharon cried.
"But why can't you? I know my parents owed them but would you want to watch me die here? Even if you can't do anything, can't you tell the police about it?" I kept questioning Sharon.
"No, the police cannot be involved in this," Sharon said.
"Why not? Do you want them to kill me? Can't you see that they don't care about my life. You don't care about my life" I cried, pushing Sharon away.
"I do care about your life Lucy, but my hands are tied. Believe me when I say I care, but my hands are truly tied." Sharon said as she held me close.
"What do you mean your hands are tied?" I asked, as I observed that Sharon was holding something back. "Tell me."
"They have my son." Sharon said as she cried.
"Your son? I don't understand, you have a son?" I was confused.
"Yes I do. I'd tell you about how he was taken away," Sharon said, her voice trembling "You don't remember him because they took him away shortly after your parents passed."
"Who took him?" I asked
"Veronica." Sharon said. "When Veronica learned of your parents death, she came for you, but I refused to let her have you."
She paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "I had sent my son on an errand, but he didn't return. I searched everywhere, buy…." Sharon's voice cracked, and she struggled to hold back her tears.
After a moment, she composed herself and continued. "That's when I received a call from Veronica. She said she had him, but would only return him to me when you turned six. I didn't want to give you away, so I went to the police, but I met the wrong person. They were in cohort with Veronica." Sharon's eyes welled up in tears.
Her voice broke as she recalled the painful memory. " I got a call from my Danny right after. He was crying, saying he was in so much pain. I was scared and frustrated…and that's when I decided to give you away. I'm so sorry Lucy"
"It's okay." I held her hands in tears, understanding. "But why didn't they release him to you?"
Sharon continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "Veronica promised she wouldn't harm Danny anymore, that she would return him to me when I handed you over. But she never kept her word."
Sharon's eyes overflowed with tears. "She said it was a retaliation for me going to the police…that she had to keep my son away from me to prevent me from plotting to take you away again. I've been searching for Danny ever since, but I couldn't find him."
"So you must understand why I said my hands are tied Lucy." Sharon said, as she wept.
I held her in my arms comforting her. I didn't know she had to bare a lot for my sake. It felt really sad. Veronica is truly so evil. Why on earth would she go this far, how much did my parents owe her. Was it so much to have children's life on the line? I wondered.
"Have you heard from Danny ever since?" I asked Sharon as her sobs subsided.
"Yes. It's the same as you. I only get to speak to him on his birthdays, they don't let me visit him." Sharon said sadly.
I just couldn't imagine. There I was, sad that they only let me see her just on my birthdays, but she doesn't get a chance to see her own son. She doesn't even know what he looks like right now.
"Oh Sharon, you've really suffered a lot." I said as I hugged her tightly "And it's because of me, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay Lucy," Sharon said as she wiped my tears. "All I need from you is to be strong. I would definitely get you out of here but before they, you must stay out of trouble so they don't torture you like this. It pains me to see you this way."
I nodded. Sharon was right, if I had to leave here, I must survive first.