Chapter 17
Z A R A
"Excuse me," I call out to the driver.
"Yes, Ma'am?" He responds flatly.
"If it's alright with you answering, how is Frank's condition?" I ask.
At first, there's silence. He's probably pondering whether to answer the question or not.
"He's a tough man," he finally answers. "This isn't his first time being injured and it's minor compared to what he's experienced."3m
"Oh, okay. Thank you," I settle back down in my seat. Minor compared to what he's experienced? He does seem to have a hefty amount of scars that I've noticed. I wonder if Alejandro has injured or hurt himself during confrontations. He doesn't seem like the type to let a single scratch graze his skin. Speaking of Alejandro... he did not look pleased once he was back from wherever he went.
Did he listen to Elijah and I's conversation? That's not possible, he wasn't even in the room. I'm overthinking this. I have to be overthinking. Actually, I'm always overthinking around Alejandro. He's always putting me on the edge, I can never be calm around him. I graze my fingers over my bruised wrists, this is why I can never be calm around him. He always does messed-up things like this. Making me watch him getting it on with a man and a woman? What was the purpose of that? To make me hate myself for being alive? To make me hate him? To make me want to gouge my ears and eyes out? He makes me so uncomfortable and upset.
It's unlike how I felt around Elijah... I was actually enjoying my night for the first time in so long. I felt... relaxed. I forgot how good that feels. God, I miss my parents and Yasmeen. I wonder how they are and what they're up to. I hope they're not too worried about me, which is a stupid thought but it won't do them any good. Worrying about me would be a waste of energy.
• • •
It's 10:00 PM and I'm ready to just go to sleep. I've already showered and prepped my bed. The skyline under the moonlit sky looks breathtaking, as always. This is a view that I'll never get used to, it's something that keeps me thankful for being alive at the end of the day. I jump on my bed and slip inside of the blanket, finding my perfect spot. Just as I was about to slip into a slumber, my ears perk up at the sound of... music?
I quickly sit up, grabbing my scarf that I keep right beside me. It's that song, it's that terrifying song again.
"There is someone walking behind you. Turn around, look at me. There is someone watching your footsteps. Turn around, look at me."
"My love, do you hear the beautiful song?" Alejandro's voice comes out loud and clears from the sound system. "Do you know what it means? We'll be playing our favorite little game of cat and mouse!"
"There is someone who really needs you. Here's my heart in my hand. Turn around, look at me."
No, no, no, no. This isn't happening again. This can't possibly be happening again.
Tears start gathering in my eyes from the sheer terror and panic rising through my body, making me absolutely numb.
"And understand this. That there is someone who'll stand beside you. Turn around baby and look at me."
I have to go, I have to hide. I have to hide until the song is over or else who knows what he'll do this time.
"And there's someone who'll love and guide you. Turn around, look, look at me."
My heart is pumping out of my chest, sweat dripping down my forehead.
"Turn around, look, look at me. Oh, I've waited, but I'll wait forever."1
I run out of my room, where do I go? Where can I go?
"I'm gonna wait for you to come to me. Look at someone look at someone who really loves you. Turn around, look at me."
I can't go anywhere.... I can't escape him... he'll find me no matter where I hide. My legs give out and I drop to the floor in the middle of the hallway. I hear his footsteps coming closer as the song nears its end.
"I found you, my love," his voice creeps in as I stare at his feet, frozen in fear. "You had quite the time with Elijah, didn't you?"
I stay silent. Every bone in my body is yelling at me to run like it always does but run where? I've been asking myself this for weeks. Alejandro wraps his hand around my neck and slams me against the wall. I cringe in the pain that echoes through my body.
"Elijah has beautiful eyes, huh?" He sounds far more angrier. I didn't have an excuse, I said what I said to Elijah. There were no lies there. Maybe if I stir him up enough, he'll pull out a gun and take me out right now.
"He does," I reply without looking up. "He has nice eyes." His grip around my neck tightens, and I gasp for air, struggling to even choke.
"Oh? I'm guessing you were remarkably eager to see his monster dick, as well?" His words are seething through like burning metal, hot and bitter. That part is false, I had no interest in seeing his... genitalia. But I stay quiet because I feel extremely stubborn all of a sudden. Alejandro's grip on my neck loosens just slightly as he uses his other hand to undo his belt,
"Since you're so eager to be fucked like the whore you are, how about I make your fantasies come true?"
My eyes widen, shit, I can't win with this man.
"Wait, Alejandro!" I grab his hand with whatever strength I have left. "You m-misunderstood. I didn't want to see Elijah's anything! I swear!"
"I'll bend you over on the fucking table right now and fuck the life out of you. Then, we'll see if you still want to be fucked by Elijah," he's seething, his words are a low, monstrous grumble. He won't hear reason either, I won't be able to get through to him.
He slips off his tie and lets go of his grip around my neck, I'm inhaling and exhaling as if I've finally been let out above the water.
He grabs my wrists, holding them behind my back with only one of his hands, and uses the tie he just took off to bind my wrists together.
He uses his other hand to pull up my chin to meet his eyes, "My eyes will be the only ones you'll remember after tonight." He crashes his lips against mine, already trying to shove his tongue down my throat. But when I wouldn't budge, he bites my lips, drawing blood.
"Don't deny me, it'll only make things more difficult for you," he whispers against my mouth. Once I give in, he lets out a moan as he licks the blood off around my mouth. He brings two fingers up against my lips and slides them in my mouth, "Suck them, I want to feel your tongue swirling around them."
Here it goes again, my vision blurring at the torture of my soul but when I don't respond, he shoves his fingers in deeper, making me gag.
"Suck on them like the fucking whore you are," he says as he looks at my mouth lustfully. "I don't enjoy repeating myself constantly, my love." My eyes are wet with tears, I'm quietly sobbing against the pressure of his fingers. When he couldn't get me to yield to his orders, he pushes me down to my knees, "If you're going to be this stubborn, we'll just have to skip a step."
As he slips off his pants, he grabs me by my hair and pulls me closer to his crotch,
"I'll have you use your dirty little mouth on my dick instead."
My quiet sobs transform into loud cries for help until I couldn't cry any longer. My head leans against his waist, unable to hold up my own weight any longer, "I love you, Alejandro... why would you do this to me? Why would you do this to someone who loves you?" He stops dead in his tracks as he lets go of the grip he had on my hair. His voice drops to a whisper, "You... what?"
I've really done it, I've stooped as low as I can go to desperately survive. Those words shouldn't have escaped from me but they did, they did so I can live just a little longer.
Author note
• I know you all want homegirl to be stronger but I'll explain something. Alejandro triggers Zara's literal fight or flight response. At this moment, her mind has already decided that fighting him is not an option bc she will definitely lose; she definitely doesn't have the upper hand.
• So, what's the next best option? Flight. The meaning of flight here is that she does everything she can to stay alive since she can't actually just take off somewhere else bc she's captive. Thus, she says intimate things to calm him down to escape a dangerous situation. It's an automatic response for survival.
• In real situations similar to hers, one would [or preferably should] handle it calmly, rather than pop off because 1, you don't have the upper hand; 2, pretending to succumb gives you the upper hand later on; and 3, your chances of survival slightly increase this way.
• Before anyone starts attacking Zara, I just wanted to explain from a psychological perspective why she hasn't done anything to stand up to Alejandro yet. It's not that she doesn't want to, it's that she literally can't.
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Next chapter will be updated soon.
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I PURPLE YOU <3
