I startle awake from my dream, my face wet from tears. Memories flooding back that I had chosen to lock away, that I forced myself to forget.
"Must have been quite a dream to have you crying like that," an all too familiar voice comments.
I sit up and dry my face with a dirty hoodie sleeve. I don't bother to look at him and just stand up, ready to exit the room.
"Aw, embarrassed that you were crying, are we? How sad, I almost mistook you for a human for a second," He coos, clearly mocking me, watching me from his chair.
I am human, unlike you. It's your fault I don't show anything towards you but anger. No- don't let him get to you, that's what he wants. I think silently, not bothering to respond to his taunts. I continue on my mission toward the door. He bolts up, stopping to stand in front of the door.
"Ignoring me now, are we? You should know by now Kora that I don't like being brushed off," He snarls, taking a step toward me.
I don't say a word, just side-stepping him and reaching for the handle. Before my hand can reach its target I'm yanked back by my hair and thrown onto the cold, hard floor. He squats down and his large, callused hand grabs hold of my face.
"You just love pushing my buttons, don't you, love?" he accuses, now infuriated by my lack of response.
"You're one to talk," I scoff sarcastically.
He releases my face and uses his full strength to slap me. I flinch from the pain but swallow a gasp, determined to not give him a reaction.
"If I didn't know any better, Kora, I'd say you love being punished. That you actually enjoy the beatings I give you," he hisses into my ear. "Do you want more of what you crave? I was planning to wait until we got back before punishing you, but you seem eager to take it now. Just know this won't get you out of your punishment when we get back," He growls.
Before I can answer him, he grabs both sides of my head with his massive hands. He lifts my head from the floor and slams it back down, eliciting a pained yelp from my lips. He does this over and over and over, as if my head were an egg he was trying to crack, my head making a thudding sound each time it comes in contact with the floor. After the fifth time of this brutal assault, he finally releases my sore skull. I curl up into a ball on my side, trying to make myself so small that I'll disappear into nothing. I clutch my wounded head, trying to ease the throbbing in the back of my skull.
Why do I have to endure this? Do I have some kind of Karmic debt to repay? Was I really that bad of a person in my past life? I think, spiraling into the depths of self-pity. I hear a dark chuckle sound out above me.
"It's been too long since I've been able to see you like this. I almost forgot how cute and fragile you look curled up like that," he spouts out thoughtfully.
I grind my teeth in pain and humiliation. Nothing has changed, he will always look to make my life hell. I force myself to my hands and knees, but as soon as I do my stomach lurches forwards. I can't help but gag and heave as my body expels stomach acid. I let out a shuttered breath as I try to collect myself. Just as soon as I thought I've got a handle on myself my body heaves and lets out more vomit. After my body gives up on expelling food I haven't even consumed I weakly fall onto my side on the floor, coming to lay next to my pool of vomit. I gasp for air as the room seems to swirl around me and once too dim lights, seem to become unbearably bright.
"Shit," he mutters out, annoyed by the effectiveness of his punishment.
He scoops me off the floor and I can do little else but cling to him, burying my head into his stained hoodie. He sets me on the bed and sits next to me. My eyes immediately grow heavy, threatening to send me back to sleep. I feel another slap sting across my face, jolting me back awake.
"You can't fucking sleep yet, probably have a concussion. You can go to sleep in three hours," he hisses.
I rub my cheek and pout at his abuse.
"You're the one who gave it to me, you could at least let me take a nap," I say crossing my arms as if I reverted back into being a child, my brain now too jumbled to comprehend much.
He lets out an aggravated sigh. "No can do Kora, if you fall asleep too early you might not wake up," He explains, now beyond irritated by my behavior.
So we stay like that for three hours, with him slapping me every time my eyelids grew heavy and threatening to send me to sleep. Finally, after an eternity, he lets me fall into a dreamless sleep.