Sorry, I'm a day late and a dollar short. NOTE: This Chapter contains abuse and torture (Physical, not sexual)
Chapter 6: A Princess Day
SPOV
When I was eight years old, my brother convinced me that I was a fairy and that I could fly. He said that the only way to prove him right was for me climb on top of Grans' old tin roof and fly away, high into the blue sky. At that time, our parents had just died so Jason was this bigger than life person that I held on to, believed in and idolized. He was all I had left, well except Gran', but at the time we weren't as close.
I believed every single thing that Jason said, so when he told me that I was a fairy and that I could fly, I really didn't even question it. Needless to say when I jumped off the roof, my damn wings never spread open and I certainly didn't float down safely to the ground. I ended up with a broken wrist and collar bone and more than a few bruises.
Never in my life had I ever experienced as much pain as I did when I jumped from the roof of Gran's house – Until that day in the old frame house while little Pam sat in the other room.
I've read countless mystery novels where authors sometime describe scenarios where the person being held captive doesn't experience the full extent of the torture because they detach themselves. You know, go somewhere else in their mind.
What I would have given to be on a sunny beach tanning myself as the peaceful waves washed ashore, or baking a pecan pie in the old farmhouse kitchen while Gran appraised my work with an approving nod. Hell, I'd even rather be at Merlotte's Bar and Grill serving cheap draft beer and fried food to handsy customers.
No, I felt every single slice of their knife. Felt each punch to the gut, kick to the groin. I heard every mocking ridicule they spat at me. I watched as they fucked each other after having their sadistic way with me.
"Nobody loves you. Your beloved great grandfather won't even pay your ransom." They mocked. I didn't even understand what they were saying, in fact I was almost convinced that they had no idea who I even was, but I was glad for the person that they thought I was. Glad that she at least would be spared from this.
Slice, kick, punch
The camcorder light blinked 103 times per minute, I counted. The spotlight nearly blinded me.
"Hold this sign." The woman said laughing cruelly. She then duct taped it to my chest. What it said, I had no idea because I couldn't even hold my head upright any longer. They were at least smart enough to cover their faces, though their voices could be heard loud and clear.
The will to live was nearly gone. My only reason sat frightened in the next room. Surely she had heard my cries and wails and that shamed me more than I'll ever admit.
After turning the camcorder off the man, Lochlan, marched towards me.
"There's no hope for you." He whispered in my ear and picked up my limp, bound body carrying me back to the room that Pam was in.
I closed my eyes and wept in shame. I didn't want her to see me, not like that, not bloodied and battered. She didn't need to see me like that.
He tossed me unceremoniously onto the small bed where Pam was huddled in the corner. She was crying. I didn't even have my eyes open, but I could hear her sobs. It broke what was left of the small thread of sanity I still maintained.
After he shut the door, leaving us alone, Pam crawled over to me and hugged my body. I opened my eyes and saw that my blood was coating her clothes, her pretty pink girly outfit that she had picked out specifically to make her father happy.
More shame, more guilt.
"Baby, can you be a big girl and help me?" I asked her hoping to channel her fear.
"Uh huh." She said between her sobs.
"Can you untie these ropes for me brave girl?" I asked. She wiped the tears from her face and used her tiny fingers to unknot the ropes. She was so smart and brave because she figured out how the ropes were tied together so fast and she was able to unbind me within a minute.
"Thank you baby." I told her.
"Welcome Sookie." She sniffled.
"Can you go into the bathroom and bring me a wet towel? It looks like I have a few owies." I tried to say in a light way.
"You're a brave girl for helping me, you know that?" I told her as I tried to brush some hair from her face. She crawled off the bed and I heard her milling around in the bathroom.
When she came back a few minutes later, she awed me completely. She brought a first aid kit and the towels that I asked for.
"I found this under the skink. Daddy has one in our house and he used it on my booboo when I fell off my bike one time." She said in her small voice. Her father would be so proud of her, I know I was.
"Thank you baby, you did so good." I told her.
I applied the wet towel to the bleeding sliced bits on my thigh, applying pressure. With my free hand, I rummaged through the first aid kit and found some Neosporin, but I couldn't open the tube.
"I know I'm asking so much of you, and I'm sorry for that baby, but you are being so brave. " I told her.
"Leesha and me played doctor before and she was the patients and I was the doctor. It's kind of like that now, huh?" she asked. I snorted laughing at her association. So innocent.
"It is baby and you're the best doctor in the whole world." I told her and handed her the tube of Neosporin.
"Can the doctor open this medicine for me?"
She did and I managed to apply it to some of my less severe cuts. There wasn't much I could do about the bruises, and I was pretty sure a couple of my ribs had been cracked. I was in less pain then I probably should have been.
In High School, I took Psychology, and I remember talking about pain and how when your body is injured that we have internal "pain gates" that will close so that our body can rest. I wasn't pain free by any means, but I imagined that my pain gates were closed and I willed them to stay that way.
At some point the woman came into the room and threw two bologna sandwiches on the bed. I nibbled on mine and gave the rest to Pam who said that she was still hungry.
I knew that I needed my strength, but I couldn't look her in the eye knowing that she was still hungry, so I gladly gave up the rest of my sandwich. I didn't have much of an appetite anyway.
"Am I ever gonna see my daddy again?" Pam asked me, breaking the silence that had ascended after she ate. I honestly wasn't sure, in fact, I didn't believe that she would, but I could never voice that.
"You are baby." I told her in as certain of a voice that I could muster. I felt like a liar.
"If you could have a princess day, what would you do?" I asked her. I wanted her to have something to look forward to.
"What's a princess day?" she asked me and I chuckled.
"Well, it's a day when you get to do whatever you want to do, eat whatever you want to eat and spend it with whoever you want to spend it with." I explained.
She was silent for a moment and placed her pointer finger on her chin in contemplation. She had this very focused look on her face as if she was imagining it all in her head. It was cute.
"I would want to spend it with you and daddy." She said with like "wif" and it made me smile. "I would wake up with you and make daddy go make us chocolate chip pancakes. Then we would play dress up and we would wear our crowns. Then daddy would make us cupcakes and milk. Then we would all watch Tangled, but we have to watch Tangled on the floor with a bunch of blankets and pillows and I would lay between you and daddy. Then after the movie, daddy will make us spaghetti and cookies, then we could go swimming in the pool, then we would all go to sleep together on daddy's big bed." She said it all in one long run on sentence. My teeth hurt just thinking about all the sugar she had planned for us.
It touched my heart that she included me on her princess day. If that day ever came, I was sure that her father would forbid me from participating in it.
Despite the threat of diabetes, I thought her princess day sounded kind of perfect. I absolutely loved that she only wanted to be around her family. She could've said that she wanted to go to the zoo, or a theme park, or any place on earth and she chose to stay at home with me and her father.
It brought a tear to my eye because if I were her age, I would've answered in a very similar way.
"What would you do mama – I mean Sookie?" she said catching herself. I gasped at her words.
She called me mama.
It was just a slip of the tongue, I reminded myself. She didn't really mean it, she was just attaching that title to me because I was here with her in this stressful situation and I was comforting her in the way a mother would. It meant nothing, not really.
But I thought about my princess day. I didn't really have anyone in my life that would cater to my every whim for a day. The closest I had was Bill, but I was certain that the whole concept would wear out its welcome after breakfast.
I had Jason, but he was so used to me catering to him that a reversal of roles would probably short one of his mental wires, so that was out.
"It's kind of amazing!" I said in mock astonishment.
"What?" She asked me.
"My princess day is the exact same as yours!" I exclaimed animatedly.
"It is?" she said in disbelieving awe. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes lit up. I would give anything to see that kind of light in her eyes all the time.
"Yes. Isn't that cool?" I replied back. I had very little energy left and it was starting to become difficult to keep my eyes open.
The bigger cuts had stopped bleeding, so I applied some Neosporin to those cuts as well. The First aid kit was kind of curious to me. Why would there even be one in this house. Nothing made sense to me - the ransom, the video none of it. I grew up poor, my family had no money and I didn't know anyone who did. My great grandfathers were all long dead. Maybe it was Pam's family that they were extorting? But when I thought that through, it didn't make sense either. If they wanted to extort money from Pam's family, they wouldn't go about doing that by hurting me. In fact, Pam's family would probably be glad to see me injured because I let her get taken.
I was missing some vital piece of information, but for the life of me I couldn't think of what that might be. Pam was whispering about what kind of outfit I would wear and which crown she would give me. I tried to stay engaged, but I was falling fast. I began to hum the same Elvis tune that I sang to her before. I think it was last night?
My body had given way hours ago and now my mind was right in line with my body. I held Pam in the crook of my weak and numbing.
I came to the final conclusion that if we didn't escape, our two captors were going to go too far. I could feel it in them when they were hurting me, they wanted to do more- craved it even, but something was stopping them.
"If it's the last thing I do, I'll get you out of here." I whispered into the air and kissed Pam's temple. I would live on in that little girl and I would be at peace about it.
A/N: I just wanted to answer some questions about the story so far. A few of you commented on how easily Bill spilled his guts. I laughed at those comments because it's true. Bill is a small time criminal and his motive was to appease the higher ups and maybe make some money off the insurance. He doesn't have a backbone and he's very self serving. SO yes, all it took was a few punches to the gut and he sung like a canary.
An Amber alert was issued. That is standard in any child abduction case, though it wasn't mentioned in the story. Rasul did tell Bill to gtfo of town, but believe me he didn't just let him go. If they need to find Bill again, all it takes is a phone call.
If you have any questions about the story, please feel free to leave a comment of PM me. The plan is to update on Saturdays, so until next week...