Sweet sixteenth... Right?

Saras pov

I can feel them watching me again. This is one day they aren’t going to ruin. It was decided that today was going to be a good day. My birthday. Not just another birthday, my 19th, I will finally be free- or at least I could be had I anywhere to go. No doubt my ‘loving family’ will sell me off for a loaf of bread and a goat. Hey, maybe I will get lucky and whoever they sell me to will treat me half as badly as they do.  Wishful thinking...

Uncomfortable in my seat, I shuffle trying to find a tolerable position. It’s one of those sofas that, no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get comfy. It’s covered in an old velvet-red striped material which is coming away in several different places. My finger scratches against a hole it has discovered, where the burnt yellow foam peeps through, as my nerves get the better of me.

 Oh no, what does she want? Lyla is gliding toward me like a swan, she is so powerful in the way she walks, demanding the attention of the room. Lyla is my oldest sibling and she makes sure we know it on a regular basis. I sense that same usual sickness spiralling inside my gut threatening to exit my body without warning. Wait. She’s smiling. Is she smiling at me? I feel a pang of fear, the type that lets you know there’s danger. Don’t let her see the effect she has on you, I remind myself, forcing myself to sit up straight.

  Lyla’s curls fell into a perfect little bob right down to her chin. Usually, it makes me notice her blood-red lips, with her wicked little smirk, but today her smile is different - friendly even. “Happy birthday my dearest little sister!” 

Wow, she remembered! I suddenly notice they are all smiling at me. Mum, Dad and even the twins, Bruce and Brett, are smiling too. Perhaps they are finally happy they can be rid of me? As if I could be that lucky!

Lyla pushes her hair back with one hand while grabbing me firmly with her free hand “We have all decided to throw you a sweet sixteenth party! Isn’t that exciting?” She all but squeals out in excitement. I can see they are all waiting on the edge of their seats for my reply, but my mouth can not seem to find any words. I mean it’s my nineteenth for one, but hey I can’t ask them to remember that, remembering it was my birthday alone is more than I ever dreamed! I try to speak but my mouth is completely dry as if her presence pulled the water straight from my throat.

“I am going to spend the day fixing you up for the party we have planned. You are going to look ah-maze-zing!” I couldn’t help but notice the twins choking back a laugh. I am in a state of utter confusion right now. I don’t want to risk upsetting them and losing this. Maybe things are finally changing around here. 

———————

“Your hair really is the most adorable shade of red, like a rusty old gate! Ha! Blonde is what you can hope to achieve one day, but we can’t all be as blessed.” Layla states all the while forcefully digging a hairpin into my scalp to secure her creation. I rubbed my scalp - I was sure she took the skin with that last hairpin. Slap! “Ouch, why did you do that?” The words leave my mouth without thought and I instantly regret it, my whole body tensed up anticipating her reaction, but to my surprise, she just laughs “We don’t want you to mess it up for your big night so we?” A sigh of relief escapes my lips. Am I in a parallel universe? What is going on today? 

Lyla shouted, clapping her hands in my direction with authority “Time to put on your dress” as she handed me a full-length emerald green gown with a plunging neckline and a slit showing off the full length of my legs. It truly is a stunning dress, but I could never wear that, I would feel naked with so much skin on show. It’s as if Lyla was reading my mind “No you will wear that dress, it’s not optional.” She snaps like a small yappy dog, almost losing her cool. 

I felt my stomach sink, but I knew better than to oppose. I slid into the dress and stared at myself in the full-length mirror. I could feel my blood rising to my cheeks. Well, this is as good as it’s going to get, it’s time to face the crowd. 

As I made my way down the cold stone staircase I felt like a deer in the headlights, shocked and frozen in place by the scene I saw in front of me. There must be over 300 people here for my birthday. The thought makes me woozy.

I soon see my father's disapproving stare at my loitering as he makes his way through the mass of people, arriving at my side. He gripped his bear-sized, rough hands around the top of my arm. Digging his fingertips into me so hard that a small pained gasp escaped my trembling lips, holding back any show of sadness for concern of embarrassing my family around guests, left for nothing but misery. Through his gritted, tobacco-stained teeth he let out a low snarl “You will be someone else’s problem by the night's end, girl. Smile and look pretty or so help me God you will feel my wrath.” His cold, dead eyes stared into my soul, sucking out all the warmth from my body. And there it was. The true intent of this night. What should be the best night of my life so far, all a ruse to finally be free of me. I knew- of course, this is what it was. Ha! You fool for allowing yourself to believe for a second it was anything more. I nodded very delicately to show him I understood without arousing the suspicion of our guests. I paint a smile on my face, it is like muscle memory now. Show time… 

For hours I circled the room being passed from person to person, all gawking intrusively at me, oh the humiliation. I cannot take any more. I look over to the small wooden door, used by the servants to come in and out filling the refreshments for the hoards of men my father has invited to paw over me. It had been left ajar. Watching the door, I casually made my way over, waiting for quite some time for the perfect opportunity to slip away. Crash! One of the young servant boys, no older than 12, had tripped sending cutlery all over the floor. How I wish I could rescue him from what he was about to face, but now I know that is not an option. So I take my chance during all the commotion to quietly slip out.

The frosty night air freezes my throat. I take the deepest breath I can, let it fill my lungs with an aching coolness and watch as it escapes like a little white fog. I watched the fog I just exhaled escape into the night sky from the prison it was held in just moments ago, wishing and wondering how it would feel to be that white cloud.

Suddenly and forcefully, my hands were flung into the slippery, wet dirt. A force pulled back my head with such aggression. I cannot focus on what is happening until I hear the cackling laughter of Bruce and Brett with their witless companions. The hand pulling my hair releases its grip. I looked down at my dress covered in wet soil. “Yeah great joke, father will be livid!”I complained to the twins. They all just stared at me, whispering amongst themselves before falling silent. The way they were staring at me forced every hair on my body to stand on end. One of the twins stalks toward me, never taking his eyes from mine. His hand stroking up the length of my face and over the top of my head, Brett brings his forehead to rest against mine, his hand still behind my head. the smell of alcohol reeks on his breath making me hold my breath to avoid the smell. He closes his eyes as he whispers mercilessly to me “Dear Sara, I have wanted to take you for so long now." Putting his finger against my lip "Shush, don’t worry, nobody is going to take you from me once we’re through with you, you’ll be stuck here with me for all time.”

My eyes widen at his revelation, simultaneously his hand grips my hair hard, before he releases me once again back into the muck. No, he doesn’t mean - they can’t. Frantically, my eyes scan the outdoors, trying to find a way out of this nightmare. No! My heart cries as I notice they have closed the door- they planned this. The horror of what was about to unfold started setting in. One, two, three… six there were six full-grown men, laughing menacingly in my direction. My heartbeat is going faster and faster, racing with each second that passes.

Brett licks his lips. ”Hold her down!” He barked at Bruce, and another man I had never seen before. He seemed as tall as the house and built like one too. In any other scenario, he would be attractive, towering over 6 feet easily, his light brown hair combed back, but right now the sight of him sickened me to my core.

“NO!” I screamed, attempting to run, but within seconds they caught me, knocking me down. My head struck a small stone wall in the flower garden on the way down. Blood is dripping down past my eyes, obscuring my vision, the blood smells like salt and pennies. Salt and pennies. The smell has sent my senses into overdrive. Everything is spinning, I hear a zip unfasten. I looked to see Brett pulling his p***s out from his tuxedo trousers. My body naturally recoils as I feel the heat of his body coming near me all the while stroking his mediocre length. Bruce and the other beast hold me down with a knee on my shoulders, their eyes cannot hide who they are inside. Evil. They’re so close I can smell the stench of their body odour. They decide to both grab a leg, their fingers digging into my flesh, leaving my old, white cotton underwear exposed. Fear is building in me like never before, my heart is racing, moving its way up my body trying to escape through my throat. It burns in me, this feeling I have never known, no, not just fear, this is something different. Anger, a pure rage like I have never known. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” A scream and my tears escape me. At that moment, a gust of wind ploughs into us, sending the guys back 3 feet and knocking Brett, whose trousers were round his knees, onto his back. I had never been more thankful to mother nature than at that moment.

Time seemed to have stopped as I tried to take in what just happened. I have only a moment to leave and only one way to run. I made no delay in getting to my feet, abandoning my shoes. With each stride my feet sink into the soft wet earth, completely plastering me in mud, but I know I cannot stop. They are only seconds behind me; I can feel them, and any hesitation they will surely have me. I have no idea of my destination, all I know is I cannot stop moving.

Scared or stupid? Am I scared or am I stupid? I realise it doesn’t really matter. Before me, there is nothing but the forest and I have to make my choice. Do I run ahead into what is surely death or stop and face my fate? “RUN!” A voice I have never heard commands me, I obey not having time to work out its origins. I pick up my pace only for my foot to catch a stray tree root just breaking through the ground, seconds from the forest line, falling to my knees. Battered, bruised and blanketed in mud, a tear falls from my eye while I accept what is to come. I close my eyes to pray.

“What is that!?” I heard the terrified scream from the giant brute that had pinned me just minutes before. My eyes flung open to see what on earth could have caused fear in such a man. To my surprise, I saw the most magnificent creature, pitch black fur, blocking me from the gaze of the monsters. It turned to look at me, with deep blue eyes as though the oceans themselves resided within them. I had never seen a wolf before, yet it seemed bigger than any wolf I could have ever imagined. The ink-black beast turned defiantly in front of me, blocking any chance of the evil parasites from feasting on me. “Run!” I heard the voice again. Yet my body was frozen in place. Unable to clearly see the scene unfolding, I jumped when suddenly I was sprayed with a warm, red sticky liquid all while a strange gurgling sound played on the wind. As if snapping me to my senses, I dragged my sore, beaten body from the ground using the last of my energies to enter the forest. I am unable to focus, hitting from tree to tree, my body is crying out with each step I take. Unable to go on, I collapsed, giving way to the dark of the night.