Chapter 3
786words
"This is the old house… if someone dies here, won't the boss…"
A slap sent him stumbling.
"I'm about to be Mrs. Portsmouth's top dog, you think I'm scared of that?"
"Besides, Chloe will love my gift!"
"I heard she loves dolls the most!"
Finished, she stared at me with a dark expression, suddenly swinging the scissors to slash my chin.
"I'll make sure you know who you messed with!"
Bloody tears streaked down. Amber scoffed, her expression manic and twisted.
"Oh yeah, a doll shouldn't have ugly eyes like yours."
Squelch.
Scissors plunged into an eye, then dug.
The world turned red.
The next second, a rough, diamond-studded dog-walking ball was shoved hard into my empty eye socket.
The diamonds scraped against my orbital bone, a sound that set my teeth on edge.
I don't know how it feels to have your skin peeled off, but I know the sound of flesh separating from it.
It was a pain that almost shattered my soul.
The phone was still ringing frantically!
Enraged, she used the scissors to slit my abdomen, then shoved the shattered phone inside.
"Get the glue and plaster. Stitch her up with the needle. Now!"
My broken bones couldn't support me, my skin was shredded, my mouth ruined.
For better shaping, steel rods were driven into me—through my limbs, my torso.
A staple gun stitched my torn flesh back together, along with scraps of the doll.
Then glue. Then paint.
I must look brand new now.
Probably.
I don't know. I was sealed inside a pretty gift box, like a Barbie doll.
The Black Black Sky tune still played intermittently from my belly.
After an unknowable time, I seemed to arrive somewhere lively.
Pushed on a cart, I was brought before my father.
He put his phone down, frowning. "I don't know why Chloe isn't here yet!"
Then, puzzled, he looked up.
"What's this?"
My stepmother had regained her beautiful, gentle appearance.
I wanted to cry, to weep, to hear him recognize me, call me 'baby.'
But I was right in front of him, and he had no idea.
"Darling, this is my gift for you and Chloe!"
Only then did he really look at me, frowning.
"Chloe wouldn't like something like this! She likes soft, cuddly dolls!"
"Did something happen to Chloe? Go look for her again!"
My heart gave a lurch.
"Oh, honey, it's because this slut was impersonating Chloe that I had her… dealt with… like this!"
"I'm sorry I took matters into my own hands, I was just so angry!"
Dad's fists clenched instantly.
A cruel look fixed on me.
How gentle could a bipolar man be, one who clawed his way to the top of Portsmouth in five years?
I wanted to scream 'Daddy,' but I could barely breathe.
"You said she was impersonating Chloe?"
The woman and her cronies instantly perked up.
"Yes! And she was faking being mute, too!"
"She cursed your daughter, said the cripple should just die…"
I could feel Dad's breathing grow ragged. A sign of an episode.
No, Daddy! My heart screamed.
He kicked my plaster-coated body with brutal force.
My tears were sealed in by the glue and plaster, unable to fall.
I heard the sound of my leg shattering again. The supporting rods were useless now.
"She could talk and walk! We can testify!"
"Disgusting, calling someone 'Daddy' and playing the victim!"
"So I lost my temper! I just wanted to get justice for Chloe!"
"Do you think Chloe won't like this gift?"
I Dad heard the name 'Chloe,' and his violent fury could no longer be contained.
He kicked my head.
Crack.I could no longer turn it.
The stepmother said, "Chloe being out of touch… could it be this bitch's doing?"
That made Dad even angrier.
"Bury it! Don't let it dirty Chloe's sight!"
"Now!"
Dirt gradually buried me, a heavy weight pressing down.
I felt something pierce through my head and heart. A moment of weightlessness.
I seemed to slowly float up, hovering in the air.
I watched Dad walk away, angrily berating his men as useless for not finding me yet.
He unlocked his phone again, calling my number.
"Pick up, baby," he muttered, pacing anxiously.
Then, he faintly heard a familiar ringtone.
Black black sky, hanging low…
Dad whipped around, looking toward where I was buried.
Muffled, the sound came from underground over there, faintly playing.
His hand tightened instantly, gripping the phone hard.
He hung up, called again.
Step by step, he approached once more.
Black black sky, hanging low…
The world fell dead silent. My father's footsteps halted abruptly, right above the earth that held me..
