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It was yet another regular day and Ruth Pierce could only await the return of her father. She said silent prayers, hoping that when he returned home, he wouldn't be drunk. She knew that if he did come home drunk, it would be one of the bad days.

In his drunken state, he would always complain about everything anything. He would say the food was too salty, the water rather tasted too tasteless and that the air smelled like a cemetery. He would use his fingers to trace imaginary dust on the table and complain that the house was too dirty even though it was spotless.

Then, to punish her for being so much of a bad girl for one night, he'd take out his belt and whip her until his hands gave up on him. Feeling like whipping simply wasn't enough, he'd begin to throw punches, slaps and kicks at her not minding where they landed. He'd fling her across and around the room for his own pleasure.

Seeing her screaming in pain and her blood on the wall and floor would then get him so turned on, he'd fulfill his sexual desires with her until she'd pass out in agony.

If she were lucky, she'd end up with some large bruises, however if luck wasn't on her side, she'd have some broken bones and be at the brink of death.

Dare she request to visit the hospital, she got double of what was offered initially. As a matter of fact, since her mum died when she was 10, she's never left the house. She wasn't even allowed the benefit of seeing her mum being reduced into the ground.

Sometimes, if her father realized some debts while gambling, she became the price for all of his debtors. She was basically just alive, not living, not doing anything but just breathing. Most times, it became so hard, she just wanted to take her own life but like the coward she was, she just couldn't ever find the courage to do so.

Later that night, much to her dismay, her father did come back home drunk. This time like many other times, he had four of his friends with him and she knew what was going to happen to her once she saw her father point in her direction. She was still very sore from all the beatings she received yesterday for not making him a proper meal despite there being nothing at home and so she barely had any strength to fight them off.

All she could do was let her tears flow as each one of them took their satisfaction from her body not caring about the fact that she was dry as the Sahara. They held her already sore neck and plunged deep into her mercilessly. Sometimes they decided to collaborate in their thrusts and other times they went in singles. She saw her father take a sit to watch them destroy her while downing a bottle of alcohol beside him, his left palm stroking his pants clad cøck . Sometimes she wondered how she still had so much tears when all she ever did was cry.

She prayed over and over again for it to stop, wishing to become numb to the pain it brought her but, it seemed as though the more she prayed, the more strength they received. After countless hours of pain, she heard the door close as all the four men left the room. Her father walked up to her, his movements staggering and he quickly loosened his belt ready to have what he owned.

She begged and tossed refusing him to defile her body anymore but he wouldn't have any of it. He asked her to remain silent but seeing that she wouldn't listen, he picked his belt from the floor and hit her over and over again into submission. He was pissed that she deprived him his right to her body and he needed the young female to know who was boss and who made demands.

Once again he won over her. He had subdued her, taken what he wanted and she could do nothing about it. Leaving her passed out on the floor in the sitting room, he kicked her out of his way and went to the dining table to have a little of his now cold dinner before going to his room to sleep. The exercise seemed to have sobered him up a bit.

When she slipped into consciousness, she cried silent tears for fear of waking him up.

She looked up at the door like she did every day hoping that one day he'd forget to lock the door and she'd find her escape but once again the door was locked. She managed to get up despite the throbbing ache all around her body.

She knew she deserved better, but 'better' seemed so far away. She hadn't eaten for weeks now seeing she hadn't had the permission to and so, taking little strides towards the dining, she saw the half eaten meal. Even though it looked disgusting due to the way he ate, she felt her mouth watering involuntarily however, what she saw beside it gave her something she realized she had lost for a long long time.

Hope.

Her father had forgotten to take the keys upstairs with him and they lay right in front of her. She wanted to grab it but she had no courage to do so.

She wondered what her fate would be if she escaped anyways for she had no idea what he'd become of the world. She had no idea if cars still rode on roads or if they now flew, if people still went to schools, if people still had to work hard to earn money. She wondered if she have anything to eat once she left the house, how old she was, how long had passed since she had been locked up. She wondered if the police still existed  and if they hadn't come to save her ——she wondered a lot of things.

She felt stupid and weak at that moment, she had dreamed of her release all her life and now that she had it right before her, she was too scared to grab it. She finally decided that she'd eat her last meal before going. She was too tired to get any where anyways and so, she decided to fortify herself first.

She could only take a few spoons of the meal before she heard her father come down the stairs. She didn't know what time it was but she felt as though it was too early for him to be awake. She quickly grabbed the key and tried to struggle her way to the door but due to her weakly state, she felt him yank at her hair pulling her to the floor before she could reach the door, much less open it. She let out a loud scream at the impact of the floor against her bruised bleeding skin.

He resumed his kicking sessions as punishment for her trying to escape. He called her all sort of foul and obscene names as he hit her but what really fueled his anger was the sight of the unfinished meal. He knew she had eaten something and he was determined to make her lose it all.

To him, she wasn't worthy of a single penny worth of food. She deserved to starve and die without anyone to miss her.

He used his large foot and stepped continuously on her stomach with great force. He was so callous to her feelings, he took pleasure in seeing her upchuck the little food she had managed to eat. He didn't care that the meal she had thrown up was chazzerai, he took a hold of her neck and made her eat up her vomit, causing her to gag.

Her screams of pain, rather than make him feel pity for her, got him excited and he was ready to have her body again. Once she heard his button make a sound she turned around, stomach to the floor, and began crawling away, forgetting the pain. She didn't think she'd be able to survive it once more if he had his way with her. She had gotten to the dining table when the now naked man got a hold on her legs and pulled her backwards a bit, not minding the bruising pain it caused her.

She managed to grab the fork she used to eat the pasta which, had fallen during her first attempt to escape and without thinking she rose it up stabbed behind her, she couldn't care less what part of his body got hit but she knew that this was her last chance. The man fell on the floor screaming 'bloody bitch' and other profanities.

She gathered all the leftover strength she could and grabbing the key she made her way to the door once more. She applied much more force to her body than she knew could handle because she knew that if he recovered, then she was a goner and would probably die in here.

She heard his groans and growls asking her to return at once but unlocking the door, she bolted out of the house limping. She didn't care if she died outside. As long as people found out she existed and gave her a good burial, she didn't mind.

She ran through the dark wee hours of the morning to wherever it was her legs led her to. She ignored the pain bustling through her, her adrenaline bristling. She ran into the highway and only stopped when she saw the white headlights of a speeding car coming towards her.

"This is it." she thought as she closed her eyes and waited for the impact of the car hitting her and sending her to a place of no more worries.