Chapter 3

After that night, I woke up screaming and crying.

It took me hours long to calm myself down. The stinging pain was still there.

I could not stop shaking.

It wasn't a nightmare. I was certain that blood was all over my face.

My fingers, too, were covered with dried blood as I gazed at them.

It wasn't even the thirtieth day of harvesting gems, and he was getting worse and more tenacious... All because of the stunt I pulled, and it made him desperate, which caused more pain to my cellmates too.

I whimpered lowly.

Flashes of his greedy eyes were unnerving.

Every afternoon, he injects harmful substances into me. Every other night he cuts my palm to check my glittering blood, and once a week he squeezes gems out of my eyes.

Hell was never leaving.

.

.

"No! No! Please, Popa, no!" I tried to get away from the swinging metal.

WHAM!

Hard metal hit my head, and I crashed on the ground with a thud. Blood tickled down my chin. I failed to see what was coming next because my blood had already covered my eyes.

I winced when my fingers touched the affected part.

I could have evaded the hit if only my vision had been clearer; I could have dodged further, but the refusal of my body to move made it difficult to even maneuver from his next attack.

"Try harder! You are wasting my time here!" He kicked my stomach and face so hard that I flew back onto the wall.

Gasping from his torture was all I could do to tolerate the pain.

Not long after, I whimpered and tried to breathe. The ache was fiercely pulsating within me.

I'm confused with his words. What was he expecting from me?

The only clear thing in mind, was that he is torturing me to death this time.

"Break it free, Jewel! It has been years, and you are not progressing!"

I was in pain and confused as he resumed to shout angrily.

On impulse, I protected my head with my arms and curled my body into a fetal position.

"Break!"

WHAM!

"IT!"

WHAM!

"FREE!"

WHAM!

With each word, he beats me with a metal bat.

I did not dare move a muscle after. I let my consciousness go as he continuously beat me. The only way to escape the pain was to fall into darkness.

.

.

In the following days, undoubtedly, the ligaments of my arms and legs were torn apart, and moving around became difficult for me. Yet again, he branded my body with wounds, bruises, and broken bones.

I am surprised that I was still alive.

Sadly for me, I was slowly healing than normal.

His affliction of torture was inevitable, getting more unpredictable as it permanently stained and added traumas in me.

Several weeks progressed with disappointments. I glanced at my trembling palms; they were swollen and infected. He didn't even consider sparing my fingers, either.

When he later saw that there was no space for my hands, he started to cut his way up around my arms and legs.

It was pure torture and inhumane.

This time, I am certain, I'm going to die since I have been out cold for days.

"Sshhh... stay still, this is for the infection... I wouldn't want you to surrender on me, my Jewel."

I could care less.

"There, all done. Here, let me wipe you. You're sweating like heavy rain."

I want this to end... so bad.

.

.

Popa's painful procedures became clear to me, and... they followed for a decade.

"You're turning 18 tomorrow; I have a very special gift for you, my little jewel."

He said this after cutting my skin from the base of my foot.

And there he goes again with his make-up events...

I lay on my bed, motionless and unbothered.

He made me that way after realizing I would put up a fight and that I had started to grow closer to his height.

He was a bit tall, probably 5'7 ft, and I knew my height was 5'5, according to my calculations.

The anesthesia he injected will soon wear off in an hour.

I did not care about this birthday; anything special he would give was the opposite, as he said.

Because of him, I hated my existence. It was never lucky to be captured by him to begin with.

And because of him, I started to regret being born every single day.

My heartbeat quickened when I got a glimpse of his hand squeezing my leg and soothing his way up.

He was acting weirder than usual, but it was not surprising.

I wanted to say something—shout even! Scratch his face till it's unrecognizable, squish his balls, then feed him with them, and cut off his filthy hands!

Oh... I can't wait!

After having his time running his callused hand on my leg, what caught me off guard was when he took another syringe from his white gown and injected it into my neck.

Tears glided down from the sides of my eyes.

"That's it, cry."

Colored gems fell from my eyes, and he was thrilled while collecting them.

He stood up and loomed over me.

"You will love my gift this time, Jewel. You will become my greatest creation! And nothing can stop us when we will be taking over this world soon enough."

His laughter boomed.

He was a maniac! an ugly, perverted psycho!

It's irritating; could he just shut up?

"You are trying so hard, it is hilarious!" He continued his guffaw. "Relax your eyes; I think it is going to spurt out soon."

His mockery fueled my desire to kill him that has been piling up for years.

New's flash! It's yours who's going to pop!

"Sleep tight! Tomorrow is a big day." His footsteps echoed far from my cell.

My mind have been creative. Different ways of killing him progressed in my head. But as soon as I heard him lock my cell door, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier by the minute.

I caved in to darkness later on.