Alessia 4

Chapter 4

Alessia's POV

I wake up realizing it was almost night, standing up went to the kitchen and made me a sandwich and some coffee. I can't believe I have slept the whole day. Deciding what to do to keep myself busy I went back to my room. Only one thing comes to mind.

I sit in front of my clean canvas, taking the palette in to my hands as my fingers start to move swiftly across the canvas. Painting was always a way to keep me calm, to paint or draw my feelings instead of speaking them and being judged for them.

Since the day I was born I had no one, I never went to school, my mother told our maid to tutor me at home. She always told me she won't spend a cent of her money on a useless nobody. Our maid became more like a mother to me. Rosetta was diagnosed with stage IV inflammatory breast cancer when I was fourteen years old, so she stayed in bed most of the time. But somehow managed to tutor me.

My parents never loved me, they made that clear right from the start. Rosetta could never explain why they hated me. It was something I had to live with. They loved my sister though, she's younger than me, my half sister. But all of this didn't matter because I found someone who loved me for who I am, someone that treated me like her own daughter.

When I was sixteen Rosetta died, leaving me alone with nobody to love me. I became depressed, talking to her photo, we took when we went down to the river. When my mother thought I was going insane, she threw me in the basement. There was no bed, no blanket, nothing. She locked the door and left me there. There were a few boxes in the corner that were marked with Rosetta's name on them. I went over and opened the few boxes one by one, until I came across an envelope with my name on it. I opened it and began to read.

In the letter Rosetta told me to always do my best, no matter what anyone tells me. She told me to believe in myself just like she had done all these years. That she loved me as if I was her own daughter. I started crying after I finished reading her letter. Then I closed the boxes carefully and hid the letter in my pocket. I stayed in the basement for three days with no food, no water, only reading Rosetta's letter over and over again. On the third day, my sister found me passed out. She threw cold water in my face, telling me to go back to my room. I only got a glass of water to drink and yelling from my mother and stepfather telling me to get over Rosetta's death.

After four years of torture in that place, my mother came to me one night, telling me that they sold me to the Mikhas and that I should start packing. My sister smiled at me as if she knew something. That night, I met Sergei Mikhas. One look at him made my skin crawl. I served them the whole night like I was their personal maid. On my way up to my room, I heard my parents and Sergei talk, "Don’t worry about her; after everything you told me, it will be my pleasure to take her. Make sure she's ready at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning." I heard Sergei say this to my parents. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could.

Closing the door behind me, I fell onto my bed, thinking how my life would change tomorrow. Suddenly the door opened, and when I looked up, I saw Sergei standing there. Closing the door behind him, he walked up to me, stalking me like prey. He took my face in his hands and whispered in my ears, "From tomorrow on, your sweet little ass is mine; I will let you feel what hell is like. Don’t try anything stupid; I know you heard our conversation." He pressed my chin so hard that it felt like he was going to rip it off. He smirked at me darkly, then left as quickly as he entered. That night, I knew I had to get away if I ever wanted a normal life without abuse.

When everyone was sleeping, I took only my clothes and ran all the way here to Rome. I was lucky enough to get a job right away, and although it didn’t pay much, it was enough for food and a roof over my head. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a noise in my kitchen, making my whole body tense. I quickly stood up and grabbed my bedside lamp. I walked slowly, knowing they had found me.

I walked quietly on the tip of my toes to the wall beside the door and prepared myself to hit the person behind the door. The door opened slowly, and the man stepped into my room only to get a lamp against his head. He hissed as he stepped back. I took this moment to step forward, ready to fight for my life, and I realized it was a strange man. "You're going to pay for that, Bitch!” He growled something in his language, rubbing his head. He suddenly stepped forward and kicked my legs from under me, making me fall to the ground. Before I could register what was happening, he started to kick me in the stomach as I gasped for air.

The guy stood above me, grinning, before he grabbed me by the hair and used it to pull me up. "You can be glad the boss wants you in one piece, bitch, otherwise you would be dead by now", he said before he continued. "But that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun before I take you back." The look in his eyes made me realize I wasn't going to like what he had in store for me. He threw me at the wall, hard. The last thing I saw was the man unbuckling his belt before I passed out.