Love Me Harder

"No, don't hurt me, please … "

Those words were came out from Virginia's lips as her trembling legs stepped backwards from a man that stood menacingly in front of her.

"You're one useless burden in the family, and this is what you deserve!" yelled Patrick as he clenched his fist.

He whacked his step-daughter's hand that tried to cover her face and grabbed her by the collar. Patrick clenched his fist firmly before punching Virginia's weak abdomen. Her cries echoed through the room, which only fueled Patrick's anger more.

"Quit whining!" hissed him as he pinned Virginia on the wall and slapped her with brute strength. The young woman felt a stinging pain on her left cheek and a drop of blood dripped from her mouth.

"Dad, please stop … " begged Virgina as her fragile fingers gripped her father's arm.

"You're a good for nothing, and I should've known that before," Patrick monologued to himself as his hand began to move around Virginia's neck, gripping it tightly until she suffocated. "Usually I can win easily at gambling, but thanks to your insolent behavior of rejecting my request, I lost all my money!"

Virgina gulped her saliva down, trying to remember what request did Patrick mean. Her pupils dilated upon knowing that it was a nasty demand from that middle-aged man to satisfy his manly need. Shortly after her father loosened the strangle, she coughed her lungs out and apologized, "I'm sorry Dad, but you can't keep doing that to me. I'm technically still your daughter."

"How dare you tell me what to do!" Patrick threatened Virginia and pulled her hair, glaring at her with a fiery look and said, "your disobedience leads me to my biggest downfall, Virgina! It's your fault!"

Patrick landed not just one, but two fists on Virginia's abdomen and ignored her begging. The woman cried for help but soon knew it was pointless. Lucky for her, the ringing sound from Patrick's phone made him stop the torture and picked the call.

"What do you want?" Patrick answered the call and ignored his daughter who was writhing in pain on the cold concrete floor of the basement.

"When are you going to pay the gambling debt, man?" another husky man's voice greeted the father's ear, "you owe us one million dollars since your loss."

Patrick's eyes widened and tried to comprehend what the caller just said. "What? You gotta be kidding me, I ain't owing you that much."

"Hah, of course you are!" jeered from the phone, "you've lost the gambling last time and had nothing else to bet, remember?"

Patrick opened his mouth but no voice came out of it. He had put all of his belongings to bet on the gambling, and now he was left with nothing but the family burden, none other than Virgina.

"By the way, I need the money right now," spoke the man nonchalantly, "each hour you're late on paying it, I'll double the interest."

"W-what? You're a sick bastard! I don't have that much money," insisted Patrick as his tone of voice rose.

"None of my business. Just do what I said or you'll be sorry," chuckled the man. "You only have less than an hour from now, Patrick."

Virginia's father inhaled the air deeply and sighed with a heavy heart. "Wait! Can I offer you something else?"

The man's voice sounded uninterested as he replied with another question, "Like what?"

Patrick gritted his teeth and glanced over Virgina for a few second. As he scratched his head the father said, "Use my daughter as you please and we're done with the debt. I don't have anything else to offer you."

The girl who heard her name mentioned shook her head weakly. The abuse she received since her mother passed away wasn't just limited to physical, but sexual as well. Virginia couldn't remember when was the first time Patrick offered her body to please his gambling friends' dirty desire, let alone how many of them had tainted her body and left nasty scars all over her skinny body.

The man mocked Patrick's offer and said in a condescending manner, "hah, you're kidding me, right? Money is what I need right now, not something that your filthy daughter's body offer!"

Patrick was about to hung up the call, but then he cussed, "son of a bitch! I told you I ain't got any money left!"

"And I've told you I don't care about it," his friend replied, "my thugs are on their way to your house. You better have that money or you'll meet your maker tonight."

The call ended as frustrated Patrick threw the phone on the floor, leaving it damaged and broken. Virginia startle as she saw what her father did. She began to sob which only fueled Patrick's rage.

"Shut up!" yelled him as his strong palm slapped Virginia's cheek. "Your cry didn't help at all."

Shortly after Patrick scolding his step-daughter, his ears caught the roar of a car engine came closer to his residence. The sound stopped, followed by the footsteps of some men and the loud knocking at the front door.

"Don't you hide, Patrick! We know you're here."

"Fuck, it's them," muttered the father as he sighed heavily. He then turned to Virgina and said coldly, "don't you dare to run away."

Patrick went to the first floor, leaving Virginia alone in the basement and locked the door behind. The first thing he received from the unwelcome guests was a punch that landed on his face. Patrick was shocked as he groaned in pain while those thugs stormed into his house.

"Where's the money, Patrick?" asked one of the thugs with a threatening voice. He is Mick, the thugs' leader.

"Ugh, I've told you I don't have that, Mick!" insisted Patrick, "I've told your boss to let you use my daughter as usual to pay the debt."

"That won't work, idiot!" replied another one as he flipped the wooden table upside down. "We need cash, and not that girl!"

"Give me the goddamn money!" the thug demanded.

"Are you deaf? I don't have any!" Patrick snapped and attacked the thug who asked him the question, but he was stopped by the remaining thugs who headlocked him.

Mick grinned at Patrick's defeat and ordered his fellow thugs, "loosen up those locks, boys. That's enough."

Mick who was also the thug leader came forward and looked at Patrick, pretending to have some mercy. "Well then, I believe you. I can tell from the lack of furniture in this house that you're out of money."

"Have you heard of black market that sells human organs, Patrick?" asked him as he lit the cigar he took from his pocket.

Patrick nodded but sensed something suspicious about Mick's words. He cautiously questioned, "are you persuading me to sell my organs and die?"

"You fool, they won't pay a high price for organs obtained from a drunkard like you," sneered Mick as he crouched and looked at Patrick in his eyes. "You told me you have a daughter, didn't you?"

Patrick began to pick the hint Mick gave to him. He then replied, "I lock her in the basement."

"I know this mafia named Gerald who needs a heart donor." Mick leaned forward and continued speaking, "he's one of the richest and influential person I know, and he won't hesitate to spend thousands of dollars to get the right heart donor."

A sly smile carved on Patrick's lips. He nodded as his thought schemed an idea of selling Virginia to that mafia. He chuckled lightly as he imagined how much money Gerald handed him in exchange for his worthless step-daughter.

***

Virgina sat alone in the dim-lighted basement by herself as she felt the ache inside her stomach. She dragged herself to lean on the damp brick wall and took a deep breath. As she reminisce what Patrick just did, Virgina overehearded the conversation her step-father made with Mick.

"Mafia? Heart donor?" the girl mumbled to herself as she sharpened her ears. Her eyes widened as her brain concluded something. Patrick planned to sell her to this unknown mafia as an organ donor.

Cold sweat drenched Virginia's forehead and neck as she imagined the horror she would face later. Operation room, blinding lights, chloroform's unpleasant smell, and scalpel that cut her body open. She shivered at the thought of those, she didn't want her tragic life to end at the operating table as her heart was taken out for a criminal.

Virginia tried to stand on her limp legs. She walked shakingly and held on to the wall, trying to reach the dusty window close by. She struggled to open it because Patrick barricaded the window with boxes since he kept the girl at the basement. With the remaining strength she had, Virginia cleared the boxes and pushed the window open. The chilling breeze of the wind caressed her beaten and teary face as the girl tiptoed to reach the window frame. As she struggled, the box Virgina used for step-up creaked and broke, making her weak body fell.

Thud!

The loud bang from the basement made Patrick alerted. He quickly stood up and stormed off to the room where his daughter was locked away. Mick and the other thugs who were suspicious with that sound followed him.

"Oh no!" Virgina exclaimed as she heard the footsteps followed by rustling keys at the basement door. Her heart raced as the door swung open, revealing Patrick and three unfamiliar faces that she assumed was his friends.

"Hey!" Patrick shouted as he quickly grabbed Virginia's cloth and dragged her away from the window.

"Let go of me!" Virgina wriggled and tried to hit Patrick. She managed to bite his hand and left the father screamed in pain. The girl rushed to the baseme door, but the way was blocked by three thugs.

"Gotcha!" Mick grabbed her hand and headlocked her with almost no struggle. The other thugs restrained the poor woman with anything they found. One thug tied her arms to the back while the other gagged her mouth with a cloth.

"Hmmmmh," Virgina shook her head in frustration, she tried to scream but her voice was muffled. No matter how hard she tried to break free, it was no avail. Her tears broke down her bruised cheeks, still trying to get louder and asked for anyone's help.

Patrick glared at the crying girl and intimidated her by saying,"come with me and do something useful for once!"

Under the thugs' guard, Virgina had no choice but to follow them and her father. She was seated at the back, sandwiched between the two thugs while Patrick sat at the front passenger seat. Mick drove the car to their destination, passing the dark and quiet woods.

Despite being gagged, Virginia's cry filled the car and made everyone annoyed. The one thug on her left elbowed her hard and complained, "hey, quiet down, will you?"

The other thug couldn't bear her weep anymore, so he covered her face with a sackcloth and tied her legs so Virgina stopped stomping and be quiet for a moment.

"Ah, silence is the best. Am I right?" Patrick leaned to the seat and enjoyed the long drive. Almost three hour passed, and their ride to the mafia headquarters was completed. Mick and Patrick headed to the gate first, while the two thugs restrained Virginia tightly so she couldn't escape.

"What brought you here this late?" a moustached guard at the headquarters' gate named Harold asked Mick and Patrick. He was suspicious of the thugs behind them who carried a woman in restraints.

"We need to meet your Boss right now," replied Patrick pompously as he kept his chin up. "I brought the organ donor that he needs now."

The man exchanged glances at the other guards, ordering them to check the unassuming guests. After ensuring that Patrick, Virginia, and the thugs had no intention of doing harm, Harold escorted them to the room where his boss was. The thugs and Patrick were stunned at the majestic interior of the mafia's headquarters.

Harold cleared his throat as they arrived at a room with a double door. He glanced at each of them before saying, "I hope you can maintain a well-mannered speech and attitude even though you're speaking with a mobster."

The mafia boss' guard then opened the door, revealing a grandiose room that was no less luxurious than the hallway they passed earlier. As Patrick led the group walk the carpeted area, he couldn't help admiring and being amazed at the room. Not long after that, Harold came back and helped a man in his late thirties who walked with the help of a cane. His slicked hair indicated that he came from a higher class, or at least someone with a big influence.

Out of nowhere, Mick stepped forward and greeted the mafia boss as if he had known him for some time, "Greetings, Sir Gerald. I'm Mick, and I will bring a heart donor for you."

"Sir Gerald, my name is Patrick and I'm willing to give my daughter's heart for you."

As soon as he was seated, Gerald let out a heavy sigh, a combination of his deteriorating heart and the way his guests acted. Not wanting to make his heart ache and kept the meeting short, Gerald spoke, "very well, show me the donor."

The thug pulled the sackcloth that covered Virginia's head, showing her beaten-up and swollen face from crying. Gerald squinted his eyes, then his pupils widened upon finding out something familiar on her face.

"Helena … " Gerald thought to himself.

The mafia boss saw Helena, his late wife's face on Virginia's, even with her puffy eyes and chapped lips. Both of them had dark and flowing hair, the only difference was Virginia's hair looked unkept and dirty. As their eyes accidentally met, Gerald realized the same pair of hazel eyes Helena had on this stranger. The eyes that made him fell in love years ago.

He thought for a moment before standing from his seat and saying, "I have decided to take this girl. Tell me how much money you need."

Patrick smiled widely from ear to ears. Shamelessly he shouted with huge enthusiasm, "two million dollars!"

Soon after Gerald handed Patrick the money, he left along with the thugs. Virginia was left in the room, only with complete strangers. She nervously lifted her face and heard the mafia boss said, "don't worry, young lady. I'm not going to take your heart to replace mine."

A relived sigh escaped from Virginia's lips as Gerald walked closer to her. He tilted his head slightly before saying, "instead, I'll take you as my wife."