PLAYERS

In a dimly lit room upstairs, a petite girl lay motionless on a large king sized bed. She had on her a white lose tattered dress that barely covered her body. She lay on the bed, face down and once close, one could hear faint sobs. She had lay in this position for close to four hours, her once smooth and delicate skin now covered in scars both new and old ones. From the morning's beating, she had not even bothered to clean herself up nor had she bothered to clear the bedroom. The curtains at the window remained shut and the bed remained unmade.

Cynthia sat up in pain, she opened her eyes and scanned the room. It was once a haven of love. She once pranced about wherever, in school, on the streets but only with a longing for this room. It's because late in the night when her love came back, he would embrace her here, he would kiss her like she was all that mattered. Then he would hold her through the night promising to never let go. But what was it now, it was her torture house, an abattoir she dreaded but was bound to reside in as long as he wanted, he beat her, raped her and tied her up in whatever bundle style he desired.

"How did it come to this" she asked herself for the hundredth time before the day's end.

Cynthia smiled, a self deprecating smile that remained plastered on her lips as she moved off the bed using a lot of effort  but the moment her legs touched the floor, they gave way and she trampled down. With a hiss, she managed to crawl weakly to the birth room door and got in.

Cynthia stood before the mirror at the sink and looked straight in her own eyes, the once bright blue eyes were now dull and lifeless, she flashed back to when she was a young child, her mother was a beautiful and graceful woman, a once popular dancer whose influence was well known all round Tampa and beyond. She always trained Cynthia with some dance moves in her free moments, her mother's love was one thing Cynthia would cry for in the depths of the night when all was silent. If it hadn't been for that accident, she would be a happy young lady with a complete family. After the accident, Cynthia remained traumatized for nearly six months.

Life was no longer as colorful as it had began. Nothing mattered. Nothing made sense, and nothing deserved her passion. Those were the thoughts she had until she met Justin Adams. Oh Justin Adams, the man who brought light in her youth but also shoved her into the womb of despair.

It was one lonely rainy night when Cynthia met him. She had run away from the orphanage because she had always been bullied. That night when Cynthia had turned sixteen, she was made to eat sand for her birthday, well, a little price she paid for being such a sweetheart and a beautiful one at that. Out of sorrow and heartache, she wrote a letter to the mistress of the orphanage and escaped.

The escape journey was all flawless until she encountered a gang beating up a man, Cynthia was startled, she froze at the sight of blood and guns but could not muster the strength to run off worse off scream. When she was spotted, she became the prey but fortunately at that moment, a car sped by giving her chance to durk beneath a collapsed piece of concrete by the road. The gang members searched for her to no avail but the cold beneath the concrete couldn't be taken for granted. Cynthia however, thought of staying there till morning, the thought of going back to the orphanage not crossing her mind.

As the night stilled on, despite the discomfort she felt, she still managed to feel drowsy. However, the awaited sleep did not come because suddenly, she felt something slippery moving just round her waist. Alarmed, Cynthia tried to reach for it but was shocked to find out that it felt like a snake's scaly skin. Fear set in, in panick and uncertainty, Cynthia let out a shrill scream and fumbled to rush out of the small hole. The snake, seemed startled too on encountering a new occupant at it's residence and crawled off frantically. However, Cynthia in fear had no time to think of it and staggered out of the hole, she got on her feet and sped off daring not to look behind her.

The fear was real, compared to what she felt on seeing the bloodied man earlier on. As she ran, a couple of sturdy men appeared behind her and began running after her. Cynthia knew she couldn't let them catch her, as she continued running, a car appeared before her driving at at a slow speed. Without thinking twice, she jumped in front of it and begged the driver to take her in.

Justin, looking at the scared girl standing in front of his car, frowned. He wondered why she appeared at such a place in the night but still let her in. And that's how Cynthia Frost fell in the hands of the most handsome man she had ever seen.

Two years later, Cynthia, a highschool senior, had mostly forgotten about her previous predicaments. Justin had taken her in and treated her like a princess. He gave her everything she needed including a sense of family, momentarily making her forget her gone parents, but just like her parents left her, Justin did the same, but it hurt deeper.