PUTTING ME IN MY PLACE

CHAPTER 1: PUTTING ME IN MY PLACE

VENUS:

“Venus! Venus! Where’s that little piece of trash?”

I heard Cynthia yelling my name upstairs and my heart skipped multiple beats. Whenever she calls me in that manner, there's trouble for me.

“I'm here,” I answered weakly, scrubbing harder on the marble floor.

My knees hurt from kneeling all day and my stomach wouldn't stop growling.

This has been my life since I was ten years old.

Cynthia matched furiously down the stairs with a couple of her friends. I tightened my grip on the brush, knowing what they're capable of.

“Why haven't you cleaned my room yet?” She glared at me furiously and I kept my gaze down. I didn't want to offend her in any way because doing that would earn me several strokes of cane from my uncle.

"You lazy rat, how long does it take to mop the floors of this mansion? You're worthless and I'm tired of seeing your ugly face,"

Cynthia was my uncle's daughter and she liked to call herself the princess of the family who would one day marry a noble Prince.

I didn't utter a word but kept scrubbing.

She grabbed my hand and twisted it so hard I almost screamed. “I'm talking to you, little rat. How dare you ignore me?”

“I. I've cleaned your room already, Cynthia.”

“Liar!” she screamed. “Go upstairs now and have my room properly cleaned.”

I bit on my lower lip and headed to Cynthia’s room with my cleaning tools.

This was the third time today.

As I walked past her, she dragged my hair so hard I lost balance and spilled some water on the floor.

“Pathetic!” she hissed and they all laughed at me.

I cleaned up the water and continued moving.

She always made me clean her room several times a day so that my uncle could whip me severely for not finishing my work on time.

I started scrubbing the floors of her room again and just when I was almost done, she barged in with her friends.

I kept my head down and continued scrubbing. Maybe if I ignored them, they would leave me alone.

No such luck.

One of her friends dipped her polished shoe directly into the soapy water and smeared dirt over my work.

My heart sank.

"Oh dear," Cynthia sighed dramatically, nudging my bucket with the tip of her shoe until the water sloshed onto my lap. "You missed a spot."

Her friends laughed.

I clenched my jaw and willed myself to stay silent. But after years of this torment, something inside me snapped. "You did that on purpose."

They all stopped laughing.

Cynthia’s eyes darkened as she crouched beside me. "What did you just say?"

I swallowed hard. "I said…"

She slapped me hard on my cheeks before I could finish my sentence. My head flew to the wall nearby and I felt a sharp pain spread across my skull.

But I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Cynthia gasped loudly and staggered back, clutching her cheek as if she were the one who had been hit. "How dare you!" she wailed. "You hit me!"

"What?" I was rendered speechless. "I didn’t even.."

I could hear heavy footsteps down the hall. My stomach dropped. Uncle Raymond was ruthless when it came to whipping me and he believes whatever Cynthia tells him.

"Venus!"

I turned just in time to see my uncle storming toward me, his face twisted in rage. His wife, Margaret was right beside him.

Cynthia sniffled, and tears gathered in her blue eyes as she played the victim flawlessly.

"She slapped me, Dad," Cynthia whimpered, hiding her smirk behind her trembling hands.

"No, I didn't!" I cried, as I moved backward, bracing myself for what would come next. "She.."

I felt another pain across my face as Aunt Margaret’s palm struck me. I staggered back, my vision blurring from the force of it.

"How dare you raise your filthy hand against my daughter!" she seethed, her grip tightening on my arm until It felt as if my bone was about to crush.

.

"I swear, I didn’t touch her!" My voice cracked as I looked at her for mercy but my nightmare was just about to begin. "She’s lying!"

“Step aside, Margaret, let me handle this.”

When I heard my uncle's voice, my knees buckled.

"Did you just say my daughter lied?” His voice was full of venom.

I shook my head as I moved backward.

“Cynthia would never lie.” Margaret maintained. “You, on the other hand, are nothing but a burden!"

Cynthia and her friends snickered behind her.

My uncle always had a whip ready.

When he raised his hand and the whip connected with my skin, I gasped and trembled in pain.

The whip kept coming and I scurried to one corner of the room, whimpering and trembling. This has gone on for years but the pains never felt any better.

Uncle Raymond continued to lash at me until my entire body was covered in fresh wounds.

Blood sipped through my fragile skin and I could do nothing but sob.

"Since you have the strength to fight, you must not be working hard enough," uncle Raymond continued coldly. "No dinner for you tonight. And if I hear one more complaint, I’ll make sure you regret it."

My heart was grieved. I haven't eaten in three days. "Please," I whispered, hating how weak my voice sounded. "I haven't eaten—"

"Then maybe you'll learn to be grateful for what little you get," he snapped. "Finish your work. Now."

With that, my uncle and aunt turned on their heels and strode away. Cynthia and her friends followed with a victorious smirk.

I remained frozen, my cheek throbbing, my body aching and my stomach twisting painfully.

I cleaned my tears quickly because I had learned long ago that tears only made things worse.

As I picked up the brush, knelt back down, and started to scrub, I felt a violent twist in my stomach and before I could make sense of what was happening, the floor before me was filled with a substance that looked like acid.