TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE AND VIOLENCE ARE MENTIONED AHEAD (FROM THE 11TH PARAGRAPH - THE 26TH PARAGRAPH)

I heaved a breath at the serenity of the garden. I had come here because I knew it would be quiet and I expected comfort from the silence but instead of the comfort I expected, it made the heaviness in my chest more prominent and a little harder to bear. I pulled my legs closer to my chest and buried my face in my thighs as tears trickled down my face. I had thought going to Zadkiel would validate my pain, I had thought it would make me feel a little better, but all it has done was slap me hard in the face with the truth.

The truth that I wasn't ready to bare. It was easier to blame God than it was to blame them. It was easier to say God let it happen rather than saying they willingly hurt me. Blaming God was so much easier than facing the harsh truth and I wanted to play the blame game a little more. I wanted to heap it all on God. That way I could keep living like all that happened was okay, that it was all metaphysical.

"Humans have free will, so someone hurt you? Okay, blame them! Hold them responsible for their actions! They did it! They! not God!" Zadkiel's voice rang in my ears and it felt like my chest was pierced with a knife. The truth was too harsh. I wanted to keep blaming God, it kept me safe. It made everything easier. But I can't do that anymore, not after I've been slapped with the truth.

My body shook as I tried to hold in my sob, I don't want to cry for them anymore. My eyes burned and so did my throat as I tried to keep the tears in. I gripped my arms and swallowed thickly "1... 2... 3..." I began counting like I always did back in the dark room. It distracted me from everything going on around me.

"It's okay, little one" a familiar voice whispered as the wind brushed against my skin and I immediately snapped my head up. I searched around frantically for the person I know very well the voice belonged to but there was no one around. I quickly wiped away my tears to make sure I was seeing clearly and when I confirmed there was no one around, I immediately scrambled to my feet and tried to run out when I misstepped and twisted my ankle.

"Ahh!" I moaned as I fell on my butt, my hands immediately reached for my ankle and enclosed around it but the mere pressure of my hands on it seemed to worsen the pain.

Tears welled up in my eyes again and this time I didn't bother holding them in, I just let them trickle down my cheeks as I held my ankle. "Why must everything go wrong with my life!? Why? Can't I just get peace!? If I can't get peace, just kill me! Just kill me!" I yelled at the air as the tears trickled down my face. "Just please..." I hiccupped, "Please just kill me" I sobbed out and in a second a cool breeze engulfed me, almost like I was being hugged by someone and that made me cry even more.

"You should rest, little one" the same voice whispered again and this time I didn't bother looking for the owner, there was no need to. He wasn't here and I was too tired to search. "It's okay" I heard the voice again and I felt my energy slowly slip out of me without giving it a second thought, I laid down on the cold floor of the garden and slept off.

My body trembled lightly as the cold sent shivers down my spine, I cuddled myself tightly and tried to suppress the cold but it only intensified. Why is it so cold? I let out a shaky breath and slowly opened my eyes. The moment my eyes were opened, I immediately sprang up from my laying position.

The entire place was pitch black, I could barely make out anything. My eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness and even when they did, I still couldn't see a thing and my body instantly went into panic mode.

I remember sleeping off in the garden but this doesn't feel like the garden. It was very dark and too cold. I squinted and tried to make out anything from the darkness that surrounded me when I was immediately hit with a foul stench and I felt a bile rise in my throat as my eyes widened. Not at how horrible the stench was, but at how familiar it was.

"Please no" I whispered under my breath "There's no way" I repeated and looked around frantically, but it was too dark to make out anything. I felt tears welling up in my eyes again but I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, this wasn't the time to cry. I can't afford to cry now. I have to get out of here first. I just have to.

I tried to stand up and that was the first time I realized there was a chain around my ankle and I slumped to the floor. My heart rate increased rapidly and I began struggling frantically to free my ankles from the chain when I heard the door open and my eyes widened. Sounds of footsteps approaching suddenly filled the room and I froze, all my efforts to entangle myself from the chain disappeared.

And I lay up, pressed against the wall staring wide-eyed into the abyss as the sounds of the footsteps approaching got closer and closer, and my heartbeat increased rapidly the closer it got. Soon enough, the door creaked open and two figures appeared before me. At first, I could only make out their silhouette but soon enough, the outlines of their faces shone despite the blinding darkness and I screamed.

I screamed over and over again as they stared down at me with the corner of their lips tugged up in a smirk, but no matter how hard nor how much I screamed I was barely audible. "Hello there, Isadora" My father's cold voice filled the room and I felt shivers run down my spine. "You've been a little mischievous lately, haven't you?" He asked rhetorically and slapped the whip in his hand against the air and I flinched at the sound of it.

"I would so much love to discipline you, myself, but your father here has amazing ideas for a befitting punishment" I trailed my eyes to my mother, who was trailing her fingers up and down his biceps with a mischievous smile on her face, and I gulped.

The looks on their faces indicated they weren't going to let me slide so easily. They had their minds made up to torture me and they weren't going to stop till I was close to death, and then they'd bring me back to life just to hurt me again. I breathed out a laugh and shook my head. How brazen of me to think I'd escaped from this. Of course, all that was a dream. How stupid was I to think I'd finally escaped from this? I was stuck here. This is my life. There was no escaping no matter how hard I tried.

The sound of the whip filled the air again and I flinched, "You are laughing?" The malicious hint in his voice made me freeze. I'd asked for it. He slapped the whip against the air again and I drew a shaky breath as he took a step towards me. "What's funny, Isadora?" He asked and I whimpered but no tangible word came out of me and that seemed to infuriate him even further. He tightened his grip on the whip and raised it as high as he could, "you asked for it" he mumbled and at that exact moment, the whip landed on my body and a mind-numbing scream rippled out of my throat.

No matter how many times I get whipped, the pain feels new, it feels raw each time. Almost unbearably raw and painful. I was still trying to recover from the pain from the last whip when another one landed on my back and I almost threw up my guts from the pain.

"Seems like she's gotten used to this, David" I heard the voice of the woman that was meant to be my mum and my eyes watered even more. I knew what would come next, I didn't want to believe it. It was always the same routine but this time, I wished it could be different. Maybe if it becomes different this time, everything else would be.

But my hope was battered when I heard her say, "Why don't you show her the other thing we had in mind, it's her least favourite after all" Jezel said and I squeezed my eyes shut in disbelief. How could she? She was meant to be a mother, my mother.

The sounds of his belt being removed made me shut my eyes even tighter, hoping I'd block away the noise but all it did was make it more prominent. I had no will to fight back. It was fruitless anyway, I'd never win. All I could wish for was to numb myself till it was all over. It never lasted more than 30 minutes unless on rare occasions, so just for 30 minutes. If I could forget how to feel just for 30 minutes, I'd be fine. The clanking of the belt as it hit the ground made me wince in pain.

He immediately turned me around and pushed me face flat against the ground, and I didn't bother fighting back. It'd go by faster if I don't fight it. I heard the zipper of his trousers being pushed down and I began counting down from 500, it always ends when I get to number 5. I felt his hands against my thighs and tears immediately welled up in my eyes.

I felt dirty, he laid only but a finger on me and all I could think about was scrubbing myself till I rip out my skin. "It'd be over soon, Jophiel" I whispered and focused on counting, but just as he was about to spread my legs and have his way with me.

I heard a small voice whisper "Run" and I immediately snapped my eyes open, I looked beside me but there was no one else. I discarded the voice as a part of me that was still mindlessly hoping instead of facing reality, but the voice came again, this time firmer "Run, Jophiel. Your chain is in your head" It felt like a fog was cleared from my eyes and I was renewed with an unknown energy.

And without giving it a second thought, I immediately sprang up from the floor and screamed. They both were caught off guard by my sudden reaction and I took that as an opportunity to escape. I felt the heaviness of the chain on my ankle as I ran and the more I ran it felt like I wasn't covering any distance, and that they'd soon catch up with me. But something in me kept propelling me to keep going, and I did.

I kept running despite the doubts in my mind, and that was when I realized that the more I ran, the easier it became and the lighter the chain on my ankle became. "Just a little more, beloved" the voice whispered and for the first time since I was in this hellhole, I noticed the light. I'd never seen it before.

"Just a little bit more" the voice urged and I pushed myself to run even more than I did at first, and soon enough I found myself enclosed by the light, standing right before a very familiar face.

"You made it," he said with a big smile on his face and I stumbled backwards as I stared at him in shock. My lower lip trembled lightly as I processed what just happened and the tears blurred my vision. "I'm proud you made it, Jophiel," he said and the dam in my eyes broke free and I collapsed in his arms as I sobbed.

"YESHUA" I breathed out and held onto him like my life depended on him, "I'm so..." I paused and inhaled shakily, "I'm... I'm so sorry, Yeshua" I slowly slipped from his embrace and placed my head on the floor right beside his feet, my tears dripped repeatedly over his feet and I used my hands to wipe them clean as I repeatedly kissed his feet.

"I'm so sorry" I chanted and he let me do my thing for a while before he gently raised me and kissed my forehead. "I'm so sorry, Yeshua" I repeated. He gently wiped the tears from my eyes and pulled me into a gentle hug and I sobbed even more. Not because of the pain but because of the lightness I felt. It was as if a burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

I know now that I can run and I can escape because He's with me.

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Phewww! Another chapter is done!
I was so sleepy after my prayers this morning and I almost fell back asleep, but I remembered y'all and I couldn't afford to fail you guys... So here I am, with a new chapter. Please ignore any typos.

I hope you guys enjoyed this Chapter. I won't be doing a shout-out in this chapter because of the trigger mentions.

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