MIRAGE AND HORROR
The sounds of the birds chirping filled Elena's ears as she awoke from her sleep. She stood still in bed at first, trying to make sense of her surroundings. Her mind was blank and the heaviness she had been feeling in her chest returned again. She turned to lift her arm from under the blanket but the sharp pain that shot up her spine made it impossible. She shrieked back in pain and for a minute her brain was trying to process why that had happened. She tried lifting her legs and then noticed that her right leg was also sore. Trying to make sense of why she was in so much pain, she dragged her sore body out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed. As soon as her feet touched the ground, flashes of the night swept through her thoughts. Then she remembered. Tyler had come back from the office so late that she was already asleep. She was awakened by the feel of his body on hers. Her heart pounded like a drumbeat in her chest as Tyler's shadow loomed over her. His touch was cold, mechanical, as if he were handling a delicate object, not a living, breathing woman. His eyes were devoid of emotion and sent chills to her bone. He moved slowly, like he had enough practice to know just what to do. His body was a weapon against hers. Every touch was a calculated move, and each strike was painful. He didn't caress neither did he didn't soothe. Elena's cries of pain fell on deaf ears. Her cries were muffled by the sheets and his cruel passion turned him deaf. She was a mere vessel nothing but a means to an end. As the night wore on, his desire grew. It fueled his disregard for her pain. Each thrust was a violation, each kiss felt betrayal. By dawn, Elena was broken and her body was marked with bruises. He was indifferent to her suffering. He simply rose from the bed, his silhouette stark against the morning light. He left her there like a discarded toy. She remembered that she had fallen asleep in her pool of tears. As the memory of the previous lurched in her mind, her heart sank and fresh tears ran through her cheeks. The loud knock on the door forced her to wipe her tears and brace up. It was the house keepers and the maids whom Tyler had assigned to her care. One of the maids opened the curtains and the morning sun streamed through the grand windows, casting long, dancing shadows across the opulent bedroom. As the first rays touched Elena's skin, a wave of pain washed over her. Every inch of her body ached, and it was an unforgettable reminder of what happened to her in the night. Another knock sounded at the door, and two maids, their faces devoid of warm smiles and glowing with practiced indifference, entered to prepare her bath. She noticed that they wanted to gently lift her from the bed but she refused. She wasn't some trophy for Tyler . Did he think he could treat her like a cheap wore and then send his maids to make up for it? Did he think they lived in medieval times? She motioned with her hands so the maids would let her be and then tried to stand on her own. With each step, Elena winced, the movement sending sharp jolts of pain through her bruised body. The cool water in the bathtub offered some relief, but the pain she felt in her chest from emotional pain seemed to overwhelm her physical discomfort. After her bath, she noticed she was hungry and then left to eat. She knew that the maids would have prepared something for her to eat. The breakfast table was no grand affair. It was eerily empty. There was no warmth, no laughter, just the cold, sterile silence of the mansion. The servants moved around with expressions devoid of empathy. They simply did their tasks with their eyes fixed on their work, not on her. When they spoke, they did so in hushed tones, making Elena feel more like an entity and not a person. She could feel deep loneliness and a chasm of emptiness that seemed to swallow her whole.
As she sat alone, lost in her thoughts, a memory surfaced. A memory of a different kind of love, a love pure and innocent. Thoughts of his smile and gentle voice echoed in her ears. Ellis was the kind of man that people would refer to as having a gentle soul. He had captured her heart years ago when they met on her way to the grocery store. She could almost feel his hands on her shoulders, massaging them and gently stroking her hair. They did everything together and had even planned their future together. But duty had forced her to sacrifice her own happiness, to marry Tyler and fulfill the cruel terms of her father's debt. She remembered the dejection on Ellis' face as she told him about the marriage to Tyler. He had suggested to her that they both run and start life somewhere else but she had refused. She was thinking that she could marry Tyler, pay off her father's debt and then divorce him. But the day she signed the contract , she realized she had made a terrible assumption. The only way she was going to leave her marriage to Tyler was if he let her go himself. Lost in her thoughts, Elena began to question her choices. She had just spent three months with Tyler but she knew that each waking day may mean her sudden death. Perhaps it was time to find peace and happiness her own way. She knew within her that she had to find Ellis, the one who had truly loved her. A smile crept through her lips as she took a bite of the cornbread in her plate. A flicker of hope ignited within her. It felt like a spark of defiance against the darkness that had consumed her life.