Chapter 3

Nina entered Natalie's room, which was summoned to darkness. She had drawn the curtains and not even a single light was on to save the room from the dark, Nina kept calling her name but there was no response... Nina got scared to death, what if she took some drastic step? She hurriedly moved towards the switchboard and switched on all the lights but gasped seeing the condition of the room...

Everything was scattered here and there, all the things made up of glass were lying flat on the floor broken into a million pieces, and it looked like some storm had come there a while ago.

And that was not wrong, a storm was going on, which had destroyed her final hope, the hope of being saved, and the hope of being out one day from this hell hole. Natalie was in shock by this new revelation, she was leaving one hell to be thrown into another. Ricky was her scariest nightmare which was going to come true. Nina looked here and there and found her sitting in a corner with her knees hugged to her chest, her condition was really bad, her tears had dried and she was just blank. Nina ran towards her and hugged her tight. Natalie didn't respond, she was too blank to do anything right now.

Nina– Natalie my child, what have you done with the room, with yourself, show me are you hurt? 

Natalie – My life has given me so many wounds, that I don't feel pained with all these bruises Aunty. 

She was hurt to no extent, Nina felt bad for this poor soul, who was repaying for god knows what.

Nina– Natalie your bad days are going to be over now. You should be happy, Ricky is a good boy and I know my nephew likes you. After marriage, he will take you to california and he will keep you happy. If he troubles you, then tell me I will pull his ears. 

Nina laughed a little, Natalie looked at her face, how innocent her Aunt was, she didn't know her nephew was no less than a devil, everything was finished, her life, her dreams, all over now no one could save her. She knew her fate, but she didn't want to accept it, so always kept a little hope alive, but today God has shown no mercy in crushing that little one too.

How ironic life is, her parents always taught her that nothing goes wrong with good people, if you have not done any wrong with anyone. So what did she do wrong to deserve all this, to face the harsh reality of the world?

Is money everything, didn't his uncle feel a little bit of love or maybe sympathy towards her, after all, she was his blood, his family. She didn't know when Nina left, she didn't know when she stopped weeping. She could see the end of her life, her body was numb and deprived of feeling any pain. She wanted to get herself free from this painful life, she wanted to go back to her parents, she wanted to sleep in her Mother's embrace, and she wanted to feel his Father's loving kiss on her forehead. She didn't know when sleep took over her...

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It's been 5 days since she got that heartfelt news of her life, her wedding is tomorrow, as in tomorrow she is going to turn 23. What a birthday present Jesus, she complained, she whined, she cried but nothing helped, wedding preparations had already started and she hated every bit of it. Everyone was treating her with so much love, like she was the princess but only she knew what was coming up. She knew nothing could save her now, but still, she had some hopes that maybe there is some good left in this world, maybe Jesus would show some mercy on her and get her free from this jail but nothing seemed to be happening anytime soon. Alas, the wedding day is coming closer and she has decided to end her life. Yes she will kill herself instead of getting killed daily by these monsters, she will not give them the satisfaction of torturing her anymore, no she has to do this. She thought determined and went to sleep, maybe her last sleep on this bed...

She was sleeping soundly when her eyes opened on some noise, thought she heard someone calling her name, she immediately stood from the bed and looked in the direction from where she heard the voice, and shock would be an understatement, she was indeed flabbergasted, there stood her mom, Serah..

She stood there frozen, not knowing what to do, when the lady opened her arms with the same soothing smile, she always had for her daughter for her princess. Natalie broke down in her arms, she started crying loudly complaining about why she left, why they left her in this cruel world, with these monsters. She cried and cried don't know for a long time, but her mom rubbed her back to calm her down. Once she got back her cool she looked at her mother..."Are you going to leave me again? "There was so much pain and fear behind her words...

Serah wiped her tears and cupped her cheek... "You remember when you were kid, what I need to tell you, God call those people early whom he loves the most, so he called your Mom and Dad, as he loves us and we are happy there Kiddo, in our heaven we are happy but we won’t be able to stay happy if our princess is sad. This is not you Natalie, this is not you. My daughter is strongest of all, we have raised you to be a fighter not to be a victim. We are happy in our heaven and you need to be happy too, not in this hell, but you just need to create your heaven and that can only be done by you. Yes dear, only you can help yourself, fight for your life, God has written your story too, you just need to find your way out of here, run away Natalie  run away..."

Natalie just looked at her wide-eyed, she didn't know what to say, yes this was not her, she never learned to lose, she always learned to win, to fight back and what was she doing finishing herself, letting them win, no this is wrong. She is going to do wrong.  No, noooo...

Serah cupped her cheek and forced her to look into her eyes, "Promise me, Natalie, you will not let them win, you will get yourself out of this mess, you will save yourself, promise me darling, promise me...." Natalie nods her head in a yes, yes she will get herself out of this mess, she will not lose hope, she has to fight for herself, and yes she has to. Serah kissed her forehead, murmured a happy birthday and hugged her again...

She will be out of here, she will be out of here, she will be out of here, she will be out of here, her mind was chanting these lines on a repeat mode and suddenly she woke up with a thud, was she dreaming, was this a dream, a good one though, she looked around, she was on her bed and sweating badly, can’t believe all of this was just a dream. She looked for the time and it was 6.00 a.m. It is morning already, today is her wedding but no she is not getting married neither she is dying, she is going to get her out of this Hell... Yes, she is going to run away. She will do what she promised to her Amma, she will not give up and will not let these monsters win...

She looked at herself in the mirror, and gasped, the girl in the mirror didn't look like her, she looked different, if it was in some other circumstances she would have been beaming with joy, at how much she wanted to become a bride, to wear these wedding gowns with all the classy jewelry and her mother used to laugh at her whenever she used to get ready in her Mom’s bridal attire, her eyes again become moist remembering her...

"No Nat, Mom said nah that you are not weak but a very strong girl. So you have to fight for your fate and this is your last chance, Nat, you have to fight with them.” 

She opened a small chit in her hand, there was Nancy’s number written over it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to call her in this house without them being known, so she planned to call her once she was out of this house. Nancy lives in California, that's it, you have to escape from here and hitch a ride. It doesn't seem this easy but if you want to go for it then it is not difficult either... She thought with determination and picked a small bag pack, as she did not want to carry any belongings from here which brought up bad memories for her. She just kept some cash, Nancy's number and her parents' last belongings; she picked their photo frame to gain some strength. When she felt a movement outside the room, Natalie hid the bag immediately...

"Oh, Jesus! Natalie dear you are looking so beautiful, evil eyes off…" Nina came inside the room and was happy seeing Natalie fully ready, indeed she looked so pretty, she placed a kiss on her cheek.. She is happy to see that Natalie has accepted this marriage.

Nina- Come on Natalie it's time for the rituals.

Arrangements were made in the garden of the house, which was a plus point for Natalie as her room is at the back side of the house, so there would be no person here to catch her and she could easily escape, she wailed at Nina and asked for some alone time with her parents...

Nina knew it was her big day and she needed them the most, so she decided to leave her on her own for some time, little did she know this would be her mistake. Natalie never tried to escape from here in the past 2 years, so they know she would never think of it but that was their mistake which will pay them off badly...