Prison Break

SOPHIA'S POV

"Freeze!" The cops put their guns on me like I was a wild criminal who could kill them with a snap.

My life was over before it could even begin. A daddy's little princess now accused of being a loosed murderer.

It seems like liars have more power than honest people nowadays. This two incidents have shown me a lot.

24 HOURS AGO...

Ding! An alarm clock rang, immediately waking me up from sleep. I stretched my arms in the air, yawning along. "Another day, another trouble," I whispered.

I threw my blankets off the bed and stood up on my feet. "Good morning, Benny," I tickled my parrot by the neck. "You too, Tina. Wake up," I tickled his bride who was still asleep.

My dad had given me these parrots since my 13th birthday. And since his death, they had been my only true companions in this house.

"Sophia!" A voice echoed from downstairs. No doubt it was my stepmother. The witch that was put in charge of me.

"Here we go again," I headed for the door in a hurry as a slight second of delay could guarantee me a punishment. "I'm coming."

I slammed my door closed and went through the hallway, reaching straight for the stairs. My heartbeat began to pound loudly as I went down the stairs. I lived in enemy territory; they wouldn't have hesitated to kill me and sell my organs out for a fortune if it hadn't been illegal.

While I jogged down the stairs, reaching for the few last ones, I sighted Lucas, my stepbrother, coming up the stairs. He was well built and handsome, so of course, his figure had always captivated me while his character disgusted me still. He was the perfect description of charm without character.

As we passed by each other, my eyes locked with his, colliding with the glare he was wearing. For a brief second, my brain jumped out of me, and I stumbled down the rest of the stairs.

He moved away without even looking back. But I was used to that kind of treatment since my father died. Lucas' sister was even worse.

I stood up and swallowed the pain, heading straight for my stepmother.

She was sitting at the head of the dining table with hands folded, her eyes fixed on me. It was a cold look from a 53-year-old. "Did you hear me calling?"

"I..." I finally decided not to answer her. After all, this had happened almost every morning.

"Turn around," she stood up with a stockwhip in her right hand. "And take off your gown."

I turned in obedience; I had never imagined what would happen if I ever disobeyed her. My brain made screeching noises as if I were in a horror movie. I pulled down the sleeves of my nightgown, exposing my back to her.

Without letting another second slide, she lashed my back. One! Two! Three! Four! And five! She folded her whip. "Now turn around."

I turned to her; by now, my face had lost its morning warmth. I pulled up my sleeves again. This was my life every morning, nothing new.

"Why hadn't you cooked the guests' food yet? And why hadn't you cleaned the house yet? We're having the governor coming over to see your father's family," she queried me.

At the demise of my dad, she had fired all the slaves and used me instead to save her money, or perhaps to nurture her wickedness.

My heart bounced in my chest as I stood in front of her, speechless. Nothing I said would matter anyway.

"Am I not talking to you, girl? Answer me!" She raised her voice at me.

"I overslept," I stuttered at her. I was clearly lying. She had woken up earlier just to torment me.

"Now go do your morning chores," she grabbed a seat.

By that, she meant, wash the house and cook breakfast. I literally did that every morning, like the floors of the house were a toddler's skin.

I walked away from her, going directly to the bathroom to pick up the mop. It was cleaning time.

In about a few minutes, I had gotten everything in place and had started brushing and rubbing the floor so delicately like it was my own genitals.

"Hey Sophia," Lucas' younger sister, Anna, called out to me. She was my age. "What happened to my gown?" She stretched her gown apart, showing me the hole in the back.

I was speechless. Whatever had happened to it?

In the next unfolding seconds, she walked towards me agitatedly, kicked over the bucket of foamy water, and kicked me on my ribs. Before I could stand up to face her, she picked up the bucket and started beating me with it, unremittingly.

"Sto... Sto... Stop!" I pushed the bucket out of her hand, in the process, getting my right hand injured because it had thrust through the bucket, breaking it in parts.

"What's happening, girls?" My stepmom came in. She looked all around with her usual cold expression. "Sophia, what're you doing?"

"It was Anna's fa..." Nevermind, I held my peace. It was ridiculous to blame her own daughter. My stepmom had already made up her mind on whose fault it was.

"Sophia, we'd see tonight. Finish this off," she walked away, and so did Anna, who stuck her tongue out to ridicule me.

Seeing me tonight could only mean one thing; she was going to whip me again, and this time intensively. What had I ever done to deserve this?

...

Later that morning, I was in the kitchen preparing food for the governor. Even though I wasn't always a good cook, a whole year with my stepmom had made me a certified chef, as every tasteless meal gave me a sleepless night. I was no longer my father's little princess; I was now Lady Dracula's slave.

I stood right in front of the kitchen table steering raw egg in a bowl when Lucas walked in and closed my butt with his thighs, sniffing my neck like he was about to lick it.

I immediately turned around and pushed him back but he grabbed my hand and put it in his pants instead.

"Eww," I pulled out in the same second and retreated to the wall.

"What? You've never held something so big?" Step by step he walked closer to me, eventually squashing me tightly against the wall.

I live with a rapist in the same house. Despite the amount of ladies he has coming over he'd never stop harassing me. But that's where it'd all end, he'd never come inside of me.

I never thought about telling his mother. Life was already too hard, I don't know what she'd make of this information.

I watch his two hands move pass me to grab my ass. His mouth was approaching mine. I pushed him away again and walk around the kitchen table trying as much to avoid him.

"That's what you wanna do?" He smirked. "I can lessen your burden in this house you know."

"I don't want anything from you," I screamed at the other side of the table.

"Very well," he picked up a concrete plate and let go of it. Phew...it crashed on the ground.

"Come," he raised another plate.

That was like adding extra punishment to the one his mom has already scheduled for me but I was determined. I'm not gonna be a victim of rape.

He let go and picks another plate. "Come, you know what my mom would do to you when she sees this."

By now I was already considering it. My stepmom would kill me and he could make it all go away. "No," my intrusive thoughts yelled out outrightly. I'm not doing this.

He lets it fall to the ground and picks another plate.

It has never been this serious before, who's giving him all this new ideas. Just then a knock echoes on the door, the governor was here. Lucas glared at me for a second then dropped the fourth plate to the ground and walked out.

"Ahhh," I sighed in relief. Thank goodness he was gone.

"Sophia!" My stepmom yelled.

I immediately rushed to the bowl and started steering it quickly. Maybe I should have just died with my father. A tear rolled down my right eye.

"Sophia," stepmom entered the kitchen. "Leave this. Go and change."

Wow, she's suddenly being nice. I rushed out and headed upstairs to my room.

...

As soon as I got in, I slammed the door shut. It was the only place in the whole house that I partly had ownership of. I went straight to the bed and crashed on it. With my eyes open wildly and my arms spread apart, I reminisced about my life. All the suffering flashed through my mind. Tears rolling down my eyes.

"Squawk! Sophia, Sophia...what's wrong?" Benny questioned.

"It's okay, Benny."

Then he started singing right away, bringing my mind back to the relaxing tones of the princess cartoons I used to watch as a kid. My head quickly joined in the song, every corner of my mind echoing with the melody.

His wife, Tina, soon joined us. It was relieving to be reminded that I'd had days like this before, when I had a father who treated me like a princess from Disney's world even though he had important things to do.

Days where I was free of worry and pain. Days where I could simply do whatever I wanted and not feel the urge of responsibility pressing me down. My mind was finally at rest, and I slept off.

"Sophia! Sophia!" A knock woke me from sleep. Someone was at my doorstep. It sounded like Lucas, what does he want?

I rubbed my eyes and stood up from the bed. I didn't know for how long I had been asleep, but it sure was worth it. I walked up to the door and opened it slightly. "What do you want?"

From nowhere, my stepmom showed up and landed a slap right on my face. "How dare you talk to my son that way?" She grabbed me forcibly by my hair and pulled me through the hallway, dragging me down the stairs like I was a heavy sack.

Then she threw me right in front of the dining table. It was strange; the governor's head was on his plate of huevos rancheros.

"What did you put in the food?" Stepmom wailed at me.

Once again, I was speechless, eaten up by surprise. My lips vibrated on top of each in search of words.

Anna came close to me with a tab and showed me a video of me cooking the food.

"We have evidence," her mother's cold voice echoed in my ear. "Now when your father died, he left everything in your name," she threw a contract book and a pen to the ground, "I want you to sign it off to me. And I'd make this all go away."

Impossible. My dad loved her and her children so much I didn't know he would leave everything to me. So this is why she seized all my devices and restricted me from the outside world. I should'nt do it. 'I have to figure out a way to escape.

"I need to take a pee," I mumbled in a low tone.

"Speak up, girl," my stepmom yelled.

"I need to take a pee," I squeezed my legs tightly together, living up to the lie.

"Be very quick about it. Go!" She ordered.

I gently got up on my feet and ran up the stairs. I didn't know what I was gonna do, but I was gonna do it.

I rushed into my room and slammed the door behind me. Maybe I should just kill myself to make them suffer charges. Oh, at least I had a window in my room.

"Come here, babies," I immediately freed my parrots from their cage and kissed them one by one on the head. "We're leaving." I stretched my hands to the window letting them go.

"Sophia," I could hear Anna's footsteps approaching. Gosh, I have to go. I crossed one leg out the window.

Just then Anna barged open my door and saw me, "Mom!"

In shock, I fell out from the one-story window.