6 - My little Defender

I stay frozen for a few moments, my thoughts are confused, how do I have the same blood type as this Susan?

The doctor pushes my chair and puts a tourniquet on my arm, tightening it, then inserts the needle again and collects my blood.

“Susan is smart, doctor. She wouldn’t try to do anything stupid right now, with Connor here.”

I look at my knees, thoughtfully, then look back at Rita and say:

“Yes, Connor is here and there is a big clock with a countdown on my forehead. So I have nothing to lose. Maybe I don't want to suffer the humiliations I've been going through anymore and maybe death isn't so bad for me. Maybe I think breaking up with you, Mistress Rita, is a good idea. Without you, I would no longer have a reason to be alive.”

Rita looks at me speechless, the doctor also looks at me. I stand firm, of course I don't intend to kill her, but I want they to understand that I'm not that scared.

“Where have you been when you came back with all that attitude? Why aren’t you now begging for your life, offering me drinks to help you?”

“Humpf,” I snort and say, “If I bring you a shot of brandy, would you help me?”

She looks at me seriously, with wide eyes. She licks her lips, thirsty, and after a few moments she responds, “If you bring me the brandy, I can talk to Connor.”

“But I won't!” I say in a serious tone, “You all may be trying to kill me, someone innocent in all this, but my mother taught me principles and you are sick. I would never harm you in my interests. I will be able to prove that I am not this Susan, without lowering myself to her level.”

Everyone stays silent, while I continue to sit, waiting for the doctor to take all the blood he needs.

At some point I blacked out, maybe they took too much blood, or I was still too weak.

I just remember hearing Connor fighting and the doctor's face examining me.

In a few flashes I saw the children's faces watching me curiously and when I finally woke up, I was lying in my dirty captivity.

“Come on, get up!”, I hear Cristina shout and even though I'm weak, I struggle to get up.

After repeating yesterday's orders, I must serve breakfast to the family.

During the day I did all the household chores asked of me and at night I returned to my captivity.

I lay down on the cold floor and covered myself with the thin blanket I was given. Sleep was coming, when suddenly I felt a hand touching me.

I get startled and turn around abruptly. I freeze when I realize it was the little girl, Connor's daughter.

“I can't sleep, can I sleep with you?”, she asks, in a sweet and very cute voice.

“Well… you can’t sleep here, yeah…”

I don't even know how to explain to her the type of conditions I was living in and that for a child it wouldn't be recommended at all.

“I brought my little pillow.”, she said and placed the pillow she was hugging on the floor. Afterwards she lay down and covered herself with my thin, dirty blanket.

I didn't know what to do. If I left here and called someone, they might think I was the one who brought this child here. Who knows what they would do to me?

I sat, hugging my knees, watching that child who looked back at me in silence.

Maybe she thinks I'm her mother and she miss her. But I never had children and I never imagined what it would be like to be a mother. What do I do now?

At some point, due to exhaustion, I ended up falling asleep and waking up to screams.

"She is here! Lilly is here!”

I get up and realize that I was covered with the blanket and lying down with that child, who woke up at the same moment as me.

“Lilly!” I heard Connor's voice as he ran in and I flinched, protecting my face with my hands, already expecting the first blow.

But it didn't come... after a few seconds I gathered courage and opened my eyes, looking in his direction. He had the girl on his lap, saying, “How did she manage to get Lilly? Who helped her?”

I can only nod, thinking that I would soon receive some painful punishment.

“Dad, I was the one who came here. I was sleepless and she helped me.”

“Damn! What did you say to her? Did you threaten her?”, Connor says and puts the girl on the ground, then comes towards me and kicks me. I protect myself by trying to say I didn't do anything, but he kicks me again and...

"No! Daddy stop! Don’t hurt the girl!” Lilly stands in front of me, with her arms open.

Connor stops and is stunned, looking at me and then looking at the little girl. In fact, everyone is stunned and I don't really understand what's happening.

“Daddy, don’t hurt the girl, I want her to take care of me from now on.”

Connor paces back and forth angrily. After a few moments he points at me and says, “I don’t know what you did to get that, Susan. But from now on, you will have to obey everything Lilly asks. Maybe this way, you’ll finally learn what it’s like to be a mother?”

I don't know how to react, I just caress the bruises on my arms.

“Yay!”, Lilly jumps with happiness and then says, “My first order is that you go and sleep in my room. I have nightmares at night and you will help me sleep!”

Connor glares at me and says, “I don't know what you did, Susan. But that won’t save you.”

From that moment on, I no longer slept in my captivity. Lilly's room was very childish and the bed they gave me was small, but it was a total turn-around. My nights sleep changed from water to wine.

There were cameras in the room and she was always being watched.

Lilly liked to get up at dawn and lie down with me in my bed, but that wasn't uncomfortable, in fact it was nice. She was a very cute girl and even her drooling didn't bother me.

While she was at home, I had to obey her every order, which was usually to play with her and when Lilly was at school, I had to continue doing the humiliating jobs.

The little boy, on the other hand, avoided me. He looked like a carbon copy of Connor, with his serious expression.

He always locked himself in his room and I hardly saw him.

Until one day, I was with Lilly in the garden and suddenly she started running. I ran after her and she was playing along.

We arrived at the pool and the boy was there, just observing everything, with his serious look.

It was only a careless moment to look at the boy that Lilly shouted, “Look, I can swim!”

When I looked back at her, she entered the pool and suddenly began to drown.

My heart pounded, and it wasn't because I was afraid of Connor, it was because I was afraid of something serious happening to the girl.

She was the only one that cared about me.

I ran and jumped into the pool. I quickly took her out and started doing the cardiac massage.

Thank God I was quick and she started spitting out the water.

With tears in my eyes, I hugged Lilly. I only realized that I was crying at that moment.

“You silly girl! Why do you give me such a scare?!”, I say, hugging her while she is still coughing.

“Daddy will kill you when he finds out.”, I heard the voice of the boy next to me. And my heart pounded, I knew that Connor, upon learning what happened to his little girl, would probably think it was my fault.

“But I'm not going to tell him.”, the boy says, and I become more perplexed, then he adds, with something that leaves me even more perplexed, “What's your name? I know you’re not Susan.”