“No response? Well, no matter. You will behave soon enough.”
I’ve never seen such a downward spiral take place as what Gilbert went through. Only two years ago he was a loving husband and a great father, yet here we are now. A few tragic events combined with constant stress from his dreadful financial obligations, and his mind completely snapped. He was a beast in a human’s skin.
“No… Don’t come any closer!” Iris shouted with as fierce of a tone as she could conjure while she defiantly stood when Gilbert opened her cell’s door and stepped inside.
She knew from experience that her punches were too weak, thus she determined biting to be her best method of defense. It did work to a degree before when he was beating Vernice up. It wasn’t ideal but she had no better choices available at her disposal.
Gilbert advanced toward her with no hesitation in his steps. It felt as if he was savoring the power he held over such a weak and small creature. When he reached her, Iris dashed at him with the aim of biting into his forearm. Her teeth sank into his skin, but Gilbert simply laughed, an unsettling, mocking sound that reverberated in the confined space.
“My defensive artifact is still on cooldown, but a father shouldn’t need expensive items to have the strength to discipline his severely misbehaving offspring, no?” With a brutal yank, he tore his arm free from her bite and gripped her shoulders tightly. She tried to wriggle free, but his fingers dug into her skin, refusing to let her go.
Without warning, his hand lashed out, slapping her across the face with such force that her head snapped to the side. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth as a small cut opened on her lip, she didn’t want to scream. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. She clenched her jaw tightly, yet… “Aghh!!” Her weak vessel refused to obey her command of total silence as she cried out from sheer pain.
Gilbert’s face twisted with frustration at her defiance but once she couldn’t keep it in any longer, his lips contorted into a sinister smile. Then, his fists pounded into her again and again. He didn’t relent as he brutally vented his madness and rage with every powerful punch. Pain radiated through her body until her vision blurred and her limbs felt like lead.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he stepped back while breathing heavily. Gilbert looked down at her with a mixture of fury and disbelief. Iris was crumpled on the ground but her spirit hadn’t broken – she glared up at him defiantly
“So not all women give up after a single beating, huh… You live and learn, I suppose. See you tomorrow, daughter.”
With those chilling words, he turned and left after locking the cell door behind him.
Every single cell in Iris’ body was trembling from the pain and the dread she had for the future.
The little girl could do nothing but curl up into a fetal position and cry incessantly.
…
The next few months passed in the exact same fashion. Gilbert would visit once a day and beat her senseless. Iris held all my admiration since she absolutely refused to give in. She was stubborn like a mule despite her depression and overwhelming fear. If his ‘teachings’ were too much, he would force her to drink a healing potion, and if even that proved to be ineffective, he would take her to the healer he managed to finance to remain in his territory.
I never thought I would suffer so much at the hands of a mediocre level 1 human ever in my life, but due to the fact that I shared Iris’ pain receptors, her tender baby skin, undeveloped muscles, and fragile bones, I felt all the hurt she did, and it was a straight-up terrifying experience. I didn’t know if I could endure an entire decade of this treatment without going mad.
Furthermore, it was not like I had already endured all the mental pain I would have to now that the situation had become this dire. No, Iris was still a terrified, defenseless child whose psyche was tortured all around the clock.
“Why are you so damned stubborn?” Gilbert asked annoyedly. “Just love me like you did three years ago. Look at me with unfiltered adoration in your eyes. Giggle jovially when you see me. Why can’t you do this much?!”
Iris didn’t bother responding, though she did feel an aggressive quiver travel down the entirety of her spine due to the extreme fear she held for the monster in front of her. He didn’t start today’s quota of beating her up, so she dreaded what was to come with her entire existence.
Gilbert sighed dejectedly. “Haaah. You must’ve been a mule in your previous life. If Vernice had a single, minuscule percentage of your willpower, she wouldn’t have agreed to my stupid idea of selling her body, which would’ve seen her still alive and kicking. I can even imagine how she would be nagging me to stop drinking… Hehe! The good old times, am I right?”
So in your head, the death of your wife is the fault of her weakness and not yours, huh. I couldn’t help but marvel at the mind’s ability to draw up anything that would help a person cope with the harshness of reality.
“I can already see that my kind methods resulted in only pain and suffering for the both of us, so it’s time I kick things up a notch. I want you to return to being my loving daughter, after all. Believe it or not, I don’t want you to spend your childhood in this musky cell at all. It provides me no joy, but what must be done shall be done.”
His crazed eyes were spiraling as he monologued insane sentence after insane sentence. I already knew that he was fucked in the head, but he somehow managed to continuously get worse and worse.
With his statement finished, he brought out a tray upon which multiple iron tools were placed.
The poor defenseless Iris was violently trembling from the unadulterated terror she was feeling in her small heart.
However, she would soon receive an unexpected visitor.