CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

I step out of the car and follow Thomas into a warehouse. He walks us into a room that appears to be a shooting range. Why did Thomas bring us here?

"Why are we here?" I ask, but he doesn't answer; instead, he places something in my hand. My eyes widen once I see the gun in my hand. I quickly give it back to him, but he forces it back into my hand. He moves behind me and forces me to aim forward.

"What are……..?" My words get caught off once I hear a piercing scream.

I don't know where it's coming from, but I hear it clearly. Tears pool in my eyes as I recognize the scream. I know how I sound even when I scream. I see the target board pulling up. Thomas moves from behind me and walks to the target board as it arrives. I don't drop the gun or stop aiming. I am too transfixed with hearing myself scream in pain to move. He places something on the board. Once he moves away, I see what he has placed, and something in me shifts. I suddenly feel a burst of anger as I look at the picture. He put a picture of James. I stare at the image of James with the gun aiming at it as the target board begins to back up.

My body begins to remember all the pain I felt that day as I continue to hear myself screaming in pain and begging James to stop hurting me. I feel like I am there in that room with my feet barely touching the ground as I hang in the air. I can feel my sweat making my hair and clothes stick to my body. Blood flowing out of my wounds, staining the floor and my clothes. I feel my ribs breaking and burning as he throws punches at them. My heart shatters as I feel blood flowing down from between my legs. My hands move to protect my stomach, but I realize it's useless as my child is already gone.

"Shut it off," I scream with tears streaming down my face.

"You can make it stop; shoot him," Thomas whispers into my ears.

I ignore him and try to stop remembering the horrors I faced that day. I close my eyes and remind myself that I am not there but here with Thomas. My heart beats hard against my chest. I begin to hyperventilate, so I take calming breaths in. It doesn't work as I remember more of the horrors I went through under the hands of James. A wince escapes my lips as I recall the hot whip tearing my skin. I open my eyes and stare at Thomas. I beg him with my eyes to make it stop.

"Make it stop; it hurts," I scream, sweat brewing on my forehead.

"You can make it stop, Melina, shoot him" Thomas pushes my hair out of my face that got stuck because I am sweating. He grabs my face and stares deeply into my eyes.

"No, I can't; he will die."

"Then let him die, Melina, let him die, Melina," Thomas says, with no remorse in his eyes. The tears in my eyes are making it a little challenging to see, so I close my eyes and wipe away tears.

I blink my eyes open and find James in front of me. I blink a couple more times to make sure I am seeing correctly. He still stands before me with a whip in his hand. I feel an ache in my back and hands. I look up and find my hands tied and hooked up. I try to pull my hands free from the ropes but fail. I feel more pain in my back, so I try to look but fail since that's impossible.

I look forward to James, and terror fills me as I recognize the whip in his hand. My eyes widen as sweat begins to form on my forehead. I stare at the whip in his hands decorated with blood.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a human being. You can't even shoot me to save yourself" He brings the whip to his lips and licks the blood off it. "You taste as sweet as I remember." he smiles, his teeth decorated with my blood. I resist the urge to gag so he won't get angry with me. I can't believe he just licked my blood.

"No, I am not; I just don't want to kill you. I will kill you if I shoot."

"Ha, Ha, you are weak, and you will live in pain forever for your weakness" He lifts the whip and hits me across my chest. The area hurts like a knife was slashed across my chest.

"No, no, stop, you are hurting me, stop," I plead with him

"Kill me, Melina; that's the only way your suffering can end."

"No," I can't take someone's life. It will hunt me forever

"Kill me, kill me," He taunts as he whips me

Fresh wounds appear on my skin, and blood pours out as his whip decorates my body. I cry out as I feel unexplainable pain. I scream for him to stop, but he doesn't. I scream and scream until my throat burns, and no words come out. I give up on this torture ending, but then something happens. Thomas's scent drifts through my nose, and I feel his breath on my skin. I look around the room, searching for him, but I don't see him anywhere. For a minute, I had hoped that he was here to save me.

"Shoot him, Mi amore, shoot him and end your suffering" Thomas strokes my hair and whispers into my ears. I look around again and try to find him, but I still can't. My head drops forward as realization drowns on me.

"I am going to die here."

"No, you are not; you are going to live. Just shoot him."

"But he will die. I don't want to kill him. I just want the pain to stop."

"There is no other way, Mi amore," Thomas appears before me. My heart swells with the hope that I won't die here as I stare at him. He lifts his hand and brushes my hair out of my face. My eyes close as I press my face into his palm.

"You are not killing him, Mi amore; you are ending your pain and suffering."

"I am not" I open my eyes and stare at Thomas, wondering if he is telling the truth.

"Yes, you are not killing him; you are only ending it."

"Really," I ponder over his words, and they seem to have some sense. What Thomas is saying makes sense because that is all James is to me, a means of torture, heartbreak, and pain.

"Yes, so now end your suffering."

Thomas is right; James is not a human being to me but a means of pain. "How," I ask, ready to finally end my suffering forever.

"Look at your hand," I do as Thomas says and look at my hand. A gun appears to be in my hand. How did that get there? When did my hands even become free from the ropes?

I lift my eyes away from the gun and look back up. Thomas seems to have disappeared, and James is back in front of me. He is panting as he holds the whip in his hand. He has sweat dripping down his body. He has used all his energy to bring me immense pain. Pain I didn't deserve, pain I never did anything wrong to get inflicted on me. But because he is a cruel bastard, he feels the need to hurt me and decorate my body with scars. A burning rage builds in my heart and spreads to my soul's depth. My grip on the gun tightens as I glare at James with hatred. All the sympathy I felt earlier for taking his life vanishes. I feel no remorse in my heart as I think about pulling the trigger and ending his life forever.

"You are weak, Melina," James says cockily.

"No, I am not" I pull the trigger, shooting him in the chest. I expect to see blood staining his shirt, but it doesn't. I shoot again, and the same thing. I continue shooting, emptying the rounds on his body, but he doesn't die. I still keep firing and only stop because the gun is taken out of my hand.

"That's okay, Mi amore, come back to me," Thomas softly says

I look around the room, searching for him.

"Close your eyes and follow the sound of my voice to find me" I do as he says and close my eyes. I wait for him to speak with my eyes closed so I can find him.

"Take three calming breaths, then open your eyes."

I do that and flutter my eyes open. My brows pull together once I see him and my surrounding. I can't believe everything was in my head. I really thought I was being whipped again by James.

"Thomas!" I rasp out as fatigue suddenly takes hold of my body. My legs give out, but Thomas grabs me before I touch the ground. "I shot him" I know it was all in my head, but still, I pulled the trigger. That is a big step for me.

"I know you did" Thomas smiles as he holds me in his arms.

"Thank you" I understand what Thomas was trying to tell me earlier and in my hallucination. James is the core source of my pain and suffering. The only way to stop it is to end him. I know it's not my right to take a life, but when someone like James causes you immense pain as he had. I advise you gladly take his life. The next time I see James, I won't hesitate as I did earlier. It's high time I grew a backbone.