Nereyda tried to scream but her voice was trapped within the mask they made her wear, a contraption that strapped around the back of her head tightly, wide enough to cover her mouth, chin and nose making it hard to breath. The entire thing was metal, sitting heavily on her skin as it stretched along her jawline, digging into her soft flesh just underneath. Every time they put it on the pain got worse, the metal hooks that cut into her skin opening healing scabs from the last time they put it on.
“Pretty girls shouldn’t talk,” the old one lectured, checking the leather straps holding the siren’s wrists and ankles to the hard bed, “Talking makes pretty girl’s ugly.”
Reyn slapped her head back and forth, tears welling in her eyes as she suffocated inside the mask, her mouth unable to open, her voice unused for days now. She felt exposed and violated, her naked body open to the cold air in the room. A finger traced along the stretch marks on her stomach, bringing fresh tears to her eyes at the constant reminder of her loss.
“Do you miss her?” the old hag crooned, her sharp nail digging into the stretch marks, “Do you remember your daughter?”
Reyn nodded, knowing ignoring any question would be punishable. The hag laughed, her hand slapping down on one of Reyn’s breasts hard, making her wince in pain.
“It’s your fault she’s gone,” she whispered, as Reyn shook her head violently, “You didn’t listen to the rules. You cast your daughter away.”
No! No no NO!
“-You broke your family.
You broke Elijah’s heart-“
I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry Eli. I’M SORRY!
“-you made him hate you. Despise you-“
No! Please god no! It was a mistake! Don’t leave me here Eli! PLEASE!
“-He’ll never come for you,” she hissed, Reyn’s body racked with sobs, “He could never love a filthy slut like you.”
Reyn’s whole body tensed at the word slut then exploded in agony as a wide steel rod rammed inside her, piping hot and scorching.
“He could never love something so lowly. So selfish.”
Reyn tried in vain to fight the mask, her screams caught in her throat as she twisted and turned, desperate to get away from the agonizing torture of her lower regions. Salty tears blurred her vision and she could feel a cold jar against her cheek, collecting the siren’s tears as her torture continued, her thoughts a stream of endless suffering.
The searing pain only stopped when the croon pulled the thick red-hot metal piece from inside her, setting it back against the fireplace in the room. Reyn bled openly, her cauterized groin a reminder of the filthy slut they told her she was. A part of her believed them, believed every word they said as she heard it over and over, the torture growing only worse when she refused their truths. The bottle moved away from her face, Reyn blinking away tears to see it full. On the side was a tiny white labelled named ‘Siren’s Tears’. Closing her eyes, Nereyda tried not to move an inch as she cried, her hands shaking with the effort to not pass out.
“Get up,” a second voice demanded from across the room as the hag undid the leather binds. Nereyda wanted to refuse, to never leave her spot but the hag grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked, pulling her quickly off the bed as more pain exploded through her hips.
“I’ll throw her back in her cell m’lady,” the old woman bowed, pulling Reyn down with her before pushing the siren, forcing her to walk, “Get moving siren.”
Each step with a fresh Hell all of her own, each stair she descended another ripple of the torment. As they reached her cell the woman let go of her blonde hair, shoving her ahead.
“Arm’s up,” she instructed as Reyn sat routinely against the wall, the instructions engraved in her memory.
Lifting her feeble arms, she felt the cold metal bite as her wrists were shackled to the stone wall once more, and the woman moved away, leaving the cruel voice killing contraption on. The door to her cell shut roughly, the noise ringing loud in her ears before silence consumed her, leaving her to the pain and tears all her own. Her body slummed, unwilling to move any longer. Every lick of torture from her nether regions was nothing compared to the anguish in her heart over Nya.
I deserve this, she thought despairingly,
They’re right. I destroyed everything.
