Chapter Text
You stood one door away from freedom. You helped your daughter slip past the cameras, but what about you? Perpetua’s “eyes” were everywhere. One wrong move and all your effort was for nothing. Then, you saw from the corner of your eye a control panel. If you could guide your daughter there and have her disable the cameras, you’d both be free!
“Bella, do you want to help mommy out? I need you to go to that screen on your left.”
Your daughter looked at you and smiled. Poor girl was only 6 years of age. Completely naive to what he did to you. He always made sure that his sweet little Bella was kept in the dark about his true nature. She didn’t deserve to be trapped here—stripped of a normal childhood—because of your foolishness.
“Your other left, Bella. Yes, that one there. Can you tell me what you see, honey?”
Bella looked at the screen. Then you. The screen. You.
“I see daddy!” Bella threw her hands in the air and looked above your head.
You froze up when she said this. Slowly, you turned around and saw your husband. His silver mask and face paint rested on his face like the moon against the night sky. He wore the black, silky (leathery? Idk) shirt you once found comfort in when he held you, all while being oh so gentle with you. The kindness in his heterochromatic eyes was gone, it had long since been gone after the incident. You found yourself trapped under his gaze. His white eye threatened to dissect you piece by piece.
“My love…” he placed a gloved hand underneath your chin. “This is not what I wanted to see on our 15th anniversary.”
Perpetua’s gaze then fell on Bella and softened. “Sorry, sweetie. Your mom isn’t feeling well right now. I’m just going to help her get back to bed and I’ll be right back, okay?”
When Bella nodded at her father, he began dragging you into the darkness.
Before you could protest, his hand clasped against your mouth.
“Hush now, tesoro. You wouldn’t want Bella to worry, would you?” He dragged you to a small, secluded storage room. The dim glow of the lightbulb gave off just enough light for you to see the bottles of blood, discarded organs, and other mysterious substances on the shelves. He noticed your horrified expression and grinned.
“Relax, love. These weren’t taken from anyone important. They’re old and unusable parts.” Despite his attempts to “reassure” you, you couldn’t help but want to throw up.
He sits you down on the chair in the room like a waiter would guide a customer to their seat. You couldn’t quite discern what emotion was showing on his face, if any. It’s not like he hasn’t been like this before. Ever since he started taking extreme measures to keep you under his surveillance, you wondered if he still loved you, or if he’s only convinced himself he still does.
The texture of silk cloth against your lips pulled you out of your thoughts. You immediately recognized the fabric of Perpetua’s tie. He made sure the tie was wrapped securely, but not too uncomfortable for you. You watched as he then grabbed a pair of skeleton hands, similar to the ones on his cassock. He guided your arms onto the armrests and placed the skeleton hands over yours, keeping you in place.
“I’ll be back shortly. This is just to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” He turned off the light and left, closing and locking the door behind him. You looked around, hoping to see something to help you escape. Of course, your husband was smart enough to remove anything even remotely usable from your line of sight. You thought back to your days in high school, about how the two of you used to have a normal relationship. How he would bring you gifts, take you out on dates, comfort you—what happened to the gentleman who you confided in?