Warm leatherete

Third person POV

Zuri eyebrow raised in curiosity when they reach Infront of a dark door that had the words painted . " Nightmare room" the door was black and the words were white, Zuri wasn't afraid, but curious as to see what her sadistic captor had in store for her.

" My father used to bring us into this room, whenever we upset him. " He said before he pulled the door open and when he did dust and the smell of old wood hit her face. " It's been a while since I've been in here." He then switched on the light switch that was beside the door and then the small room lit up and all was in the room was a wooden chair planted in the center of the room and attached to the chair was electronic wires and a brown cap. Instantly Zuri started to hyperventilate, believing he was going to electrocute her as the chair resembles those electric chairs they used for inmates on death row.

" What.." she whispered to herself.

" It's not what it looks like." He said before he began to push her towards the chair. " Come on, go to the chair love. Stop resisting you said you're not afraid. It's not going to hurt you....well not physically." He reassure her, knowing what exactly that chair and those electric wires and cap do. She then relax herself and walk towards the chair and sit on it before looking at him and smiling.

" What...is this out of a clockwork orange?" She questioned sarcastically. " Gonna give me a bit of the ultraviolence."

" What is that?" He asked confusingly, not knowing her reference. He then strapped down her wrists, then her waist and ankles to the chair.

" Nevermind..."

" Zuri this machine is called the nightmare giver ." She then chuckled at the name, thinking it was cheesy. " My dad used to work for The General Directorate for External Security, he used to specialized in torture methods. He created this machine basically to make people experience or dream about their deepest fear or their worse nightmares. Basically it force the brain to confronts it's deepest darkest fears and memories...things that your poor little brain try to hide away so it doesn't scare or traumatized you."

" I-impossible .." I stuttered out, not really believing those things are real.

" With the general directorate.. anything is possible. " He then began to place the brown cap on her head then strap it down, now it resembles an helmet. He place about 5 wires with patches on them on her forehead, he then place to things that resembles earphones in both of her ears and finally he place an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, the oxygen mask was connected the small tank that was attached to the chair. " Now I'm not going to let it stay on you for over an hour, I honestly don't want you to be a traumatized mess." He then went out of the room for couple of minutes and came back with a chair. He place the chair directly Infront of Zuri a few inches away. " This device did a number on me....let's see if it will do the same to you. Also it might even help, as it it can be a great tool to help people overcome their fears, as it did me. " With that he pressed a button that was on the cap and then he flip a switch that was on the tank. " You see Zuri if I were to continue to punish you physically it would just....ruin your body and I don't really want to do that. I love imperfections but I honestly don't want to be the reason why you are imperfect. "

Zuri was inhaling and exhaling slowing trying to calm her nerves, but little did she knew that she was exhaling some sleeping gas being produced from the " oxygen mask" . The more she inhale the gas, the more sleepy she got and after 5 minutes she was knocked out. Chase smirk as he saw her head fall over, she was asleep.

Zuri's Pov

I opened my eyes and immediately began to panic, I was in my room...the old room I had when I lived with my parents. I looked at my hands and they were small, small like an child. I was a child again, I was 11. I got off my bouncy bed and walked slowly to the yelling that was happening in the living room. It was between my mom and father, they were arguing about ...me?

" Yes, because you want a spoil brat while I don't!" My father yelled as my mother sat around the table with her head in her hand.

" So saving up for my daughter college is spoiling her!?" My mother snapped. She raised her head and glare at my father. " I want her to make it out of life Dan, I just want my child to succeed!"

" Yeah by taking our cash that we need for groceries and bills, to save up for college. How are you so sure she won't drop out by grade 8 and be a prostitute..just like her momma!" He yelled and then my mother stand up and pushed him.

" Don't fucking say that! don't wish bad for my child you piece of shit!." She yelled. My mother was always sticking for me, even though she was much shorter and smaller than Dan, she was never scared to hit him back or stand up for herself. " Also remember that you married this prostitute!"

" You betta get out of my face Leahana!" He yelled walking up to her. " You think you and that little moron is better than me?!" He yelled.

" M-mom...dad?" I finally interrupted, walking up to the conflict. " What's going on?"

" Zue, go back to bed...please." my mother groaned. " Remember you said you weren't feeling good, that's why you didn't go to school." She said and instantly I remember, this day...this argument. Sure I was feeling sick, but I remember forcing myself to go to school because I didn't want to stand them arguing.

" Nah let her stay, I want her to be apart of this. I'm sick and tired of you two believing that you guys are better than me, you think I don't see you guys plotting behind my back to leave?!" He then grabbed my mother's hand. " You think I'm stupid? I know your not saving for no college. Your saving to leave ?!"

" What?!, That's not true!" She tried to struggled out of his hold. " Let go of me, you delusional idiot!"

" No, I won't let you guys leave me. I won't let you guys leave me!" He yelled, he then let go of my mother and disappear in bathroom. I then walked over to my mother and hugged her.

" Mom, I think we should leave... dad's being mad again." I said.

"It's okay hun, we soon will and once we do, we will never ever have to deal with his bullshit eva again." She reassured. Suddenly the atmosphere felt intense and it seems like everything stopped. I looked up and see my father with a hand gun pointing at us both with tears in his eyes.

" D-dan?" My mother questioned in fear.

" Don't worry Leahana, we will all be together forever....even if it's in the Afterlife. A whore like you shouldn't have the nerve to want to leave me, especially since I saved your ass from the shithole of a country you lived in!"

" You didn't save me Dan....I'm living worse than I am when I lived there. Everyday I regret meeting you..." And with that he shot her. I began to screamed and hyperventilate and suddenly he shot at me too, I had the wound on the center of my forehead, it was bleeding but it didn't hurt, I suddenly felt the urge to fall over on my mom. Though my body couldn't move, I could still see my father putting the gun in his mouth while crying profusely and suddenly everything went black.

I opened my eyes again and now I had the gun and my mother body was where it was only thing my father was over her crying, he then glared at me.

" You monster, how could you?!" He yelled.

" I- I,you did it!" I stuttered out.

" You shot your mom all because she said she was going to leave you, now your going to kill me too? You monster!" He said and suddenly the place was blurry and immediately it when black,

I was now standing in middle of my apartment hallway. God I wanted to wake up now, I knew I was dreaming but it felt so real, so real that I have to question if I really was dreaming or was this really happening. I then tense up when I felt someone holding my waist.

" Oui mon amour." I heard the person whispered in my ears before putting a hand gun in my and and lifting it up to point at the same 5 victims who just showed up out of nowhere. They were crying and pleading for us to let them go. " Shoot them....kill them Zuri."

" What? No!" I yelled.

" I don't see why can't you. I mean, you are the reason why they are dead anyways. You might as well just say you murdered them." I recognized the scent of the person and voice and knew it was Chase. I wanted to push him off of me but somehow I couldn't move.

"He's right mademoiselle, you are the reason why we left our rooms. You think we didn't bring it to our grave? We didn't forgive you, you murderer" the middle age man said.

" I- I didn't mean to..." I said.

" Is that all you can do? Apologize and cry." The Italian woman spat.

" We were planning on having kids..." The Asian woman who hugged her husband said sadly.

" You see Zuri, they know that you are the reason they are dead. You are not much better than me love." Chase whispered in my ears.

" I'm so sorry, if only I had a time machine. I wouldn't...I would never had called for help!" I rushed out.

" But you did. Now your going to burn in hell." The middle age man said before he began to laugh and soon after they all join including chase.

" No, no, no God please." I murmured. Chase then move from behind me and come look at my face curiously.

" Even though your a murderer, I still want to marry you and give you my murderous children. Then we will be a family of murderers!" He laughed and that only made the others laugh harder. I began to back away while repeating the words no until I tripped and fell them everything went black.

I opened my eyes which I didn't knew was closed. I was now standing in the middle of a school hall with lockers on both side, it was my old high school. This was a dream, I knew it but for some reason it feel so ...real. I froze when I saw a someone walking from around a corner, instantly I recognize the teenage girl, it was Lilith. She looks awful, her eyes were wide open and her pupil were dilated, her brown skin was pale, her hair was thin and her mouth was cracked.

" Zu- Zuri....help" she groaned out.

" You're not real." I whispered to myself then her posture straighten up at a unusual speed. Her cracked lips contorted into a wide smile.

" You're so pathetic, you know that?" She said. " You know that you deserved all that shit we put you though right?"

" Fuck off and die!" I yelled out before trying to turn around and walk away but its like I was glued to the floor, I couldn't move or even turn my neck.

" You want that so bad...don't you?" She questioned menacingly. " You act like you were so innocent in this situation but every night little miss 'holy' go home and pray to God for my downfall. Whether it was praying that I died, my parents died, my friends died and worst my baby to die " Guilt washes over me as she talked, everything she was saying was true. I would've prayed for to most gore, most terrible and vile things to happened to her but to be fair I was a depressed teenager who was getting severely bullied.

" I- you bullied me?!"

" It could've been avoided. All you had to do was just moved away or you could've just let me kept that stupid pencil. " Her face was now serious and her eyes were narrowed at me. " Have you ever considered that maybe my life was worse than yours?, I mean surely I shouldn't put my problem out at you but what if that's all I ever known....violence."

" If it was worse then you would've related to me and not fucking torture me everyday, knowing the shit that I've been through!" I yelled.

" What if I been through worse!?" She snapped. " What if every day I was being beaten or molested by my parents!"

" That doesn't mean you should put your problem out on a innocent person!" I yelled.

" You are far from innocent Zuri. You remember when you searched for me on Facebook and saw a picture of me being pregnant at the tender age of 18, my dead eyes, sore fill skin, heat damaged hair and malnourished body. You celebrated and laughed at me, laughed and thanked god that it ' looked like I wasn't doing good ' if you were such a good person then you would've feel so satisfied." She was correct, I laughed and enjoy the fact that she didn't look happy, I remember being nervous at the fact that she might be happy, nervous that she was successful and happy after putting me through so much pain. After stalking her accounts, I felt so bad, so bad for being happy at her misfortune but at the same time I thought that my happiness was justified .

" I should be happy....I should be." I whispered.

" Look at you now, your held captive by some murderer...I guess it's your karma for celebrating my failure and praying for my downfall. If you were such a good person,you wouldn't have prayed those things. Now I'm probably living the best life with my kid while you have to spend the rest of your life opening up your legs and being a good little slave for your french contract killer." She then began to laugh hysterically while I felt like I was dying inside, she was right. I am a bad person.

" I'm sorry." I whispered to myself trying to not cry. I felt so horrible, I felt so bad.

" Sorry?" She repeated but this time her voice wasn't actually hers, it was deeper and sound very demonic. " people like you deserved to burn in hell." I looked up but she was no longer there and suddenly the walls bursted out in flames and my ears was filled with blood curdling screams. It was so odd, it was like I could actually feel the heat of the flames...that's impossible? Was this real? Did I somehow died and this is after life? Did I went to hell?!.The floor was no longer tiled but now hard hot stones. I then realized I was barefoot and completely naked, I covered my body and look around and the walls were completely gone and now I was on a very narrowed bridge made of stones. I swallowed nervously and looked over the bridge and it was just fire...never ending fire. I continued to walk across the bridge not understanding anything or where I was. A part of me wanted to stay calm but I couldn't...it felt too real.

Chase's pov

I smirked as I watched her shifting and sweating profusely in her "sleep". I knew what was happening, I knew she was seeing things and experiencing things that she feared the most. I remember not being able to sleep because I feared my dreams, I feared that I might see or experience the things I did whenever my dad would strap this to my head. The thing about my dad was that he loved to inflict pain on others, pain in all form, he loves to torture people as well, there was no doubt...he was a sadist, the definition of it. I mean, I can't lie and say that I didn't somewhat like to see others in pain but not as much as my father did, he got off to it. Seeing Zuri sweat and shake in her dream right now... unsettled me. But I have to do this, it was the only way to make her learn and listen to me.

.............

After couple more minutes watching her having her "nightmares" I began to unplugged the equipment and removed it off of her head and face. I then pinch her skin so she could wake up and immediately she jolted up in fright. She looked like she just saw a ghost..her eyes were wide opened, her skin covered in sweat and her mouth was opened as she was breathing harshly. She then looked at me with tears in her eyes and she then jumped on hugged me tightly.

" Ch- chase...I died!" She cried out. " I went to hell, I'm going to hell Chase!" She then bury her face in my chest and cried loudly.

" You didn't die." I said as I awkwardly hugged her back.

" I- I did...I did Chase, I saw Satan....I saw everything Chase!" I have to admit, I felt bad.

" You saw what you think hell is. Everything is only your imagination Zuri." I comforted but she only replied with loud wails . I sighed as I began to rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

...............

I brought her to my bed so she could rest but all she did was cry. She was tucked under the sheets and she asked me to max the air conditioner, so now the room was freezing cold. I got off the bed since I was sitting on the bed beside her and immediately as she felt my side of the bed lift up, she turned to me.

" Don't leave me!" She cried out. " Please."

" Im not, I'm just going downstairs to make you some tea." I explained but she only looked at me with pleading eyes.

" If you go...Satan will come back and take me.He said he has a spot waiting for me there in hell. I- I've been so good, I prayed everyday, I used to go to church everyday, I don't lie, I do everything right.....I don't understand....why." She whispered. I didn't knew it would have such an impact but at the same time, I was happy it did. She hugged me and was now seeking comfort from me, that's all I needed.

" It's just your imagination." I said again, amused that she allowed me to rub her back.

To be continued

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Good day, good morning and goodnight 🤓😊

This chapter might be goofy but I had writer's block aiit. Promise the next chapter will be better 🤧👏. Also sorry for the long wait, was kinda busy especially since it's no longer summer.