Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
The silhouette slowly approached Audrey, giving her a clearer view of a man’s features. Her vision was hazy, and she thought it was Cornell.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried her best to speak.
“Cornell, is that you?”
The towering man paused.
A sudden, sharp sound sliced through the quiet night. The man ripped off Audrey’s collar.
The cold night air met Audrey’s skin, making her shiver.
“Ah!” Audrey cried out, her body debilitated by the effects of the drugs, making her unable to lift a hand to stop the man.
“Please… Spare me.”
Gathering the last ounce of her strength, Audrey attempted to retreat, tears dampening the blindfold tightly secured over her eyes.
She managed to see the man before her. However, she wasn’t able to distinguish his features.
Judging from the build, Audrey was sure it wasn’t Cornell.
The man stood still for a moment as he silently looked at Audrey.
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He suddenly leaned in, and his scent enveloped her.
A flicker of recognition crossed Audrey’s mind, but she couldn’t put a finger on it.
Fear instinctively took over as she asked, “What do you want?”
The man’s fingertips traced Audrey’s neck, sliding down gently as he took off the pendant she had on.
“Is this yours?” His voice had a raspy edge as if it was run through a voice-changer device.
Audrey nodded.
“Yes, it’s mine. It’s not worth much. Please, don’t take it. I can give you money instead.”
The pendant had been with Audrey since she was a child. Her grandmother somehow took it from her one day but gave it back to her before the demise.
Audrey couldn’t stomach losing the pendant since it carried sentimental value for her.
The man stepped back, refraining from advancing further, and paused.
After a few minutes, he said softly, “Why is it you?”
His voice trembled, carrying an undercurrent of unspoken emotions.
Audrey was startled as she felt the man approaching her again. She was paralyzed with fear and was powerless to flee.
Yet, the man just calmly reattached the pendant. His movements were mindful and tender, much to her amazement.
Somehow, she felt the man was gentle to her.
Being gentle… Someone’s image fleetingly flashed across Audrey’s mind. Yet, her headache was so intense that she could not focus on thinking.
The door slammed shut, and the man made a hasty exit, granting her a moment to catch her breath.
But before Audrey could fully recover, another figure entered the room.
Without warning, a brutal blow struck Audrey’s neck, plunging her back into unconsciousness.
After what felt Like an eternity, Audrey was jolted awake.
Someone had splashed icy cold water on her.
Blinking away the disorientation, Audrey found herself tightly bound with ropes. Her hands were immobilized, but her feet had some limited freedom.
The surroundings resembled an abandoned school building filled with broken-down tables and chairs.
Perched upon a towering structure resembling three stories, it mirrored the eerie stage of her previous kidnapping, creating an unsettling d?ja vu.
Recalling the suffering she went through last time, a chill raced down Audrey’s spine.
Standing before Audrey, Tessa seemed even more unhinged and twisted, wearing the scars of countless terrors.
“You seem to have a good sleep!” Tessa’s voice, rough and harsh, cut through the air.
Audrey summoned her courage and confronted Tessa.
“Tessa, this is the second time you’ve kidnapped me. Is this your way of seeking life behind the bar by committing crime upon crime?”
“Crime? How hilarious! You really have no idea what a true crime is!”
With slow and deliberate movements, Tessa removed her hat and mask, revealing a visage that horrified Audrey.
Tessa’s face bore clear evidence of her suffering. It was a grotesque patchwork of cuts and festering wounds.
The stench of decaying flesh hung thick in the air. It was sickening and nauseating. It was really unbearable.
Closing in, Tessa asked Audrey tauntingly, “Have you seen it clearly?
I can’t go back to the days when I was a decent lady from a wealthy family. What else do I have left to fear in this world?”
Audrey’s eyes widened, and she was left speechless. She couldn’t quite comprehend what Tessa had gone through.
Tessa’s disfigured countenance was a terrible sight to see. It was capable of reducing children to tears and inflicting nightmares upon adults.
“Do you know why I look like this?”
Audrey managed to free her hands behind her back from the rope and asked, “Why?”
“It’s all thanks to Cornell! He launched an intense and unrelenting chase after me. While the police had been tracking me down, he lent a helping hand on it, blocking all possible escape routes. Desperate and penniless, I sought refuge with an elderly fisherman on a remote coastal island…”
Memories filled Tessa’s mind in an instant.
The fisherman first treated her well, giving her food and clean clothes.
But hope soon turned to despair when she discovered the dark truth.
The fisherman held numerous women captive and subjected them to unimaginable torment.
His sadistic acts had left scars on their bodies. He had also salted their wounds to avoid putrefaction.
When he took Tessa in, the last captive was barely breathing, legs and body covered in bloody cuts.
The fisherman had calmly put salt on the woman’s wound and said, “By doing this, it won’t stink.”
Tessa was trapped in that living nightmare and did not dare to resist.
She took care of the fisherman’s needs and cooked for him during the day. During the night, she suffered from his brutal abuse, which was exacerbated by his consumption of a mysterious medicine.
The torment would go on throughout the night, haunting Tessa until the fisherman succumbed to a deep slumber in the daylight hours.
Tessa’s frail form, worn and weathered, bore the scars of her harrowing experience.
One fateful day, when the fisherman embarked on his fishing expeditions, Tessa realized her moment had come.
Her body had become disposable, devoid of any worth.
Tessa took advantage of the situation and laced the fisherman’s drink with an excessive amount of the medicine he frequently consumed.
The once-beneficial medicine became a deadly poison.
The fisherman met a violent demise, and Tessa set his dwelling ablaze before making her escape on his boat.
With stolen money in hand, she sought refuge in a discreet inn, veiling her disfigured face in fear and secrecy.
A few days later, news reports stated that the fisherman’s boat had caught fire, and numerous bodies were uncovered. The police discovered that the fisherman was a murderer.
Days turned to weeks, and Tessa’s meager funds dwindled, leaving her in dire straits without the means to seek treatment for her injuries.
Then, a surprising turn of events unfolded. Upon returning to her inn room one day, she found a package on her bed containing money, a phone, and Audrey’s address.
When the phone rang, she answered it, and a mysterious voice on the other end offered her a shot at seeking revenge along with specific instructions.
Finally, the day came when Tessa managed to kidnap Audrey.
Unexpectedly, Audrey was saved from Tessa’s clutches when a masked man appeared out of nowhere and successfully took Audrey away.