The Script Where They Killed Me

The cold, mechanical voice echoed in my skull just as my fingers tightened around the jagged edge of broken glass. I was ready to end it all.

[Tragic Narrative Arc Complete. Host preparing for extraction to the Prime Reality.]

Five years. I had been trapped in this frozen hellscapethe so-endured Winter Sanctuaryfor five long years.

To ensure their survival, I was sold into the subterranean labor wards. I wore an iron collar around my neck. I spent my days on my knees doing the most degrading, back-breaking work imaginable. I lost two toes to the frostbite. If I displeased the overseers in the slightest, they would drag me by my hair into the freezing water tanks until my lungs burned.

But now, my fianc, Todd, casually unzipped his heavy thermal coat.

"If you hadn't messed with the climate control and given Evie pneumonia, we wouldn't have had to leave you down here to learn your place," he said, his voice smooth, reasonable. "Youve finally learned your lesson, haven't you, Caroline?"

My eyes widened, hollow and unblinking.

Then my brother, Declanwho had lost an arm saving me three years ago in this very simulationwalked over. Both of his arms were perfectly intact.

"Evie has a kind heart," Declan said, adjusting his pristine cuffs. "Shes already forgiven you. Just be obedient from now on."

In the corner, the figures of my parents, who had mutated into the infected undead just months ago, nonchalantly wiped the black sludge from their mouths. They looked entirely human again.

"Letting you lose a leg to the cold was a necessary punishment," my mother said softly. "You can't go around scheming to hurt Evie anymore."

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears. All of this. All of this was because Evie caught a cold?

Something inside me snapped. A wet cough racked my chest, and a spray of dark blood hit the icy floor. The world faded to a suffocating black.

When I woke, the first thing I saw was a face of flawless, porcelain skin.

Evie sat at the edge of my bed, her lips curled in faint disgust.

"You've been somewhat manageable these past few years," she said, examining her manicured nails. "So I decided to let you come back. But if you even think about crossing me again, Mom, Dad, and Todd won't let you off so easy."

I didn't know when I had ever crossed her. But five years in the dark had bred a bone-deep reflex in me. I didn't dare think. I just nodded, a jerky, submissive motion.

My parents stood near the doorway, exchanging a look of profound satisfaction.

"She's finally been tamed," my father noted. "Those five years of character building didn't go to waste."

Character building.

That was their word for the iron collar. For kneeling in the freezing slush to scrub boots. For being dragged by my scalp into the icy depths. Character building.

I didn't argue. I just lowered my chin until it touched my chest. "I'll be good. I'll obey."

Todd and Declan shared a fleeting smile. It was the look of artisans admiring a wild thing they had successfully broken.

Todd walked toward the bed and reached out to pat my head.

My body seized. A violent, uncontrollable tremor ripped through me.

His hand hovered in the air, freezing for a fraction of a second before he pulled it back.

"You don't need to be afraid. No one is going to hit you anymore," Todd said, his tone adopting a velvet softness. "The Sanctuary is in the past. You are my fiance now. You are Caroline Smith."

I shook my head, my eyes wide with terror.

"No," I whispered. "I'm the stray."

Todd froze. The softness evaporated, replaced by a tight, offended furrow in his brow. "Are you still blaming me for this?"

My legs gave out. I threw myself off the mattress, hitting the hardwood floor with a heavy thud, and pressed my forehead against the floorboards.

"No, no! The stray wouldn't dare. It's my fault. I'm worthless."

The smug smiles on my parents' faces cracked.

Declan stepped forward, grabbing my arm to haul me up. "Alright, enough of this. You're out now. You don't need to use that word anymore."

He pulled me out of the bedroom and down the hall into the dining room, pressing me into a chair. "Eat something. You must be starving."

I lifted my eyes, just a fraction, to take in the table. It was groaning under the weight of roasted meats, fresh vegetables, and steaming bread.

In the wards, we fought like wild dogs for moldy rations. If you were a second too slow, you gnawed on frozen roots. Sometimes, if you reached for a dropped crumb, the guards would stomp on your hand until the bones snapped.

Reflexively, I yanked my hands back, burying them deep inside my sleeves.

Todd picked up a piece of glazed meat with his fork and placed it on my plate.

Like a gunshot, the gesture sent me sliding off the chair. I hit my knees on the rug. "The stray... Caroline doesn't deserve meat. Please, leave it for Miss Evie."

A suffocating silence fell over the dining room.

Declan let out an irritated sigh and walked over to pull me up. But the moment his bare skin brushed my hand, he went rigid.

My hands looked like petrified wood. They were gnarled, covered in the purple-black webbing of healed frostbite, the knuckles thick and deformed.

I saw the memory flash in his eyes. The year he caught the fever in the Sanctuary. I had knelt in front of the ward overseer, smashing my head against the concrete until my skull bled, just to trade for a single bowl of hot broth to keep him alive.

Declan abruptly dropped my arm. He took a step back, running a hand through his hair, his voice suddenly sharp with defensive frustration. "I told you to eat, so eat. Drop the dramatic act."

Todd stepped in, his voice taking on that soothing, patronizing cadence again. "It's all over, Cara. You aren't that spoiled, arrogant girl anymore. We won't send you back."

He picked up the piece of meat and held it to my lips.

I opened my mouth. I took it in. I didn't dare chew too loudly. I just swallowed it down.

Todd nodded, pleased.

My mother reached out, patting my shoulder, a small smile returning to her face. "Since Caroline has finally learned how to behave, I suppose we can start planning the wedding."

Five years ago, I was the girl Todd loved. He used to hold my hand in the snow, pressing it into his coat pocket, promising he would keep me warm for the rest of our lives.

But those memories felt like they belonged to a ghost. A girl from another lifetime.

I gave a short, mechanical nod.

Evie suddenly dropped her fork. It clattered against the fine china. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Todd, her body is still so weak from her... time away. Isn't a wedding a bit too stressful right now? Can she handle it?"

"I'm fine," I blurted out.

The panic was a living thing in my chest. I was so terrified they would think I was being difficult. I was terrified they would throw me back into the dark.

Evie stared at me, the fake sweetness draining from her expression. "Well. That's good, then."

When the meal ended, I immediately stood up and began clearing the plates.

My mother blinked, startled, but she didn't stop me.

Five years ago, I was the princess of the Smith household. I didn't know how to run a dishwasher. Now, I stood at the sink, scrubbing every single plate until my knuckles throbbed. I washed them three times over before putting them in the sterilizer.

In the wards, if a plate had a smudge, you took a beating.

When I finally turned around, wiping my wet, deformed hands on my jeans, I saw Todd standing in the kitchen doorway.

I jumped, my heart hammering against my ribs. Had I done something wrong? Was he angry?

He frowned, his eyes scanning my hunched posture. "You... you don't need to do chores here."

I dropped my gaze to his shoes, my voice small, fervent with devotion. "It's my duty. I'll take good care of you all. I promise." I swallowed hard. "Just please... don't send me back."

He stood there, perfectly still.

Every muscle in my body pulled taut as a wire. I waited for his verdict.

After what felt like an eternity, he spoke, his voice thick. "I'm never sending you back."

It was only when he turned and walked away that I remembered how to breathe.

That night, Declan knocked on my bedroom door. He walked in holding a folded garment. "Your skin is sensitive. The fabric on this one is incredibly soft. You used to love this brand."

I reached out. The cashmere brushed my ruined fingertips, and for a second, my breath caught. It was so soft.

Then, like it burned me, I shoved it back into his hands.

"I don't deserve something so nice. This is fine." I pointed to the threadbare, patched jacket sitting in the corner of the room.

Declans hand froze mid-air. "You didn't used to be like this."

Used to be.

I dug through my fragmented memories. The old Caroline. The girl who only wore silk, who demanded fresh linens every week, who drank from crystal.

"I was ungrateful," I recited, the words flat and rehearsed. "I was spoiled and I wasted so much. I know my place now. I'm content."

Declans jaw clenched. His knuckles turned white where he gripped the cashmere. He opened his mouth to argue, to say something, but the words died in his throat. He let out a ragged breath.

"Just get some sleep."

He turned on his heel and pulled the door shut.

But I didn't go to sleep. I went to Todd's room.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed. When I walked in, he looked startled, but a flicker of genuine warmthmaybe even desirelit up his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked softly.

I quietly clicked the door shut behind me. "You are my master now. It's my duty to serve you tonight."

Before he could process the words, I began unbuttoning my shirt. I climbed onto the mattress, lay flat on my back, spread my legs, and stared blankly at the ceiling. I felt nothing.

Seconds ticked by. He didn't move.

A cold sweat broke out on my neck. I turned my head to look at him. Panic clawed at my throat. Did I do the ritual wrong? In the labor wards, when the guards were silent like this, it meant the punishment was going to be severe.

I shot up into a sitting position. "I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong? Is my expression bad? I can fix it. Tell me how you like it."

I scrambled to appease him.

But Todd looked horrified. His brows were drawn together, the warmth in his eyes completely extinguished, replaced by something dark, something I couldn't decipher.

His voice was a gravelly whisper. "In the Sanctuary... did you..."

"I was stupid before!" I interrupted, my voice shrill with terror. "I was wrong. I'll change, I swear I'll be exactly what you want, just please don't make me go back!"

He squeezed his eyes shut. A muscle feathered in his jaw as he fought back whatever emotion was rising in him. Slowly, he reached out, grabbed the heavy duvet, and pulled it over my bare shoulders.

The lamp clicked off. The room was swallowed by the dark.

As I lay there, my eyes sliding shut, I heard him whisper into the silence. He was on the phone.

"I need you to run a background check. Find out exactly what happened to her over the last five years."

The next morning, a piercing scream shattered the quiet of the hallway.

My eyes flew open. Muscle memory took overI threw myself off the mattress and curled into a tight ball in the corner of the room.

When Todd realized who was screaming, he bolted out the door. I threw my clothes on and scrambled after him.

Evie was standing in the corridor, her eyes red and brimming with tears. "My necklace is gone! Mom gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday. I never even wore it!"

My parents were instantly at her side, cooing and soothing her.

Then, a young maid spoke up, her voice trembling. "Last night... I saw Miss Caroline sneaking out of her room..."

Every single pair of eyes in the hallway snapped toward me.

My mothers brow furrowed. "Caroline. Where were you last night?"

I shot a panicked look at Todd. I hadn't served him properly. I didn't know if I was allowed to say I was there. I ducked my head, my gnarled fingers twisting the hem of my shirt.

Evie shot the maid a subtle, sharp look. Taking the cue, the maid lunged at me, grabbing the collar of my shirt. "I bet she's hiding it on her!"

Instinctively, I curled inward, protecting my chest and face, but in the struggle, the back of my shirt was ripped downward.

The hallway went dead silent.

I felt the cool air on my back. I knew what they were staring at. A roadmap of intersecting, jagged horrors. Old scars layered over new ones. Burns, lacerations, the thick, raised keloids of repeated lashings. There wasn't a single inch of unbroken skin left.

Todd lunged forward, pulling my shirt up and wrapping his arms tightly around my shaking frame. "Stop it!" he roared at the maid. "She was in my room last night."

The air turned heavy, suffocating.

A flash of pure, venomous jealousy crossed Evie's face, but she masked it perfectly within a second.

My mother slowly walked around to look at me, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "Your back... what happened to your back?"

I kept my chin tucked, whispering to the floor. "It's nothing. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Declan stepped closer, his voice dark and thick with an emotion I didn't recognize. "Cara... you can't blame us. Sending you to the Sanctuary... it was for your own good. To teach you. But you're home now. We'll make it up to you."

He paused, swallowing hard. "I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

My mother hurriedly wiped at her wet cheeks. "I'll buy you a whole new wardrobe, honey. We'll get you jewelry, makeup, whatever you want. Anything you want to eat, just tell me."

Even my father cleared his throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Let's put the past behind us. You've matured a great deal."

At breakfast, my mother obsessively piled food onto my plate. Declan heated up a glass of milk and placed it gently in front of me. Todd sat close by my side, meticulously peeling shrimp and dropping the meat into my bowl.

Across the table, Evie just sat there, aggressively stabbing a piece of fruit with her fork. She hadn't taken a single bite.

I kept my head down, eating exactly what I was given, chewing each bite with terrified precision.

After breakfast, I headed toward the stairs to return to my room.

Evie suddenly appeared, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the top of the staircase. She looked at me, her eyes stripped of all their usual sweetness. They were cold, dead.

"Don't think you've won," she hissed. "I got rid of you five years ago, and I can do it again. Mom and Dad's love belongs to me. Todd is mine. You will never beat me, Caroline."

Then, her foot suddenly slipped. She threw her weight backward.

"Ahhhhh!"