Chapter 3

Addison Anderson POV:

The acid seared. My hands, my entire being, felt like they were engulfed in an inferno. Every nerve ending screamed, a symphony of pure, unadulterated agony. It was a white-hot, tearing pain, as if my skin was being flayed alive, cell by agonizing cell. I thrashed on the ground, a guttural sound torn from my throat. It felt like molten lead had been poured over my flesh.

My mind, what little was left of it, screamed for water. For anything to douse this inferno. I scrambled, blindly, desperately, trying to wipe away the burning liquid, but only spread the torment further. Each frantic movement sent waves of nausea crashing over me.

Through the haze of pain, a single thought pierced the chaos: Escape. I had to get away. I pushed myself up, my legs trembling, barely able to support me. I staggered forward, a desperate, broken thing, pushing through the alleyway, every step a fresh wave of agony. I needed a place to hide, a place where I could collapse without being seen, where I could nurse these horrific wounds in private.

I fumbled with the key to my small downtown apartment, my fingers, raw and dissolving, barely gripping the metal. The door swung open, and I fell inside, slamming it shut behind me. The cool air of the apartment was a deceptive balm, doing nothing to quell the inferno on my skin.

My clothes, those that had been splashed, felt heavy, burning. I tore them off, each movement sending fresh jolts of pain through my body. The fabric clung to my raw skin, ripping away delicate layers. I threw them into a corner, disgusting, dangerous remnants of the attack.

I stumbled into the bathroom, my gaze fixed on the showerhead, a beacon of hope. I turned the handle, the cold water blasting out, a shock to my already tormented system. I stepped under it, fully clothed at first, then tearing off the rest of my garments. The icy spray hit my hands, and a sharp, piercing scream tore from my lips. It was an involuntary sound, primal and raw, the pain almost unbearable. But then, a tiny, almost imperceptible whisper of relief, a fleeting moment where the burning subsided, replaced by a deep, numbing ache.

I stayed there, under the punishing spray, until my skin was raw from the cold, but the searing heat on my hands had receded to a persistent, throbbing dullness. My entire body trembled, wrung out, exhausted. The pain was still there, a constant companion, but it no longer consumed me entirely.

I collapsed onto the cold tile floor, my breath coming in ragged gasps. Every muscle ached. My head pounded. My heart felt hollowed out. The exhaustion was absolute, a crushing weight that threatened to pull me under. I felt utterly, completely broken.

But I couldn't break. Not yet. I had one last thing to do. My plan. It wasn't just about escape anymore. It was about vengeance.

I dragged myself up, wrapped a towel around my trembling body, and walked to a hidden compartment in my closet. I pulled out a small, unassuming wooden box. Inside were carefully preserved letters, faded photographs, and trinkets-relics of a past life, a past love.

My gaze fell on a worn photo of Ethan and me, laughing, our arms wrapped around each other on a sun-drenched beach. His eyes, in that picture, had been full of an adoration that now seemed impossible. He had carved that small wooden bird for me, the very one Kasey had held up as a taunt, right after this photo was taken. It was all real, once. Our love, our dreams.

A wave of profound sadness washed over me, a grief so heavy it felt like my chest was caving in. The happy memories, once my solace, now twisted into instruments of torture. How could someone change so completely? How could I have been so blind? So foolish?

No. This was the final cut. The last thread connecting me to that miserable existence needed to be severed. Permanently.

With trembling hands, ignoring the throbbing pain, I began to tear the photographs. Each rip was a deliberate act of exorcism. The letters followed, their tender words now meaningless, corrosive. I piled them into a small metal bin, retrieved a lighter, and struck it.

The flame danced, eager, hungry. I watched as the images of our past curled, blackened, and turned to ash. The sweet smell of burning paper filled the room, a morbid incense to a love long dead. It wasn't just paper burning; it was my last vestiges of hope, my illusions, my foolish, stubborn love. And as they burned, a cold, hard resolve settled in my heart.

A sudden, violent crash echoed from the living room. The front door. It splintered inward. Ethan.

He stood in the doorway, his face a mask of rage, his eyes scanning the room. His gaze fell on me, then on my bloodied, acid-burned hands, then to the smoking bin of ashes. His expression faltered, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes – concern? Or just shock at the scene?

"Addi-" he started, taking a step toward me, his hand outstretched.

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, recoiling, my voice raw and broken. The memory of his hands on me, his cruel shove, the unfeeling stare, still burned fresh. I clutched my scorched hands to my chest.

He paused, his eyes narrowing, the brief flash of something human replaced by cold fury. His gaze locked onto the smoldering ashes. "What have you done?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. He strode over, kicking the bin, scattering the still-warm ashes across the floor. "Our memories? Our past? You destroyed them?"

"They were my memories, Ethan," I spat, the words bitter on my tongue. "And you destroyed them long before I put a match to them."

His face contorted. "You manipulative bitch! You think I don't see what you're doing? Trying to erase everything, playing the victim with your... your little charade!" His eyes burned with accusation. "Kasey told me you were vindictive. I should have listened."

He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into the raw, acidic burns on my wrist. I shrieked, a raw, animal sound, the pain so intense it stole my breath. My knees buckled.

"Stop it, Ethan!" I pleaded, tears streaming down my face, not from sorrow, but from pure, unadulterated agony. "Please! It hurts!"

He ignored my cries, his grip tightening. His eyes were devoid of sympathy. "Hurts?" he sneered, his voice dripping with ice. "You think you know pain? You think this is pain? You think this will make me pity you? You tried to frame Kasey for hurting the children, you tried to steal my gallery, and now you destroy our past? You are a monster, Addison."

"I did none of that!" I cried, my voice hoarse, desperate. "Kasey set me up! All I want is to leave you alone! Just let me go!"

He laughed, a chilling, humorless sound. "Leave? After what you've done? After what you've tried to take from me?" His eyes scanned the scattered ashes. "You can't erase me, Addison. You can't erase us."

He bent down, roughly grabbing a charred fragment of a photograph from the floor. He tore it again and again, the sound ripping through the silence. "This is what you are. A destroyer. A user. A parasite." His face was inches from mine, his breath hot against my cheek. "You were never good enough for me. Never. You were always just a stepping stone."

He straightened up, his eyes hardening with a chilling resolve. He looked me up and down, his gaze lingering on my acid-burned face, my trembling, scarred hands. "And now," he whispered, his voice dangerously soft, "now you' re not even pretty enough to be that." He took a step back, a cold smile forming on his lips. "You think you want to leave? You think you have a choice?"

He grabbed my arm again, this time with a brutal force that lifted me off my feet. I gasped, struggling uselessly against his hold.

"Where are you taking me?" I cried, my voice filled with terror.

"To a place where you can't hurt anyone anymore," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "A place where you can think about what you've done. A place where I can make you understand."

He dragged me through the hallway, down a flight of narrow, dusty stairs I barely remembered existed. The air grew colder, heavier. A faint, metallic smell filled my nostrils. We descended into a hidden basement, a place I had never seen before.

At the center of the room stood a terrifying contraption. It resembled a dentist's chair, but with thick leather straps and an ominous, metallic helmet fitted with several wires and electrodes. My blood ran cold. This was no ordinary basement. This was a torture chamber.

"Please, Ethan!" I sobbed, my voice breaking. "I'll do anything! I'll leave! I'll never come back! Just let me go!"

He ignored my pleas, his grip unyielding. He shoved me into the chair, roughly strapping my wrists and ankles. My acid-burned hands throbbed in agony as the leather tightened. He fastened the helmet onto my head, its cold metal pressing against my temples.

"You belong to me, Addison," he said, his eyes burning with a possessive madness. "Forever. And if I can't have you the way you were, I'll have you the way you are now. Broken. Mine."

He moved to a control panel, his fingers hovering over a series of dials and buttons. A low hum filled the room.

"What are you doing?" I screamed, my voice laced with pure terror.

"This," he said, his eyes fixed on me, a chilling smirk playing on his lips, "is for your stubbornness. For your lies. For your attempts to escape me."

He flipped a switch. A high-pitched, disorienting sonic frequency pierced my ears, vibrating through my skull. My head exploded with pain, a thousand tiny hammers pounding against my brain. My vision blurred, colors bleeding into each other. My body convulsed against the restraints, every muscle tightening, spasming. It felt like my very essence was being torn apart.

The pain was beyond anything I had ever experienced, internal and external, tearing at my mind and body simultaneously. My scream was swallowed by the deafening frequency. Consciousness began to fray, slipping away like sand through my fingers.

As darkness crept in, a single image flashed in my mind: Ethan, years ago, on our wedding day, his eyes full of love, whispering, "Addy, my love, my life, my everything." The memory was a cruel, beautiful torment.

Just before oblivion claimed me, a name, a desperate plea, escaped my lips, a voice from the depths of my breaking soul. "Curtis!"

Ethan froze. His hand, which had been reaching for another dial, stopped. His eyes, wide with a sudden, unfamiliar terror, stared at me. "Curtis?" he whispered, his voice hoarse, filled with a raw confusion. "Who... who is Curtis?" He looked at the machine, then back at me, his face pale, a flicker of something almost like fear in his eyes. He quickly shut off the machine, the agonizing hum dying down, leaving only the ringing in my ears and the throb in my head. He leaned down, his face close to mine. "Addison! Tell me! Who is Curtis?"