Broken and Powerful

Chapter 10

JEDA

The heat of the shower calmed Jeda's sweaty body down. Her mind was racing and replaying the match with a small smile on her face. It felt good to be on the mat again, even if it wasn't an actual fight but more of a wrestling match.

She missed the ability to fight back and defend herself without being hurt worse.

There were many times she tried to fight against Jerad, even the night before Stefano brought her to his house. But it never worked.

Jerad was never alone and she was always outnumbered. They were large and stronger than her. She was faster than most of his friends and could outrun them, but there is nowhere to run in a small enclosed room. She was always cornered somewhere in their house with nowhere to run.

The only thing she could do was attempt to protect herself the best she could. Which usually meant just protecting her face while laying in the fetal position on the floor of the room while they kicked and punched her.

Her mind flashed back to the basement and a shiver ran through her body even with the warm water running down her. With a groan, she leaned her head forward and let the water move her hair in front of her face while looking down at the floor.

She felt so pathetic.

She could never do anything to stop his abuse. Running never worked and she tried a few different times but he always found her or knew what she was planning before it even happened. Fighting back against more than one person was pointless.

She was weak and nothing would change that. Not even Stefano's stupid deal he made with her. Nothing would make her feel strong again. She would forever be a scared little girl that couldn't defend herself.

With a loud grunt, she slammed her fist into the shower wall in anger. Her body was so numb that she didn't feel the pain. Small tingles filled her knuckles but that was it.

"Pathetic," She mutters under her breath while turning the water off. Part of her wanted to feel the pain she was so used to feeling, but after nearly a week and a half of being here, she was just sore as her wounds healed. There was pain occasionally in her ribs but they didn't hurt that much anymore since it happened so long ago.

The pain always kept her distracted from her own thoughts. But now there was nothing but numbness and loneliness.

"Are you okay?" Stefano's voice shouts through the bathroom door. She quickly spins around in a panic and slips, falling on her ass from the wet floor.

"Fuck," She mutters again while trying to pull herself up but her hands slip from the wet tub.

"Jeda?" Stefano yells louder and starts banging on the door from his side of the room.

"I'm," She quickly wraps a towel around herself and stands up. "I'm fine. I just. I slipped."

"Are you hurt?" He asks juggling the doorknob.

"I'm fine," She says and wraps the towel tighter around her naked body then sits on the edge of the tub and looks at her knees to make sure she wasn't bleeding. "I am going to dry off. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll go in your room and wait for you," He says then she hears footsteps retreating from the door.

Grunting once again, she stands up and looks at the wounds on her legs that she was supposed to keep covered with gauze and realizes she doesn't have anything to cover them with. Looking at them individually she notices they are starting to scab over anyways.

"Whatever," She says then slips into a sports bra and an oversized hoodie with some black leggings.

Grabbing the towel from the floor, she rubs it through her wet hair to attempt to dry it. After a few minutes, she gives up and throws it in the laundry bin. Her eyes moved towards the bathroom mirror that was covered in steam with water droplets running down it.