Brave Until the Darkness Pt. 1

Brynn Cabot was way over her head. It was only two years ago when she thought she was simply buying drugs from a normal drug dealer. Today, she’s a slave to a monstrous and harsh creature in human flesh. Her life now depended on her efforts to please her master, and her secret had to be maintained if she wanted her friends and family to be safe. On the outside, Brynn seemed to be a helpless, lost, and broken person in search of something that would fill a void within. But, under that poorly painted picture was a girl trapped and alone for the rest of her tormented life.

For the first few months, Brynn tried anything she could to get her sister to hear her. She didn’t realize the power the creature had over her and sought help in any way she knew how. The two sisters were not very close and had never truly been. Growing up, Brynn struggled to be seen and heard as who she was. She was the youngest sister, who was seen as too dramatic, wild, and quite frankly the opposite of peace. Her bond with her sister was thinner and more delicate than a layer of ice.

Her attempts to cry for help only came across as a drug addict in need of more money for more drugs. Her sister Ruby looked down at Brynn and saw her as the "disappointment" child. Her assumptions of Brynn put her in a box that she would never be able to crawl out of.

This would inevitably kill both of them.

“Don’t you remember what I told you about reaching out to your sister?” the creature’s voice slithered in Brynn’s ear. His cold, unflesh-like hands were on her shoulders. He hovered over her as though he was standing on a chair, though there was nothing but space between he and the ground. She could not dare to look up at him. She cowered in his presence, never once seeing the identity of the monsterous creature.

Brynn had reached out to her sister a few dozen times, aching for her to see the trouble she was in. Each time she was met with a cold and brutal failure. Her sister wanted nothing to do with her. Ruby had finally given up on Brynn. With every punishment from the creature, Brynn suffered days without any fix. Left alone in a dark, cold, hard closet until she promised to do as she was told — even though she would go right back to breaking her promise as soon as she saw a ray of hope.

Brynn, whimpering at the creature’s hands now in her hair, “P—Please, please don’t put me in that room again. I-I need y-you.”

“My dear, you are stepping over the line too many times.” The creature pushed Brynn down the floor. Her knees were scuffed, her hair was knotted, her clothes were torn and covered in blood. Her glossy and weary eyes looked up to see a packet of the thing she craved so much: sparkling lavender. The glittery powder seemed almost like fairy dust, but far from innocent or magical. The creature’s own supply was the only source in existence — and nothing craved the stuff more than humans.

“I thought what we were doing here was important to you? Maybe it is time that you prove that I have your loyalty as you’ve sworn to me.”

“I-I’ll do…anything.” Brynn said reluctantly. Shortly over two weeks, Brynn had finally realized what she had done. This was no ordinary fix, no normal drug. Something inside her had changed, permanently. She could feel with every fix the creature was branding her, claiming her. His intentions were unclear to her, but she would do anything for just two things: her life and her fix.

The addiction grew. Even at Brynn’s lowest days, the moments when she wanted out of the life of addiction, the creature’s persuasion captured her. Even if she had a choice — which she didn’t — she could not leave.

Brynn crawled near to the creature, looking anywhere but directly into his gaze, “What must I do to prove to you that I am strong enough? That you can trust me?”

The creature caressed her face, though Brynn's eyes held closed in fear, “Absolutely nothing, my darling. You are forgiven.”

Brynn held in her breath. The creature’s touch was cold on her face and sent a chill down her body. She never dared to move from or look at the creature, as she was more scared of what the creature would do if she had. The creature, however, had a revelation. Whenever a human being that belonged to him would start wavering, there was a simple solution to draw them back under his control. Brynn gave him that answer and he would do this to hundreds of other humans around the world -- once he was done with her.

Brynn was the first of many. She was the experiement to see just how far humanity could be pushed, abused, and used. Brynn would solve all his problems, answer all his questions -- and she would do it simply for another fix or to stay alive.

Funny how the human mind works that way.