The Collection

Chapter 5

        I crack my eyes open and am immediately blinded by a bright light. Dad's face pokes into my field of view.
        "Oh, look at that - you're awake!" He smiles and holds up a knife. "Would you rather me start with your left toes, or your right?"
        My stomach feels heavy. "W-where am I?"
        Dad ignores me. "Of course, I could always skip the toes, and go right to the ankles."
        I take a shuddering breath. "I'm in the workroom, aren't I?"
        Dad continues to ignore me. "I could even go right to the knees!"
        "Dad!" I shout. He gazes at me. I swallow. "Am I in your workroom?"
        A slow smile spreads across his face. "I think you already know the answer to that."
        "Dad, please," I say, tears creeping into the edge of my voice. "Don't do this. Please, don't do this."
        Dad spits on the floor and presses the knife hard against my left big toe. "I will start on your left foot. Every time you cry out, I will work faster." In one quick motion, he pushes down on the knife and slices my big toe off.
        I let out a yell before I can stop myself.
        He moves the knife to my next toe and begins slowly putting pressure on it.
        I take a deep breath. Maybe if I keep talking, it will distract him long enough so I can escape - or at the very least, it will distract me from the pain. "Dad, remember when I was 4 years old? We went to the beach, and I found a jellyfish that had gotten stranded on the land," I say, clenching my teeth against the pain of the knife. "You helped me gently lift it up with a shovel and carry it into the water. We watched as it swam away-" I dig my fingernails into my palms as Dad's knife begins to cut bone. Tears stream down my face.
        "Or... remember my 5th birthday party? You bought me an American Girl doll - Kit - and a color-by-number book. This was before we moved. Taylor and Janice came, and they had pooled their money to buy me a Calico Critters dollhouse." I squeeze my eyes shut. My fists are clenched so hard that I feel the stickiness of blood on my fingertips.
        He's only on the second toe. How much longer will this last?