Chapter 5

Elise

The moment my eyes opened, I felt like I was at home, in my mother’s arms when she would hold me in the night my father had gotten drunk and yelled at me.

I shut my eyes again, wanting the moment to last a little longer and I pulled her body closer to me. But instead of feeling soft and comfortable like my mother always was, the body under me felt stiff and hard, almost like stone.

“Mom?” I ask, pulling myself into my elbows to see the person below me but freeze instantly with fear.

My eyes widen as my eyes lock with the blonde woman who appears to still be asleep, but her stiff muscles tells me she is uncomfortable.

I pull my arms away from her slowly, trying to do it without waking her.

Anxiety eats away at me as she rolls, my arm barely pulling free from around her as she makes herself comfortable.

I hesitate a minute before continuing to climb off the bed, just to be sure she is fast asleep and I wouldn’t bring hell down on myself if I make a little noise.

Rolling myself off the side of the bed onto weak wobbly legs, I notice I am completely naked. I feel like throwing up, screaming and scrubbing my skin clean all at once.

What did that woman do to me? From the strange pain sensation between my legs I know exactly what she did but I don’t want to admit to myself that it happened to me, I don’t think I would be able to function if she violated me.

When both of my feet are on the cold hardwood floor I look back to make sure she is still unconscious which thankfully she is, with her back turned to me and breathing rhythmically.

I take careful steps towards the door, looking towards the bed every move I make, while keeping my arms out for balance against the creaking planks of wood beneath me.

Ten feet from the door, I tell myself, especially my sore legs. I get to the door and I get to my family.

I am five feet from the door, so close to freedom that I can nearly taste it, imagining my real mom holding me tonight, but just as I place my foot down on the next plank, the wood screams, shooting hysteria and disappointment through me when I feel hot breaths hit my bare skin.

“You got further than I thought you would,” the sweet voice says. “But as I told you last night, there is nowhere to go and I will catch you.”

“W-why are you doing this?” I ask trying to keep the shakiness out of my body and her fiery hands curl around my hip bones, pulling my back flushed against her front, separated only by the rough fabric of her suit.

“Why is it that that question is most frequently asked in a situation like this?” She asks amused but trying to hide the underlining annoyance in her voice.

“What question would you rather me ask?” I say, trying to stall her from doing anything to me while I am as exposed and vulnerable as I am now.

“Why don’t you choose the questions and whether I answer or not is up to me?”

“What’s your name?” I asked without hesitation, but I received no answer so I thought of another one. “Why me?”

“Like I said last night, you fascinate me,” she states, still not giving me the answer I want.

“How did you find me?” No answer.

Which leads me to believe she had been watching me for some while. I just finished school, I didn’t have a job and was very much a home buddy, how did she find me?

“What do you plan on doing to me if I agree to be yours?”

“That would ruin the surprise,” she whispers in my ear while squeezing my hips a little tighter, pricking my skin with goosebumps.

“Why am I naked?” I ask, staring at a hole into the door, not moving my eyes from it.

“Because you were asleep so I bathed you,” she says nonchalantly. “Then I took you to the bed to sleep.”

“What…” start to ask but cut myself off, afraid for the answer.

“Lost for words are we?” She teases. “Or too afraid to ask?”

I clear my throat, trying to get the lump that had formed there out so that I wouldn’t seem so small when I ask the question that petrified me.

“What happened last night?” I ask, blinking building tears out of my eyes.

Her body seems to stiffen against mine, as if she didn’t know how to answer or she was confused that I asked that question. Either way the trauma in between my legs sends a tear down my cheek.

“You agreed to the deal,” she spits, releasing my hips and letting me fall to the cold floor from my lack of strength before walking past me and through the doors, slamming them shut behind her.

I pulled my knees to my chest and let my body jerk with sobs, like an earthquake my body trembled with them, tears streaming out of my eyes.

I feel as though someone has pulled my world out from under me and now I am forced into a new one. A world where I can’t breathe, everything hurts and I am trapped.

Should I even care anymore what happens to me? What is the point? She has already gotten what she wanted from me so why fight, because it’s clear she will probably only do it again.

So you are just going to let her? I ask myself. You are just going to give up the fight because she violated you, a thing she will do again but next time you will let her do it willingly? You are just going to let her take your dignity and strength away?

No, she’s right I did agree to this deal and I will deny her pleas at every stage of torture she throws my away and I will go home. I will see my family again, I will get my life back and she won’t be able to stop me.

Unless she goes back on her promise, a small part of me whispers. I put it to the back of my mind and wipe away my tears and regain my senses.

The door handle shuffles before clicking open, letting the door swing open wide enough for the blonde devil to come in with a tray of what looks like freshly made food and a pile of clothes balanced naturally on her arm as she closes the door behind her.

She places the clothes down on the bed and the tray on the desk in the corner, completely ignoring my form still sitting on the floor with my knees pulled to my chest, and I am sure I have track marks on my face from the tears that fell.

“Did you need help standing up?” She asked, facing me now without a single glimpse of anger or annoyance on her face anymore, which since I’ve been here has never happened before.

I watched her outstretched limb suspiciously, like she was holding a knife out to me rather than a hand, but I slipped my own into it, not wanting to make her angry and I don’t think I would have been able to stand up on my own.

She pulls me up, not even showing any strain to my weight. My knees lock and start to give way, but she wraps her arms around me for balance, forcing the breath out of my lungs with her touch.

“You think you could walk to the bed?” She asks, sounding much closer to my ear then I had initially thought. I nod, biting back my screams for her to let me go of her hot grip.

Slowly she retracts her grip from me and allows me to take a few stumbles before gripping my arm and helping me the rest of the way. She helps me sit on the tall mattress, lifting me almost but is quick to remove her arms after my body recoils and stiffens.

“I got you clothes and food,” she says gesturing to each in turn before forcing her hands into her pant pockets and rocking on her feet awkwardly. “I will be gone for the majority of the day so if you need anything, maids are nearby but I am warning you, don’t try to escape.”

Her eyes bore into mine, almost pleading with me, but she must know better, I can’t live with myself here and not at least try something.

“So yeah,” she clears her throat and turns to leave. “Try to get some rest.”

She leaves looking back at me one more time before closing the door behind her.

That was really weird, but her absence is a little too unsettling, I don’t want to be alone, it reminds me of being in that room, not having anyone or anything other than my thoughts and useless hopes.

But this time I have something other than the desire for someone to save me, I have hopes of escaping and I would be stupid if I didn’t try.