Chapter 7

Elise

Like yesterday morning I woke up half on top of the strange woman, who seems to be too deep in sleep to care that I’m probably constricting her air supply with my weight.

I roll off of her, not really caring if she wakes up or not, I’m too far gone to care if I make her angry. Last night made me realise the mistakes of trying, that my efforts are going to waste and the built up hopes that I had is going to kill me.

I mean she should have killed me right? I tried to slit her throat, I was willing to, and yet all she did was smile amused, and then what was all the kissing about? She looked too confused and shocked to do it on purpose, but whenever else she lent into me I was out like a candle, why not last night?

What even is this devilish type woman, with skin so strong that not even a knife could pass through it? Maybe I just dreamed of putting a knife to her throat, maybe it was just my malnourished driven hallucination of me putting a knife to her throat.

It felt too real though, I could practically feel the ghost of her feverishly hot neck in my hand where I grappled it.

“Why do you wake up so early?”

I jumped at the sound of her voice, breaking me out of my eternal debate of what I imagine and what is actually real anymore.

I turn my head slowly to take her in, but am surprised to see just a soft pale face, eyelids still closed and conveying only peace. This is a stark contrast of what I’ve seen basically all of my time here.

Between her anger, frustrated, annoyed, confused, amused and everything else in between, stress free and relaxed is one I have not witnessed. It sort of makes me want her angry expression back so I could have something to fight against, something that I know says beware and danger. But her face now just screams safe, and almost makes her look like a normal woman or even a girl would, however old she is.

“Tell me something about yourself?” She asks, opening her eyes and showing those black pits for pupils, focused on me now. “What were your hobbies, what you liked to do and what you always wanted to try?”

I am taken aback by her question and stammer for some sort of reason she would be asking, but come back empty. This woman is still very much a mystery that I both want to solve but avoid.

“You know I could always read your mind,” she says an amused smile pulling at her features.

“No,” I scream, clutching at my head and clambering to get out of the bed and as far away from her as possible.

Her smile fades and she rolls her eyes, shutting them and makes no new move to pursue me.

“You need to learn how to take a joke Elise,” she states, rolling out of bed on the opposite side of me and walking into the connecting bathroom. “If I could read your mind, I would have shamelessly done it countless amounts of times by now.”

She closes the door, allowing some separation from her for now, long enough for me to calm down a little.

Did she just call me by my real name? How long has she been following me in order to find out my name? Did she ask someone? Someone I love? A friend, my family perhaps? Too many unanswered questions, probably never to be answered anyway.

The door opens again, revealing the woman now standing with only a towel wrapped around her slim body.

I audibly gulp, the ghost feeling of discomfort between my legs causing me to tenses up once more.

“You know I can smell your fear from here.”

She walks to the wardrobe I completely missed at the other side of the room, pulling open the doors and pulling out what looks like jeans and a t-shirt.

She usually wears suits. This is too strange, I can’t handle this, this is evil I don’t know and can’t anticipate.

“So are you actually going to answer my question or am I still too revolting for you?”

Her tone was indifferent like she wasn’t really expecting an answer, an answer I didn’t know I wanted to give until it was out of my mouth.

“I enjoy reading, romances and teen fiction are always my favourite.”

She nodded, taking in the new information while she pulled on her jeans, seeming not to care that her towel had dropped to the floor, exposing every visible patch of pale skin on her body.

I turned away quickly, my eyes widened with surprise. Did she realise that I could see everything, like everything. Of course she did, from what I saw she had nothing to be ashamed of. Stop it, I scold myself. She is a monster that has enslaved you in this heel hold and prevented you from going back to your family.

I clear my throat, trying to diffuse the lump that seemed to form there, and the weird feeling in my chest.

“Did you ever want to do something that you never could?”

“What does it matter?” I ask, trying not to show my obvious discomfort for her being half naked still and asking me questions to ‘get to know me’.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said genuinely. “It is ok to talk to me.”

“Is it?” I ask under my breath

I hear her mumble something, knowing that she probably doesn’t want me to hear. All I can make out is, “I’ll just have to prove it to you.”