Page 7 of Reckoning

I clutched Mom’s shoulders and helped her sit in a chair, my father ignoring his own bloody nose to tend to her. She shook as tears fell down her face, but she stared after the young man called Meyer as they walked away. Just before he disappeared into my house, Meyer turned back to look at me one last time.

Why didn’t they tell me everything right then? Surely, then I could have been prepared for this nightmare and maybe even avoided it, but instead, I was wounded and anxious on the floor of Meyer’s home without the necessary information to defend myself.

I didn’t know how long I sat like that, wrapped up in myself, falling eventually to my side and hugging my arms against my chest. Joshua entered throughout the day to let me use the restroom, untying my hands briefly before refastening the rope. He let me out of the room to eat lunch, a similar spread of delicious food, but when it became clear I was no longer eating and was simply avoiding going back to the room, he pulled me to my feet and marched me back to the bedroom where I had nothing to do but stare blankly at the wall. As the shadows began to grow long on the wall, and the room fell into darkness, my eyelids grew heavy. I started to life when the door slammed open behind me, then closed my eyes as tight as I could. He was back.

“I heard you caused no problems today. I’m pleasantly surprised.”

A gasp escaped my lips as wide hands landed on my shoulders and pulled me to a sitting position. I tried to lean away from him, against the bed, but he jerked me forward and yanked at my shirt.

“Please,” I said. Back to begging. Useless. I tried to push his hands away, but there was no force behind it. What chance did I stand?

He looked at my wrists and pulled at the knot holding me together. “I knew Joshua would go soft on you,” he said as he freed my hands. “Hold your arms out.”

I stared at him, keeping my arms tight against my body. He sighed and grabbed my wrists, pulling my arms out wide and yanking up my shirt. I struggled to pull my arms back in and protect my chest. I couldn’t do this right now. There was no way I could defend against him. I simply hurt too much.

“Hold still,” he commanded. “This will hurt more if you struggle.”

“What are you going to do?” I sounded hysterical, even to myself, but I fought as well as I could against his grip.

Meyer grabbed my chin. “I said, hold still.”

Reaching into his back pocket with his other hand, he removed a roll of elastic wrap, like you would use on a sprained ankle, and gestured toward my torso. What did he want me to do? Take off my shirt?

“Oh, my God. I’m trying to help. Just lift your shirt.”

I hesitated a few moments longer, but he wasn’t forcing me, and after a beat, he let his hand fall from my chin. Reluctantly and with trembling hands, I pulled my shirt up to just beneath my breasts. He didn’t even seem to really look at me as he unwound the tape and proceeded to roll it around my torso. I shuddered at the feel of his breath on my neck as he leaned close to wrap it around my back.

“I promised you something nice, didn’t I?” His lips brushed against my shoulder. He fastened the end with some clips and sat back, holding out a new ice pack. “Here.” I grabbed it right away this time, not willing to let the gift go.

A gift.

Was this what he meant?

“Now, take these.” He held out his hand, and in his palm were two light pink pills.

I shuffled back and bumped into the bed. “I’m not taking anything you give me.”

“It’s just Percocet. For the pain.”

Again, he waited patiently as I weighed whether or not to trust him. But he was being so calm, and in his eyes, I thought I saw just a hint of compassion. This was above and beyond what I ever expected him to do for me. I held out my palm, and he handed me the pills.

“Let me know when it wears off, and I’ll give you more.”

I swallowed them dry, worried he’d take them away at any moment. He watched me with a bemused smile.

“Aren’t you going to thank me?”

I didn’t reply. This wouldn’t come without strings.

He crouched in front of me, fingers skating over on my bruises on my legs. He couldn’t keep his hands off them. I whimpered and shied away as he pressed against my skin, sending new pain through my already wrecked body.

“Don’t abuse my generosity, Mads. I can give you a good life if you surrender to me.”

So that’s what this was about. I bared my teeth at him and threw away the ice, immediately regretting my decision as the pain flared anew. “I’ll never give in to you. You disgust me. Your family disgusts me. I can’t stand you.”

His fingers pressed harder, and I couldn’t get any farther away. My spine ached where it pressed into the bedframe. I cried out, unable to stop myself. His hands hurt. His eyes on me hurt. Everything hurt.

“Be careful how you speak to me from now on. This is the last time I’ll let you get away with it.” He grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked my head to the side, pressing his lips against my neck. Everything about him was so feral, so raw, it was both terrifying and arousing in equal measure. If I hadn’t been so afraid, I would have loved it. I swallowed and tried to beat down everything except for fear of this man and what he wanted to do to me, but the movement only made his lips press against my skin harder. “Never forget this. You belong to me.”

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