Page 103 of In Love with the Devil

“For?”

“For my punishment.”

“Astoria, you need to rest.” He pulls me into his arms.

“I want my cats.”

“Cats?”

“I have three. I want them.” I’m hyperventilating. This is all too much. Sebastian was just like Julian. How did I miss it? How many times is this going to happen to me?

“Three, huh? Shh…” He soothes. “Calm down. You’re safe. I will not hurt you tonight.”

“You already did.”

“Admit it. You missed me.”

“No.”

He laughs, then kisses my nape. “Well… you’re here because I missed you. That’s all that matters to me.”

Chapter forty-nine

The Punishment

Astoria

I wake up to him checking my pulse. "How long have I been out?"

"Two days."

“I want it now, Julian. Whatever it is you’re gonna do to me, burn me alive, skin me, just get it over with.”

Julian lifts his eyebrows and stares at me, silently asking me if I’m sure, but I don’t change my resolve.

“Fine,” he says and after a few seconds of staring at each other, he grabs the low neck of my nightgown and rips it all the way while releasing a roar so loud and full of rage that it hurts my ears.

“Let’s go then.” I sound so brave, but as I walk, my knees are almost giving out.

He takes me by the chain. The protective denial wears down when we stop walking at the end of a narrow hallway. He opens a door, and there’s nothing but darkness inside. The chilly air makes me shake, or maybe it’s my phobia. I look down, then back at him. With my eyes, I beg him from the pit of my soul not to take me down there. I swallow deep and back away.

“Come on,” he says, pulling on the chain a bit.

My lip trembles as the phobia erases everything. I'm not present when I run away so fast that I end up falling. The chain is fully extended and there's nowhere for me to go, but I pull as hard as I can with all my weight, trying to crawl away. The collar digs into my trachea and esophagus. It hurts but not as much as being left in the dark until I nearly lose my mind. Choking sounds fill the hall but it's distant to me. All I know is that I need to run.

Julian drags me back by wrapping the chain around his arm, over and over again, until I’m right up against him. I’m not aware when I try to push him away, or when he picks me up and I hold on to him like a monkey, begging and crying for him not to do this.

“Come on, little bird, you know you need this. Hopefully, this time, you learn where your home is.”

“Julian, please don’t do this. I know where my home is. I promise. I know where it is."

He chuckles while carrying me and walking into the pit of hell. “You’re funny, Astoria. You were so brave just minutes ago. You always say the same things when trying to avoid consequences.”

“I told you I would do anything… please Julian, forgive me.”

“I already forgave you. That’s why you’re still alive.”

I hang onto him with increasing determination as he descends into the darkness, wanting for my body to become a part of his skin so that he will not leave me in the dark. I commit the mistake of opening my eyes and blubber on his shoulder as the chilly darkness consumes us. My entire body quakes. The sound of my teeth chattering, my heavy, trembling breathing and hammering heart deafen me. We reach the bottom of the long stairs and walk through a tunnel to a large low ceiling room where he turns on a dim orange light. It's happening all over again. The dread is so thick in my veins. There are three iron doors. Getting me off him turns out to be like fighting off an octopus, once he unravels one of my limbs I snap on another.

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