Page 61 of Body Tox

His cold, dark eyes looked into mine, the light of the window flashing in his eyes, the true evil residing there.

“Oh, c’mon, Eira. You have always begged for me to dick you down. Why act like a virgin now?”

I struggled again, trying to get my arm out of his hold.

I didn’t beg him for anything but to stop.

For years, all I wanted was for him to stop.

He was my father’s security officer. At first, his attention felt good. I had been holed up in this house my entire life, and my only freedom was Alex. He would take me shopping and out to eat.

I felt safe with him…but then, he felt I owed him a debt for his kindness.

One that I paid for fear of losing my freedom for good, but each time he took my body, it was more and more difficult to breathe. After a while, I realized this wasn’t freedom. It was a gilded cage, and the one who held the true key to freedom was myself.

“We have all night, little Eira. All night long to enjoy each other. I will take my time to make each and every part of your perfect little body bend to me.”

I closed my eyes, listening to the rocks smash the window, and the branches scrape the house, leaving an eerie sound in their wake.

Anything to drown out his moans.

His grip became tighter, and the blood on my thighs smeared on the floor as he raped me. The burn I felt internally could have been the physical dryness or my own shame consuming me.

“That’s right, little Eira! I’m going to come. Oh, fuck, your perfect holes need to be filled.”

Smash, smash, smash.

Rock after rock, scrape after scrape, until finally, the jarring stopped, and the new blood was able to spill freely along with his seed.

Cali burst through the door, running over and ripping him off of me.

He just laughed and staggered out into the hallway.

I cried in Cali’s arms. She wiped my tears with a cloth and dabbed away the smear of blood. She never knew that every night she washed it away, my dagger was there to repaint the crimson lines.

“Echo?”

I jolted from my thoughts, pulling my eyes from the broken wood and onto Asher’s half-lit-up face. He held blankets in his hands and began wrapping me up in layer after layer.

“N-no,” I stuttered, seeing my breath puff out before me. “You need warmth, too.”

He was trying not to show it, but his lips were blue, and his words also held a stutter. I took a deep breath and motioned for him to sit with me. After a moment of hesitation, he sat down, and I looped his body into the furl of blankets he burritoed me in.

“Your clothes aren’t made for winter, just looking sexy as fuck. I have an actual coat on Echo, and I’m okay.”

I ignored him, pulling the end of the blanket and squishing him closer to me. His breath warmed my face, and he smelled like his usual scent with the added bonus of forest.

“This used to be one of my local hangouts,” he said, his voice barely audible over the wind outside.

“I hid some blankets last time I left. There’s some supplies to last the night hidden in the back of the broken toilet in the back.”

I looked at him. The realization that he hadn’t been able to see this place at all, just knew it existed because he…lived here?

“Were you the only one here?” I said quietly, surprised he even heard me.

“Nah. There were others.”

The light from the window flickered on his face, and I wondered what tattoos represented the other people he survived with. I traced my fingertip lightly on his pec through the jacket, my memory of a wolf inked there and broken boards in a mirage around it.

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