Page 34 of Shy Girl

My eyes catch on the collar around her neck, the pale blue leather perfectly matched to her dress. A small metal tag dangles from it, catching the light.Cupcake.The name is engraved in delicate cursive, sweet and diminutive, so at odds with the bruises and her sharp, feral movements.

But it’s not just her appearance. It’s the way she crawls, the way her body shifts with an eerie, animalistic grace that sends a shiver down my spine. She doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t falter. There’s no awkwardness, no shame—only the smooth efficiency of someone who has been remade into this, who has forgotten what it is to move any other way.

Her eyes snap around the room, wide and unblinking, like she’s searching for something that’s constantly just out of reach. They’re blue, almost too bright, and they shine with a feverishintensity that sits uneasily between fear and madness. Her mouth hangs open

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slightly, her tongue darting out to lick at the corners, saliva pooling and dripping onto the floor as she pants audibly, loudly.

I can’t look away. My mind stumbles over itself, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing, but it refuses to settle. I don’t know how long she’s been here, but her body tells the story clearly enough: a long time. Long enough to forget how to stand. Long enough to become this.

Nathan tugs gently on the leash, and she snaps her head toward him, her movements jerky and immediate. She wriggles slightly, a tremor passing through her body, as though she’s bracing for a command. My stomach lurches as I realize she’s been trained to anticipate him this way. To need him this way.

“This is Cupcake,” Nathan says, his smile stretching wider. His voice is calm, almost proud, as if he’s introducing a beloved pet. “This is who you’re replacing.”

The words hit me like a punch to the chest.Replacing?My eyes flick back to Cupcake, who is trembling faintly, her ribs rising and falling with shallow, rapid breaths. Her head lowers again, her eyes darting to him before dropping to the floor.

“Cupcake is sick,” Nathan continues, his tone softening, a strange affection creeping into his voice. “She can’t stay here any longer.” He crouches beside her, petting her head gently, his hand moving down her back in slow, lazy strokes. She leans into his touch, her body shivering, and I feel sick.

I can’t stop staring at her, every detail burning itself into my brain: the hollows of her cheeks, the tremble in her limbs, the way she pants like an overworked animal. She’s about my age, I realize, and the thought makes my chest tighten.What happens to someone after years of this?

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Fear settles in next to pity, wrapping itself around my ribs like a tightening vice.How long does he plan to keep me? How long before I become her?

Nathan gestures to the cage. “I’m transitioning her space to yours,” he says lightly. “This is just temporary.” He waves his hand dismissively at the cage, like it’s beneath discussion. “You’ll have a room soon. A real one. Prettier than this.”

He steps closer, his hand reaching through the bars to pet my head. The touch is deceptively gentle, but it doesn’t feel like affection. It feels like ownership. “You’ll love it,” he murmurs, his eyes locking onto mine. The intensity in them makes my skin crawl. Then he straightens, his tone shifting into something more casual. “I need to take care of Cupcake,” he says, tugging lightly on her leash. “I’ll be back in two days.”

His words barely register. He’s leaving? For two days? What does he mean bytake care of her?

Panic floods my chest, and I grab the bars of the cage, shaking them violently. “Wait!” I scream, the sound tearing out of me before I can stop it.

Nathan stops, the air around him tightening like a coil. He turns slowly, his smile gone, leaving only a face carved from ice. His hand tightens on the leash, and Cupcake collapses inward like a dying star. She knows I messed up.

“What are you going to do to her?” The words burst out of me, raw and trembling, desperation bleeding through every syllable. My voice cracks under its own weight. “Please. Don’t hurt her.”

Nathan’s eyes find mine, sharp and unyielding, narrowing like a predator honing in on prey. He steps deeper into the room, and crouches until his face is level with mine. The space betweenus collapses into something suffocating. He says nothing at first, the

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silence stretching, its edges cutting deep. When he finally speaks, his voice is low, coiled tight with something cold and precise.

“You broke a rule.”

The words strike like a slap, stealing the breath from my lungs. I recoil, my hands falling away from the bars as my body folds inward, instinctively trying to make itself smaller. Tears well in my eyes, blurring his face into something unrecognizable. “Please,” I whisper, the sound fragile, disintegrating on my tongue.

He straightens, towering over me now, his face void of warmth. His grip on Cupcake’s leash doesn’t waver, and she trembles at his side, her breaths shallow and quick. “I’ll deal with this later,” he says, each word cutting like a scalpel. “For now, stay quiet. Don’t make me regret leaving you alone.”

The finality in his tone closes the space between us, and my stomach knots as he turns, leading Cupcake away. Her movements are quick, frantic, her body clinging to the ground as though afraid to rise too high. She doesn’t look back. She doesn’t hesitate. She follows him into the void.

The door clicks shut, the sound reverberating through the room, and the silence that follows is heavy, oppressive. It settles over me like smoke, thick and choking.

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