Page 32 of Cruel Cravings

The tables have turned, and this time, I’m the one in control.

10.Brontë

Heaven - I Monster

Iwake to the sound of rummaging. The noise only adds to the dull throb in my skull. It’s a fight opening my eyes, vision blurry from behind the holes of my mask. I shift, testing my limbs, and metal bites into my wrist.

I’m bound.

The realization sends heat surging through me, a wave of anger so intense that I grind my teeth together to keep from howling like a monster.

She’s chained me.

I’m in a chair pressed up against the wall. Metal chains bear down on my wrists and ankles.

Around my neck.

I strain against the bindings. Tension coils in my muscles. My arms flex, the chains digging even more into my flesh. The wooden chair groans in protest until I pause.

Breaking free would be easy—I could muscle my way out with some effort.

Instead, I take in a breath and force the blinding rage back. If I broke free at this moment, I’m not sure what I would do.The rage would take over and I would wind up doing something I would otherwise prefer not to do.

I could blackout and snap her in two.

Now is not the time for fits of barbaric rage. Now is the time to do what I’ve long savored about the woman who caught my eye.

Observe.

She outsmarted me.

The thought is a bittersweet one. I underestimated her, and she turned it against me. She laid a trap knowing that I would inevitably follow, luring me into a web like a spider does a fly. The net snapped into action the second I stepped into the trap and activated it.

I was about to shred the rope to pieces when she scurried over like a woodland creature and stuck the needle in my neck. The tranquilizer seeped into my bloodstream and slowed me down.

It was all by design.

And I fell for it.

A fresh wave of anger floods me, threatening to turn me into the savage beast I often become. I’m not used to being lured in this way; trapped like an animal, like my father has done at the hospital.

But even at the hospital, Jael was always mine. I was always the shadow lurking out of sight, admiring her from the dark spaces only she could see.

The tables have turned in her favor. I’m bound like a rabid dog she’ll put out of its misery.

I let my gaze sweep over the cabin interior from behind the mask I wear. Scattered light slips in through the long windows, half covered by the curtains. Family photos and photos of nature hang on the wood-paneled walls. The furniture is modest and tasteful, like it was selected for comfort more than anything.

It’s a family home. A vacation destination that’s been transformed into something else.

The rummaging that woke me up continues as my gaze travels to the source.

Jael.

She’s radiant in her chaos. Her hair’s an untamed cloud that frames her face; the expression she wears dazed yet focused. Her movements are jittery and restless, like she’s running on adrenaline and little else.

Has she even slept? Has she rested at all?

The empty coffee mugs on the table nearby reveal otherwise. She’s on her knees, digging through a duffle bag, muttering to herself.

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