Page 18 of Bleed for Me

He leaned across the table, bracing his forearms on the table. “Call me ambitious.” He didn’t look at me like he was interested in me. No. It looked like he wanted to know for his own reasons, reasons I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

“I have a boyfriend.”

My chest tightened at the mere thought of Alex. I missed him like crazy. By now, I would have already been back at college, doing my classes for the week. After my lessons, we’d go get something to eat and get ready for church.

My answer seemed to satisfy him, because he leaned back in his chair and didn’t bring it up again.

After group therapy, Ms. Gloria walked me back to my room. My gaze scanned over the familiar setting, defeat settling into my limbs. I couldn’t even imagine prison being this monotonous.

I turned to face her. “Is there any way I can speak with Dr. Blake again?” I asked. If I could tell him about my nightmare and explain to him that I remembered what happened now, maybe he’d be more willing to get me out of this place.

“You’ll be able to speak with him again next week,” she assured me. “Everyone sees Dr. Blake once a week for the first month or so.”

I sighed. Every day in this place felt like a week wasted. How was I supposed to get through another several days? Ms. Gloria shot me a small smile before telling me that she’d see me later and then she disappeared again.

My shoulders dropped with defeat as I strode across the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. One of the books I’d been reading was positioned near the wall, reminding me that I still had another four chapters left. It was about a girl who ended up in the foster system and was passed between families, each one seeming to be worse than the last. Her foster brother ended up raping her and she was thrown back into the system yet again when she was just getting comfortable there. She started acting out and years later, she was sent to an academy for troubled youth where she ran into her foster brother again and his three hot best friends. They took turns torturing her, but despite that, she couldn’t fight her attraction for them.

I reached across the bed, taking the book in my hands, dropping my gaze to the cover. It was a black polish with a skull on the front. In silver letters, the title readSinful Desires.I wondered if they had books like this in the library. I flipped open to chapter twenty-nine and started reading. The chapters were relatively long, but eventually, I read the final chapter, my heart racing from the cliffhanger.

My head hit the pillow as I laid down, my gaze sweeping over the mundane ceiling. Exhaustion started settling into my limbs, taking over. My sleep had been interrupted earlier, not only from the nightmare, but from Gloria retrieving me for group, too. Nausea coiled in my stomach. This place was meant for people with severe issues. Issues that didn’t even apply to me, yet here I was, stuck with the lot of them.

Sighing, my eyes fluttered closed. At least sleeping would pass the time.

The nightmare was the same as last night’s. Daisy and I singing our childhood song, laughing and spinning in circles until it morphed into something much more sinister. I threw the blankets from my body and rose, my heart still racing from the horrors that had occurred during my sleep. There was no way for me to tell time in here, but by how my stomach was grumbling, I assumed it was nearly time for dinner.

I gathered up some clothes and slipped into the bathroom. This room was small with a toilet, sink, and stand-up shower. There wasn’t even a mirror in here. The floor was the same kind of marble as everywhere else within the building aside from Dr. Blake’s office. It wasboring. I imagined that being locked up in here was the equivalent to being locked in thequiet room. At least, that’s what they referred to it as in my psyche classes.

I quickly got undressed and took a shower. The hot water felt good against my skin, reminding me for a moment that I was still alive and that this wasn’t hell. When I’d finished, I pulled on another one of those stupid skirts Mom brought me and paired it with the stockings and another shirt, similar to the one I’d worn the other day. My long honey-blonde hair fell down my back in waves. Glancing down at my attire, I frowned. It looked like I was about to go to an all-girls school where uniforms were required. Part of me felt like she did that on purpose, knowing it would get under my skin.

My hair had time to dry for the most part before Gloria made her grand entrance. Today’s dinner was cheeseburgers, fries, and a pudding cup. After scarfing that down, she led me downthe hall—similar to the one she’d been taking me down for group therapy, but it wasn’t the same one. She explained that I’d have the opportunity to eat dinner at Church on Wednesday nights if that’s what I preferred.

A young-looking man stood outside of an opened door, greeting people as they entered the room behind him. I recognized the guy immediately as the pastor. He was dressed in all black, his dark hair kept short. An emblem of a cross was embroidered into his chest pocket along with his name –Valentine Hayes.

Hayes…

As in Jordan?

Confusion trickled through me as we approached the man, an easygoing smile plastered across his face, showing off his blindingly white teeth.

“Rosalie, this is Pastor Valentine,” Gloria introduced.

“Hi,” I murmured, shifting uncomfortably beneath his intense stare. He had light gray eyes with flecks of brown weaving within them.

“Welcome.” His smile widened. “Why don’t you head inside, and I’ll be in shortly.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I slipped into the room like my ass was on fire, and it might as well have been after the most recent events that had occurred, inevitably bringing me here.

Pews lined the large room in rows, making it look like any other church. At the far end was a stage and a large cross sat against the wall behind it. Voices reached my ears, trickling into the room. My fingers twitched at my sides as I forced my legs in the direction of the voices.

There was another room, the door slightly ajar with light bleeding out from the opening. I pulled it open, glancing around the room. Tables of two were set up all over with a podium near the front and a bible placed on every one of them. This placeseemed to have a thing for projectors, considering that there was another one positioned toward the far wall.

I recognized a few of the faces from group therapy, but I’d never spoken to any of them. The others looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember their names.

I slipped into a spot near the far back of the room, secluded from the rest of the people. My eyes dropped down to the bible on my table, my fingers running over the rough leather material. This was the most normal I’d felt in a long while. It reminded me of my life outside of here. We had Wednesday classes, too. Though, they were typically much fuller than this.

Valentine made his way to the front of the room and took his spot behind the podium. He started flipping through his bible, his forehead creased as he skimmed the pages.

Just when my shoulders relaxed with a sense of comfort, knowing I’d just be able to stick to myself in the secluded corner I’d chosen, a shadow loomed over me, making my heart race. Chancing a look at the figure who’d approached, my breath stalled momentarily as my eyes clashed with a pair of light blue ones, much like my own.

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