Page 114 of Jagged Souls
And I’m going to kick Varius’ ass.
Picking up another spoonful of jambalaya, I keep asking him questions about his life. If I can figure out my enemies, then I can manipulate them. If I turn him into a friend, then I can turn him into an ally.
And if I can do either of those things, then my chances of surviving are a lot higher.
Antonio might’ve taken my eyes and stolen my body, but he hasn’t broken me.
Not yet,that little voice whispers.
But everyone breaks eventually.
Thirty-One
HER
Under the spray of the shower, I rub at the cum dried on my legs. It comes off with a bit of water and soap, leaving my flesh bare. But it doesn’t cleanme.
It doesn’t remove their touch, which sticks like fucking tar.
Like a tattoo.
A branding.
Forever marking me as a whore.
Icamewith them.
I rocked my hips against theirs.
And Ienjoyedit.
I didn’t,I tell myself as I scrub at me harder. Ihatedit.
Desperation lances through me. My eyes are open, but I can’t check if I got it all. Maybe I feel disgusting because I missed a bit of it somewhere. Maybe there’s cum and blood still on me, and if I can just remove it, I’ll feel like myself again.
Tears mix with the spray as I duck my head and rapidly drag the rag across me.
My thighs start to sting beneath the pelt of the water as I rub off my top layer of skin, and all the anger that has been keeping me going since I came off the V now retreats under an overwhelming urge to break down and cry.
I am a Black, I tell myself as I fight down the scream building in my throat.
Dayne is waiting for me.
As is Lou.
And I need to kick Varius’ ass for taking my eyes after hepromisedme he’d never hurt me again.
How could he do this to me?
I’ve never felt so helpless.
So crippled.
Straightening, I force myself to move away from my thighs – and those thoughts. I can’t give into despair. I need to stay strong. Keep my head on my shoulders until I can figure a way out of here.
As I continue to wash myself, starting with my face and moving down, I go over the ways for a captive to increase their chances of survival.
Don’t draw attention to yourself. Stay calm and clear-headed at all times so you can study your abductors and their routines. Learn what they like, what their morals are, what things they respect about a person. Then mimic their beliefs. Become human to them, an ally that doesn’t need guarding.
