Page 44 of The Satyr's Guilt
Chapter Eleven
After Spear raped Lizette, part of hismorning ritual, he unlocked the chain at her neck.Snick.Heattached another to the collar, grasping the end of the links,pulling roughly. “Let’s get outside before sunrise. After you doyour duties, you’ll return.”
He threw a roll of toilet paper at her,which she barely caught. She lifted the hem of her shabby, soilednightgown, moving like a dog on a leash.
Spear gave her his back while she hid behinda bush to pee. Though he assaulted her every morning, he closed hiseyes while she did her “duties.”
Such a gentleman.
When she walked from her cover, he yankedher into the cabin, re-attaching her to the sturdy chain whichlinked to the eyebolt on the floor. Just short of reaching thefront door.
Breakfast passed as it did each day. Shecooked and served the berserker. He ate like it was his last mealwhile she tried not to barf.
When he was about to leave, his handsnatched a hank of her hair. She flinched when he pulled her headback. His lips came down heavily on hers in his version of agoodbye kiss before he lumbered out the door.
Lizette spit on the floor. Running to thekitchen sink, she washed out her mouth, using a cloth and soap toremove all signs of Spear between her legs.
She scooted under the bed, reaching behind aleg to pull her tool from its hiding place. On the floor, she satbeside the eyebolt. With a towel wrapped around her hands, shewedged the rusty nail between the bolt and the wood plank.
Despite the towel, the constant frictionchafed her skin. So Spear would not notice, she made sure to fallat some point during their nightly excursions, marring herpalms.
She shifted positions when she tired,curling both legs underneath. Using the other hand for a while, shecontinued to ram the long nail into the bolt’s wood plank. Thedamage to the area was not visible from a standing position.Besides, Spear always disconnected or connected her chain at herneck rather than the floor.
Switching to her other hand, Lizette graspedthe eye bolt to wiggle it. For the past few days, she’d felt thehardware give. The encouraging sign spurred her on. It was thefirst hope she had experienced since her kidnapping.
Though she hated to, she stopped, rose onstiff legs, and walked into the kitchen to eat lunch. Spear alwayschecked to see what she consumed during the day. She took out twopieces of bread, some meat which looked like ham, and made asandwich. Nearly choking on big bites, she chewed quickly beforeshe returned to her task.
Singing Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,”she poked and prodded, further loosening the bolt. It wiggled. Shestopped singing to stare at her work.
I’m almost there.
When the light changed in the room, shereluctantly pushed off the floor, making sure the dust and chipswere swept into the gaps between planks. She could leave noevidence of her labor visible. She brushed a hand down her shoddyoversized dress.
In the kitchen, Lizette placed small chunksof timber into the wood-burning stove, lighting them with a match.Cutting up a chicken and carrots, she arranged them in a pot on thegrates. Taking out flour, shortening, baking soda, salt, and milk,she made dough. Rolling it out, she cut circles with a glass beforeplacing the biscuits onto a baking sheet. Once she popped them intothe oven, she curled up on the large chair and grabbed the book onthe table, turning on the lamp.
I was on page one-sixteen yesterday. Bytoday, I would have been to page four-seventy-three. I read slowlybecause I do a lot of housework. Fortunately, Spear doesn’tunderstand anything about cleaning since he lives in this sty.
By now, the room was dark because of theshutters on the outside of the cabin and the waning light, butLizette sensed when the sun set. Soon he would be home.
Survive. Survive. Survive.
She bit her lip, swallowing a gasp when sheheard the door rattle. Entering, the savage paused to check out theroom, his seven-foot body barely fitting through the frame. Hiseyes took in everything. Finally, they landed on her. He steppedforward, swinging the door closed. After he locked it again, hestuffed the key into his front pants pocket.
He looked feral today, though he donnedhuman clothes—jeans and a T-shirt. He wore his black hair inmultiple thick braids like an ancient Viking. His beard was as darkas his hair, with similar tight braids woven through it.
Lizette forced a smile while she squeakedout, “Hello.”
The berserker lifted her from the chair.When he allowed her feet to touch the floor, his hands began theirexploration. One fondled her breasts. The other a hip, pulling herdress up until his fingers touched skin.
Smothering her revulsion, she found hervoice. “You look tired. I bet you’re starving. Let me get dinner onthe table. I hate to see you so.”
With his palm caressing her thigh and agrimy paw moving toward her sex, he paused. “Chicken andbiscuits?”
“Yes. Carrots with the chicken. We have pieleft from yesterday. I’ll warm a piece after we eat.”
She pushed a washcloth along with a towel athim. “Go clean at the river. Get comfortable while I put dinneron.”
Lizette had no idea what Spear did all day,but when he came home, he was dirty and covered in blood. Early on,the odor made her retch, for which she earned a few bruises. Astime passed, the smell became the least of her tortures.
