Page 274 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“I have. I just said:it isn’t good.”

“Ugh,” I rolled my eyes. “You disgust me.”

He checked his watch. “It’s three o’clock. Get a small one, and we’ll eat dinner a little late.”

“Thank you!” I smiled, turning and grabbing my purse.

“We’re leaving for Cullowhee tomorrow morning, and we’re going to pick Rachel up on our way out of town. So be prepared to help me pack and get ready when you get back!”

“Yes Sir!”

I shut the door and hurried down into my car, driving away from his house as fast as I could bear. My head hurt, my mouth was dry, and my hands were shaking. At some point, I’d started crying.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, or where I was going to go. All I knew was I had to get the hell out of that house.

Two hours later, Ihad driven all around town, trying to stay calm while I focused exclusively on what kind of French fries I wanted. I finally picked McDonalds because I was tired of driving. I sat in the back of the restaurant dipping my fries into a big pile of mayonnaise, my hands shaking. I’d also gotten a pink lemonade, but Sir didn’t need to know that.

I’m crazy,I thought.This was stupid. I shouldn’t have run away. Now when I get back, he’s going to be mad. He’ll punish me, and he’ll brainwash me even more, and I’ll lose even more control and freedom. And then...

And I’ll be right back where I was, locked in a man’s house, at his disposal, a victim of whatever he chose to throw at me that day.

“Fuck,” I said, standing up. I couldn’t finish my fries or my drink. Suddenly they tasted like sand in my mouth.

I needed something stronger.

I needed... someone to talk to.

Megan? No, she was on the side of brainwashing. She said she’d loved it.It was my first step in asking for slavery.

Becca? No way, the first thing she’d do is tell me to go home to Reuben and talk to him.

Pierce. I needed to see Simon Pierce. No matter what, Simon would be on my side.

Iexpected he wouldn’tbe home when I got to his place, so I let myself in with the key he had under the flowerpot.His giant German shepherd, Killer, knew me. He sniffed at my hand and face, licked me, and lazily went back to his luxury dog bed. Simon usually left the tv or radio on for Killer, and today it was turned to the news. I switched it to some kids tv show and hunted down the bottle of Screwball Simon kept in the cabinet for me when I came over.

When I found the bottle, it was brand new. He must have bought another one when I came back into town. My eyes welled with tears at the thoughtfulness.

Simon got home several hours later. It was starting to get dark outside, and he called my name when he opened the front door.

“Alice Benson, you’d better be in here,” he said. He sounded stressed. He took one look at me sitting on the floor with his dog’s head in my lap, drinking sugary alcohol out of the bottle, and sighed.

“Woman, do you ever answer your phone?”

“I turned it off,” I slurred. I hadn’t spoken in a while, and I didn’t realize how much I’d had to drink. I looked down at the bottle. It was half empty. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. Fuck is right. Reuben is freaking out.”

“Fuck him,” I waived my hand. Simon took the bottle away from me and replaced it with a water bottle. “Hey!”

“Drink that. I’m going to tell him you’re here.”

“No, don’t,” I said, feeling the panic starting to well up in me again.

“Alice, he’s going to call the cops if I don’t.” Simon ignored me and shot off a text to Reuben.

I stared at the TV, not sure what I was watching. My skin was burning again, and I wondered if I was going to throw up. I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up. I didn’t feel much of anything other than numb, scared, and burning down the backs of my arms.

Simon sat down on the floor beside me, leaning his back against the couch and staring at the TV. “What is this?”

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