Page 69 of Make Me Scream

Above me, I hear clunking: Master’s refilling the troughs. He’s back.

I sit up, trying to stay calm.

He hasn’t wanted anything from me lately, which I don’t understand. Normally not a day would go by without his visit… that’s why he always had two of us. His need was insatiable. Ever since he killed Anne, though, he’s left me alone. Why? Has he been saving himself until he could replace her? Has he been sating his needs elsewhere?

Regardless, this reprieve could end at any moment. I swallow down the acid in my throat and wait.

“Good evening, Pet,” he says when he arrives. “How’s your ankle?”

We’ve spoken so little these past weeks, I’m still not used to being called Pet.

“Getting better, Master.”

“That’s great. Keep resting it. The sooner it’s fully healed, the better. You’re going to need to use it soon.”

Oh no.

I keep it all off my face: the rage, the hatred, the fear.

“Yes, I came down here to share the good news: you’re going to have a new friend soon. You will call her Toy. Do you want to see her?”

He takes out a phone and holds it up for me to see the screen.

I step up to the bars to get a better look. I’d give anything to reach through and take that phone, but he stands too far back. He always does. Instead, I watch as a woman in a tattered, bloody wedding dress stands out on the street. Her face looks bruised and dirty, but there’s a power in her glare at the men passing by.

She’s a street performer. Of course — she’s an artist like me and Anne.

He found another.

“She’s very talented. I have no doubt she will inspire us both to do great work.”

Is that why he hasn’t claimed me these past weeks? Has he been focused on her?

“I have something special for you,” he says, pocketing his phone. “I’ll be right back.”

Whoever that woman is, she looked like a demon. She’ll fight him. Maybe she’ll succeed where so many others have failed, and she won’t fall for his tricks. She’ll know better than to trust him.

Maybe she’ll kill him.

If that happened, would I somehow make it out of here? Would the authorities show up and find me, or would I eventually starve? I could think of a worse fate: at least then I’d know he’d never hurt anyone again.

But if he does take this girl alive, and she does wind up here, she won’t give in easily. I can tell.

Master returns carrying a wide, white saucer. The smell coming from it nearly makes me pass out, it’s so delectable. I know it at once: mushroom risotto.

He remembered.

“I made it myself. I hope it’s as good as yours.”

My mouth waters. It’s been so long since I ate a hot meal, much less my favorite dish. Except, I don’t take gifts from this monster. I’ve never asked him for anything, and that’s not going to change.

Master tosses a pair of handcuffs into my cell.

“Quick, while it’s still nice and hot.”

He means to feed me. I can’t be trusted with a spoon; certainly not a large piece of fragile ceramic.

Fuck it.

---