Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
I wouldn’t have needed to be saved if I hadn’t been there in the first place.
Forcing air into my lungs, I latch onto reason even though what I really want to do is march up the stairs and confront the asshole. If he thinks this makes us even, he’s in for a rude awakening. I blink back the sting of tears, reminding myself that I’m stronger than this. That I’ve been through worse.
I’m burning with rage, but I know confronting him will only end in a fight, which I also don’t have the energy to deal with, so I choose to take the remainder of my energy and funnel it into cleaning up the room. I shove the clothes back into the drawers, telling myself I can fold them and put them back nicely when I’ve had more sleep.
I can’t do much about the pillows or blanket. Those items are trash, but thankfully, the extra linens are just down the hall. About twenty minutes later, the room looks a little more put together. Once I have the bed fixed, I start picking up the floor. I pluck the two books I need for class up off the floor and pray they’re salvageable. As soon as I open the first, pieces of torn paper fall out and drift across the floor.
“What the hell!” I growl angrily and bend down to pick them up so I can shove them back into the book. The tips of my fingers barely touch the first piece when I see bright red writing on the page. It’s a single word, written in all caps.
YOU
Fear and confusion become one. I can’t stop my hands from trembling, and my stomach knots to the point of pain. I look at the other pieces of paper that litter the floor. They have the same bright red ink staining their pages, each with one word scribbled on them. I practically fall to my knees, the impact not registering in my mind as I scramble to put the pieces together. As the words come together, the blood in my veins turns to ice.
YOU. MIGHT. BE. HIS. FOR. NOW.
BUT. YOU. WILL. ALWAYS. BE. MINE.
I’m suspended in a moment of time. The pounding in my head intensifies, and I press my palms to my temples to try to alleviate the pain.
No! No! No!
It’s not Sebastian at all. It’s Yanov.
This can’t be happening. But it is. He’s here. He’s coming for me.
Dread swamps me. What do I do? I have to leave, to go somewhere, to get away from him…but there’s nowhere to go. No one to protect me.
There’s Sebastian.
No. I shake my head, sending the thought away. Confiding in him will only make all this worse. It’s not his job to save me or protect me. I owe him enough already, and I’m not about to hand him another reason to hate me. My pride can’t take anymore hits.
My only option is to deal with it myself, but that seems impossible. I can’t even be in the same room with him without being paralyzed by fear. How will I ever fight back against him? How will I ever be free? Tears sting my eyes, and when I blink I feel the cold trail they leave behind. It's so hard to be strong when you’re tired, and not just the physical kind of tired. It’s like fate wants to see how much more shit it can stack on my shoulders before I topple over. Now I have to think about where I’m going to sleep since my room isn’t a safe space anymore. I’ll have to go back to being hypervigilant and sleeping wherever I can. Whenever I can.
I’ll have to find a closet. Or a bathroom. Somewhere small without windows. The thoughts swirling in my head leave me reeling. I wonder if he’s out there now? Outside the window, watching me, laughing in the face of my fear.
I look around the room at the destruction he’s caused, and I can't bear to stay in here another moment. I grab my bag and a few other belongings I’ll need for the night. I hate the idea of sleeping somewhere else, but the risk of him finding me here alone outweighs that uncomfortable feeling.
Next time, there won’t be a warning or the piddling destruction of my things.
Yanov’s one and only motive is me. I knew this would happen. Why did I think I’d get lucky, and he would forget about me? If anything, seeing me at that club reignited his sick obsession with me.
With my things in hand, I leave the bedroom and climb the stairs to the first floor. My immediate response is to hide, at least until I can figure out a plan that doesn’t involve bringing Sebastian into it.
Because that worked so well the first time.