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In the fall of light fro and dark Unbidden, words once made ominous by Poe, now manifested as flesh in the ently rapping, rapping at my chamber door"

Crap, crap, crap Okay, that last part was me

Caleb raised his hand as if to hit me and I threw ainst the wall While I cringed, the bastard laughed Slowly, I rabbed both my wrists in his left hand and pressed them to the wall over my head Pinned between hihtened hae his predatory nature Like a snake that only eats live ry?" he asked, soft and low

I heard the question, but the words had noMy brain ceased to function as it should The only thing my mind could focus on was his closeness The intense warers pressed into my wrists The clean, wet smell of his skin in the air around aze upon ers of his right hand trailed across the underside of ers ware forced its way into my consciousness "Go fk yourself"

"…I’d htly buckled and my niles hardened I took a sharp breath and leaned away frohtly shut eyes into the skin of my upraised arm

His lips caressed the shell of ain?"

Food? My stomach suddenly twisted sharply A prier, when he re Ia deep breath "Yes"

I felt his sers held my chin In my peripheral vision I watched hiainst my heated flesh

"Yes," he repeatedto answer? Or yes, I have to force you again?"

My heart raced I felt his breath on h air, as if his proxis

"Or is it just, yes?"

My lips parted andin as much air as they could It didn’t seeh ry"

I knew he s my body nearly jerked toward his, ran down my spine

He kissed me softly on the cheek I think I whi me paralyzed even after I heard the door shut

Caleb returned shortly with a wheeled cart laden with food My stonawed as I se to run toward the food Then Jair followed hi Jair made me wish the floor would open up and s ain) tried to find protection in Caleb’s ar to the hope that this man, this Caleb, would protect me All I could see was that horrible, feral look in Jair’s eyes He wanted to hurtnext to the food We were alone again Fear and hunger tore at my insides

"Come here," he said His voice startled me, but I moved to walk toward his shook Crawl? Are you kidding ht at round and drugs you again! My knees hit the floor What choice did I have? I put ht that proround until I reached the tops of his shoes

I was trapped I was nearly naked Weak Scared I was his