*“I know a great place where we can play,” Conner said softly.
My ears instantly perked up at the word “play”. We’d been restricted to the front yard of the house where Daddy could see us from the window in his office.
“Where is it?” I asked my new friend.
He wasn’t like us, but Daddy said that Conner could stay with us. Wrin called him a human.
Conner was a human.
He was my best friend now.
“It’s in the forest.” He raised his arm and pointed to the left. “That way.”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip as I debated it. “Daddy said that we’re not allowed to go into the woods alone.”
“You won’t be alone,” he said. “I’ll be with you.”
Daddy’s warning flashed through my mind.
“There are swings and other fun stuff.” Conner stood and held out his hand. “We’ll be back before he even notices that we’re gone.”
After a few more seconds of hesitation, I smiled and slipped my hand into his.
“What about Eva?”
Conner frowned. “I don’t like her. She’ll tell your dad and then we won’t be able to go.”
He was right.
“Okay.”*
***
I jerked upright and sucked in a sharp breath. The dream lingered on the edges of my mind for a few more minutes and then disappeared. A few more deep breaths and my heart was beating normally once again.
I squeezed my eyes closed and slowly laid back down. The room was dark but I knew Lucas was close by because I could sense him.
Swallowing, I reached out for the blanket but encountered warm firm flesh instead. I tensed when he moved.
Sheets rustled and the bed creaked. I prepared myself for the harsh light to fill the room, but it never happened. The blanket slowly slid up my legs, over my stomach and to my chin.
“Do you want some water?”
“N-no,” I whispered.
Lucas silently settled down next to me again. I hesitated a moment before I turned onto my side and reached out. His icy fingers were the comfort I needed. I entwined our fingers and pulled our hands up to rest under my chin.
He shifted slightly and then settled down closer than he had before.
“Where are we?” I asked him.
“At a friends.”
“W-why didn’t y-you take me back to the dorm?”
Lucas swallowed loudly. “Because Oliver’s still out there.”
Just the sound of his name made icy shivers race down my spine. I shifted closer to Lucas.
“You have a history with him,” Lucas said softly after a slight pause. “Why does he want you?”
My lips started to quiver as my stomach rolled. A whimper fell from my lips before I could stop it. In order to answer the question, I had to dig up memories that I had buried deep.
“Doll. . .”
I pressed my face to the crook of his neck to breathe in his scent but it was doing nothing to calm me.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I know.” Lucas slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his body. “But I need to know because I need to figure things out.”
“W-what things?” I questioned.
“Whether we can go home or if it would be safer to just disappear while we try to work things out.”
I pulled my head back to look at him. Our faces were only inches apart and resting on the same pillow. It hit me as strange that he hadn’t questioned me about my nightmare.
But I didn’t question it.
For once in my life I didn’t want to overthink things. Lucas had saved me and I wanted him to have full control over things which was a bit crazy.
“We can go home,” I told him. “Dad will protect us.”
Lucas was silent and then said something that had me second-guessing my words.
“Who will protect him?” he paused. “Not only will your father be put in danger but the rest of your family too. What about Eva? She’s the first person Oliver would go after to get to you.”
Why was everything he said true?
I’d do anything to protect Eva. I’d do anything to prevent her from suffering through what I had.
“Going home isn’t an option, doll.”
“But what if he goes after her anyway?” I asked. “What if—”
“Oliver wants you,” Lucas interrupted. “He wants you alive so he won’t make waves. Not yet anyway. He’ll try to get you himself.”
I squeezed his hand. “He wasn’t there when you saved me?”
Lucas blinked as his hand twitched on my back.
“No.”
Oliver hadn’t counted on anybody saving me, I realized. He’d made sure that I wouldn’t be able to escape myself before he left.
“Where will we go?”
Lucas gave my hand a squeeze before he pulled it from mine and reached up to trace a finger along my cheekbone. “Anywhere but home.”
***
Lucas was no longer next to me in bed when I woke up.
It made me panic for a moment until I sucked in a breath and found his scent still lingering in the small room. It was a sign that he hadn’t been gone for long, only a few minutes at most.
Throwing the sheet back, I turned and hesitated before I lowered my feet to the cold cement floor. Every movement made the bed creak which made me wince. The moment I stood, the shirt I wore dropped to my knees, making me look down.
I bit my lip as I studied the nearly faded picture on the front of it. The shirt was thin and clearly well-worn. It was too big for my small frame and smelled of flowery washing powder. Shaking my head, I focused on the things around me to stop worrying about who the shirt belonged to.
The bed I’d slept on was one of those single spring beds and it was pushed against the wall in a corner of the room. The floor, walls and the ceiling were all made out of cement. There was a desk and chair against the wall opposite the bed and a medium sized painting above it.
Hope filled me when I spotted the phone on top of the desk. Hurrying forward, I picked it up and pressed the button on the side, but nothing happened.
“The battery’s dead.”
A gasp fell from my lips. Spinning around, I stared at Lucas with wide eyes. Usually I was more aware of his movements but my senses were still a bit dazed.
Lucas entered the room, balancing a tray in one hand and using his other to push the door closed again. My eyes locked onto the syringe that was on the tray.
“If you inject me again I’m going to castrate you.”
He chuckled. “There are no weapons in the room, doll.”
“I’ll find something,” I promised him.
Shaking his head, he placed the tray down on the desk before turning to face me. I tensed as he closed the distance between us. If I could, I would’ve moved away but my feet were glued to the floor.
“The injections are to help you heal,” he said softly.
I held my breath when Lucas suddenly reached out. I was waiting for him to touch me, but he didn’t. Instead he took the phone from me and moved away.
“Eat.”
My eyes locked on the tray. It was a simple dish—sandwiches and a small glass of cola.
Wearing his clothes and sleeping with him in the same bed was one thing, but eating something a man who had injected me made, was a whole other thing. He had said that he wasn’t going to inject me again, but what if he’d drugged the food or the drink?
“I-I’m not hungry.”
Lucas took a seat on the edge of the bed and started fidgeting with the phone. “Eat by yourself or I’ll force it down your throat.” He didn’t look up at me as he spoke.
I could pretend to eat it.
Yeah and where will you hide it?
Swallowing, my eyes darted around the room again. There was no place to hide it.
“Ariana.”
My eyes snapped back to his to find him watching me with pursed lips and narrowed eyes.
“I-I don’t want it.”
“Do you have any idea how many people out there would fucking die for some food? Do you have any idea how many people go to sleep on an empty stomach?”
With every word, he had moved forward until he was once again looming over me. I stared at him with tear-filled eyes.
“I-I can’t,” I croaked.
The anger faded from his eyes only to be replaced by confusion. His eyes darted over my face as his brows dipped lower and lower. My eyes dropped to his mouth when his teeth sunk into his bottom lip for a few seconds.
Lucas took hold of my arm and steered me over to the desk. Pushing me down onto the chair, he crouched in front of me and reached for the tray.
I watched as he picked up one side of the sandwich and pulled the top off. He held it up for me to see.
“It’s just some brown bread with butter and some strawberry jam,” he muttered. “There’s no fancy shit to put on it.”
Fixing the sandwich, he raised it to his lips and took a bite. Lucas chewed and then swallowed. I held my breath and waited but nothing happened to him.
He took another bite and as he chewed, he raised it to my lips. On their own accord, my lips parted. I took a bite and slowly chewed it, but the moment I tried to swallow, my stomach protested.
Bile rose in my throat and panic hit.
Thankfully Lucas caught on quickly. Dropping the sandwich, he reached around me and pulled a small trashcan closer. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I puked and then continued to dry heave once my stomach was empty.
“Are you done?”
I waited a few seconds before I nodded. Lucas lowered the trashcan and wiped my mouth so gently that it only made me cry harder.
Throwing my arms around his neck, I slid down onto his lap and clung to him as I cried. One hand started stroking my hair while the other rubbed my back in circles.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked.
Lucas said nothing. His arms loosened and then slowly slipped away.
Leaning back, I reached up and wiped at the tear stains on my cheeks. I kept my eyes glued to my lap because I was too embarrassed to look at him. Any second now he was going to start asking questions, but he surprised me.
“Why don’t you get some more rest?” he asked softly. “You’ll feel better in the morning."