33.

I drank water fiercely from the sink, trying to quench the immense thirst I was feeling. I tilt my head back, eyes closed, catching my breath, and then lean back over the sink to drink more water. I felt like my stomach was about to explode when I left the bathroom and stopped abruptly when I saw Klaus sitting at the foot of the bed with his unreadable expression.

"What's wrong?" I ask seriously as seconds passed, and he continued to stare at me.

"I'm waiting for you."

"For what?" I try to pass by him, but my wrist ends up being held by him. I look at his closed hand on my wrist, furrowing my brow slightly.

"You're hardly eating."

"I've been through this before."

"Before, you didn't have my permission, but now you do," he says somewhat irritated. I turn my face to the other side, keeping my lips pressed. "Hailey."

"I'm not hungry, if that's what you want to know, Klaus," I retort, pulling my arm away and sitting on the opposite side of where he was.

It was no surprise to me that I had no appetite. This wasn't the first time I had lost my appetite for an entire week.

Kai sighs, eating the food in front of him eagerly.

"Food is meant to be eaten, Hailey, in case you've forgotten," he says rudely, his eyes fixated on me.

I had nothing to complain about the food. The seasoning was the same as always, and it was even my favorite dish, but I wasn't hungry at all, and even if I forced myself, I knew I would throw up moments later.

I knew that this was one of the consequences that could happen due to cocaine – loss of appetite. And that's exactly what was happening; I was losing weight faster than I expected.

"I'm not hungry," I murmur.

"I don't care if you're hungry or not, Hailey. But you're not leaving this table until I'm done."

I shake my head incredulously, and before I could oppose his words, Kai slams my head forcefully against the table, causing me to fall and become disoriented.

It didn't take long for me to feel something wet running down the sore area.

Sighing, Kai sits down again, resuming his meal. Despite not wanting to, tears welled up in the corners of my eyes, and I felt the emptiness within me only grow, to the point of suffocation.

When he slept that night, I bought twice as much as I usually did. I needed to regain control of my body and put an end to all that pain.

"I'm worried about you," Klaus says, looking at me over his shoulder.

"I'm fine," I say, not really being fine, even though that wasn't the reality inside me. I was in pieces, broken into various heavy pieces, and I didn't know how to put them back together.

"I know you don't want to be here, that you don't want to be with me, and that..."

"Klaus, you've made it clear that it's all about revenge," I say abruptly, interrupting the moment that he would rub in my face that I was only there because of revenge. "And I've also made it clear that I don't want to be here."

Klaus falls silent for a few seconds, then looks forward again.

"If hatred is what you have to offer me, I'll take it," he says in the end, standing up and turning to look at me. "But don't forget, even if you die, I'll bring you back."

I look away, not revealing a third of what I was feeling at that moment. I just wanted an opportunity to go to my hiding place and bring back the tranquility my body wanted.

"I'm aware of that."

"Well, I'm glad we had this conversation," he says, and with that, he leaves the room, as if everything were crystal clear between us.

"As long as you keep being stubborn, things will continue to be difficult for you," Kai says as I look at him through the mirror, analyzing the damage he had caused. "I know what's best for you, Hailey, if you haven't realized that yet. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here today."

I look at my reflection in the mirror, unable to believe what I was seeing, unable to recognize the woman I was becoming. My eyes had lost their sparkle, and I felt like a zombie, moving from one place to another without any expectation.

I press the cold compress against the bruise that was starting to turn purple, thinking about everything I would need to do the next day to get out of the house.

"Are you sure you didn't count wrong?" I hear Elijah ask when I finally leave the room some time later, finding him and Klaus standing in the middle of the living room, in front of them was all the drugs I had seen in the hiding place.

"Do you think I'm going crazy?" He responds somewhat annoyed. "Two are missing," he says as he looks at me once I finish descending the stairs, I cut our eye contact the following instant, heading to the kitchen, ignoring all the food that was at my disposal.

Both of them continue to argue in my absence, which I find perfect because with their distraction, I could sniff as much as I wanted in the laundry room bathroom until I felt satisfied.

I had started to notice that the drug's effect was taking longer to act on my body, which made me sniff twice as much every time I had a chance, which only made me think that it was taking longer and longer to affect my body.

I had no idea why this was happening; I might be able to figure it out if I had my phone. Instead, I was left to speculate on my own.

I was beginning to feel the effect on my body when I saw someone in the laundry room through the door gap.

Trying to think as fast as I could, I ended up hiding the drug that was on my lap in the cabinet under the sink and hurried to leave the bathroom, coming face to face with Klaus.

I slowly furrow my brow, having no idea what he was doing there.

"Are you spying on me?" I ask finally when nothing else comes to mind.

He looks at me intently, serious.

"Why would I be?"

"You don't come to the laundry room," I try to pass by him. However, once again, he holds my arm, and this time, he looks into my eyes.

"Are you okay?"

All that concern of Klaus's every time he saw me was starting to annoy me. He couldn't see me without bombarding me with questions, as if he wanted to know even what I was thinking.

"Can you stop?" I say seriously.

"Stop what exactly?"

"This thing you're doing. Pretending to care about me when we both know that's not the truth," I retort impatiently.

"You might be wrong, Hailey."

"You made that clear yourself, Klaus," I remind him, feeling his hand loosen on my arm, allowing me to move away and completely ignoring all the food that was at my disposal.

I find Elijah coming in the opposite direction, his gaze fixed on me for a few seconds before looking at Klaus with a furrowed brow. If Klaus had plans to keep me in captivity

, then he would have to watch me die every day while intoxicating my body closer to an overdose.

The most he would get from me was that and my lifeless body to bury or leave in some ditch for vultures to take care of.

At least with Kai, I knew I would get a burial I "deserved" and what my parents would want. I wouldn't be discarded somewhere, and people would talk about me for at least two days; after that, I would just be another person who succumbed to drugs and became a statistic.