Chapter 27

Amber tried not to yawn as she sat beside Greg, but her body was fatigued, and her mind worn. The more she tried not to yawn, concentrating with all her mind, the more her throat muscles contracted, threatening to let the subtle act of disrespect escape.

She covered her face and turned to look out of the window as it slipped out, but he caught her.

"Am I boring you, Amber?" he asked.

"No," Amber replied with haste. "I, erm, I'm just so exhausted."

"Slap yourself in the face," he said.

Amber did so, not hard enough to hurt but with enough force to wake herself up. It surprised her by working... for a couple of seconds at least. Then she wanted to yawn again.

"I'm not horny," Greg told her in a conversational tone. "But I am in the mood to see you suffer."

Amber wasn't listening to him. She'd spotted a half-eaten sandwich on the windowsill and couldn't tear her eyes away from it. It appeared to have an egg mayonnaise filling—her favorite. Her mouth watered as she envisioned biting into the soft white bread and eggy mix.

"Are you listening to me?" Greg asked.

"Uh-huh," Amber mumbled, wiping the drool from her mouth.

"Pull down your pants and get on all fours," he demanded.

Once she was positioned on the bed as he'd requested, he pulled a black leather belt from a posh looking pair of trousers in his drawer.

She knew what was coming and took it quietly without making a fuss. It stung like crazy, and hurt more as he layered the hits, somehow managing to catch the exact same spot that was already sore from the previous one.

As the pain increased, she considered begging him to stop but decided there was little point. She would take the punishment with whatever dignity she could muster.

Then he turned the belt in his hands and whacked her full force with the metal buckle.

Letting out a scream that could have woken the dead, she scrambled from her position on all fours and cowered in the corner. She rubbed at the wound, trying desperately to ease the sting. When she pulled her hands away and spread her fingers, she was horrified to see they were coated with blood.

Greg's eyes widened, and for a moment she thought he was going to apologize for taking it too far or tell her it had been a miscalculated hit.

"How dare you move," he scathed.

Her forehead dinged on the metal of the bed frame as he grabbed her ankle and yanked her from the bed.

"Ow," she muttered.

"Aww," he said, looking down with sarcastic sympathy. He unhooked the handcuffs from his bedpost and used them to secure her hands behind her back.

Then, picking her up as if she were a child, he dragged and dropped her by the small built-in wardrobe, opening the doors and clearing out the clothes that littered the bottom.

It was at that moment Amber wanted out. She was done.

"No. no. no. no," she said shaking her head at him. "No. Not this. Not this. You can't do this."

"Aww, are you scared of confined spaces?" he asked.

Despite saying no multiple times, she could see on his face he still planned to continue.

"No. Greg, please. Please not this. Please not this. Please, Greg," she tried begging, but it was like he didn't hear her.

She began to scream as he placed her inside, no longer worried about having any kind of relationship. No longer worried about anything except getting away.

He shoved a dirty balled-up sock into her mouth before closing the wardrobe. She tried to push on the doors with her shoulders, but they wouldn't budge.

A flash of hot and cold pins and needles burst through her arms and legs as she struggled to breathe, feeling her throat closing up.

'Someone please… help me!'

###

When the police knocked at the door everyone gathered. As she passed Greg on the stairs Ruby heard muffled cries from his room and decided to double back and make sure her friend was okay. She frowned as she pushed the door open, not seeing Amber anywhere.

When she heard a smothered cry and banging from inside the wardrobe, she untangled the tie from the handles and pulled it open.

Amber burst out like a terrified animal, wild-eyed and covered in blood.

"Oh my God," Ruby gasped, bringing her in for a hug.

When she noticed the handcuffs, she searched around for the key, haphazardly pulling out the contents of his drawers and dumping them on the bed until she found a little silver keyring with two keys attached.

Her first thought was that Amber had somehow summoned the police from inside the wardrobe, but that didn't make a lot of sense.

"What's going on?" Amber asked.

Ruby shook her head in confusion. She had no more clue than Amber.

"Let's go and find out," Ruby said, taking her non-bloody hand and leading her down the stairs.

The front door sat open, and a couple of policemen stood in the doorway. Ron was arguing with them, hovering in front of Greg in a defensive stance.

"What exactly are you accusing my son of?" he cried.

Ruby wondered who had the guts to go to the police about him. Was it Tom? Or maybe Miss Walters the English teacher?

"Your neighbor has lodged a formal complaint against your son," the police officer told Ron.

'Rob?' Ruby thought. 'Weird, spineless little Rob had the nerve to call the police?'

This knowledge made her ashamed of her own inability to stand up to him.

"Why?" Ron asked. "What has that freak been saying now?"

"Just leave it, Dad," Greg mumbled, preparing to leave with them.

"Mr. Howley claims you broke into his house, imprisoned him in his own home and killed his cat," the officer said with clear disgust.

"What the fuck?" her Mum cried.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, covering her mouth when she realized she'd cursed in front of the police.

'Oh my God,' Ruby thought. 'Poor Rob... poor cat!'

As she saw Greg being taken away, Ruby was overcome with a sudden onset of bravery.

"I'm not letting you tell me what to do anymore!" she shouted, making Greg frown.

"Me either!" Lucas cried, taking her hand in his.

"And I'm not your slave anymore!" Amber cried, most shocking of all. She picked up the chocolate muffin from Mum's plate and followed Greg out to the police car, stuffing it into her mouth.

"I can eat whatever I like you sad, sadistic prick!" she shouted with her chocolate-covered mouth, spilling cake crumbs onto the driveway.

The police officers exchanged confused looks and shook their heads as they bundled Greg into the back of the vehicle and drove off.

She stood and watched them leave, and spotted Rob in his window as she went to return to the house. He looked at her with the saddest eyes.

'He loved that cat so much,' she thought, her heart breaking for the poor guy. She felt guilty about making jokes about him and calling him names, finally understanding why her mother was always kind to him. She gave him a small wave before turning away, vowing to be more like her Mum in future.

Mum was tending to Ambers wounds when she got back inside while the men shifted awkwardly and made strained conversations about football. Apparently, Man United had won an away game 2-0.

'Oh, the thrills.'

After Ambers Mum arrived to pick her up, staying for a brief and awkward chat with her parents before taking her daughter home, Ruby led Lucas to her room.

"What happens now?" he asked.

He looked uncertain of his recent decisions; the pained worry etched into his brow.

'You might be worried, but I'm not,' Ruby thought. 'And I'm going to protect you.'

She smiled with confidence.

"Whatever you want.”