Page 12 of In You

My eyes flick back to the dogs before wandering the area we're in.

My fingers clench in the blanket as I take in the beautifully decorated but simple den.

There's a huge bull skull hung above the flickering fireplace bringing my focus to the ceiling.

Thick brown beams arches in five foot sections that span across the entire room.

Lamps glow, dotted strategically throughout the room. It's comfortable, but I know better.

Calvin's home was at one time comforting to me, too.

"I want to go home," I say in a shaky voice, bringing my eyes warily back to his.

He sucks down the little bit of alcohol in his glass and plunks it on the end table next to him, crossing his ankle over his leg and setting his wrist loosely over his knee before putting those haunted-looking dark eyes back on mine. I wish I could fucking be as relaxed as he seems to be.

"Right now I'm sorry to tell you that you have no home. And even if you did, I wouldn't let you go. You've seen what I look like, and you've seen what I've done. You are a loose end, and because of that, I can't let you go."

I stare stupidly. "You can let me go."

"It's either you stay here, or I kill you." His brow pulls low. "Take your pick."

He's going to kill you anyways… I swallow thickly. "I think…I think you're going to kill me anyways."

"No." He shakes his head, his eyes flickering down my huddled up body curiously before snapping back to mine. "I do not desire to kill you. I went through too much to save someone tonight. It happened to be you, and it'd break my heart to kill you. So, grant me this tiny mercy, please, and stay."

Break his heart?

My eyes stay tight on his, searching.

His words process so slowly that I begin to worry about my sanity. I fist my hand in the covers and then bring them up to cover my mouth. "Okay," I mumble into the fabric, too nervous to say anything else.

His eyes soften considerably, and the tension between us lets up just a little to be more bearable.

"I have a doctor coming to give you a physical, and to look over your body and assess for any injuries," he says, ignoring my silence.

"She's a female, so I think you should be more comfortable around her.

Her name is Cynthia Riviera, and she's one of the very best. Works with military personnel. I'll be nearby in case you get scared."

My brows raise, but I'm not able to talk. I don't think I can form a coherent sentence. The silence stretches for so long that the burn in my bladder becomes incessant, begging for relief. I wet my lips, still clutching tightly to the blanket.

"I need to go-to go..."

He gets up from the leather chair silently, and just stands to his full height, staring at me.

Holy shit he's a big man, and when he pulls to his full height, he towers above me even from over five feet away with a table in between us.

That fear becomes stronger, because I know that he could very well easily overpower me if he wanted to.

And unlike Calvin, where I always harbored thoughts I could take him out if I just had the right opportunity, with Caleb I don't entertain any such thoughts. I wouldn't even try.

However, he doesn't make any move towards me, and for that, I'm grateful. I don't think I can stand being approached or touched right now.

First thing I notice is, I've still got bare feet, and he'd cleaned them of the chocolate cake I'd slipped in earlier.

A quick look out the window shows it's the dead of night.

Completely pitch black, which informs me we aren't in the city.

Or even in a town. He points towards a hallway to the right of him just past the fireplace.

I turn my head curiously. It's a dark abyss past the arch way, and though I'm not afraid of the dark, I am afraid of new places thanks to Calvin.

"Take a right down that hallway, and the bathroom is the second door on the left. I have sensors on all the windows so if you try to leave, I'll know. I don't know what that man did to you, but I won't beat you for trying to leave. But I'll only tell you once, you are not allowed to leave."

I swing my legs over the side of the couch and let out an involuntary moan at the feel of my head spinning when I sit up.

"Did you eat dinner earlier?" he asks softly.

I shrug my shoulder, not wanting to talk.

"Did you eat enough?" His voice goes somehow even lower.

My eyes flick to his and I shrug my shoulder again. Truth be told, I can't remember if I'd ate or not. But I don't want to disclose this to him.

He nods. "When the doctor is done, I will feed you." He jerks his head to the hallway. "Go on, now. Take your time. And if you'd like to take another shower, be my guest."

"Another shower?" I ask slowly, frowning.

His brow arches. "Yesss…." he trails off, tilting his head with a confused look on his face.

I blink, and inhale, trying to smell myself. I smell clean. "I don't….I don't think I need one." And the last thing I want is to be naked and vulnerable in a shower with him nearby.

"Well, you're my guest," he repeats, "feel free to take a shower or eat any time you want."

My chin quivers at the term, because I haven't been a guest anywhere for the last year, and I'm certainly not one now. And it feels cruel for him to use that kind of language when it's not true. We both know it.

It takes me a while to get up, but he doesn't make a move to help me, and for that I'm thankful. My arm burns and I swallow thickly past the lump in my throat, avoiding his sharp-eyed stare as he watches me like a hawk while I sway on my feet towards the hallway.

A quick flip of the switch lights the area.

There's a closed double door room immediately to the left of the arch, and to the right I see a long hallway with about six doors, and only one door to the right all the way at the end.

As I walk down the hall, I stop when I see a very large oil painting of a sea with a jagged cliff.

It's beautiful and clearly represents freedom.

Everything that I can't seem to attain no matter what.

I gasp, and my vision becomes hazy, making me sway. It evokes such a visceral reaction out of me that I immediately break out into tears, made worse by the sight of a vase of flowers situated on a small table to the right of the hall.

This is what started everything with that monster! Throw them!

I walk up to it and then feel my face break. I pick it up with a scream, and send it flying into the opposite wall where it shatters upon impact on the clean, creamy paint of the drywall. The poodle and hound scatter, their nails clacking on the floor as they hurriedly back away from me.

Breathing hard, I watch as the flowers fall everywhere, and the water runs down the walls and puddles on the hardwood floor. Some petals remain stuck to the wall, but I leave them there.

Just as easily as my anger swelled, it disappeared to be replaced by fear.

Bone chilling fear. Because I do not know this man.

I knew what to expect with the Captor. I knew my odds.

With Caleb…I know nothing. I'm in unchartered territory, feeling much like the waves that crash on the rocks against the cliffs.

It doesn't take much to break me apart.

I turn with a gasp to see Caleb leaning a shoulder in the threshold of the hallway, watching me silently with a stoic look on his face.

He raises an eyebrow, but keeps his distance.

He jerks his head to the bathroom, his dark eyes steady on me.

"I'll clean it up," he says in a gruff voice.

"Go on and lock the door if it'll make you feel better, alright?

I won't come in unless you need me to help you. You're fine."

I don't feel fine.

I feel like one wrong look and I'll be a broken mess on the floor along with this vase, with no hope to be put together ever again.

I take a hesitant step towards the bathroom, and when I make it through the door, so does the poodle, slipping between my feet with a little high pitched yap.

I lock the door and turn to face my reflection in the round mirror above the sink.

Bloodshot eyes, hair half-down and half-pinned up, my left cheek is slightly red from where he slapped some sense into me earlier.

My eyes go lower to take in my pretty orange patterned dress.

That's all the Captor wanted me to wear; dresses, like I'm a fifties housewife.

I zero in on the chocolate smear staining my left breast, and feel my face pinch up.

I sniff as I suddenly feel like I'm being waterlogged.

My head gets stuffy in a way that doesn't have to do with the drug Caleb gave me, and my lips quiver as I realize I'm looking at the last remnants of my life with the Captor.

Who I thought at one time was the love of my life, but he turned out to be my worst nightmare.

This dress, those pins in my hair, and that chocolate smear on my chest is all I have left of that time of my life.

And my memories.

Sliding down the door, I land on my butt gracelessly and sniff as a different kind of tears fall down my cheek now.

The poodle crawls into my lap, and makes her way up my body until she licks at my tears, giving me comfort.

God, I wish I could feel it. I wish I could feel something other than fear and despair.

An ugly sob escapes my lips, and I press a hand to my mouth to muffle it and let myself cry, and she licks every tear away as I shatter to pieces.