Page 4 of Love Me in the Dark

It’s fully dark by the time the door opens, making me flinch. It’s only Elijah, though I’m not sure if he’s a friend or foe yet. He could have been a lot rougher with me, but then again, the fact that he’s doing any of this in the first place doesn’t give me much hope.

Once he turns on the bedside lamp, I see he’s carrying a tray. A plate with a sandwich on it, a bottle of water, and a banana. Right now, it looks like a feast. As upset as I am, the hunger isworse. And I want to keep my strength up, too. I can’t be weak and dizzy if I try to get out of this—which I have to. I can’t just sit here and wait for the next terrible thing to happen. The worddeliverysends icy fear running down my spine. I don’t even want to know what it means.

“Please. Can you tell me what’s happening? What is she going to do to me? I’m not asking you to try to get me out. I just want to know.”

All he does is set the tray down like he never heard a word. I’m starting to wonder if he’s even able to speak. Maybe he’s hearing impaired, too. That would explain the way he’s acting.

Instead of leaving me alone, he goes to the window and sits on a wooden chair against the wall. His dark eyes linger on me, and his handsome face is still. He’s waiting for me to eat.

Fine. The sooner I’m finished, the sooner he’ll leave me alone and stop being creepy.

A plain ham sandwich never tasted so good. I devour the entire thing in five bites and wash it down with some water before eating the banana in record time. All the food did was make me feel hungrier, but it will have to do for now. Something tells me asking for more wouldn’t get me anywhere, and I’m not going to beg anybody for anything. I already look pathetic and helpless enough.

“Can I go to the bathroom? I could use the chance to wash up a little bit.” My fingers are scraped up from last night, that useless climb up the wall. I hold them up for him to see. “And it would be nice to not pee in a bucket like I’ve been doing all day.”

Even that doesn’t seem to shock him out of his blank-faced stoicism. All he does is get up, move the tray out of the way, and untie my wrists.

But, of course, he won’t let me go on my own. At least he stops outside the small bathroom down the hall from thebedroom and closes the door, separating us. What a relief. I was almost afraid for a second that he would want to watch.

The window is much too small for me to get through, so there goes that. I run the water in the sink and wash my hands and face while taking deep breaths to calm myself down. It doesn’t work.

What am I going to do? It doesn’t seem like anything I say gets through to Elijah. He might as well be a statue. All he’s doing is following the rules, which I guess I would do in his place. I mean, I’m an example of what happens when you break the rules. He wouldn’t want to be in my place.

I need to get through to him somehow. There’s got to be a way.

Right now, there’s nothing I can do but open the door and face what happens next.

And all there is right now is an empty hallway. I look to the left and then to the right, but there’s no Elijah.

I’m a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. I can’t waste this chance to get out.

I tiptoe over the creaky floorboards, wincing when one of them squeaks loudly. Still, Elijah doesn’t appear. I take another few steps, focused on the stairs leading straight down to the front door. This time, I’m making it out. I don’t have a choice.

“What are you doing?” The voice comes along with the door to the room at the other end of the hall flying wide open. Henry storms my way, a bottle in one hand, his face flushed. “Did you get lost? You’re not supposed to be out here.”

“I—” All the air rushes out of my lungs when he pushes me against the wall.

I realize when I suck in a surprised breath that he’s drunk. He reeks like the whiskey sloshing around in the bottle and practically oozes from his pores.

“I know.” His deep, nasty laughter can only mean one thing. “You were looking for me, weren’t you? I bet you figure you might as well have a little fun before the delivery. I bet you’ve never been this close to a man, have you?” He presses his large, sweaty body against me, and I have to bite back a scream.

“Please, don’t.” I turn my face away, wincing when his lips skim my earlobe. Oh, god, he’s disgusting. The food I just ate threatens to rush back up into my mouth.

Just in time, he falls back, and I realize when Elijah takes hold of me that he pulled his father away. One glimpse of his face is enough to make my blood run cold. He looks like he could kill me.

Right now, I’m just glad he’s getting me away from his father, shoving me back into the bedroom I came from. I stumble and fall at the foot of the bed before curling in a protective ball.

A breathless sob tears itself from my chest when he slams the door, leaving the two of us together in the room. His energy is so intense I can hardly breathe while he glares down at me with his hands balled up in fists.

For the first time all night, he opens his mouth and speaks in a deep, rich voice full of hatred. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

3

ELIJAH

This stupid girl. I was so damn close, and she had to ruin everything. She has the nerve to cower on the floor, weeping and shaking. Like she’s the one whose life was ruined by somebody else’s stupid, careless actions.

To think, I used to be interested in her. Wishing we could say a few words to each other. I only ever knew her name, and it repeated in my head throughout the day, banging like a gong and reverberating through me whenever I set eyes on her.