Page 8 of Ravage (The Wellard Asylum #6)

“I’m the boss today, remember? So what I say goes; now spill.” She smiles brightly at me, but her eyes lack the same brightness, filled with concern and worry.

“I already told you what happened; he left a note in my bathroom.” I shrug my shoulders, trying to convey that I really don’t care, when deep down I’m totally creeped out.

“What did the note say? You said he told you to wear something blue? There’s something you aren’t telling me.” Cassie’s voice is full of concern, with a frown marring her voice. I blow out a deep sigh before launching into my whole spiel about how this morning went.

“I woke up this morning and found a sticky note on my bathroom mirror after my shower. It said “You would look beautiful in blue.” and he hung up one of my blue shirts on the towel rack. You know that pretty one you helped me buy a while back?” I say, hoping that she will focus on what shirt she helped me buy and not the fact that Kole was in my bathroom while I was sleeping.

Cassie blinks at me with her mouth hanging open, looking like a fish waiting for food. “He was in your room while you were sleeping?” She says the words slowly, like she’s talking to a toddler.

“Um, well, when you say it like that…” Heat blooms in my cheeks with embarrassment at the fact that Kole really did come into my room while I was sleeping.

“I swore I thought I locked the door last night, but maybe I just forgot because I was so tired after unpacking?” I run my hands through my hair, twisting the ends with my fingers, trying to piece together what could have happened last night.

“Sloane, I hate to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure you locked that door; you’re too anxious not to.

” As she speaks, the dread in my chest intensifies.

I didn’t want her to be right, because it’s crazy to think that Kole would break into my bedroom while I was sleeping.

Right? I open my mouth to reply to Cassie, but the words get stuck in my throat, and my skin grows clammy with my nerves.

“My couch is still open if you want…” Her words trail off into the distance, or maybe I just can’t hear what else she says through the blood rushing in my ears and the pounding of my panicked heart.

My shift at work went by agonizingly slow.

The only customers we had were our regulars who wanted their same coffee they get every single morning.

On any other day I would have been thankful for the low amount of work, but today all it did was allow my brain to spin and spin with worries.

The number of bad scenarios I had conjured up in my mind from my earlier conversation with Cassie was almost enough for me to skip going home and crash on her couch.

When my shift was up, I ran out of there like my ass was on fire, eager to beat Kole home.

I take a peek down at my phone and see the 5pm flashing at me and my heart rate speeds up with anxiety.

I stop abruptly next to my car, yanking the door open and practically launching myself into the driver's seat.

My car stutters to a start, and I praise God for the simple generosity.

Leaving the parking lot turns out to be rather difficult with all of the after-work traffic, delaying my exit by ten minutes.

My fingers drum against the steering wheel while I zoom through town, passing all of the drivers who have decided that it's a great time to go on a leisurely drive.

By the time I whip into the apartment's parking lot, it's five minutes before six. Rushing out of my car with my bag slung over my shoulder, I book it to the front door. Bypassing other tenants and swerving around various parked cars. I’m not able to take a full breath until the doors of the elevator shut me inside the quiet box.

My leg jiggles as the seconds pass by in a blur until the doors open at the fourth floor.

I resist the urge to run towards the door and walk with purpose towards my destination.

Taking a deep breath, my hand reaches for the doorknob, and it twists freely in my palm.

A sense of dread makes my stomach drop to the floor.

I steel myself before opening the door as quietly as possible and pushing through it.

The apartment is quiet as I make my way through it.

“Welcome home, Sloane.” Kole’s tall form walks out of his bedroom wearing loose grey sweats and a black t-shirt.

I’m momentarily stunned by his annoyingly good looks, trying to remind myself that he was in my room without my permission. I give him a small smile and a nod before turning towards my own room.

“Is everything okay?” His words are accompanied by a cornered tilt of his head.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t they be?” My words come out high and squeaky, and I curse myself for being such a shit liar.

“You just seem… Odd.” He says while leaning up against the wall of the hallway.

“You’ve known me for what, forty-eight hours now? How can this be odd? You don’t even know what odd is for me yet.” I’m fully aware that my words came out sharp and bitchy, but if it shuts him up, then I don’t care.

“Point taken. Dinner will be ready soon.” He doesn’t spare me a glance as he turns and walks towards the kitchen. I shut my door and lean up against the back of it. My head drops back against the wood, while my bag slips from my shoulders.

Once my heartbeat is back to its normal rhythm, I rummage through my boxes in search of a pair of loose shorts and a T-shirt that I quickly change into.

The clothes are old and overworn, with frayed seams and the shirt having small holes adorning one shoulder.

Admittedly this is one of my favorite comfort outfits, so I refuse to part with it, despite how grungy it looks.

I debate on changing into something else, but the thought of looking unappealing to Kole floats through my mind and brings a smile to my face.

Holding my head high, I exit my bedroom, heading towards the fancy-ass kitchen.

The smell coming from it makes my stomach rumble with anticipation.

Kole’s back is to me as he adds chicken and other things to two plates in front of him.

I can’t see anything else with his body in the way, but how could it really be?

I take my seat at the island, picking up one of the glasses of water that’s already sitting there and chugging it.

Kole finally turns around with two full plates in his hand, setting one in front of me and then another one off to the right, before he grabs my empty water glass and refills it.

I pick up my fork that he laid next to the plate, eager to dig in, but stop immediately at the offending green stuff on my plate.

Next to the baked chicken is a steaming pile of spinach.

My stomach rolls with the smell and the look of the green mush.

Setting my fork down, I hop off my chair in search of another side to pair with the chicken instead of what’s currently staring me down on my plate.

“What are you doing?” Kole’s questioning voice rings through the space.

He looks at me, then my plate, then back at me again, scrutinizing me as I pluck a single serving of kraft from the cabinet.

“You have food on your plate, Sloane.” He says sternly, pointing at my plate, making me feel like a petulant child.

“I appreciate you making dinner, but I don’t like spinach. I’ll eat the chicken and this instead.” I hold up the cup of Kraft and turn towards the sink to fill it with water. As my hand reaches for the faucet, the cup is knocked out of my hands, and noodles clatter into the sink below.

“I don’t think so. You’re not putting that shit in your body. Not when there’s healthy food on your plate.” His voice drops an octave as he towers over me, his eyes stern and menacing.

I take a few deep breaths before I look up at him.

“I’m not a child, Kole. I can feed myself.

” I turn back towards the cabinet to grab another Kraft Single, but he grabs me around the waist and pushes me up against the counter.

The marble digging into my lower back, with his arms caging me in, and his eyes glaring down at me.

“Do you have any idea how many preservatives and nasty shit are in that crap?” His words are spoken in a growl, making nerves skitter down my spine.

“U-Uh yeah, b-but I’m still a-alive.” The words leave me in a stuttering mess, my hands trembling while I clutch them against my chest.

“While you’re living under my roof, you’ll eat what I give you.

Do you understand?” I just stare up at him with my mouth hanging open in shock, because who does he think he is to order me around like this?

“You better shut that pretty mouth before I fill it with something other than food.” Lust swirls around the anger in his gaze as he stares at me and my mouth slams shut with a click.

“I asked you a question, Sloane.” My mind completely blanks on what he even asked me so I decide to go with my gut on this one.

“I’m not a fucking child.” I push against his chest to get him to back off, my own anger rising in my chest. He stands tall, not even budging from my assault.

Kole grabs my swinging hands, gripping them in one fist while the other one goes straight to the apex of my thighs.

The feeling of his warm hand against me is enough to stop my struggling.

“Trust me, Sloane, I’m fully aware that you’re not a child.

” His hand grips my pussy tighter, the heel of his palm brushing against my clit, eliciting a squeak from me which has him smirking like mad.

“You eat what I give you. I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like it.

You won’t be ruining that perfect body of yours by stuffing it full of junk food.

” He gives my pussy one last squeeze before walking towards the cabinet, filling his arms with every cup of Kraft I had up there, including the chocolate chip cookies, and tossing them all in the trash.

I’m frozen in shock with his audacity, my mouth gaping open once again.

Once he’s done ridding his cabinet of the perfectly fine food, he looks up at me and speeds towards me.

I cower against the counter with a gasp, watching in slow motion as his fingers dive into my open lips.

I gag around his thick fingers as he presses down against my tongue, his other hand going to the back of my head and twisting in my hair.

“What did I say about this pretty mouth of yours?” I try to speak around his fingers, but it all comes out in a strained gurgle.

Tears stream from my eyes while he leisurely fucks my mouth with his fingers until he’s satisfied.

“Sit down and eat.” His words are growled into my tearful face.

With a sniffle, I hustle over to my spot at the island, immediately grabbing my fork and stabbing a piece of chicken with it.

I add spinach to my bite, hoping like hell the taste of the chicken will drown out the dirty taste of the mushy, offending green leaves.

I wipe the tears from my face with my other hand and shove the forkful into my mouth, chewing before swallowing.

A sense of relief courses through me when I can barely taste the spinach.

We both eat in awkward silence, although I can feel his eyes peeking over at me every few seconds.

Kole finishes his food well before I do, and he sits there messing with his phone, waiting for me to finish.

Once I shove the last bite in my mouth and swallow, he’s there grabbing my dirty dishes and setting them in the sink.

I say a tense goodnight and thank you for dinner before bolting to my room.

Shutting the door and locking it three times, then grabbing my laptop and climbing into bed.

My laptop powers on, and I waste no time opening up the internet and typing in questions, hoping somewhere will have an answer for Kole’s actions.

Why does my roommate not want me to eat junk food?

Why did my roommate sneak into my room while I was sleeping? Why is my roommate so obsessed with me?

After almost an hour of searching and reading through Reddit threads, my last question comes back with a few actually helpful hits.

I read through them all, soaking up any information that I can find.

Eventually I come across a forum on a psychiatric page about Obsessive Love Disorder.

The name makes my skin crawl, and the farther I read the page, the more terrified I get as the symptoms continue to match up with Kole’s actions.

Hours pass, my eyes dry from staring at a computer screen for so long.

For some reason I thought the more I read, the more ridiculous it would all sound.

However, it turned out to be the opposite.

My fear is palpable as I shut down my laptop and triple-check that the door is in fact locked.

I debate on blocking the door with the dresser just to be safe, but decide that’s overkill.

I pick out my clothes for the next day, a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt, setting them inside of the bathroom for the morning.

It takes me a while to fall asleep with all my worries spiraling around inside of my head, but when my eyes finally close, I float easily into oblivion.