Page 105 of Stand: Part One

“If you leave me down here, I will kill myself,” I choked out. “I swear to God, I’ll find a way.”

Darren sighed, finding my threat to be both hollow and comical.

“So dramatic,” he commented.

With no effort at all, he whisked me over to the bed and forced me down onto my back, another scream ripping from my throat. My attempt at fighting him was pitiful, I could barely lift a single limb to combat him.

It took Darren all of five seconds to properly secure my wrists and ankles to the corners of the bed, all the while the weight of my body adding to the agonizing pressure against my destroyed skin.

“Please, don’t do this,” I cried, my wretched voice barely above a whisper as I tugged pitifully at my restraints.

The familiar chill of the room was already penetrating my skin, making it rise with goose bumps as more tears formed in my eyes.

With all the patience of a disappointed parent, Darren sat down beside me, placing his hand on the other side of my waist so that he was leaning over me.

I barely had the strength to look him in the eye, unwilling to meet the inferno of malevolence burning in his gaze, completely devoid of mercy. It told me there was no point in pleading with him, his intent clearly fixed on delivering my suffering for the unforeseeable future. Begging would just be an embarrassing way to waste my energy.

“Unlike last time, I’m going to give you a much easier way to get out of here. Just one simple task,” he told me calmly. “And you will not leave this room until you have completed it to my satisfaction.”

I closed my eyes then, trying to calm my raging fear so that I could adequately comprehend what horror he wanted to subject me to.

“What do you want?” I whispered despondently.

The corners of Darren’s lips curled into something heinous and evil.

“Since you’ve apparently gotten so damn good at lying to me, performing one more shouldn’t be that difficult of a task for you.”

Oh God.

His gaze darkened to something possessive and cruel, a sinister gleam in his eye that promised my ultimate destruction.

“I want you to fuck me like you love me.”

My breath suddenly died in my lungs. Like someone had dropped a giant anvil on my chest, the weight crushing me into the bed.

“I don’t care what you need to do or how you need to do it, but one way or another, Jaden, you will make me believe it or you will never leave this room again. That is your only ticket out.”

Darren then got up and moved for the door, turning back to address me one last time.

“I’ll give you some time to mentally prepare yourself. When you’re ready, we can give it your first go.”

With that, he opened the door, turned off the light, and shut the door behind him, locking me in. He left me in total darkness, left me to drown in the complete desolation of my despair while my back burned to cinders under my own weight.

My eyes slid away to linger on the memorable ceiling above me even though I could barely see it in the dark. The unforgettable kiss of the icey air caressed my naked skin, welcoming me back to my personal hell like a long-lost lover, eager for another taste of me.

I could feel the panic attack rising, the burst of fear ready to disrupt the calm I had once managed to achieve in such a wretched place. The sharp memories assaulted me like knives, cutting into old scars I had once cauterized shut.

You’re not a person anymore, Jaden. You’re a thing now, an object, a living breathing doll with the sole purpose of obeying my every command.

My fists clenched, my knuckles turning white.

Every single molecule of you belongs to me. From the breath in your lungs to the blood in your veins. Your thoughts, your attention, your fears—all mine.

My body shivered, the deep tremble causing my limbs to lock up.

Your pretty little smiles, your adorable cries, your perfect screams? All. Mine.

My chest quaked, my heart rate climbing.