“Your moans ...they haunt me. You know that, girl? Your moans have stuck in my head and won’t go the fuck away.” He reaches out and grabs me by the hair, tearing me toward him. I cringe and cower but I don’t fight.
“Now I want to hear those moans,” he says into my ear. “I want to hear them from your own fucking mouth.”
He releases my hair and hits me again. I back up, crawling into the corner, and he laughs.
“Go ahead, run away. There’s nowhere to go. You’re mine now. And you’re not going to like it.” He stands and looks down at me.
“Where is Logan?” I ask him weakly.
He cocks his head to the side. “Did I say you could speak?” He hits me again. I cover my head and hide away. “No, I fucking didn’t. God, what is it about that fucking guy that you liked so much?”
“He didn’t treat me like a dog,” I say.
Anton punches me in the mouth. Instantly, I can feel blood well up on my lips and I check my teeth with my tongue. None of them seem missing, thankfully, and I spit a wad of blood onto the ground.
He laughs, watching me with his arms crossed.
“Logan was a big fucking pussy,” he says. “If he just played along and did what he was supposed to do, we wouldn’t have this problem. You’d be broken and I wouldn’t have to come in here and clean up his mess.” He walks across the room and looks into the mirror. “You think I like doing this? Answer me.”
“Yes,” I say, watching him. He watches me back through the mirror.
“Well, you’d be correct.” He straightens up, laughing. “I fucking love this. I love breaking stubborn bitches like you. Except I don’t like having to do it on a time crunch. I like to take my time, find ways to hurt you that you can’t even imagine. I like to get you to the point where you’re not just afraid of more pain, but you welcome me as a savior. I have three girls standing in the other room right over there, you know that? There’s an open window and they could jump out of it at any time, but they won’t.”
“Why?” I ask him, defiant.
“Because they want to be here, the stupid whores. They’re broken shells. They don’t know anything else anymore.”
I clench my jaw and look away. This man is so revolting that I can barely stand it.
But I can see how that would happen. It happened with me. My father broke me a long time ago and I lived in his house, every single day, never running away although I could have. I was just too afraid and thought that my father knew what was best for me.
I know better now. I’ve seen real abuse, and I know what my father did to me was it. I know that I can survive now.
Although I’m not sure I can survive this.
Anton turns and walks slowly toward me, talking the whole time.
“You see, men are disgusting. We’re pigs. They just want some hot warm hole to hump until they drop a load, and then it’s back home to the wife and the kids.” He stops in front of me and crouches down. “Some of them want the fantasy. They want to pretend like the slut is enjoying their little prick, too. But the guys that come to me, they know the truth. They don’t give a fuck.”
I stare into his eyes and don’t know what to say. He’s sick and twisted, and I know not all men are like that. Logan isn’t like that.
“Where’s Logan?” I ask him finally.
“Dead,” he says with a wicked grin. “Feel better now? I had my best man drive him out to the desert and put a bullet in his skull. He’ll be a rotting corpse by now.” Anton takes my hand. “Your life is mine now, bitch.”
I stare back as terror and pain rip me apart.
Logan, the only man to take me seriously, to treat me well. He made me feel things I never really imagined before. And as soon as I truly realized that I was falling in love with him, this bastard steals him away.
I fell in love with Logan and now he’s dead. Maybe I’m cursed to be alone and abused for the rest of my life.
But no, no, I can’t do that. He was ...everything. And without him, I have nothing to live for. I know it, deep down inside of me. I was holding on to life just because I thought he might still be alive, but now I know the truth. Now I know for sure.
Logan is dead. He’s gone and he’s never coming back. Whatever is left of my life will be short, brutal, and full of misery.
But I have no reason to keep living. I truly don’t. So why not end it all?
I can’t kill myself. I don’t have the strength. But I know someone that will do it for me.
This bastard. Anton. He’ll kill me if I raise a hand against him. I’m sure of it. If I hurt him as badly as I can as quickly as I can, he’ll kill me. Maybe it’ll be slow but at least it’ll happen and I’ll be free. It can be my last act on this world. I can die knowing that I made a choice and followed it through.