The Bitten.

Room Mate.

"Walk. Show me around our home." He nudged my side and urged me forward.

"I've never been inside human dwellings. I want to see everything, and how it works." I decided to start with the room we were in. I walked to the closet doors, I opened them wide and showed him what clothes I had and how they were hung.

"Closet. Closet is where you hang clothes. Store shoes, blankets, things like that."

"Closet." He repeated. I was afraid to test him again, but I never really got many answers to my earlier questions. So much went through my mind but I was either cut off, overwhelmed or afraid to ask. There was so much I needed to know. And I was dying to know the name of the strange being who held me hostage inside my own apartment.

"You said 'our home', you will be staying here?" I tried to ease into the questions, but he took it the wrong way.

"Is that a problem?" Yes. He stiffened. I shook my head and continued showing him the dressers and drawers and what they held in them.

"No!  I just need to get you some things. You'll need stuff of your own. Clothes that fit you. Toiletries."

"I have clothes. You aren't going anywhere. You can just return my shirt." I kept my head turned as I skipped over my underwear drawer, and went into showing him socks. Then explaining they were for feet, not certain if he was familiar with this or not. Basically, I was stalling. And I'm not even sure what for.

"I'm not trying to go anywhere. It's just you'll need more clothes. To help you blend in. Even if you stay, eventually we would have to go out for something. Those clothes are dirty, they draw attention. They need to be cleaned. You'll need clean things to wear while those are cleaned. And toiletries. Toiletries I will explain when we get to the bathroom." I looked back at him, to find him stark naked and holding his pants out to me. I tilt my head to admire the ceiling. No. No.

"Why-why are you...naked?"

"You said you were going to clean this. It's dirty." I could not cope with this. My blood pressure had to be sky rocketing. I couldn't even face him, and I'd run out of strips on the ceiling to count.

"I meant when we got clean ones! Gods have mercy. Put them back on-"

"You said you would clean this. Go clean it." It was am order.

"That's in the other room-"

"I'll follow you."

And he did. He trailed me to the little cubby in the hall where two small sliding doors concealed a tiny washing machine and dryer. I held my breath as I turned to face him. He had to have had his filthy pants clenched in his fist, but his arms were at his sides and I refused to look past his mid torso. I looked near his face, but at the wall over his shoulder to avoid eye contact. He stepped into my line of vision, kneeling so I had to look at him.

"Um...this is the washing machine. And that one-" I nodded my head to it. "Is the dryer. You put the dirty clothes in the washing machine, and-"

"Aren't you going to do it?" He tilted his head in annoyance, and steppedcloser to me. My hands were still bound behind my back. I wasn't sure how he expected me to do this, and I was dyingvat his proximity. He might not even have to do me in, I might die of embarrassment soon.

"My hands are bound. I need my hands."

He made a motion with his head, and I understood that to mean 'turn around'. I was hesitant, but I complied. His body felt centimeters from my fingertips, and heat radiated off his skin onto mine. He was far too close. I pressed myself forward against the machine and stuck my arms back farther to try to avoid hid touch. He lazily undid my hands, getting in no rush. He crept so close that I could feel his skin on my fingertips, and the warmth of his body. He scratched me right below my rib, and I yelped.