Up in the Stars

Tethered

I had a lot of fun with this chapter, as this scene was actually the whole reason I created Almalfi!

I hope you enjoy.

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Her entire body is a study in pain.

A dark bruise on her jaw where he had hit her.

Aches along her spine from where she had fallen.

Raw skin around the ankle that was bound to this hell.

The coppery taste of his blood inescapable, no matter how many times she brushed her teeth.

Enid still isn't sure why she bit him.

It wasn't something Dante had taught her in their self-defense classes.

The reaction had been instinctive.

His cruelty sparking something crazed, depraved in her.

When confronted with a monster, sometimes you must become one yourself.

His inhuman laughter as she bit down on his thumb haunts the far corners of her mind.

Delight and madness sparking in his eyes.

"Oh, what fun it will be to break you." His words served as a warning before he moved.

His palm flying against her cheek, sharp and hard.

The force of it sending her to the ground.

To his feet.

He had laughed until she could no longer breathe.

"At my feet, as you belong." Flynt had been victorious.

She had stayed there, holding in her tears until she heard the door shut behind him.

Alone, she curled into a tight ball.

Letting the tears track down her face and drip onto the floorboard.

She hadn't seen anyone since then.

The passing of time marked by trays of food being pushed into her room and the arc of the sun across the sky.

It had been over a week.

Ten days of isolation.

Enid barely slept, barely ate.

Afraid of what could happen while she was unconscious.

Afraid of what might be in the food.

Paranoia made her mind hazy, plans forming and failing as she tried to work out a way to escape.

She had pried at the cuff around her ankle until her fingers bled.

Had tried slamming her ankle against the bedframe to break the metal band but had only gained more dark bruises along her fair skin for her efforts.

She had screamed until her throat was raw.

Begged the anonymous person delivering her food to help her each time the door cracked open.

Two days ago, she had opened the window, climbed up onto the sill.

The frigid wind whipping around her barely disturbing her.

Staring down at the grounds below, she wondered if she would survive the impact.

If she could get up, make it to the tree line in the distance.

Keep running until she found help.

Barefoot and injured, stumbling through the woods.

She wasn't sure she'd even make it more than a few feet.