And Then She Was Gone

Candelit Dinner

Their walk was silent, and the only thing that snapped her back to the fact that they had arrived at the bedroom was that this time no keys were produced to open the contents of the room. It had been left unlocked when they left, her realizing that  it was because she was no longer left within its impressively decorated walls. However, as soon as they crossed the barrier, she heard that familiar jingle, and once again became another decoration adorning the room.

He wordlessly walked over to the sundress and sandals which were now neatly placed at the foot of the bed, and handed them back to her. It becoming apparent that he would once again like her to get changed, his head nodding towards the bathroom where she was also expected to clean up her face and modify her appearance.

She took the articles of clothing just as quietly as he was handing them to her, and headed towards the bathroom, her feet slowly guiding her without conscious thought and her hand slipping the door closed behind her. She took in her messy appearance as she stood idly in front of the mirror, hands on the counter tops and hip bones leaning against its ledge.

How did she get here? How did she get to this place with dark circles underneath her eyes and her once, though momentary, carefree demeanor now being masked with utter empty resolve. People would normally look at what impressive features she had borne witness to in the home and would be envious, they would also be envious of the man she seemed to share them with, but this was not a fairytale. This was a nightmare.

She was thrown into the abyss, no longer knowing what was real and what was not. Her mind couldn't even begin to process the information Dominick and Ryan had assaulted her with. Hoping that she in fact was somewhere in between four padded walls so that she wouldn't have to face this current reality which contained monsters and beasts, where she was a constant victim at their dominating "protective" hands.

Her eyes flicked over to the door, as she heard the strong man with the dark hair and beautiful eyes whispering into the intercom by the front door. She could almost make out what he was saying, the conversation being about dinner and directed towards a woman named Mary. Though she was so far away from him, her ears pricked in interest, wanting to gage his location more than really caring about what he was saying.

When he had stopped speaking she felt enough time had been spent staring into the reflection of a fractured female form. She'd prefer not to think about any of this. To not think about anything at all. Making use of the faucet and splashing cold water on her face feeling its chilling effects and dampening down the fire beneath her facial features, running wet fingers through her hair and then to the back of her neck as if she was cleansing herself from the impurity of it all.

Without a care she stripped the long shirt and the jeans along with her shoes and socks and just left them haplessly dispelled on the floor. This wasn't her home, and she felt no need to keep it tidy, and no need to please the master of it by pretending to be a happily concerned guest. She placed the dress back on and then slipped on the sandals. Her face blank of emotion and hair sloppily slicked back by the brief encounter of her wet digits.

It was time to go back out and face the man who felt he had the right to take ownership over her thoughts and choices. Having no energy left to consider camping out in the bathroom and hiding behind a locked door, having no doubt that he would just knock it down as a result. She slumped out of the room with hung shoulders and a fragile broken presence, however he did not seem to notice.

Jason turned around upon her reentry and his green eyes lit up in delight as he took in the vision before him. He actually seemed almost elated with a warm smile erupting on his face, the same smile that she had once found so attractive as they ate at the B&B in close proximity to the mountains. A relief seemed to have formed in him now that he seemed to nip her blatant hostility, and now the real work could begin, he could finally turn this all around and get them on the right track.