“I don’t know anything about before I got there,” I whispered loud enough that the room could hear me. I kept my gaze down, which made it slightly easier to answer. “It wasn’t until I was there for a few months before he had me luring in others. It was me. All me.”
I was a liar. An imposter.
A slut. Stupid.
“Steven forced you. It wasn’t your choice.” That was Gale.
Either I did what he said, or he’d go after my family. He’d go after the ones I cared about.
“How many did you bring in?” Luke asked next.
“Three. No, four.”
“How?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t.
“Emery,” Ryker said right in front of me. I blinked, surprised he was so close. I pushed backwards but had nowhere to go. His brown eyes were soft, understanding even. “Could you write it down instead?”
I shrugged. I didn’t want to. I wanted to forget. Would bleaching my eyes make the memories disappear? Wipe them from my mind forever?
“They were living on the streets. It was easy.” The words were quiet, but it must have been enough. “No families. Not like me.”
“Thank you.” Ryker smiled tightly. Then, he stood full height and backed away again. “Was there anything else you needed?” His voice hardened as he addressed the other male in the room.
“No. I think that’s enough. For now.”
“I’ll be back at lunch,” Ryker stated, waiting for me to confirm. I swallowed but nodded. He wasn’t going to let me get away with not eating.
“I’ll be here till you return,” Gale promised Ryker, who seemed to accept it easily enough.
Minutes later, the two males left, leaving the house feeling more at ease than it did before they showed up.
“You know you have choices, right?” Gale didn’t wait to dive right in.
“I don’t.” My choices were long gone.
“You do, Emery. After all this is over, you can go back home. Go to college, even.”
A dark laugh bubbled forth before I clamped it down. “I can’t even eat three meals a day. What makes you think I can handle school again? No thanks.”
“Okay.”
What? Just one word? I turned to look at her in surprise.
“You don’t want to go to college. Not a big deal. But what about going back home? Don’t you want to see your parents?”
“I don’t know.” Did I? Dad would just yell some more. Mom probably hadn’t even missed me.
Sometimes, Steven would show me pictures they posted on social media. They had moved. Got a dog. Replaced me.
They didn’t need me back in their life.
What I wanted I couldn’t have. It was more than seeing parents who didn’t want me. It was more than even death.
“What do you think of Ryker, then? He seems to care about your wellbeing.”
“He’s a man.” I didn’t care for anyone these days, but he was one of the few I could tolerate. “But…he’s okay.”
