I shrink back. Digesting his words.
“But not to worry, soon everything will go back to normal. I will once more deliver girls to Jasper, and he can let out the monster that truly resides deep within him. All you do is cage him, hold him back.” Spittle flies from his mouth, and I scrunch my nose, disgusted by the sensation of his saliva dripping down my chin.
“Those girls made him unhappy.Youracts upset him,” I bite back. “Being withmeis what brings him happiness. I don’t hold him back, I fuckingcompletehim. Unlike you.”
It’s not my proudest moment, but anger clouds my judgement, and Marvin's act of pretending he understands Jasper’s complexity; better than I do, fuels a rage that ignites within me. A jealousy that I’m unable to hide. I try to stare him down, which is hard from where I'm standing.
“No, you don’t!” He cries as his hands find grip on my shoulders and he gives me a firm shove. I stumble as the force makes me step backward, and I trip over a chair. The floor is hard, and my skull hurts as it slams onto the tiles. The room spins around me, and a throbbing pain starts at the top of my head. Instinctively, I move my fingers to soothe the pain, but a sticky, syrupy substance finds my skin instead. As I slowly retreat my hand, I blink a few times, staring at the dark red crimson that envelops my slender fingertips.
I glower at him accusingly, but all he does is grin, with that vile, wide mouth of his. If he’d smear red lipstick over his lips, he’d make a great Joker. He bares his teeth at me, like a dog preparing to attack. I roll on my side and get on my knees. I’m still feeling dizzy, but I don’t have time for all this. The front door is still ajar, and I eye it quickly.
“You aren’t going anywhere, you fucking witch,” he barks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the blonde woman appear out of thin air. She’s still wearing the filthy dress I spotted her in earlier. Her face is disfigured. The corners of her mouth are cut open and crudely stitched together, leaving a cruel scar. She’s missing one eye, and her hair is knotted and tangled. She glances from me to Marvin, makes an unintelligible noise, and lunges for the man standing in my way. He falls to the floor with a loud smack and starts fighting off the woman, who clings to him like a newborn as if her life depends on it. Again, she lets out some sort of strangled scream at me, and I realize she’s saving me. She’s trying to tell me to get the fuck out of here.
I give her a quick nod and dash for the front door. I slam myself against it, opening it wide, and I fall forward into the mud and dry leaves. I scramble to my feet and run without looking back. My entire body hurts, and every muscle burns, but I keep going. I don’t have the luxury to stop. Marvin clearly had plans for me, and seeing the scars he had inflicted on the blonde woman proves he’s a sadistic man.
“Starling?”
I jerk my head toward the sound. When I see Jasper, my strength abandons me entirely, and I crumple to my knees as though the ground itself has claimed me. Every part of me trembles—bones, breath, soul—my hands shuddering as he drops before me and closes his grip around them.
“Darling? What happened? You’re hurt! Who did this to you?” His hands frame my face, forcing my eyes to his. His voiceis laced with stress. Stress, fear, and undeniable fury. Then his arms fold around me, and that is what undoes me. My breath fractures into ragged, choking sobs, my body shaking violently in his hold, words lost somewhere between my throat and the terror lodged in my ribs. I cling to him as if he is the only solid thing left in a world gone thin and unreal.
He lifts me as though I weigh nothing, and I wind my arms around his neck, burying my tear-soaked face into the hollow of his throat. I breathe him in—again and again—his scent anchoring me to something living, something real. He does not press me with questions. He only tightens his hold and lengthens his stride, carrying me away from whatever shadow still claws at my heels.
Only once the door closes behind us does my breath begin to return in slow, fragile pieces. The iron vice around my chest loosens its grip. My lungs no longer fight so fiercely for air. His presence grounds me, makes me feel safe, and I cling to him as if the moment he leaves me, Marvin will appear in return.
“Darling,” he begins. “Please, let me in.”
I sit on his lap, holding him tightly. I wish I could fuse with him, melt into his body until our bones are entangled and locked together. I would whisk the key to the depths of the ocean, where the darkness would swallow it whole and ensure it would never be found, so he and I would be together for eternity. New tears well in the corners of my eyes. How am I supposed to tell him that the one person he considered a friend, betrayed him?
I meet his gaze full of sorrow, and he lovingly pushes a strand of hair behind my ears. Thankfully, the wound on my head was superficial, and the blood had started to clot.
“I-I don’t know where to start,” I whisper.
“From the beginning,” he says, reassuringly.
“You dashed through that front door, surprising me,” he chuckles, trying to lighten the mood, and a small smile spreads on my face.
“I figured you were way faster than me, so I wanted to give you some sort of challenge.” I sigh.
“You definitely did, Starling. I should have known your stamina had improved, and your agility.”
He lightly squeezes my thigh. I lace my fingers through his, playing with the tips.
“I guess I surprised myself as well. The idea of you chasing me, and what you would do once you captured me…”
“There was a lot I was planning to do… But then… I couldn’t find you…,” his tone shifts to something darker.
“I… I saw someone in the woods, and it distracted me…”
“Go on…”
“I-A blonde woman. She was filthy, her clothes ragged, and… before I knew it, I was following her,” I say. My eyes falter, and Jasper lifts my chin, forcing me to keep our eye contact.
“What happened after that, Starling?”
“I ran into Marvin,” I gasp.
