AXTON
I tried not to get pissed off at the fact that Mav was perched at the top of the steps. As I stood there in the doorway, I watched as that spotlight illuminated the space around that woman. In the light, I saw everything that I had done to her. The swollen black eye she couldn’t use. The ligature marks around her neck from choking off her ability to breathe. The missing fingernails from her scratching at the arm of the chair, trying to break herself free.
I almost wished someone would beat the ever-loving shit out of me.
“Who’s there?” she called out.
The tremble in her voice took my breath away.
“Who is it? Mav?”
I swallowed hard as I walked down the last step and into the basement. “No.”
Immediately, she recoiled at the sound of my voice. “Please, don’t. I swear, I didn’t do anything.”
I took another step toward her. “I know.”
Tears immediately streaked her face. “I’ll do whatever you want. Please, just don’t. All I did was eat. I ate like a good girl, I swear it.”
“I know.”
“Don’t come any closer,” she hissed.
I paused my movements before an overwhelming stench filled the room. The sound of trickling water accompanied the sounds of her soft sobs, and as she hung her head, I slid my gaze down her body. I watched the dark trail of urine slide down the inside of her leg. It dripped to the floor with a putrid smell that reminded me of how badly we had starved and dehydrated the woman.
“I’m so sorry,” she said through her sniffling. “I’ll clean it up. I will. Don’t worry.”
“No, you won’t,” I said, tilting my head.
She choked out her next set of words in a broken voice that shattered my soul.
“I won’t run if you release me. I’ll clean it up, and get into bed, and I’ll stay there until you need me. Just please, let me go. My wrists, they hurt so badly. I can hardly see. And my ankles. The pee, it… it burns. Oh, God. Help me. Someone, please help me.”
I walked over to her and watched her shiver. She shook so violently that I thought her bones might come undone from one another. Her teeth chattered, as if someone had stuck her out in the cold. Everything inside of me froze to ice as I reached down and undid the binding around her wrist. The rope fell away, and as I watched her red, irritated, bleeding skin expose itself to the elements, she cradled her hand against her chest.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “Holy fuck, thank you. Oh, God. It hurts so much.”
Blood dripped down her arm. It stained her silken white blouse and made my stomach turn over into itself. Jesus, that woman had put up a fight. I undid her other wrist, only to watch more blood drip all along her lap and shirt as she cradled both of them against her bosom.
“Sit still,” I murmured as I crouched down.
I swallowed the bile creeping up the back of my throat. I unraveled the rope from her ankles, and the skin that pulled away damn near made me gag. She needed medical attention. Serious medical attention, before something got infected.
My God, what have I done?
“Come with me,” I said, scooping her into my arms.
“No, no, no, no! No! Please. Whatever it is, I can do better. I will be better. Whatever it is that you need.”
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as possible. “Nothing is going to happen.”
“Oh, God. No. Please. Someone help me! Help me! Mav!”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “He’s just at the top of the steps.”
She shoved her hands into my chest, but she was so weak that I barely felt her touches.
“No, no, no. No! Stop! Heeeelp! Someone, help meeee!”
