Fuckingprick.
I grab the knife off the ground and chuck it at the wall. It clatters off the rock with a high-pitched ring. I want to hit something. Scream. Throw things. Cry until my voice is completely hoarse. Rage. Burn this world to the fucking ground.
So, I do it.
I scream like shards of glass are tearing through my veins. I turn the cave upside down, smashing rocks, splintering wood, ripping moss away from stone. It’s not nearly satisfying enough.
I’m dimly aware of the pain in my hand and the tears rushing down my cheeks as I run around the cavern to search for an exit. I barely wince when my foot slices open on the harsh rock floor, hardly swallow when my mouth feels like sandpaper.
Oxygen rushes from my lungs, and I stumble, head swimming. A fresh wave of tears pours down my cheeks.
I’m sosickof being sick.
I have to get out of here. Staying isn’t an option. I wasfree.I escaped Tommy. I wasthis closeto getting the hell out of here.
How did I end up right back where I started, but with a… Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I’m even thinking this. But with a goddamn, living, breathing, eight-armed fuckingkraken.
A kraken who does things to my body I can’t explain—relaxes it, lulls it into a faux sense of comfort.
A kraken whose suckers I can still feel around my nipples.
A kraken who wants to own me. Keep me as a pretty pet. Lock me in a cage, throw away the key, try placating me with pretty words or flowers to get me back in line.
Tommy told me I would want for nothing, that he’dtake care of mebecause he loved me more than the moon and the stars. There would benothingthat would keep us apart. Little did I know, it was because he chained me up, then threw away the key.
Maybe I should be scared shitless about the mythical sea monster aspect of my captor. Sure, his size and the knowledge he could kill me with a single swipe is frightening, but it’s nothing I’m not used to. Size and shape and looks mean fucking nothing.
Tommy was beautiful. He had the most dazzling smile I’d ever seen, like he just walked off the cover ofVogue.
Look where that got me.
On the other hand, Dad had friends who towered over me, could pick up a tire with a single finger, push trucks without breaking a sweat; one guy could even lift his Harley as a party trick. Despite their intimidating size, the leather jackets, andfuck youattitude, they were gentle giants, patched up teddy bears.
I don’t need to go out to sea to find a monster; they exist on land. They hide under human skin and call themselves men.
I don’t want to be around to discover whether the textbook monster is just as evil.
The cavern alone is as big as the small, two-bedroom cabin I was stolen from, lit by the glowing matter slimy to the touch, the last vestiges of moonlight pouring in through the hole above the pool.
I skitter to a stop at a deep alcove to the side of the cave, saying a silent prayer I’ll find an exit. Instead, beds of moss stare back at me, rich greens illuminated by the threads of blue and purple bioluminescent matter climbing up the walls.
Everywhere smells like him but better, and it’s sending me into more of a tailspin. It makes no sense as to why I’m having this kind of reaction to someone—something’s—smell.
My eyes dart to the crooked archway on the opposite side of the cavern. I half limp to the opening, spreading my blood over stone from the cuts on my feet. If he doesn’t decide to eat me, maybe I’ll die from infection instead.
Or dehydration.
The entrance could be a gateway into hell, a black hole where things go to perish. The light from the main cave doesn’t reach more than a few steps into the tunnel. I swing my blurry stare to the undisturbed pool, swaying from the exhaustion that sank its teeth into me and is gnawing on me like a dog with a fresh kill.
The monster could return at any second. If I want to get out of here, I need to do it now.
I take a step forward, muttering a string of profanities.
He left.
That creature actuallyleft.
Without me. Without any response or weak attempt at assurance that he won’t leave me here and check up on me once a day to drop off food and take his pound of flesh. I can’t fathom why else he’d want me here—me, of all people.
