Grayson looked down at me, an eyebrow arched, and tugged on the rope, pulling it even tighter around my wrists.
When he was done, he walked around the bed and picked up the Vervain that was drying on the nightstand by the door.
“Please leave it,” I panicked and hoped my face didn’t look as flustered as my voice sounded.
“Why? It’s dead,” he questioned.
How do I answer that? “It’s all I have. I don’t suppose you’re going to pick fresh flowers for my grave, are you?” That was a lame excuse. I wanted to kick myself.
The annoyance crept back onto his face, and he dropped the Vervain back onto the table, petals fluttering everywhere, before stalking out the door.
And I was too proud to ask for food.
Thenightdraggedon.Not even the moonlight could cheer me up. My arms and neck were hurting, and my stomach was rumbling. Grayson hadn’t brought up any food and I was panicking about how long I would have to go without it. He also hadn’t given me anything to drink. My tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth. By the time the sun came up, I wanted to cry from the gods damned thirst. I kept my mind busy with fantasies of escaping and seeing my family again, seeing their happy faces. And seeing the people in this cabin behind bars.
The crow visited me again. He took one look at me, flew off and returned with a worm. My heart squeezed at that. This beautiful creature had more humanity than the people in this house. At least I wasn’t alone anymore. I had someone who cared.
When Grayson finally came into the room, my feelings ranged from ecstatic to miserable at the same time. He had a glass of water, but no food. I drank it greedily. Water had never tasted so good. Yet, it somehow made the hunger pangs worse.
“No pancakes?” I tried to act nonchalantly, but my stomach grumbling loudly gave me away.
He frowned down at me, the muscles in his jaw flexing while untying the ropes. “You have five minutes.”
The tension releasing from my neck and shoulders as my arms dropped had tears prickling my eyes. I swiftly moved to the bathroom before he could see me cry. Once the door was closed, I let it all out, soundlessly sobbing. The door opened again, and I splashed my face with water a few times to hide my red eyes and take the time to compose myself. I gulped down some more water while I had the chance. I felt his eyes on me the whole time. While drying my face, he threw something at me, and I caught it just before it hit my chest. It was a hairbrush.
Should I thank him? I reminded myself of what happened the last time I was rude to him. “Thank you,” I said, but couldn’t look him in the eyes when I said it.
Grayson, once again, didn’t answer me. He just leaned against the door and watched me comb my hair.
He unnerved me. “So, no food and no privacy then,” I stated. I dared a glance towards him, hoping I didn’t set him off again.
He was still watching me with knitted brows. What was he thinking? He sighed in annoyance and lowered his gaze to his watch. “One minute.” He closed the bathroom door.
Asshole.
I worked as fast as I could, trying to get out as many knots as possible in the little time I had left, which wasn’t much. The muscles in my arms were aching so bad, I had to stop at every second brush stroke to lower them.
“Time’s up,” he shouted from the bedroom, and my composure started slipping. Would I survive another day tied to that bed? I was slowly but surely losing my mind. As I walked through the door, I found him sitting on the windowsill again, staring out. It struck me how handsome he was. What had happened to him that made him so dark, so horrid? Children don’t start out evil. Evil was made.
“Could I have a few more minutes? Just to stretch my body a bit?” I hoped. He did bring me a brush when I asked for it.
“No,” he answered flatly without looking my way.
My throat started to close up, and I tried to swallow the lump down. “Well, can you at least tie me up differently so my arms could get a break?”
“No.” He stood then and waited for me to get back on the bed.
I bristled. What an appalling man. I slowly made my way onto the bed. He lifted my hands above my head, and I flinched as the pain shot through my arms. “So, is this how you’re killing me? Tying me to this bed and starving me to death?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” was all he said before he left.
The hours before dark were excruciating. No number of daydreams about escaping or my family could save my mind from the horrible hunger I felt. I called for him, screamed and cursed at him, but he never came. No one did.
When Grayson finally opened the door, I sobbed loudly. He made his way around the bed and sat next to me. He wiped my tears away as I fell apart. I had never been so glad to see someone, to feel a kind touch. But I also never loathed anyone as much as I did him. I wanted to lean into his touch but also spit in his face.
“Please,” I rasped through the tears. How many times have I uttered that word to this man? Look where it got me. Tied to a bed, being starved to death.
“Are you going to apologise?” he said while stroking my hair softly.
