I ended up lying on the bed and drifted into a little sleep. When I woke up, he was sitting on the edge of my bed with the teddy bear in his hand. He placed it next to me, not realizing I was awake. I didn’t move. I was too scared to even look at him. He started talking, “I’m sorry. I should have watched my words.” He said it in a low voice. “I love you Tavi, please, just give me a chance.”
I laid on the bed, cold chills going up my spine. “Is that why you took me?”
He straightened his back and turned to face me. “What?”
“Did you take me because you love me?” I asked.
His mouth opened and close, trying to figure out what to say. “Yes . . .” he looked out the window. “It’s still snowing.”
I sighed. “Am I ever going to see my family again?”
He thought about his words. “We’ll be a happy family. Just you and me, we’ll be fine. You don’t need them.” I didn’t say anything, just felt numbness. He went on, “Go get a shower. It’s seven o’clock now. I think you need to eat also.”
I got up and nodded. He left and let me pick out my clothes and underwear. I shivered at the thought how he knew my size. It scared me that he knew the details of my body because there was so much else he could have known also. Was it a lucky guess that he got my clothes size right?
I went to take a shower, got some food, and then to bed. At dinner, he said I got to open one gift, so he handed me a small little present. It felt weird to take anything from him. “Go on, open it,” he told me. I looked up at him and nodded.
It was a tiny little box. I opened it to find an angel figure on a chain. He stared at me, waiting for me to say something. When I didn’t, he said, “It’s a mood necklace, I found it a couple years ago, and wanted to give you it for a long time.”
I looked down. “Did you say a couple years ago?”
He didn’t say anything. “Come on, put it on. I’ll do it.”
I turned around and pulled my hair to the side. He put it on. I felt his finger stroke the back of my neck, not in a sexual way, but in a way as if he was studying a book. I turned around and made him stop.
“I love it on you,” he said.
I didn’t response.
“Don’t you love it?” he asked, tension in his voice raising. I nodded out of fear. What else was I supposed to say? “What do you say?”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
After he took my plate, he led me to my room. He opened the covers, and I crawled into bed. He sat down by my feet, smiling, playing with his hands a bit. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Waiting for you to fall asleep. I’ve always wanted to watch you sleep.”
I shivered at that. What in the world was that supposed to mean? “It’s weird.”
“It’s nice.”
Narrowing my eyes, I fought back. “It’s creepy.”
There was a pause. “Close your eyes and pretend I’m not here then,” he argued.
I turned to the wall and shut my eyes. After a while, I did fall asleep. I felt his beard on my face before I fell asleep. He kissed me goodnight on my forehead and walked out. It was easier to sleep when he was gone, till I started dreaming. I had a nightmare.
The dream was of my parents. They were fighting, and it was my fault. I didn’t know why it was my fault at the time, but I just knew it was mine. I kept yelling, “Stop!” but it was no use. They called each other names. They screamed at the top of their lungs, and I was in the middle. It was like a war. I wanted them to stop so badly, but they refused.
My legs started to run, far and fast. I was in my backyard. The mother-in-law house we had was back there, the place my parents used to rent out to people till they figured out that was a pain in the ass.
I could still hear my parents yelling, and the need to hide was great. The door to the small little shed like house was unopened, and I stepped in. William was in there, smiling at me.
“Hello kitten,” he said.
I woke up, breathing heavily. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I walked around the room. I went back and forward. I watched the snowfall down outside. The moonlight bounced off of it and made it shine brightly.
It was so pretty, till I realized it was the reason I couldn’t make my escape. I would have frozen to death if I had tried to walk out of the house. I didn’t know how far away the next person was, or if that person would have helped me. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have helped me. That’s just the way people are these days.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
