Cage The Animal

[ALYSON MONTGOMERY]

When the boy started walking towards her she scooted back a little out of instinct. When a predator crept close, you backed off. It was basic survival instinct. When he mentioned that Cassidy would be a suitable replacement it truly hit home; if she did ever escape, her bosses life was at risk. She could never live with herself knowing she had done that to her. If it was a toss up between she and Cass of course she would choose herself. Besides...maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

When he dropped to his knees and began crawling towards her again she scooted back, but his hand was on her leg before she could truly back away from him. It was surreal. Even though he was a man she couldn't help feeling as though he were more. Like an animal and she was his dinner. When he pulled her close she had no choice but to lean back and then he was hovering over her.

The feeling of his legs clenching hers tightly made her more than uncomfortable as she stared wide eyed up at him. She could go nowhere, say nothing, frozen where she was as she looked up at him as he decided he might make her a deal. She gulped, wishing she could melt into the floor to create more distance between them. He'd already kissed her one too many times that evening.

"If you do decide to try and escape then not only will I go after you, but i'll go after that pretty little boss of yours too. I'll go after everyone you've ever known. And I'll bleed them all dry." There was little doubt in her mind that what he said was true. Even if he didn't get everyone, he would know where to find Cass. What choice did she have? She should have never brought her boss up. Everything seemed to crash around her; it was over. She lost the game. She had sacrificed everything over not going into a stupid cage. What was the use of pride if the only person you would see for the rest of your life was the freak show hovering over you?

What could she say to that? Deal? Sure? Go ahead? yes sir? "Fine." She said hoarsely, thinking of nothing else that would suffice as far as an answer went. She tried to wriggle her leg free, just wanting to not be under him like that and so close. She could smell his sweet breath, and she could practically make out her own reflection in his cold, uncaring eyes. She had somehow both won and lost the little battle, but it taught her one thing about him; he could be bargained with. That wasn't terrible to know, even if his bargains favored him way too much.

Who knew, maybe she could get out of there alive after all.

[SEBASTIAN DAVENPORT]

"Fine."

Sebastian knew he had her. What choice did she have but to agree? Of course he could just throw her in the cage anyway if he wanted to. But he wasn't ready to let her go for the night. They still had time before the sun came up. It wasn't that late.

He could feel her squirming under him and he moved one of his legs a bit to give her a little more room. "You see? I can be nice." Sebastian told her and bent his arms so that he could hover closer to her before he pushed off the floor and got up to his feet again, only to tip to the left and collapse onto the bed, sinking into the blankets.

The bed didn't get used enough in his opinion. Sure, he'd brought both women and men home with him and into his bed but he'd also brought them other places as well. Sometimes he'd just do it in a back alley and leave them there, most of the time still breathing.

"So, Alyson, tell me a little bit about yourself." He said as if they were just two people having a casual conversation, getting to know one another. "Tell me about your likes and dislikes. Tell me what gets you passionate?" Sebastian was actually fascinated for once to find out more about the girl. If he wanted to keep her there and if he was going to conduct his experiment then he needed to know more about her. Maybe he'd learn to be nice, to be a gentleman. Maybe he'd buy her roses if they were her favorite flower. The possibilities were endless.

"If we're going to be spending time together then let's not be strangers."

[ALYSON MONTGOMERY]

She narrowed her eyes in disgust when he claimed he could be nice simply because he let her leg go. When he got up and laid there staring at the ceiling, contemplating what she had no choice but to agree to. Who knew how long it would be until she was out of this room again. Her head tilted and she looked at the piano. She'd taken lessons as a girl. Maybe she could play it to stay busy since it sounded like he planned on leaving her.

Her gaze shifted when he began speaking to her from the bed like they were suddenly buddies. The hell did he want from her? A playmate? Someone to have deep conversations with way into the night?

"My dislikes? What gets me passionate?" She asked, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, glad there was a distance between them. She didn't want to be near him. He'd mistreated her, and though in a way she knew he had at least allowed her to stay out of the cage, she still knew it wasn't much of a prize. He's still kidnapped her, after all. But seriously, who asked about what makes them passionate?

"First of all, I dislike being held against my will. I dislike being forced to stay in your crappy room indefinitely with the threat of you killing everyone I know if I leave." She was exaggerating one part, and that was his room being crappy. It was actually one of the nicest rooms she'd ever been in, but sh e didn't want him to think she thought that.

"I dislike being tormented." She shot in his direction, surprised she spoke so freely considering how scared she still was. Her heart was racing in her chest, but she was, and always would be, a little firecracker. Even in tense situations she still was able to keep a sharp tongue sometimes, even if she was at a loss for words part of the time. "And who asks what I'm passionate about? I'm passionate about my freedom. How about you chew on that one, bucko."

[SEBASTIAN DAVENPORT]

"First of all, I dislike being held against my will. I dislike being forced to stay in your crappy room indefinitely with the threat of you killing everyone I know if I leave."

Sebastian should have seen that coming. She had an attitude that he couldn't help but like and he just watched her. She wasn't screaming and she was actually responding. It appeared that she was as smart as he had thought she was when he'd appeared in the store. "Aly, Aly.. tut tut." He said and shook his head, tsking at her as if she'd done something wrong.

"Fine. I'll settle with those being your dislikes. But you didn't give me anything you like. What do you like to eat for instance. Are you allergic to shellfish?" He didn't want to give her a piece of shrimp if it would make her throat swell up. He had no intention of accidentally killing her prematurely.

"And who asks what I'm passionate about? I'm passionate about my freedom. How about you chew on that one, bucko."

He looked at her with a puzzled look almost like he thought she was an idiot. "Who the hell uses the nickname 'bucko' anymore?" Sebastian shook his head and scoffed as if that was the stupidest thing she could have called him.

"You can be passionate about your freedom all you want. And I didn't say you would have to stay in this room all the time. During the day this is your room. At night, if you're good, then you can wander the rest of the place. Just keep away from Prestine's room or you'll burn your eyes out from the sight of the things she does with her human." It slipped out like it was nothing. Human. He could care less about whether this girl knew what he was or wasn't. It wasn't like he came out and told her that he was a Gargoyle. He didn't say he wasn't, either.

"I want us to be friends, Alyson. You and I, we can get to know each other and get over this hostility thing you've got going for you." Not as if he needed a friend, but it was something he'd heard others say to calm down their victims. Sebastian had been around for quite some time. He'd seen a lot of movies.

"Now back on track, what do you like? What's your favorite color? What do you eat? Or you can starve and stay in those clothes the whole time." He shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't bother me."

[ALYSON MONTGOMERY]

She simply glared at him. She was having a hard time seeing his motive in all of this. He kidnapped her and it seemed like all he wanted was a friend. He was forcing her to be there but he was chit chatting like they were school girls, which pissed her off even more. She didn't want a friend! She wanted her own bed! It was late and she was exhausted from everything she'd been through and she didn't appreciate him mocking her nickname!

Did he think leaving the room was a treat? She would get to stay in the apartment, wasn't that enough? That was what it seemed like he meant when he said what he had, but it wasn't! She wanted to throw something at him!

The more he spoke, the more curious she grew. What did he mean by Prestine's human? What was WRONG with these two! Were they not human? Were they vampires or something? No, h would have sucked her blood by now, and those things didn't exist anyway. Maybe they were just weird. Maybe they didn't value people as people since they were obviously screwed up.

"I want us to be friends, Alyson. You and I, we can get to know each other and get over this hostility thing you've got going for you." "Seriously!?" She shot back as if she couldn't believe she had just heard what she had. Was he kidding? This hostility thing? "Wow.." he rolled her eyes and scoffed a laugh. He thought she would just be cool with this. He threw her a bone by not forcing her into a cage designed for dogs and she was supposed to act grateful!

"Now back on track, what do you like? What's your favorite color? What do you eat? Or you can starve and stay in those clothes the whole time. It doesn't bother me."

She couldn't believe this guy! If she weren't bound to stay there then she would have stormed out, but she was finally seeing there were two roads she could take; one, she could sulk on the ground and be miserable and he would probably aid in that, or she could bend to him a little and push him to make this suck less. Despite everything he seemed semi reasonable, even if it was a little off color. Or a lot..

"I like green." She grumbled, pouting a little as her chin rested on her knees which she hugged even closer to her, grateful for the distance between them at least. He seemed less intimidating there on the bed. "I like...porterhouse steaks." If he was going to feed her anything she said then she might as well shoot high. Why not? "And I don't like olives." She was still glaring up at him, trying to figure him out.

She picked her head up, her eyes narrowed. "What's your deal, anyway?" She asked, "You know, since we're getting all chummy with each other. Calling some guy your sisters human. Why is your schedule all screwed up? Why not just sleep at night like a normal person? And what the hell happened to your back?" Normally she wouldn't touch on such a personal subject, but he was the one who wanted to be buddy buddy with her! She might as well get her questions answered too.

[SEBASTIAN DAVENPORT]

Now the girl was talking! The answers to his questions came out of the girl and Sebastian took a mental note of what she said. Of course he figured she said she liked a porterhouse just so that he'd have to make an effort to feed her. He'd be sure to get her a bag of cheetos and a glass of water before the night was over. That would have to be enough to tide her over until the next night. Then maybe he'd try to get Prestine to take her human and go to the store and buy some actual food for the house. It wasn't as if he could very well take Alyson to a restaurant and have a decent meal with her without her screaming something ridiculous, like rape.

"Steak, the color green, and no olives. You're so diverse." He said sarcastically and it was his turn to roll his eyes at the girl. Of course she would make this difficult! She'd get a steak every night if that was what she wanted, though. Maybe he'd be nice to even cook it a little. And he'd have to ask Prestine to go out and get the girl some clothes. She was practically a stick and he knew that Prestine's clothes wouldn't fit her. His sister actually had a figure and didn't look like a boy the way that he was starting to realize that Aly did. He started to wonder what she'd look like if she had gotten implants. She could definitely use them.

"You know, since we're getting all chummy with each other. Calling some guy your sisters human. Why is your schedule all screwed up? Why not just sleep at night like a normal person? And what the hell happened to your back?"

"I call him my sister's human because he's just her current flavor of the week. She changes them more than she brushes her teeth it would seem." He explained, although that didn't really explain why he called them humans. "I call them a lot of things. Vermin, her pets, her toys, you name it I've called them that. She nicknames them Kitten, probably so she doesn't have to remember their names." He knew that wasn't true, but he felt like saying it anyway.

"And as for my schedule, it isn't screwed up. Maybe yours is the one that's not right." That was all he said about that. He wasn't a fan of the daytime and even if he didn't turn to stone, he figured if he were human just like the girl in front of him, then he'd probably still hate the day. He loved the cold and the dark. He preferred to lurk in shadows when he was out in public. Because that way you could see others but they couldn't see you. They didn't know just how close to death they were since they couldn't sense it. Sebastian loved having that advantage over them.

"And nobody said that I was normal." He stated and cocked a brow at her curiously when she asked about his back. He reached his right arm up over his head and touched the top of his spine, running his fingers along the bumpy edges. He could hardly feel a thing there. Not that it was nerve damage, but because it was mostly bone. Sure, if he touched around it then he could feel it but for the most part it was simply bone that had a layer of tough skin over it.

"You don't like my back?" He asked and he got up from the bed and turned his back to her and looked over his shoulder so he could still catch her in his line of sight. Sebastian flexed and stretched out his arms which made the skin tighten even more along his shoulder blades and his spin. When he hunched forward he looked more like a lizard from the shoulders all the way down his back. It ended just where his pants hung lowly on his hips.

When he was done flaunting his back, which he found fascinating and to be a very magnificent piece of him, separating him from the humans, he started talking to her once more. "I'm willing to bet you've already thought that I might be a monster. And you wouldn't be wrong. I was born this way." He told her honestly and stepped over her so he could cross the room and move to the piano, where he pulled out the seat with his foot and then took a seat still facing her.

"Not everyone can be born perfect like you, sweetheart." Sebastian told Alyson and raised his brows at her giving her a long look before he turned and faced the piano. He hovered his hands over the keys before he began to play. One thing that always seemed to relax Sebastian when he'd get upset was the piano. That's why he kept it inside his room and not in the living room the way most people would. It wasn't for entertaining anyone but him. And now it was there for Aly as well.

He hardly looked at the piano, looking over at Alyson a few times and then down at his hands and then the curtains the kept the windows covered. It was a short little melody, but it was almost haunting the way it bounced off the walls and filled the room before he was done and he looked at her again. "What abilities do you have? Can you dance? Sing?"

Then another thought came to him, but he was pretty sure that she couldn't possibly be a Guardian. If she had been then she would have put more effort into getting away. If she could shift then she would have, if she had wings then she would have flown out the window. And if she were another Gargoyle then he would have known, but she didn't have the strength he had. And most of those morning dwellers couldn't stand the night so he didn't peg her as one of those, either. But there was no harm in asking, was there?

"What's your deformity? You don't have wings, do you?" The question came out almost like a sarcastic little joke. But truth be told he didn't like the Avisaille one bit. He hated how nice they were, so mild mannered and were able to flee no matter what time of day or night.

[ALYSON MONTGOMERY]

He was dripping with sarcasm and arrogance. Al swore she saw stains under the bed from the puddles of both, and it made her dislike him even more. When he sarcastically commented on how diverse she was she threw in her own snarky little "Well you asked." In his direction, giving him yet another look of disgust. She hated that she was forced to be around him. He was everything she hated in a companion. This was why Alyson not only didn't date much, but also had few friends. Most of the friends she had in high school were for the wrong reasons. She hung around the popular kids who cared about stupid crap like that bitch who dared buy the same top they had or who was dating whose ex. As far as Alyson was concerned, they made more than one of each top so more than one person could purchase and enjoy it, and if you were someones ex, you were up for grabs. Who cared who dated someones old laundry? Girls were ridiculous.

Boys were even worse. It was always a competition. Who slept with who, who figured out the best method for cheating, who can score the biggest stash of beer...these were the people she had associated with because their material ways made it hard for them to care about anyone but themselves, which was what Alyson did. Sure, it was for different reasons, but it was easy if one of them flaked off. There was never true attachment.

One would think it would be easy for Alyson to get along with Sebastian then, considering how close he resembled the boys she was used to hanging around, but it simply wasn't so. When the guys got too obnoxious she simply left, and their obnoxiousness was due to being too macho. She was stuck there with him, with no escape, having to deal with every snide remark that left his lips.

Alyson found their ritual of stealing people disgusting. They had no value for others lives. They were beyond selfish, to the point where Alyson wasn't sure they saw anything but their own needs. Would he even care if she were hungry or needed the bathroom? Sure, he asked what she liked to eat, but that didn't mean he would feed her properly. She didn't like to be so dependent on someone else. She had always done everything on her own; the thought of losing that made her feel depressed and sick.

"And as for my schedule, it isn't screwed up. Maybe yours is the one that's not right." The comment warranted an eye roll along with an "are you serious" look. He couldn't be serious. "Yeah. Mine and the entire human races schedule is all messed up. You got us." She spat shaking her head again before resting on her knees.

She yawned as he got up and showed her his back. "You don't like my back?" She got a better look at it this time, staring at the way his bones protruded out. It was like nothing she'd ever seen and she wondered if it was why he was the way he was. He had an obvious birth defect. Maybe he was rejected by women or society or something, though she hadn't been able to tell when his shirt was on. "I'm willing to bet you've already thought that I might be a monster. And you wouldn't be wrong. I was born this way." Maybe it had messed him up and perhaps his sister had the same abnormality. Her large hazel eyes swept over his body openly, her mouth staying shut. It wasn't an excuse for him to act as he was! He wasn't the damn Hunchback of Notre Dame! Even with, it was disgusting to look at and she finally pulled her eyes away, resting her head sideways across her knees, staring at the door longingly.

She startled when he moved and stepped over her, her head lifting and watching him as he crossed towards the piano. "Not everyone can be born perfect like you, sweetheart." Her eyes narrowed after him. "I'm not perfect." She countered. Sure, she wasn't misshapen or anything, but she was far from perfect. Aly knew that she was very flawed when it came to many things.

She watched him play, he head resting on her knees once more. The tune was a familiar one though she couldn't put her name on the title. Her eyes closed as she listened, a long sigh pouring from her chest into the air. The nights activities were catching up with her and her body was winding down now that she assumed she was out of harms way for the most part. At least momentarily.

"What abilities do you have? Can you dance? Sing?" Her eyes opened again and she looked at him, his pale eyes seeming to still be boring into her. It was a trick question as far as she was concerned. If she said she could dance, which she could, he would probably make her and she wasn't comfortable with that. Singing wasn't her strongest suit but she could definitely carry a tune, also something she wasn't entirely comfortable with doing for him. "I can draw a little." She offered, knowing he expected her to have some talents. That one, at least, didn't involve her embarrassing herself for his amusement.

"What's your deformity?Youdon't have wings, do you?" She wrinkled her nose and cocked a brow. Deformity? "No?" She said a little defiantly as if it were an idiotic question, and in Alyson's mind it was. But she had already decided he wasn't quite right. "Physically I'm fine." She said softly, irked with him still. "I think it's fair to establish this is a classic case of Beauty and the Beast. Beast kidnaps girl who's done nothing to deserve it. Only I can assure you there's probably no happy ending here. Not unless you let me go." She was tired of looking at him and turned her head the other way letting out another sigh. Her eyes welled with tears so she decided to shut them again to hide her sadness. She didn't want to show more weakness than she already had with him, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she was Belle. Maybe the candlesticks and clocks would come to life. Maybe she would end up a princess.. she snorted at her own stupid, childish thought. Stories weren't real, and Sebastian wasn't the beast. The beast at least had a kind heart under his layers of bitter enchantment. Sebastian, if that was even his name, certainly did not.

[SEBASTIAN DAVENPORT]

So the girl could draw. She probably doodled stick figures and wrote names with weird dots and hearts around them the way he'd seen school children do on paper to slip into their binders. He never understood the point of that, when there was better things to draw or do with your free time. Computers had hundreds of fonts that could do the exact same thing in less time. What made names with flowers and stars look so appealing? Sebastian didn't understand that. Either way, he would make a note that she liked to draw.

Standing up from the piano bench he reached his hands up over his head and interlocked his fingers, stretching and leaning to the side while he did it as if he was stiffening up.

"I think it's fair to establish this is a classic case of Beauty and the Beast. Beast kidnaps girl who's done nothing to deserve it. Only I can assure you there's probably no happy ending here. Not unless you let me go."

He watched her and listened to her while she continued to run her mouth but he could care less what she had to say at this point. The night was going to be over in a few hours and he had a few things that needed to be done before the sun rose.

"If you want to imagine that you're a beautiful victim, then I won't stop you. But as far as happy endings and letting you go you're just kidding yourself. If I let you go where's my happy ending? We can't both have a happy ending." Sebastian knew his words to be true. If he let her go then what happiness would he get out of it? If he didn't let her go then she certainly didn't get a happy ending. And because Sebastian was selfish, he was going to make sure that it was him who got the happy ending in this story.

He strolled across the room towards a door that was near where Alyson had been sitting. Against that wall there were actually two doors. One lead to his own private bathroom and the other went into a closet. His closet was nothing to brag about, since he'd allowed Prestine to have the room with the bigger closet to hold all her costumes and slave toys. But it was big enough to hold enough clothes for the Gargoyle and he reached it and picked a random shirt off of one of the white racks then shut the closet door once more.

He looked the shirt over and decided it would be just fine for a quick run out. One thing that was a disadvantage to being a night Guardian was that the stores were usually closed when he was ready to go shopping. Not that it stopped him. He was quite the expert at break ins at this point.

The threw the shirt over his head and stuck his arms through the openings. He flattened it across his stomach and looked down to make sure it looked decent. He knew that he didn't look bad though. Sebastian never looked bad!

He crouched down in front of Alyson and put his hands on her knees, trying to play with them by spreading them apart and knocking them together. Or at least try to do it once before she stiffened up the way he assumed that she would. "I'm going out for a little stroll before morning comes. Stay put. Go to sleep if you want, I could care less. Just behave or my sister will hear you and you don't want her to do that." He gave her a crooked little smile before he pressed two fingers to his lips as if he were kissing them and then pressed them to her cheek, then gave her cheek a little pat before he stood up again.

He walked to the door and opened it up letting his body hang half in and half out of the room when he looked over at her again and pointed at the girl. Then he left the room and shut the door behind him. He had a padlock on the outside of his door that he locked, along with one of those little chain latches. He wasn't sure just how sturdy that would be, especially during the day when he wouldn't be able to stop her. So he would have to invest in some better locking mechanisms later on.

When he was satisfied that she wouldn't be able to open the door he turned and made his way down the hall, whistling to himself. He thought about letting Prestine know that Aly would be here alone but he didn't want to give her any reason to go into his room and torture his new little pet. So he just headed straight for the front door. He had a few stops to make that night. He'd need to pick up a few items for her to eat during the day, and maybe even some paper and writing utensils. At least he was willing to give her some things to entertain her during the light hours of day. He could be a good guy after all.

[ALYSON MONTGOMERY]

"If you want to imagine that you're a beautiful victim, then I won't stop you. But as far as happy endings and letting you go you're just kidding yourself. If I let you go where's my happy ending? We can't both have a happy ending." His words stung harder than the shove against the wall she'd received earlier. Over and over again he confirmed that there was no way she could expect to leave. Ever. Did his sisters victims ever leave? Were the never reported missing because they were foreign? It was worse than Beauty and the Beast. At leas Belle got to live happily ever after. She chose to stay with the beast and he changed back into the handsome prince. Not that Bastian wasn't good looking when he was facing forward, but it didn't matter how attractive he was, she could never get past what he was doing to her. She was only grateful that he hadn't forced himself on her. That was a whole new trauma that Aly wasn't up for fighting at the moment, her mind and body already exhausted from the night so far.

She watched with damp red eyes, her head still resting on her knees, as he pulled a shirt from the closet and dressed himself. Was he leaving her now? She wondered how long he would be gone. How long would she be able to breath a little easier, though she was still frantic over the fact she might not see her family again. For once she was glad that she had so few friends she kept in touch with. It made missing them less sad, though if they spoke on a daily or even weekly basis, someone would pick up that she was missing sooner. As it was the school would know she was gone but they wouldn't do anything. Cass would too, but what would her boss do? She would probably assume that She had flaked like some of her other employees.

She didn't bother shying away when he crouched before her, looking into his eyes with her own, eyebrows furrowed deeply in annoyance. His hands moved her knees back and forth and she immediately hugged them tighter, pulling away from his touch a little, chills running down her spine. His threat about what his sister would do didn't bother her at all. She wasn't afraid of the girl. It didn't matter anyway. Alyson had no intention of trying to leave at that point. What purpose would it serve? She would get away but at what cost? Cassidy's life? some of her classmates? Professors? Neighbors? She decided he was crazy enough to make good on his threats from earlier, so there was no true sense really testing him. What good would it do?

When his fingers came to her cheek she flinched away, not wanting his mock show of affection. It was insulting. He was insulting. She watched him get up and saunter to the door, stopping to point at her as if this were her warning to behave.

When he had finally gone and locked the door she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She got up immediately and went to the door, slowly moving the door knob to see if it was, indeed, locked. It was. She had no idea what she would do if it were open, but she let out an angry huff and stomped a foot, her hands clenched at her sides as she turned her head around to look at the room. There was no clock, no TV, no anything. She took this time to look around, get to know the room, see if there was anything there that she could use against him.

Alyson wandered through the closet, touching all of his shirts and admiring the collections he had. He had nice taste in clothes, that was for sure. She even tried on a couple of his fedoras before putting them pack. When she was done in there she moved to the bathroom, going through the drawers and cabinet but there was nothing of interest. The usual bathroom things. She used the toilet and then moved back into the room, looking around but he had nothing of any true interest anywhere. Alyson then went to the windows, pulling the curtains aside and looking out at the city. They were locked, but even if they had been open what could she do other than jump? No one would hear her scream from that height unless a neighbor had their window open, but even then, it was too late for that. Not that she even knew what time it was for a lack of clocks in the room!

She left the curtains open and went over and sat on the bed, staring at the wall blankly. What was she supposed to do now?
She sat there a long while, her thoughts coming and going, the silence deafening.

Suddenly, in an act of sudden anger and frustration she lashed out at the closest thing; a side table. The lamp fell the the ground and cracked as she grabbed the table, swinging it hard against the ground, watching as it splintered and broke into smaller pieces. It was such a rush that she grabbed the lamp and did the same thing, the light going out, though the other lamp still lit the room. She took each piece and broke it until she could break no more. Panting, she stopped what she was doing and looked at the mess she made, dread filling her.

What would he do when he saw the mess? Alyson gulped and dropped to her knees, sweeping the bits up into a pile, muttering "No, no, no, no, no..." over and over. What could she do? She couldn't put it back together! A long piece with a jagged edge stood out to her and she stopped her muttering as she picked it up. If he tried to kill her, she would be ready! She could stab him and get away! She held the wood close to herself and stood up, taking a few steps back from the mess until she bumped into the side of the bed. The girl lowered her body and stared at the mess and then looked at the door. She heard no footsteps, which meant the boys sister either hadn't heard or didn't care enough to investigate. She stared at the door, the stake tight in her fist.

She didn't know how long she had sat there like that, but eventually the urge to sleep became too strong and she let herself lay down on top of the covers, pulling her feet up into a fetal position, the stake still tight in her fist. If he came at her, she would be ready.

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