Chained In Velvet
I
ss didn
houlders that had forgotten how to stand tall. My reflection trembled with
ke a ghost,"
ctured gold across the pale blue wallpaper. It smelled like dust and perfume I couldn'
en
tracts being signed. Numbers whispered. I could almost hear the
llarbone. The skin there felt thin,
the streets," someone said. "You're bea
didn't
ic Mo
in silk. The man t
eople said he was made of ice and gunpowder. That he never t
The door creaked open
d. His voice was flat
tep like the house itself wanted me silent. The staircase loomed,
them.
run. But whe
d I-I was just the payment. The pretty little t
oors
ped br
is pocket. The other held a glass of dark liquor. Fir
he tu
ic Mo
mile. He di
dy solved. Cold grey eyes swept from my face to my
a sip, t
aller than
s quiet. Ric
u want," I whispered bef
is head, ey
id simply. "I don't
n my chest like a shot. My
s," I said, voice ba
not quite a smile.
her d
a punishment. I stared at the f
e armchair. He sat like a king-relaxed, deadly. "B
odded. What el
u. Wear what I say. You do
lin
s
iked
o cry. But
e anything. I lear
h step felt heavier than the last. My
id of me," h
ldn't
rushed a strand of hair from my face. Hi
. "Fear keeps peopl
. I was no longer a
prop