The Lover Who Destroyed Her

by the vast, empty space. "I'm a human being. My heart hurts. Do you really expect m

close to mine, and tried to kiss me. I flinched, p

er. "Can't we just go back to ho

Hadn't he already made his choice? Over and over again? His heart had strayed to

ic twisted and sick. "And I don't want to hurt Sarah. I can

on down my spine. I never imagined he c

e meals daily, but he bound my hands and feet with coarse ropes, ma

pry my jaw open and force food down my throat, choking me, laughing when I gagged. When he wa

'd sneer, his eyes cold and empty, a stark contrast to the l

m. I could hear their intimate moments, his laughter, her sighs. I used to think that sound would break my heart. But after his repeated

ane. I was

with food. He came back with a kettle of boiling water. He poured it down my throat. T

He would sit in the corner, sharpening

king at me with a terrifying calm, "wil

was more than I could bear. I pleaded with him, my voice a raw, hoarse whisper. I promised I wouldn'

utside, near the warehouse. A delivery truck, maybe. I desperately started bang

ry. He was on me in an instant, his ha

he roared, the veins on his forehead b

my vision. I tried to beg, to plead, but no sound came out. I fell unco

sor

an eternity. It was the ropes, the very things that held me captive, that gave me my cha

ged to untie my feet. I ran. I followed a small stream away from the warehouse, falling co

eton, picked clean by animals. Perhaps it was out of some strange empathy for this other lost soul, I took off th

yed silently, my breath fogging

es, I saw a flickering light. A flash

Chen. My chil

He ran to me. The moment I knew I was saved, the tension that had h

He found the empty room, the frayed rope. He searched fra

ecklace, my necklace, clutched in the skeleton's bony fingers. He broke down,

w could you