I know they’re not watching TV. Mom always turns it up this loud when she’s having sex, as a warning for me not to interrupt.
I turn over and hug the pillow over my ears. There’s a big chemistry test tomorrow, and I’m not going to get any sleep…
I’m by myself in the rundown apartment I can barely afford. It’s spring of my senior year of high school.
I stare at the collection of letters in front of me. Admission decisions. Finally, the culmination of everything I’ve worked for my whole life is staring at me.
And I’ve just been sitting there, filled with the worst type of nervous anticipation, looking at them for hours.
Most of them are small. Rejections, I’m sure. But there’s one big, heavy envelope from Yale…
I’m walking through campus my first day in New Haven. I’m still struck by disbelief that I’m here. I am actually here.
The buildings are all so pretty. The architecture is wonderful. I promise myself that I’m going to take advantage of every single moment I have to be outside over the next four years.
A fat raindrop lands on my nose. I look up—and am suddenly being pelted by hundreds of them. I shriek, half in delight and half in excitement, and run for a big willow tree where the grass is still dry.
I get there, and find two other girls who had the same idea to take shelter.
“That’s one hell of a welcome,” one of them says. She’s really pretty, with long, straight black hair and olive dark skin. “Are you two freshman?”
“Yes,” I say in unison with the other girl. She’s pretty, too, but in a more subdued and understated way.
“Great,” the first one says. “Me too. I’m Fey.”
“Sonja,” the second girl offers.
“I’m Li—” I start to say, but am cut off as one long branch of the willow tree whips down and wraps itself around my body.
I open my mouth to scream. Another branch forces its way into my throat, cutting off my air supply—
I come to and find myself sputtering and thrashing. For a moment, I’m still stuck in that dream. The branches are tight around my body, and I can’t move. I cannot move…
When reality dawns on me, I wish that I had never awakened.
I’m not alone. Stonehart is here with me. I can see his shape towering over me in the dark.
My wrists are bound to the bed posts around me. There’s a gag in my mouth. I try to speak, but manage to produce only muffled sounds.
“You’re up,” Stonehart intones. He sounds vaguely amused. “You were moving around so much in your sleep, I was afraid you’d hurt yourself.”
He trails a finger along the length of my arm and clutches the strap holding my wrist. “I thought I’d help keep you safe.”
My eyes widen in a mixture of fear and indignation. He came in here while I was sleep, then gagged and bound me?
“Of course,” he continues, his eyes glimmering in a cruel way, “I can’t pretend I went through all this trouble just for your benefit.”
He takes something out of his jacket pocket. Fear and indignation turn into full-blown panic when I catch the glint of a silver blade.
I fight against the bonds, but it’s as futile as it was in my dream. My ankles are bound, too, so that I am lying there, spread-eagle, completely at his mercy.
He stands up and walks to the front of the bed. In one quick move, he throws the sheets to the floor.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
I feel like I’m lying on an altar ready to be sacrificed. I can’t move my arms or legs. The only thing I still have control over is my head.
I’ve never felt as exposed as I do now. As vulnerable. All I have on is my flimsy night shift.
I watch Stonehart through eyes wide with fear. He spins the blade in his hands.
Why does he have the knife? What’s he going to do with it?
My thoughts are frenetic. Growing terror makes me thrash against the restraints in a futile effort to break free.
“Save your strength,” Stonehart sneers. “I’m only going to let you go, Lilly, once I’m done with you.” He leans close. “But we have hours of playtime left.”
He starts pacing around the bed. “You see, Lilly, I’ve thought a lot about what happened earlier today. And I’ve come to the conclusion…” he walks behind me and out of sight, ‘…that you simply cannot be trusted.”
My chest heaves with short, sharp gasps as I feel Stonehart hovering just behind my head. I see the knife dangling in front of my eyes. Adrenaline is pumping through my body. I feel utterly defenseless.
Stonehart brings his lips to my ear. His fine stubble scratches against my skin. “And then I thought: What have I done to deserve such disloyalty?”
I cringe, but Stonehart catches my chin with his free hand and forces me still. The knife dips down to press into my sternum, dangerously close to drawing blood.
“I just could not come up with a satisfactory answer.”
He draws the dull edge of the knife to my throat. I stop struggling immediately.
“Ah,” he says. “Now, you’re learning.”
The blade disappears. I sigh in relief. The reprieve lasts only a moment as Stonehart appears to my left and leaps onto the bed.
He traces the line of my jaw with the knife. “You know,” he says, as I do everything in my willpower not to move, “I have not lied to you yet. You really are very beautiful.” The knife dips down to the hollow of my neck. “And I would love to take you with me to the gala at the end of the month. Unfortunately…” he clicks his tongue, “…that would require a certain degree of trust between us that we currently lack.”
He pulls the knife away. He begins to caress the blade with his fingers. “And so, I thought that this little exercise… might help us… work out some of our issues.”
Without warning, he jumps onto me. I redouble my efforts to break free. But with the weight of his body crushing mine, I am more trapped than ever.
I start to scream. The rag in my mouth muffles every sound.
“Oh, there, there, Lilly. Hush, hush,” he says, stroking my cheek. “I’m only going to hurt you… a little.”
He brings the knife to his lips and taps them in thought. “Now, let’s see… What comes first? Oh.” He raises an eyebrow. “I know.”
The knife flashes and the point goes straight to my throat. I close my eyes and scream into the rag, waiting for the piercing stab of pain. I’m going to die. I know I’m going to die—
I feel the faintest prickle against my skin. I open my eyes, and, trembling, look down.
Stonehart is holding the knife against the soft flesh above my collarbone. He’s not pressing hard enough to draw blood.
“Are you frightened?” he whispers. “You shouldn’t be. Not yet. I’m only going to do… this.”
He slides the knife down my skin. The sharp edge rips into the bodice of my gown. He cuts the fabric open all the way to my belly, then throws the two pieces aside.
Cool air rushes over my breasts. Goose bumps break out over my tummy.
“Ah,” he says, holding the blade between my breasts. “That’s much better.” His savage eyes consume my flesh.
My breaths are short and shallow. I try to keep them like that to prevent my chest from moving. I feel the point of the knife digging into my skin. Just a little bit of pressure, and I’m sure it’ll draw blood.
“You see, Lilly,” Stonehart says, rotating the knife back and forth, “there’s one thing I think you may have forgotten.” He chuckles. “Of course, it is entirely my fault for not reminding you of it more often.
“Here it is: I own you. And, by extension, whatever I want to do with you… I can.”
I shriek into the rag as he flashes the knife and presses the flat edge against my neck. I fight to keep down the cold terror coursing through me.
He looks in my eyes in a pitying sort of way. “It’s such a shame,” he says, “that we couldn’t have met under different circumstances. You deser
ve to be worshipped. I would have adored you, Lilly, if you were anyone else.” He slides the knife against my skin, back and forth over my cheek like a shaving blade. “But, alas. You know how it is. Sometimes, life gets in the way.”
Without warning he jerks the knife again, grabs my neck with his free hand, and forces his mouth over mine in a harsh, abusive kiss.
My lips are swollen when he lets go. I gasp for air.
“One more thing,” he says, pulling out a black handkerchief from his pocket. “You can see me. I don’t like that. The first thing I’m going to teach you tonight…” he puts the cloth over my eyes and ties it behind my head. The most terrifying type of horror takes hold of me as all my vital senses are taken away. “…Is how to submit to me. The way you really should.”
I feel him shift above me. I hear him unbuckling his belt.
“And now, Lilly,” he rustles in my ear. The knife is back, running along the underside of my breasts, “I’m going to fuck some sense into you.”
The End.
Uncovering You 4 comes out May 30th, 2014.
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May 10, 2014.
Uncovering You 3: Resistance (Uncovering You, #3) Page 7
