Doesn’t care if they see him cry anymore. It doesn’t help or hurt. It just is.
The one that looks like Kara grabs a piece of bread off the plate and eats it herself, trying to prove it’s safe, as if he hasn’t seen that before.
His stomach growls, but he won’t cave, not this time. He has to live to see her again. When he does, he wants to be able to speak to her with his own tongue still firmly in his mouth. He can wait. It won’t be the first time. It hadn’t been her tempting him before, even though he’s seen her occasionally beyond the usual manifestations. In place of one of the guards, or the girl who cleans his cell. Thought for certain she was real, but he can never trust his own eyes. That’s rule one.
She’s never tried to get him to make a mistake before. Right now, that’s throwing him.
He tries to focus on what he knows, feels, and sees.
The wall feels different against his back today, but he’s getting used to it.
The floor is smooth instead of cobbled and crumbling, but it’s nice against his cheek.
He hasn’t seen the mouse even once. Chooses to believe he left for good, living outside these walls where he belongs.
“Please eat something, Wade,” his new captor pleads in a muffled voice. “We’ll get out of here soon. Somewhere quieter.”
She is so familiar and her face so beautiful that for a moment he could believe it’s really her…but only for a moment.
Chapter 3
Wade’s pupils are dilated like saucers. It isn’t something she noticed until she was able to get close enough, but it’s clear now that he’s been drugged.
The effects are obvious even if she has no idea what’s currently coursing through his system. Only hopes that once it’s gone, he’ll be able tosee herinstead of whatever his mind manifests instead.
It’s difficult to wait. All she wants to do is hover, eager for any hint that he’s coming out of it, searching for a moment of realization that hasn’t come yet.
Kara didn’t sleep much last night. Not because she’s afraid of him. She isn’t. She sees what he’s capable of and if it comes to that, she’d rather go by his hand than a multitude of other options. Would only fear it for the guilt it would give him later. No, she’s not afraid of him, butforhim. Her presence is only making this worse and so instead of sleeping in the same room, she took a pillow out into the hall and slept with her back against the door.
Maybe he got some rest with her gone, but she only got an hour or two at most. Luke pestering her at three am didn’t help matters. He wants her to take a different room, but she’s not having that. Can’t be so far away from Wade. What if something happens, and she’s not here? It isn’t worth the risk.
He seems no better now than he was yesterday. The food remains untouched and the blanket, too. He lays where she left him, naked and curled into the corner, wide awake but refusing to meet her eyes.
She squats down, trying to ignore the tangible distance between them. “What do you think about getting out of here soon?”
He doesn’t reply.
Moving him will be a struggle if he’s not willing to walk out on his own. She has no plan yet, but he’s only deteriorating. The music started up again despite the tongue-lashing she gave the band. The children play and scream, like children often do, and there’s a dog in the distance who loves to hear his own voice.
Occasionally, people laugh or talk in the hall far too close for comfort.
It’s all too much, and it won’t quit, no matter how hard she tries to silence the community just for Wade.
They can wait and hope things look better soon, or leave now and give themselves better odds somewhere secluded. She’d be risking additional trauma to get him there, but sometimes the risk is worth the reward. Not that this impending choice isn’t already stressing her beyond belief.
Just tell me what to do. She wants to beg.Show me how to help you so I don’t fuck this up.He isn’t offering any suggestions this morning, though. If anyone is going to make a choice for him, it has to be her.
Kara picks at food from the plate that’s gone tough overnight. “I’ve been living out in the woods for a while. It’s quiet there. Nothing but the river to keep us company. What do you think about going there?”
The makeshift camp is her first choice simply because it feels like home already, but it’s also exposed. If he tries to run she may not be able to stop him.
“Or there’s a little house just outside the gates. About half a mile up the road.” She digs at the softer parts of the bread on her plate. “It’s overgrown, but it’s nice inside. I stayed there for a while when I first found this place. Before I got up the courage to knock on their front door.”
The blue house would be a decent option. There’s a fence, so if he runs, she stands a better chance at getting him back before he’s too far away.
Normally, Wade wouldn’t be one to care about the elements. He’d happily live out in the woods with her and not bat an eye. Probably have a better setup than she could ever craft, but this isn’t a normal situation, and he needs somewhere safe. Clean. Warm. Somewhere with four walls and a solid roof where they can concentrate on each other instead of the constant struggle to survive.
“Maybe that one instead? There are plenty of woods behind it, too. We could go hunting when you’re up for it. You can correct my form with the shotgun. Not that I wasn’t always a better shot.” Her tone tapers into a light tease, hoping to spark recognition. “Remember when we went to the range after I got out of basic training? You bet me twenty bucks I couldn’t hit the bullseye three times in a row. Drinks were on you that night.”
