Survival ( Book 2: Stronger Series )

24. Branded

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Thankfully, I only had to sleep in Darren's bed on the weekends since most of the time he'd be away on business, but there were a few times I woke up in the middle of the night to find him between my legs. It was very hard not to fight him on instinct then, as it always scared the shit out of me.

Some days, I wore his clothes, and some days, I wore a dress. I still spent my time in my room while Darren was away at work, but luckily, he would let me bring one book from the library upstairs with me each day. It helped to keep my boredom at bay since I could only practice yoga for so long before it got old. I had managed to beat my forty-two-second handstand now that I had so much more time on my hands. I was now at forty-six seconds.

Eventually, I gathered the courage to ask Darren for an iPod so I could listen to music. I somehow managed to convince him it would keep me sane and calm while he was away. So at the beginning of the week, Darren presented me with gift-wrapped box at breakfast. It contained a silver and pink iPod with headphones and access to an iTunes account. He just loved to torture me with pink.

So long as I behaved, I could download ten songs a week, though he had to approve them first. I was so grateful, I could have cried, but Darren saw to my repayment for his generosity with an under-the-table session while he finished reading his morning paper. I didn't plan to ask him for another thing for the rest of my captivity after that if I could help it.

I fucking hated how he kept me locked up in my room all day while he was gone. It angered me to the point of absolute rage, but I tried to rationalize it from his point of view. He didn't trust me. That was understandable. I wouldn't trust me either. But it didn't mean I couldn't hate it any less. I tried to be good, hoping that when my week of reflection was over, he'd release me from my room since he would then see I could follow his rules while he was away. I had managed to make it to only two strikes for the entire rest of the week, so that had to count for something.

The iPod did make the boring days in my room easier, though. I could listen to music for hours without even realizing it, especially now as it was the best distraction from my current nightmare. Sometimes, a song would come on that would remind me of someone I missed, but I couldn't linger on my family or Jason. Thinking about them hurt too much, and I needed to stay focused on myself and what I needed to do if I ever wanted to make it back to them.

I only allowed myself to linger on one person, a person I really missed: Kayla. I still wondered where she was, who had bought her, but at least, I knew she was alive. I wanted to bring her up again so many times to get more info from Darren, but I knew he wouldn't disclose anything. I would have to worry about rescuing her later. I had to focus on myself first before I could help anyone else.

The Russian women came back earlier in the week to repair and repaint my nails. This time, they did something fun with the French manicure, leaving a sparkly silver line just below the white tip. They did the same to my toes. Since I lost at pool, I did not get to pick the color, but I didn't really care that much about it. The ladies even removed the unwanted hair that began to grow back since my last waxing treatment. I wasn't too pleased with it but what could I do? The ladies still seemed skittish, and Anya remained quiet as ever, but Irina tried to keep things light with her fake-ass smile. She knew something was wrong with me, but she was too afraid to act on it.

As Thursday approached, I found my isolation from the world to be another mind game of Darren's. He was the only one I talked to, or was allowed to talk to, so when he finally came to collect me when he came home for the day, I was happy just to finally have someone to converse with, even if it was only him. I tried talking to Scott one time when he brought my lunch up, but that didn't last long and a short-lived phone call from Darren removed any thoughts of ever uttering another syllable to anyone other than him.