I Choose You

Fifty-Seven

Mare.

I can't sleep, and I haven't been able to in a long while. Falling asleep and knowing that I won't wake up in Maven's arms is unsettling and depressing. I haven't breathed fresh air in 37 days, I've eaten nothing but scraps for 37 days, and I have been alone for 37 days.

Alone minus my two babies.

I talk to them every day. They are my companions. I have grown in that area but shrunk everywhere else. I have been given enough food to sustain my babies and me somewhat. I am always hungry though.

Being here makes me realize how spoiled I am at the palace, how Maven spoils me rotten. He is going to spoil the twins too.

If I get out of here.

I've tried during my first few days here, but the chains have silent stone, my door is guarded, and there are no windows. I have tried but I am stuck here.

On my one try when I got close to getting out, my baby girls were threatened just like before, just like at the Honeymoon Strut. I backed down after that. It shook me into submission.

I rub my stomach again and smile faintly. They are the only thing that gives me joy nowadays.

I hear the deadlock of my door open and I look up. It's him again, I don't even know his name. Someone else- a boy -follows behind him. He is holding a sharp knife and he looks at me with no emotion in his brown eyes.

It caused shivers to go down my spine.

"Is this going to be of use, boss?" The unfamiliar male asks.

"Depends on how the whore reacts,"

I still flinch at the nickname. Sometimes I wonder if he is right. I did cheat on Maven, but I was drunk. And they know this information.

"React to what?" I ask dimly.

They both look down at me, chained to the floor. The boy with blond hair and blue eyes crouches down at me and tilts my chin with his knuckles so I can meet his eyes.

"To our plans," He tells me deeply then tosses my chin back. He stands back up straight and steps back a few steps.

I grit my teeth at him, his response is a mere chuckle.

"Are we going to kill them now?" The unfamiliar one asks.

I know who they mean when he said: "we". My hand flies to my stomach.

"No," The blue-eyed boy says. "As I said, it depends on how she reacts."

I stay quiet. The blue-eyed boy looks at me hard for a few seconds, then goes back to the other boy.

"We will spread the news once the babes are born," Then he looks at me over his shoulder darkly. "If they make it 'til then."

My hand protects them again. He notices my movement then chuckles.

"A useless protection mechanism," He walks towards me so he is towering over me. "Your meek little hand won't save your babies."

"At least it's something," I spat back at him with gritted teeth.

He tsk's and shakes his head, then turns his head back to the other boy, grabs the knife, and crouches down again.

"So feisty," His hand caresses my torso, and I want to slap it away but who knows what he can do. "Too bad so sad."

Tears sting my eyes. I look at my hands to see if I can move them to scramble away from him, but he notices and chuckles.

"There is nothing you can do," He then uses his feet to step on my hands with all of his weight and the pain is unbearable as I hear all my knuckles crack.