The Wrong Sister

The Wolf in a Cage

I flinched awake to Asta wiping my chest with a damp cloth. 

Asta raised her hands and backed away, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." 

I sat up and closed my shirt. "Don't worry about it." 

I leaned my elbows on my knees. 

We sat listening to my breathing for a while. 

Finally, when I felt a little calmer the fear gave way to exhaustion, "I'm so fucking sick of fainting all the time."

No response was forthcoming, not that I was expecting one. I looked out of the window at the sun hanging low in the sky. 

"How long was I out this time?" 

"Just a few hours." 

"Where is Jozef now?"

"I don't know. He said he had something to do." 

Somehow I felt lighter. I turned to look at Asta. She was kneeling on the floor a cloth in her one hand. 

"You in charge of watching me until he gets back?" 

Asta flinched as if I had slapped her, "Sorry, sorry. That wasn't fair of me. The cult has disbanded." 

Asta nodded sharply. 

"Then thank you... For wiping me down. I assume I was sweating a lot?" I didn't like the thought to anyone touching me while I was unconscious, but Asta was trying to do something nice, "Also I know I didn't exactly respond well to you when I woke up, but thank you for being here. You are a surprisingly soothing presence." I smiled madly. I wanted her to feel comfortable with me. Jozef had taken advantage of her and probably fucked her up quite a bit. She needed people other than him. 

She nodded, but didn't respond vocally, nor did she move from her spot on the floor. 

"Do you want to come watch the sun with me?" 

She looked up surprised. 

As much as this was for her, it was for me too. She was soothing. Anyone who wasn't Jozef was. It reminded me that he wasn't the whole world. 

Slowly as if she was approaching a deer she sat with me on the bed. Together we watched the sun reach for the horizon. 

"I heard what Jozef said to you." The comment was so quiet that for a while after it was said, I sat questioning if it had actually happened. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how bad you had it." Again in that quiet voice. 

My heart shook slightly. 

"Yeah." I cleared my throat, "But, just kidnapping is still pretty bad." My tone was nonchalant but my throat was tight. 

"I thought he was trying to give you everything in the world and you were being stubborn." She said this at a volume closer to normal. 

My voice went harsh, "Asta, even if that was all there was too it. If it is not something you want no person should force it on you good or bad. Freedom is a basic right." 

In my periphery I saw Asta hang her head. 

"But everyone does things they don't want to do for the betterment of humankind." She muttered. 

This conversation had really turned from soothing to exhausting, but at least I wasn't shaking.

"They do, but those things are under the supervision of a larger governmental body that ensures no one person gets to powerful and ensures that the things the people do don't violate a set of rights."