𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 taught to never go outside alone. To never walk in the dark alone. To never talk to strangers. To always call her parents whenever. She never thought much of it. She believed that it was something every parent taught their children. Until her brother was born. He was never taught these things. Instead their parents taught him to always treat a woman with respect. To never comment on a girl's body or behavior. As Stella grew up she realized why her and her brother had been taught differently. When she was 13 she first experienced being cat called. When she was 14 she noticed how older men would look at her. At 15 she even encountered a man that asked her to follow him home.
In an apocalyptic world, you forget these things. You forget that the dead aren't the only threat in the world. You forget what people do, what they always have and always will.
Stella didn't remember much from the car ride to the strange room. Just that Merle at some point threw a cloth over her head leaving her in darkness. She remembers trying to fight him off but ended up with a sharp pain in the back of her head before everything went black. When she woke up, she knew that she wasn't in a car anymore. She tried to open her eyes but even when she did, all she could see was black. She opened her mouth to panic and scream but her words were muffled by the gag in her mouth.
Her hands were tied behind her back and her ankles were tied together. She tried to fight against the ropes but there was no use. As she tried to move she realized she was sitting on a chair. She had no idea where she was or where Levi was. She bit down on her lip until it bled and let the metallic taste seep into her mouth. The taste almost offered a momentary distraction from the overwhelming panic and fear that threatened to consume her. She tried to scream again but the gag stopped her. She tried to use her tongue to push it out of her mouth but failed.
