All in Time

5 - Pain and Monsters

***Holly's POV***

Jacob let the door fall shut and I let myself slide down the wall I was propped against. I pick up the towel that lay next to me and hug it toward my cold skin. I look in the full length mirror at myself. I saw bruises on my stomach, cuts on my thighs, little, minor scraps on my hands and feet.

I shakily rise to my feet and turn towards the shower. Everything that just happened, I felt so dirty; I felt so used and disgusting. I dropped the towel next to the shower and stepped inside, under the warm, flowing water.

I let it wash over me as I stared at the ceiling. What the hell did I do to deserve this? I hear the door click open again and my blood runs cold.

"Oh my dear Holly," Jacob's voice rings through the room, "are you ready to go back to your room? I have a surprise waiting there for you."

"Could I have a few more minutes," I ask, keeping my voice as steady as I can. "I'm not quite done here. I want to make sure I'm not a total mess. You've never seen me looking nice."

"I don't need you to look nice. I need you to act like it. I need you to be like you were earlier, but better, okay?" I swallow the bile rising in my throat and open my mouth to speak.

"I'm all your's."

****Jacob's POV****

I gripped Holly's wrists as I bound them loosely with the ropes and tied the small piece of fabric around her eyes. I walk her down the hall and towards the locked stairway.

"Watch out for the steps," I warn her. I help her take a few steps down the stairway before she seems close to taking a tumble. "Careful, careful." She was shaking but I held her up with tight hands on her arms.

"Why do you still have to bind me," she asks, curiously. "You know I'd never leave you."

"No matter how much I trust you, I don't want anybody else here to convince you otherwise in case you do manage to get to them." I smile, although she can't see me, and look her over. This gorgeous girl really believes she's my wife. I'm about to make a hell of a lot of money off of her...

"Oh come on, just one peek? I'll give you a little extra next time if you let me have a look around." She flashed a smile although she didn't know exactly where I was around her.

"Maybe later, my dear," I whisper. "For now just sit." I set her gently onto the deep red sofa in the main room. I bury my face into her still-wet hair and press my lips against her neck. "I'll be right back."

I hook a short chain from the back post of the sofa to the rope tied around her hands. She tenses immediately but I give her a reassuring squeeze on the leg. I walk quietly out of the room and into the next hall.

I'm greeted by a woman. She looks at me and smiles. "Thank you for bringing her here," she whispers. "I won't hurt her too much." She leaves the hall and walks toward the main room and toward Holly.

I rush after her and call out, "Alright, Holly, I'm back." The woman sits down next to her and lets a hand rest on her thigh. The woman pulls a sharp blade with her opposite hand and brings it to Holly's arm, pressing deep into her forearm.

"Jacob," she cries out. "Lucas stop it, you're hurting me. Please stop it!" The blade goes deeper into her skin, making me shiver as I watch. Blood bubbles to the surface and pours around the metal blade. Its so beautiful.

****Holly's POV****

I could feel myself losing blood as Lucas wrapped bandages around my forearm. "Holly, I'm sorry about this, my dear," Jacob whispers. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Why would you do this to me," I slip. His eyes filled with something indescribable as a scowl grew on his face.

"It's not my choice, darling," he growls. He tears the end of the bandage, finishing the wrap, and stands in front of me. "Don't question things you don't want to know." With that he leaves the room and I can hear his footsteps walking through the hall.

I look down at my arm and see that I was already beginning to bleed through the fresh bandages that he had just laid on me. So, this is hell?

I stare at the blood smeared floor and think, What if I never get out of this place? What if I'm stuck with this malicious, disgusting man forever? What if I bleed out on the floor because of these sorts of days?

The thoughts start to take over and I slip from the edge of the bed, onto the floor. I don't move. I just lie there, staring at the stains on the floor. This. This is Hell.

****Jacob's POV****

As I walk down the hall I'm met by the woman from the living room. "Oh, it's you," I sigh. "I thought you had already gone."

"I couldn't leave without a goodbye," she whispers.

"Alana, you really should go," I mumble, taking a step back. A frown spreads across her face but she reaches toward me. She slips a bill into the pocket of my shirt.

"Nice to catch up again, Jake." She smiles and turns on her heel, walking towards the door.

$20, not bad for my first customer.

*******I'm back, guys! It's a really odd chapter, I know, but that's okay!*******