Feeding Time

Chapter Eighteen

"You heard me", Morona retorts, her expression sad and far away. "He was my friend in college and then one day, he confessed that he had developed feelings for me after I pushed him out of the way of a moving car. I said I wasn't sure how I felt and asked for some time to process it."
"And?", I ask. Samantha shushes me and gestures for me to eat more, calmly writing on a notepad while my friend continues with her story.
"After a few days, Kratos grew obsessed; everytime he saw me he would tell me 'I love you'. Then I started seeing him following me in his car and parking outside my house", she says quietly. "My mother called the cops and got a restraining order after a few weeks of this, but my father said it was a harmless crush and that it would go away after a while. I trusted my father completely, but something didn't seem right.
"Kratos didn't go away, but he made sure that I couldn't see him. I could feel him watching me, though and after a few more days, I approached him and told him to leave me alone."
Morona stops talking for a minute, lost in her memories until I nudge her knee, earning a look from my mother, who leans over to whisper in my ear.
"Let her do this on her own time", she murmurs.
"Kratos grabbed me, pulling out a gun I didn't know he had", Morona says finally. "Dragged to to his car before knocking me out. I woke up in my basement strapped to a dentist type chair, gagged and headphones over my ears. Imagine how I felt when my father walked in with someone I later learned to be Jonathon Moore and Kratos.
"The next thing I knew, I was filled with such unbelievable pain and I had to give in.I woke up weeks later in the hospital with my dad in jail and Kratos in the asylum. For a few months, I recovered, went back to school and tried to move on, but..." She trails off, dropping her spoon back into the bowl.
"The urge came along", I finish after a moment. "And you didn't fight it."
"No, I did not." She lifts her head, the blank look fading from her eyes as she straigtens her back, a look of pride crossing her beautiful features. "I'm not ashamed", my friend says firmly. "He may have ruined my life, but I made it better. And my father and Kratos will pay for everything they've done."
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A few hours later, I'm alone with my mother, watching her continue to scribble on the notepad, pausing every few seconds to type on the laptop.
"What are you doing?", I ask finally, my voice cracking from lack of disuse from the last four hours. "Coming up with a new med combo?"
"No", she sighs. "I'm researching electroshock."
"Oh." I lean back on the couch, cuddling the blankets closer to my shoulders, resting my head on the furniture arm, my long hair falling over the side of the arm.
"Do remember if you were connected to an IV while your sessions?", she questions suddenly, her pen poised above the paper, ready to write.
"I do and no, I wasn't."
My mother clicks her tongue, shaking her head with a sigh. "They should've connected you one", she tells me. "It could have helped you wake up from the coma a bit faster."
"Well, it doesn't matter now", I groan. "Either way, I'd be insane."
"I don't think of you as insane", my other says gently. "We'll find some way to fix you, I promise."
"Maybe."
I don't believe her.