Hero (Tom Hiddleston)

2

                Oscar dragged her back to the van and locked her inside before returning to buy the contents of the cart that he'd left behind. But she knew the storm was still coming.

Sure enough, as soon as he'd thrown the last of the groceries into the back of the van, he was in the driver's seat and screaming at her.

"What were you thinking, you ****** *****? We've cared for you, housed you, let you go to school, given you a ****** purpose and people to love you for nine ******* months, and this is how you thank us?"

"I'm sorry," Shae whispered, tears leaping to her eyes that she didn't dare to raise. "I... I didn't mean to. It just... happened."

"What if he decides to follow us, what then?" he snarled. "Do you want to be all alone again, with no one that loves you? Do you want to do that to all of your sisters?"

"No," she whispered.

"Well that's exactly what's going to happen if you behave yourself like that!"

"I know."

His hand was across the distance between them and striking her face before she could react.

"I don't think you do know, *****!" he snapped. "I don't think you know how ****** good we've been to you. You've been in and out of the boss's room ever since you got here. You still get the best jobs with the best pay. You still get to go to school. What more do you ****** want?"

Freedom, she thought bitterly. The kind of freedom her father had fought for, died for. And love like he'd given her, like she was worth all of the money in the world and more. She wanted worth. Real worth, that was greater than the prices that were put on her night after night. The kind of worth he'd always told her she had. She didn't like to think that he'd lied to her. Maybe she had been worth something then. Maybe she'd been worth something before her aunt and uncle had sold her into this living hell. But now? She'd be better off dead and that's exactly what she wished she was.

But she didn't say any of what was running through her mind. Instead, she whispered, "Nothing. I have everything I want. I was just star-struck. He's my favorite actor."

"I don't ******** care if he's the king of the world!" he retorted fiercely. "If I have my way, you'll never be in the boss's room again."

It took every ounce of self-control she had inside of her to not tell him that she'd have the exact same thing.

But he seemed to be done for the moment, starting the van and driving back in the direction of the house.

Shae slipped her tiny iPod out her hoodie pocket and put in her earbuds, selecting the last song her father had ever introduced her to, while he was on his last leave before going on the deployment that he didn't come back from. "Priceless" by for KING & COUNTRY. Since then, they had become her favorite band. And every time she listened to that song, she heard her dad singing it to her.

Music and movies were two of the only things that kept her alive. Music, movies, and Jesus, that was. They were like her only escapes. Garrett found that out, and that was why he bought her the iPod, as a way of doting on his new pet, his new favorite, soon after he bought her. On the nights she was lucky enough to escape his room, she and the other girls would squeeze into a corner and turn the music up as loud as they dared or watch one of her movies for the millionth time. She couldn't get any of it herself since the thing wasn't enabled with WiFi or anything like that, but Garrett gave her almost whatever movies and music she asked for. She gave him a long list when he first gave it to her, and he gave it all to her, except two movies. "Priceless", and "Caged No More". Not that she expected him to give her those. She didn't even know if she could watch them anymore without triggering and panicking. She had only asked for them to be a brat.