Monster (BWWM) complete

More Than Enough

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He wondered why he wasn't gone yet... as in dead.

Bryce's lungs inflamed yet again as he ran out of air. Air bubbles escaped his lips and nose as his body acted instinctually for air, but he quickly sealed his mouth shut, only allowing a small amount of water into his mouth. He fought with his need to panic, he had learned it that was a bad idea early one. Though his racing heart wouldn't listen and was still convinced he was going to die.

But of course, before that could happen, he felt his body being pulled up and soon his head broke the water's surface. He took in a deep breath of air, choking as much as he could down as he coughed and sputtered. It burned worse then moonshine. His body shivered.

Bryce hung upside down over a large, tin tub of water. His hands were cuffed behind his back and his legs were wrapped in a chain and connected to a pulley. It was his fifth time being dunked in... today... Yesterday Maria had let him by with ten. There was no guarantee the woman would be as kind as before again.

Hair hanging wet off his head, Bryce's eyes found Maria who was standing below him in front of the tin tub, the woman smiled up at him. He was sure to keep his face blank. It would be foolish to piss her off because of a face he was making without even realizing it. That was his life now. Finding ways not to piss off Maria, not to disrespect Maria, not to upset Maria. His life was a life of fear, everyday she had a new torture for him. Everyday he was hurt by her in new creative ways.

He wondered why he wasn't gone yet... as in dead. Why didn't he go under and simply give in to his body reaction to breathe once out of air?

He then turned his gaze away from Maria, movement behind his captor pulling his attention. In the lightless part of the basement, tucked in the very back and standing beside a wooden post was Krissy. Her dark rimmed brown eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion but bright with concern, she watched out of the way. She had her way of avoiding Maria's wrath besides acting like a desperate to please animal like him – stay out of her way as much as possible, avoid her, stay quiet, and mostly Maria left her a lone. He wished he could do similar but the woman sough him out. His punishments were for doing nothing at all and for breaking rules he had no idea he was breaking. Moping with bleach and not citrus cleaner on a Sunday instead of a Monday, left tied in a painful position for hours, chewing too loudly at breakfast, two days without food. It went on and on from there. There was no escape for him, and he never did anything right.

Krissy's fingernails sunk into the wood as she mouthed 'hang in there'. His racing heart felt calmer. Krissy didn't hate him. He thought the girl would after what Maria revealed, but his now ex-girlfriend still spoke to him, still saved him food when he had been banned from eating. They weren't how they once were. Krissy still slept on the other side of their 'cell'. Sometimes, she wouldn't even look him in the eye. He couldn't blame her. He blamed himself. What he had done was wrong. Cheating on her had been his biggest mistake, and worse of all he wasn't even able to come clean to her about it how he had planned. He had his issues with her, but no one ever deserved being cheated on.

She was his reason. Why he was alive and why he hadn't given up. He couldn't go and leave her alone with that monster. He couldn't fail her again.

"What have I told you about how much I hate to have furniture that is dusty?" Maria's voice brought his gaze to the woman in the teal blouse and skirt, hair down. She wasn't in a bad mood, he noted by her state of dress and she wasn't attired for seriously causing him pain.

Bryce panted and swallowed more air before answering. "You hate it, Mother." He answered robotically with a hoarse voice. "I'll do better next time."

"Will you now?" She questioned rhetorically. He nodded quickly anyway. "You should have before. Marcus, dump him four more times before allowing him to rest."

"Yes, Aunt Maria."

Bryce sucked in a lung full of air a second before he was once again dropped into the tub.

(B)(B)

Both ears ached and was stilled filled with water an hour later. Bryce ran a hand over his metal collar as it once again pinched his still raw throat. He watched Krissy start on a house of cards as she sat cross-legged in front of him. She glanced up at him.

"Are you sure you don't want to play poker again?" A small smile tugged at her lips, pulling one from him as well. Smiles were a rare thing now-a-days.

"I already owe you fifteen candy bars and four packs of greenberry-lime soda-"

"Hell yeah you do, and as soon as we get out of here I expect to receive full payment with interest." The laugh which tumbled from her lips made him want to laugh too, but he couldn't

Instead he continued smiling as she laughed, his fingers finding the healing scabs along his wrists. He began to pluck at the rough skin thoughtlessly.

"Stop," he blinked and looked up, finding Krissy eyeing his hands, face troubled, "stop doing that." He looked down again and discovered his wrist was bleeding. "We will get out of here, Bryce." She told him sharply, "We will."

He blinked, when had she learned to read him so well, he wondered. He had been thinking that there was no escape from Maria. But Krissy was right.

He nodded and looked at her seriously. "Yeah, you will get out of here, Krissy." He would make certain he got her out even if he was unable too.

The girl frowned, seeming to sense that there was something wrong with his words. Something that had went unsaid.

"You shouldn't try building it there," he changed subjects and pointed her beginnings of a card house. "The floors sort of slanted right there," he tapped at the area a little to her left with his foot, "its more even right there."

The card house she had been building flopped down and she took his advice beginning to build her house on more even ground. He watched her work, bite her lip and intense concentration and her nose twitch in annoyance when it all would simply cave in after so long. One time the girl had noticeably held her breath to keep from accidently blowing her house down.

He once again smiled.

"Need any help?" He finally asked after watching her struggle for an hour.

She gave him a deadpanned look. "I was wondering when you were going to ask. Why else would I have came over here just to build a card house? You're good at this type of stuff, man."

"So you're using me?" He asked without truly asking, a large grin on his face as he nodded like a sage. Krissy's eyebrows rouse and lowered dryly in response. "I suppose I could help... if you take off a pack of soda from my long tab."

"Deal," she quickly said and handed him half of the card stack.

An hour and a half later he and Krissy had assembled a decent card house using two decks of cards. Well, he had. She had settled on the floor on the other side of the card house and had fallen asleep pretty early on. He had accidently brushed his hand with hers at least a dozen times during the first few minutes and both of them had frozen, the lesson of not touching beaten into them so harshly it was almost of second nature now. He could only hope Maria hadn't noticed. But having human contact that wasn't inflicting only pain after so long... was surprisingly pleasant and he would admit to himself, so he may have brushed against her hand on purpose twice.

Now that he was finished, he gently settled back and admired his work. He glanced down, through the gaps in the card house he could see Krissy sleeping, brows scrunched from a dream he was sure wasn't very pleasant, but asleep. Her soft breathing wasn't enough to blow down his well-made house, which he would brag about when she woke up.

Bryce settled himself on his side on the other side of the card house, his green eyes never leaving Krissy's face. He used his arm as a pillow and watched her from through the gaps of the cards. She would have called him a creep, but it was something he did sometimes when she was asleep, sometimes when she was awake as well. He watched over her to make sure she was safe with him, away from Marcus, away from Maria. It was rare after all, being away from them.