The Cunning (18+)

40

Madison didn't see Jase for another whole week after the showing. Either Sam or Adam would deposit her food and remove her old plates and cups without saying a word. The food was no longer gluten free, either. So she guessed she had slipped up somewhere. If the door had a hatch, her life wouldn't be dissimilar to prison. She managed a twisted laugh. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

The tears had run dry at some point. Numbness had unhinged its jaw and swallowed her whole, hours fading in and out with no way to tell what time of day it was. It took everything for Madison to stay sane. She sat in her head.

She wondered whether the girl she had been before the house would ever come back, or if she would lose all of her innocence in the house. She tormented herself, feeling as though, despite her dad's efforts in securing her with skills for these exact kind of situations, she hadn't been able to outsmart Jase. She felt like a child that needed soothing. The closest she got were her own hugs, wrapping her arms around her knees and squeezing until it felt like the blood in her limbs stopped flowing.

There was no colour to her cheeks in her reflection, a blank sheet of off-white. Her lips were dry, appearing larger from the severe weight loss. She had to be down at least a stone. Her cheekbones were sharp and the lack of flesh filling out her face made her eyes seem bigger too, which would have looked Disney-Princess-esque if it weren't for the blue-black bags they adorned.

"You need a shower," Jase said as he entered the room, barely glancing at her. He opened the wardrobe doors.

"Is there another showing?" she asked. Her voice crackled out, sounding strange and uncanny. It was the first time she'd spoken, unbeknownst to her at the time, six days.

"Yes." Madison nodded. She was laying on the bed, her eyes glassy, hair knotted. She hadn't ate in the last 24 hours, Adam had told him. Jase looked at her over his shoulder, breathing a small laugh. "I knew it wouldn't last," he said in that mocking tone.

"Knew what wouldn't last?" Madison asked, not because she cared but to humour him. He'd made the remark for a reason and she didn't need him trying to push more and more of her buttons in an attempt to get a rise. Better to get the scene over and done with.

"The fight," he said, pulling his t-shirt off, "it never does. To your credit, mind, yours lasted a lot longer than most but," he pulled a fresh black t-shirt on, "it's all the same with you girls. You have a little bit of bite, and it doesn't take much to put you in your place."

He was goading her, to see if there was anything left to watch out for. Trying to tell if she was really done, or if she was recharging. They both knew Madison had more than a little bit of bite and it had taken quite a bit to put her in her place. If she had it in her, she'd have laughed, wondering who he was trying to convince. But she didn't.

Madison heaved herself to sit up, shuffling to the edge of the bed, grazing her socks over the grey carpet. Jase cupped her chin with surprising tenderness, bringing her eyes to his. He frowned.

"Such a shame. I expected more to be honest. You're as disappointing as the others-" Madison jerked away from him. He raised his brows, that devious grin resurfacing, "or maybe not. I guess we'll have to see how you come out the other side after Peter's had you for a night."

Madison glared at Jase from the corner of her eye. She'd had a hunch. Ever since he asked why no one was looking for her, the clogs in her brain hadn't stopped turning. It made sense. Peter knew where she lived, Jase had been in his shop, the way Peter sped off the night he'd given her a lift.

This previous hunch did nothing to ease Jase's half confirmation, half revelation. It was strange, hindsight. The regret and the weight it carried. If only she had... the list was endless.

Jase grinned, eager to squeeze any reaction out of her he could. "But you already had that figured out, huh?" He held her chin again, "because you're so smart." Once more, Madison jerked her face away, only encouraging his taunting. "Can't be that smart. What kind of idiot accepts a ride home from their very obviously creepy boss?"

Madison would spend the rest of her life cursing herself for growing complacent and naive. Her world had been quiet for too long. She knew men like Jase and Benny existed, her dad had rubbed shoulders with them at her birthday parties. She should have been more in-tune with her instincts, more aware of her surroundings. Jase continued, his voice funnelling through her exhaustive inner scolding.

"That fat pig paid twenty bags to fuck you. I'm still trying to decide what to spend my cut on. What do you think?"

Twenty bags to fuck you.

Madison's throat was still shredded from the dry heaving her crying had caused. Her insides convulsed aggressively. Two snakes wrestled for dominance in her gut at the thought of Peter thrusting between her legs. His gelatinous rolls slapping against her body with each hoggish grunt. Saliva coated the inside of her mouth; a warning.

"Excuse me," she whispered, taking herself to the bathroom. Her footsteps quickened and then she was spewing her stomach lining into the toilet, the room twisting around her. A glossy sheen of cold sweat licked her forehead. Ringing echoed in her ears from the straining and spluttering. Once the ground stopped rolling beneath her she managed to pull herself up enough to sit on the toilet seat.

Her eyes flickered over the razors on the edge of the bath again. She picked one up, turning it over in her hands. The plastic was flimsy, Madison snapped the head off with little effort.

It would be so easy.

*

"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?" Sam asked when Jase walked into the kitchen.

"Just told Madison about Peter," he replied with a smirk. Sam laughed.

"You're fucking loving this, aren't you?"

Jase shrugged. "She might be a conniving little bitch, but I'd be lying if I said she didn't keep things interesting."

"You're sadistic," Janine said quietly, her lip curled in distaste. Jase looked at her, tilting his head. She quickly averted her eyes. It was unwise to get smart with him at the best of times, it was downright stupid to do it when he was in one of his 'moods' and ready to play God.

"I suppose I am, and Madison is like the gift that keeps on giving. You can tell her I said that."

"She's just a kid," Janine replied. Sure, she was pissed off at Madison for taking the risk but Jase getting kicks out of her situation wound Janine up.

Jase nodded. "A kid that bit off more than she can chew. If you want to play with the big boys, you've got to be ready to suffer the consequences. She could have come into this house and made her life easy by doing as she was told, but she didn't. She tried to get the better of me."

Janine took off upstairs, she couldn't sit there and listen to the lunacy of it, as if Madison had chosen to be there. Sam didn't say anything. He hadn't seen this side of Jase in a while, and it was best not to get in his way. He was just glad the rumours would start dying down and things could go back to how they were. Madison had got too big for her boots, Jase was reinforcing the balance in the house.