Only a few more steps. She breathed heavily. It felt like it'd been miles. She'd voiced her distaste for long hikes, yet here she was, on what seemed to be the thousandth step to the top of the island. She let in the misty, cool air. She was sure his presence was making it colder.
Two weeks. That's how long it'd been. Two weeks without her family, her friends, her life. She felt like an alien. She felt like a fucking prisoner.
It all seemed perfect on the outside. It always did. He liked it that way.
He hadn't even asked if she wanted to go. No. Not once.
He just bought the ticket. Her ticket, with her name on it. She complied because she always did. What choice did she have? The comment about hiking had been an excuse. She just couldn't stomach the thought of spending two weeks with him. She'd already put her foot down on spending every other weekend with him. If she was honest, she tried to avoid spending any time with him at all.
But here she was. In a different country. On a different continent. Away from everyone she loved. Totally isolated. He liked it that way.
When they reached the top of the island, she felt the cold fingers grip her arm.
'Let's take a picture.'
That was code for 'I have something to say that would be inappropriate to say in front of other people.' He did that sometimes.
He pulled her aside.
'Stop this right now.' He demanded.
'Stop what?' The only thing she could be accused of was pure misery.
'Stop acting like an asshole.'
Her heart sank. Of course. It wasn't enough that she'd spent the last 11 days crying herself to sleep. It didn't matter that every time she ate, even just a bite, an anxiety arose so strongly that she was hardly able to keep anything down. He didn't care that she'd manifested illness because in her mind, her innocently damaged mind, she was never going home. This was it. His plan had worked. She'd die here. But it didn't matter.
Because it was all her fault, right?
Wasn't it always?
She put it all away. She added bricks to her wall. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself to keep from falling apart. She put on a smile.
She lost just a bit more of her soul.
Because he liked it that way.
