Preface

How could I have let myself fall into this trap? I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. Every time I trust someone, I always get burned. But he cast his spell on me and made me feel like I could trust again, like I could love again. I think I knew it would crash and burn, but I had hoped so badly that it wouldn't, that my heart wouldn't get stomped on again. All my hopes and dreams were shattered, and all the king's horses and the king's men could not even get close to putting them back together again. Even if I were stupid enough to let another in, they wouldn't be able to put my hopes back together. But maybe they didn't have to be put back together. If the right one for me came along, maybe, just maybe, I could make new ones.

Rysalyn POV

Columbus, Ohio 1921

I came up to the door of my home and had to force myself to knock. When I finally did, he answered and he did not look happy. I knew I had waited too long. It was already dark out but I did not care because today I skipped school with Logan and hung out at his house. His father was at work and his mother was dead, so we had the whole house to do as we pleased.

And we took full advantage of that.

It was the greatest day of my life. I was practically floating. We had been (not-so-secretly) secretly dating, but today was the day that we finally shared ourselves with each other. Ever since we met at the park when we were five, we had been inseparable. Our mothers were best friends along with my step-aunt Esme. And my stepfather and his father worked together. We knew we were going to be together forever, but today we made it official. I was his and he was mine, as simple as that. Just being able to see him was enough to get me through the torture that Andrew was going to inflict on me.

As if on cue, he grabbed my arm and pulled me in the house, almost making me drop my books. I almost growled at him.

"Watch it, "You could probably hear the venom dripping from my words. I felt a sharp pain on my face. I know I should not defy Andrew, but for some reason I do. It goes against everything in me not to talk back. I tried to ignore it, but I cannot rest until I have defended myself. And when I give in, I am punished. Severely.

"What did I tell you about talkin' back to me, huh? Dontcha listen when yer told to SHUT UP!" Now he was yelling. And of course, me being be me, I had to yell back.

"AND WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT TOUCHING ME, YOU IDIOT!" I sighed mentally. This was going to get bad, very fast.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! WHY DON'TYOU JUST LEAVE LIKE YOUR WHORE OF A MOTHER DID!"

He struck a nerve there. But since he wants me gone, I'll leave. I turned around and started to yank the door open but I felt him grab my shoulder hard and pull me back.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" His voice lowered, probably because the door was open and he was afraid of getting caught. Coward.

"I'm leaving like you told me to," I said in an equally lowered voice. I know I should yell and scream and runaway but I'm not going to back down. I will stand strong or I'll just wait until he finally kills me. But under no circumstances will I ever back down, I'll keep my promise to my mother. I don't know why I even try, though. She left me to rot with this fool when I was 15 and the only thing she left was a stupid note that said, "Stay strong and I love you, no matter what." I guess caring for the daughter you got out of rape for 15 years was a little too much for her to handle. Whatever, I don't care.

I was shook out of my thoughts by Andrew shaking me. I guess it was time for my punishment. Oh well.

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?" He yelled at me slowly as if I was deaf. I might as well have been because I wasn't listening to him nor do I ever for that matter. "I SAID GO UPSTAIRS!" He was still yelling at me slowly as if I were an idiot.

"Shut up, I can hear you, idiot," I groaned mentally. Why don't I start digging my grave now?

However, he didn't hit me as I expected him to. He didn't even yell or scream. He just looked at me with a look that I could not quite place, a sick twist between hate and compassion. Two things that definitely do not go together. "Go upstairs," His voice was deadly calm. And to tell you the truth, it rather scared me.

I gave him one more hate filled look and went upstairs. I walked up the spiral staircase slowly, gently trailing my fingers on the marble staircase railing. The only thing this man was good for was his income. He was a well know lawyer and I liked to live a good life. Well as good as being abused everyday by a legitimate idiot can get. I guess you get paid a lot for that sort of stuff, I don't know. I usually do not pay attention in class. Why should I? Not like I am ever going to do anything with myself. I sigh as I reach the top of the staircase and head to my room.

My room. My solitude. My World.

And it really was. It had everything I would ever need, except small things like food and water. However, the most important thing that it held was my guitar. That thing was my life. When I was little, I would always look up to those people on the street who played guitar and collected money in their little hats. It looked like something I could do. I envied them. They had what I wanted. All they had to do was sit there and play. They were in total bliss without even having to move. Just the thought of being like them brought me comfort.

The first thing I did when I got into my room was drop my stuff on the floor and collapse on the bed. Not because I was tired. Oh, no I am almost never tired, not even after my late night fights with Andrew. I was just lazy. I do not like work or effort. I guess you can say I am pampered in a sick sort of way. Andrew gives me everything I want and I let him bag on me all day.

It sounded like a fair trade to me.

On the other hand, it might not be. I don't know anyone else in my situation and even if I did, I probably wouldn't do anything about it. Too much work.

I close my eyes to take a nap and I'm almost asleep when I hear banging on my door. What does this fool want now? I sit up in my bed slowly as he opens the door. I regard him with the usual hate filled glare.

"You know, you should try knocking. I could have been naked."

He smiled a twisted, almost maniacal smile, and said, "That would have been fine."

Now I am confused. I look at him with confusion, and of course hate, you can't forget the hate, and say, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He shakes his head as if reprimanding a child. His voice is gentle yet there is still a cruel edge to it, "No no no. Watch your language, Rysalyn, we are going to remember this moment and we want it to be pleasant don't we?" He starts coming closer and normal person's instinct would be to back up. Notice I said normal person, which I am obviously not. So I stay frozen, not out of fear more out of curiosity if nothing else.

"I thought about punishing you but I think you're old enough for a reward, don't you?" He edges closer to the bed.

I think I already knew what was going to happen but my lazy brain was too slow to tell me on time so I was still genuinely confused.

"We're going to have fun tonight," His smile turns even more twisted than before if that is possible.

He starts to unbutton his shirt and it finally hits me.

No.

This cannot be happening. He can't do this. I know the dude is a creep but he isn't this bad, is he?

My thoughts were interrupted by him pushing me down on the bed.

"Stop it! What are you doing?" Stupid question to ask.

He was almost done with his shirt." I'm rewarding you, of course, "He said it as if it was the most obvious thing. It sickened me.

As he finished unbuttoning his shirt, he looked at me and said, "Your turn."

I knew I had to do something. Maybe if I talked to him, he would see sense.

"You don't want to do this. This is not something you would do. You're better than this, "It hurt me to say the words that were total untruths. I knew he was quite capable and he could pull this off without remorse. I didn't expect him to believe me when I could not even believe myself but hey, it was worth a try, right?

He fell on the bed next to me, shirtless.

It seemed that he was not going to reply to my useless attempts because he was pulling at my shirt, trying to unbutton it. I cannot let this happen.

But he was already on top off me and all I had were two options.

One, just black out and lay there, hoping I won't remember or two, try to fight him off, even if it's in vain because I swear I will not go down without a fight.

I like option two a whole lot. He was not going to degrade me after I had just had the time of my life. He was not going to be inside me because only one person belonged there and that was Logan Atwood. Not Andrew Shitface Evenson.

Shitface was still trying to unbutton my shirt so I took his distraction as my cue to sucker punch him right in the jaw. And I'm sure it did a lot of damage because I don't punch like a girl, I can tell you that much.

He held his jaw in his hand but I could still see the fast approaching bruise. Ha, I hope I broke it.

"I said we were going to have fun, tonight," His voice was strained but it was audible so don't think his jaw broke, "Hitting is not fun. It is a bad thing to do. A sin."

I was outraged. He had the nerve to tell me hitting people was a sin. That set me off.

"THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYINGTO TELL YOU FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS, YOU BASTARD! NOW GET OFF OF MEBEFORE I REALLY BREAK YOUR JAW!"

And that's when everything went black.

When I finally woke up, everything was dark. I looked out the window next to my bed and saw that it was barely morning. The sun was just beginning to rise. I tried to sit up but laid back down when I felt a pain so sharp, as if knives were cutting me. I tried to remember what happened last night and why I was hurting so bad but I could not remember anything. I knew it had something to do with Andrew but even when he was drunk, he never hurts me this bad. I looked down to see how bad the bruises were. Andy almost passed out by the sight.

I was naked. I was bruised. I was bloody all over. What happened to me?