*Warning: The following is a work of Complete fiction, it's just the product of my over-active imagination and fears. However, it includes domestic violence, and anyone who has or is suffering from the same thing should refrain from reading it. It is also encouraged that, if you are a victim of domestic violence, you contact the police, or someone to help you right away. YOU ARE NOT ALONE, AND PEOPLE WILL HELP YOU!*

I fell back, and managed to hold back a cry as my elbow hit the floor, splitting the skin. The tears that threatened would only make my punishment worse, so I held them back as well as I could as he struck another blow, this one to my side, causing me to turn, leaving my stomach and back open. Another blow hit my ribs, and I struggled to breathe as pain spread to my gut, a deep ache I would feel for days afterword. A hand embedded itself in my hair, and I was being dragged across the floor. After being dragged down the hall, he let go, and I heard keys, a lock turn, and a door open. He grabbed my arm and threw me into the room. The door shut, the tumblers switched, and footsteps retreated down the hall. I had peace once more.

I heard a broken sigh, and realized that it was me. I crawled over to my bathroom, which was attached to my dorm room, and made my way to the sink. Most weapons had first aid kits under their sinks or beds in case of attacks. Fortunately for them, they only had to worry about attacks from people hoping to become Kishins. I had to worry about attacks from my partner.

He wasn't always like this, especially when we first met. He was a sweet boy, awkwardly shy for his age, and had a face that many boys longed for. No one knew his name, not even the teachers, they just called him whatever they wanted. Because he was shy, and different, however, no one really noticed him. He hung around the back of the crescent room, head down and staring into a book or a drawing, or looking dazed at the ceiling, ear buds playing music we could only hear in a hum. A few girls seemed wary of him, but I always attributed that to his aloofness, and his shy nature. I never knew that a monster could lurk beneath such a gentle façade.

Then one day, I finally got the courage to speak to him. He was shy at first, speaking in short, quick sentences, but he eventually warmed up to me. We started hanging out, after school for study sessions, or in a park goofing around. We got along so well, we decided to be partners. Not long after that, he asked me out, and we'd been dating ever since. I even learned his name.

Things had begun to change inside him, though it took me a bit to see it. He became distant, even a bit stand-off-ish, and I was sure he was going to break-up with me, and leave me as his partner. I grew scared, and did whatever I could to make him happy: cooking, cleaning, finishing his homework; all just to keep him with me. I see now how foolish I was.

He stayed, but he began to treat me like dirt. In his mind, I was an object, a toy, one that he could use and just throw away, though I didn't see it until recently. I had always managed to find a way to remain useful, save for one way in particular. I planned to wait, and I just couldn't lose a part of myself to him just to have him leave me as soon as it was over.

The violence began about a year ago. We had been "dating", though I shudder now to think of it as such, for quite some time, and I was beginning to think that he was going back to how he was when I met him. He was still distant, and, in some ways, cruel, but was starting to become his timid self again. I started to smile more, and become more cheerful, thinking we can get back to how we began, and how wonderful it would be.

Then, one day, he came home from school, relaxed and quiet. I got home before him, so I could start dinner, and clean up a bit. I heard him come in, and rustle through his bag. I called out a greeting, telling him I was in the kitchen. I was washing vegetables at the time. I heard his bag hit the floor, and his calm, even footsteps come my way. He entered the kitchen, still calm, and walked up behind me. I felt his hand on my shoulder, gently pulling as if to get me to turn around, and, smiling, I turned to face him.

I was on the ground in less than a second, pain exploding through the left side of my face. He stood over me, his face a blank mask, as I tried to comprehend what just happened. Before it really had a chance to register, he had grabbed my arm and, pulling me to my feet, slammed a fist into my stomach. I doubled over, and he grabbed my hair, yanking on it to show my face. With slight smirk, he held up a paper, one I vaguely recognized as a homework sheet I did for him not that long ago. It was marked with a large D- on the top in red. He threw the paper to the ground and shoved my head down after it, causing my face to hit the hard wood floors. With that, he walked to the refrigerator, pulled out a soda, walked into his room, and shut the door. I was on the floor, disoriented, and managed to find my way back to the sink. I was frightened, and didn't want to give him another excuse to beat me.

Soon, he didn't even have real reasons to beat me, anymore, and did it whenever he felt it was needed, which, unfortunately for me, was often. He managed to find a way to hurt me without leaving much of a mark, and he favored it, as it tended to hurt the most. I believe he did it to make himself feel powerful, since he was always ignored, and he took his frustrations out on me. He forbade me from ever calling him by his real name. I vowed then that he was to be known as "He" or "Him", from here on out.

I never told anyone about that day, and the days that followed. People had all sorts of guesses, of course, especially when I started to come to school with bruises, and the occasional cut. I have everyone convinced, at the moment, that I am I giant klutz. I fell down the stairs, I tripped on the way to school, I used them all, except for the excuses like, "I walked into a door", anyone could see through that.

I didn't really have to try too hard to keep up the klutz act in school. He occasionally gave me a mild concussion, and he forced me to go to school the next day, so it was really just a matter of me trying to stay upright most of the day. Allow myself to stumble a bit, misstep on the stairs; the act was pretty simple after a while. I was ignored, just as he was, and I preferred it that way. He began to leave me alone as well, telling me that no one would want me, and that I should be left alone. That is, unless I misbehaved.

This one started like any other day. Go to my classes, stumble around a bit in the halls, and write a list of things to do when I got home. I still had laundry to finish, dishes to do, and twice the homework of the other students. Of course, in this Academy, nothing stays "normal" forever.

I was on my way through the halls. The bell had rung, and I was a few minutes late to my class. At this point, I didn't care. I almost thought that the teachers knew what was going on, and simply refused to help. No matter. I was on my way up the stairs when I felt my foot slide out from underneath me. I didn't even bother yelling, I just clutched my school materials and braced for the painful impact.

It never came. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself staring at the ceiling. I carefully turned my head to see a rather relaxed pair of red eyes staring at me, and I realized I was being held. My first thought was 'Why couldn't I feel the soft landing?' My second thought was, 'OH MY GOD, HE'S GOING TO KILL ME IF HE SEE'S ME!'

"Hey, are you alright? That could have been a nasty fall. People really need to pick up their papers when they drop them, it's a death trap." His words drifted into my panicked thoughts. I quickly leaned forward, placing my feet firmly on the steps in front of me, and turned to face the red-eyed boy. He had messy silver-white hair, and a head band sitting loosely on his forehead with a strange emblem and the word "Soul" written on it. At the moment, he looked almost bored as he gazed at me, and I suddenly felt a little self-conscious about my looks. I knew my hair would be a mess, and my clothes would be a bit disheveled, but my main concern was if the bruises on my arm were showing.

"I-I'm fine. Just a l-little shaken, I g-guess," I managed to reply, my fear resurfacing in an instant.

"What are you doing out here, anyway? Class's already started," he asked leaning on the railing.

"I'm on my way to the crescent room; I just ran into some… complications in the hall."

"That's funny; I'm on my way there too. Guess I can use you as a late pass," He said, and started to walk up the stairs, stopping on my step. "Hey, you don't mind me embellishing the story a bit, do you?"

I just shook my head. "No I don't mind, but I really have to-"

"Hey, (Y/N), there you are!" My blood ran cold. I tried to keep the fear from showing, and it must have worked, because the boy looked at me with his head slightly tilted, and a smirk, like he was resisting the urge to chuckle. I must have looked surprised, at least. I slowly turned around, trying a small smile as I did.

"Professor Stein asked me to come get you." He bounced down the steps, and stopped one step above mine. This did not help the fact that I was shorter than him, and I had to look up in order to see his face. He wore a fake smile, and had his eyes mostly shut, most likely to hide the emotions inside. "And who's this?"

"Soul Evans," the boy said, and nodded in greeting. "It's nice to meet you. And you are?"

He did his fake smile again. "That depends. Who's your main teacher?"

Soul looked confused. "Stein."

"Then you can call me Aaron. I'm (Y/N)'s partner"

Soul nodded. "Alright, then, Aaron it is."

"Soul just saved me from falling down the stairs. I guess I slipped on a piece of paper someone left there," I said, laughing nervously and rubbing the back on my neck.

"Yup, and I just found out that we're going to the same class, so I'm going to make sure she doesn't trip over a penny or something on the way there. It would be uncool of me if I didn't."

"You don't have to do that," I said, waving my arms in front of me. "I can get there on my own."

"Its fine, I'm going that way, anyway."

He started walking, and, realizing I was defeated; I started a few steps behind. "Aaron" was walking next to me, a steely gaze fixed at Soul. Every once in a while, he'd look at me, and the look in his eyes told me that I shouldn't go home, even though I had nowhere else to go. I didn't understand my sudden fear. I knew that I had done nothing wrong, and I was determined to show it. I stood straight, looked directly ahead, my eyes focused on a distant point down the hall, and quickened my pace ever so slightly.

Before long, we were at the Crescent Room. We crept into the room as quietly as possible, trying not to disturb the teacher, who at this moment was attempting to dissect another helpless creature. This one seemed like some sort of pig-like animal, covered in black and white colored fur, its legs strapped down, and a terrified look on its face. Now that I think about it, I believe it was some sort of Tapir….Professor Stein had the scalpel poised above it, gesturing to the rest of the class where to make the incision, in order to avoid making the animal bleed to death. It was at this point that he realized we had come in the room.

"Ms. (y/n), Mr. Evans, how nice of you to finally join us." He said, making everyone in the class look at us. I started to panic, and looked at my sleeves and brushed my hair in front of my shoulders. Still down. My hair still covered my neck. I glanced at Soul. He was still calm and relaxed, as if this happened every day. Maybe it did, and I just didn't pay attention until now. I forced myself to relax, and began making my way to my seat.

"Where are you going, Ms. (y/n)? I was just going to ask you to be my assistant during this operation."

My heart stopped, and I froze where I stood. Turning, I started to decline.

"Nonsense, you can do it. Get down here and stand next to me."

I stood for a moment more, then made my way down the three steps I managed to climb before he called me. I made my way to his desk, and stood as far from him as possible. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have that, today.

"Now, now, come on, stand next to me. Wait, first, go over and wash your hands, they're going to have to be spotless for this." He brushed his white-grey hair out of his face and gestured to a sink on the wall near the cascading levels of seats. I hurried over as quickly as I could, and carefully washed my hands, and partway up my arms. I hoped that, if they didn't look too closely, they wouldn't be able to see the oddly shaped bruises on my arm.

I pulled my sleeves back down and fast-walked back to the table. Luckily, no one seemed to really be paying any attention to the odd girl tugging on her sleeves in the front of the room. They were all having side conversations, or looking intently at the scarred professor, who was waiting for me to finish up.

"You can hand me tools, and help out here and there. For now, hand me the surgical marker; I need to redraw these lines."

I did everything he asked, even holding open part of the poor animal's side as Stein looked for a specific organ, all the while dreading the job, and trying to avoid the lolling eye of the sedated Tapir.

Soon, the bell chimed, and I ran to the sink, washing my hands until they were nearly raw, then I carefully dried them, and picked up my things. It was the end of the day, and I knew I had to get home to start dinner and our homework. I put my things in my bag and walked out the door, making my way to the stairs in front of the Academy.

"Hey, wait up." I turned and saw… Soul, was it? He was walking towards me with a small smile on his face. I quickly looked around, seeing if "Aaron" was around, or if Soul was looking for someone else. There was no one else around. He caught up, and smiled a bit wider.

"Don't tell me you forgot? I told you, I'm going to make sure you don't fall down the stairs, at least for today."

I shook my head and hands frantically, trying to get him to understand. "That's really not necessary; I can make it just fine."

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you look a little scared to me."

I forced my face to turn neutral and, very calmly, replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just see no need for you to take time out of your day to follow me and make sure I don't hurt myself. Everyone in this school knows I'm a klutz, but I never hurt myself enough to need help, so it's not necessary for you to follow me."

I regretted my words, but I couldn't just tell him. No matter how much I wanted this stranger to be able to help me, I knew it would be best for the both of us if he stayed out of it.

I don't think he really believed me, but he seemed a bit more willing to let it go. "Well, you're at least stuck with me for the walk down the stairs; I was going to head down anyway when I remembered what I said earlier." His red eyes were insistent, and I knew he wouldn't let this go, so I agreed to the walk down the stairs.

It was relatively quiet on the walk down, the only noises coming from the people below, our footsteps, and the occasional comment coming from Soul. I looked at the steps in front of me the entire time, watching for paper and avoiding any possible eye contact. I began to count the number of steps that were not perfectly symmetrical with their opposite side, out of pure boredom. When I got to the bottom of the steps, I had counted eight. I shifted my bag back onto my shoulder, and turned to face him.

"Thanks for walking me down, I guess…" I said, trailing off.

"It's no problem. If you need someone to walk with you again, just ask," he replied, smiling a grin that proudly displayed pointed teeth. I jumped slightly at this, but recovered quickly enough.

"Thanks for the offer, but I probably won't need it." I said smiling a little.

"Well, then, if you ever want to hang, you know where I'll be." With that, he left in the opposite direction I was heading in.

Where would he be? The stairway? The halls? The entryway to the school? I blew my hair out of my face. That's helpful. I decided to forget about the white-haired boy and get home as quickly as I could. I rushed to the apartment, climbing the stairs to get to the door. Inside, I set my bag down and took off my coat. I hung my things up, and did a light jog to the kitchen. I pulled the supplies out to make dinner, washing the vegetables, and, to my despair, thinking about the boy that helped me on the stairs. I was reaching into the freezer to get the meat I needed when a hand grasped my wrist. I turned and saw Him. I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn't hear him come in. I looked at his face and gasped. He wore a merciless grin, and it was then that I realized exactly how bad of an idea it was to come home, just as his hand rose to strike a blow.

Chapter 2

I Sighed again as I began to apply the anti-biotic and bandages. Thinking about what got me here wasn't going to make this any better. I knew why he did this to me; I just didn't understand his reasoning. I hadn't told Soul anything; I didn't act too friendly; I even got him to leave me alone. I guess he just did it to remind me not to get too brave, or to try to leave him. I couldn't even if I tried, the leash was too tight. Even if I wanted to leave, I couldn't. He'd just find me again; or I'd grow so paranoid that he would, I'd lose my mind. He had me right where he wanted me, and he knew it.

I winced as I tightened the bandages around my ribs. He is normally more careful than this, I noted as I looked at my split elbow and bruised arms. I didn't need to look to know I had bruises appearing on my side and ribs. I'd have to cover them with makeup for gym the next day. The girls wouldn't ask questions; they could care less what happened to me; Sid might, though, if he saw them. He knew I didn't go on assignments that often; and, when I did, I didn't really come back with any more bruises than I had started with. He's the one teacher that's willing to question the "I'm just clumsy" theory, so I knew I had to be careful around him.

I pulled my shirt back down to cover the bandages, and pulled myself up to look in the mirror. A bruise was starting to form on my right cheekbone, and I had a split lip, but it was nothing I hadn't seen before. I limped into my bedroom and collapsed on my bed, nearly crying out when pain shot through my ribs. I curled into a ball and silently sobbed over the way things used to be between us, the way they are now, the pain coursing through my body, and, shockingly, the kindness shown to me by a boy that hadn't even known my name.

I must have drifted off, because I woke up the next morning to feel my arm being forcefully grabbed, and myself being yanked off the bed. I stumbled, still partially asleep, but stood, and forced my eyes open. He stood in front of me, calm and collected, his eyes scanning me, assessing the damages. By now, I was fully awake, fear making me feel cold and shocking me to my bones. I tried to keep a straight face, and didn't look him in the eye. He circled me once, looking up and down, before stopping in front of me. Without speaking a word, he turned and left, leaving me to wonder why he was here. I heard the door front door slam shut, and I sighed in relief, not realising I had been holding my breath.

I limped over to the closet, feeling each of the bruises and cuts "Aaron" left as I stepped. Wincing, I opened the door and pulled out a (f/c) shirt and (2/f/c) pants, looking them up and down, deciding whether or not to wear them. Knowing that he hated the color (f/c), I decided instead on a long sleeved (l/f/c) shirt with plain light-blue jeans.

'At least no one will notice me in this...' I thought, carefully pulling on each article of clothing, cringing at each bolt of pain that shot through my body. Once I managed to accomplish this twenty minutes later, I limped into the kitchen to grab a yogart from the fridge, then carefully made my way out the door, grabbing my bag as I left.

By the time I got to the school, class had already started, so I sat outside the door to the crescent room, trying to breathe the pain away while listening to the lecture through the door. A few people stopped when they saw me, one of them even asked if I needed help. I politely declined, and he walked away, shrugging. I took another deep breath, relaxing against the wall, shuddering slightly in pain. I closed my eyes, praying for it to stop, or, at least, for the bell to ring. The pain slowly dulled to a throbbing, aching pain, and I sighed in relief, becoming drowsy almost instantly. I fought against the urge to sleep, knowing that the bell would ring soon, and I would have to get up, but it seemed to have fought back, as everything grew blurry, and, as I felt my head lightly knock against the wall, everything turned black.

((Magical time skip of the happy dreams you had while you were out see, I'm not that mean to you!))

I slowly came back, the remnants of a good dream fading much too quickly. Everything was fuzzy, I could hear sounds, but couldn't make out if they were voices, or footsteps, or just the air moving. Sadly, while some of my senses were slow to come back, my sense of pain seemed to hit me like a bullet train. I lightly groaned, feeling the pain come back, though duller than before. I tried to turn into my side, but I felt something lightly holding me back by my shoulder, and I cringed slightly at the pain it brought. I thought I heard a voice, thought it was much to fuzzy to make out words or even the gender of the person speaking.

I felt a pain in my ribs again, I think someone poked them, and the sounds started to become clearer. I could make out four different voices, at least one of them belonged to a girl. I started to see pink, which I believe was the light on the other side of my eyelids. I tried to crack them open, but the sudden brightness burned, and I slammed them shut. I could make out the voices better, and made out two males and two females. One of the females sounded like Nygus, and another sounded extremely familiar. I only vaguely recognised the other two.

After a another moment, I attempted to open my eyes again. This time only gave me a very slight headache, and I blinked, trying to get used to the cream colored walls. I was immediately aware that I wasn't in my room, and that this wasn't my bed. Looking around, I indeed saw Nygus and, standing next to him, Soul. I felt confused, then bad, as I failed to recognise his voice. Looking at the end of my bed, I saw a girl with blonde pigtails nose deep in a book before I heard a voice to my left.

"(Y/n)! Thank god you're alright!" My blood ran cold, and I knew why that voice sounded extremely familiar. Looking over, I saw him.

"I was so worried when they called me down, what happened?" He asked, mock concern lacing his voice and gracing his facial expression.

I furrowed my eyebrows. " I was tired and late, so I sat outside listening to the lecture. I guess I must have dosed off," I said, trying to make it sound nonchalant. " I don't know how I ended up here, though."

The blonde girl looked up, then, revealing green eyes. "That would be thanks to Soul, here." She stood up and held out her hand, allowing me to see her outfit: a black jacket over a white dress shirt with a striped tie. On bottom, a plaid skirt that went about mid-thigh. I couldn't see her shoes. "Hi, I'm Maka, Soul's Meister. You're (y/n), right?" she asked, giving me a kind smile.

After a moment, I nodded, then looked at Soul, raising one of my eyebrows. He shrugged. "When the bell rang, Maka here almost forgot a textbook, and we were late leaving. Because of that, we were at the end of the mob, " he smiled. "Everyone was swerving once they got out the door, so I got out and saw you sitting there. I tried to say hi, but you didn't answer, so I looked, and you seemed to be asleep. I tried waking you up by shaking your shoulder, but you just kinda cringed, and shifted." He shrugged again. "I couldn't just leave you there with your head hangin' like that, it would Have killed your neck, and that'd be seriously uncool. So, I picked you up and carried you here so you could rest in peace. Once I got you in here, I was gunna leave, but when I put you on the bed, you yelled, like, really loud, and sounded like you were in pain, so Nygus checked you out, and was asking me questions on what happened."

With those words, My blood froze solid in my veins. Soul, oblivious as he is sometimes, continued talking. "Along with an impressive number of bruises, you have two ribs broken, one on each side." He looked at me. "What did you do to get that beat up? Insult symmetry in front of Kid?"

I managed a nervous smile. "I'm just clumsy, I guess." He didn't seem like he believed it, but he let it go. "Well, whatever it was, it got you good. Good news, is, you don't have to participate in gym for a while, so that's a plus," he said, chuckling.

"Right, lucky..." I did a small laugh, and went quiet. "Aaron" began to discuss care with Nygus, and Soul began talking to Maka, so I was free to sink back into my pillow, wincing for a moment, and look at the ceiling.

I took this moment to assess what I knew.

-I knew that Nygus wouldn't let me stay here for very long, a day or so at most, if she didn't just kick me out in an hour or two.

-I also knew that he would do everything in his power to make recovery painful while still acting as though he's helping.

-i knew Sid would find it suspicious that i was put oit of gym on injury when i haven't gone on any missions recently.

-I knew that the red-eyed boy had helped me again, despite knowing almost nothing about me...

'Why does he keep helping me?' I thought. After a second of pondering, I noticed that the room was quiet, and I looked up at the people in the room. I looked at Nygus, who was looking at me intently, and i realised she had said something.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay? Do you feel nauseated, have a headache, trouble breathing?" She asked.

I considered telling her that I had trouble breathing, but I wasn't sure how "Aaron" would react, or what he would do if he thought I was lying, so I shook my head. "Other than an ache in my ribs, I feel fine."

She smiled, I think. "When you're ready to leave, then, you can go home."

I hopped up, wincing a bit at the pain in my ribs.

"Would you all excuse us for a moment? I would like to speak to my patient in private."

They all nodded, though he looked wary. She ushered them out the door, closing it firmly before turning to me.

"So what's the real reason you're hurt this badly?" She asked tilting her head slightly, her eyes hard, but caring.

I froze. "W-What do you mean?"

" I mean that I deal with clumsy students on a daily basis, and none of them have ever suffered the injuries you have, and, along with those that get hurt on missions, I also see abused students. Now, are you going to tell me who it is, or am I going to have to speak with Lord Death about this?"

Inwardly, I panicked, and I tried to keep my composure. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, and I don't think Lord Death would be concerned about a clumsy student he's never heard of."

She sighed. "Have it your way, then. I am going to get to the bottom of this." She promised, before turning and opening the door. She smiled again. "Remember, get plenty of rest, don't overwork yourself, no missions for a while, and don't forget what we talked about. I'm here if you change your mind."

I hurried out of the room as fast as I could, and saw Soul and "Aaron" there waiting for me.

"Where's Maka?"

"She went to the library to return her book and get another to study." Soul sighed. "Some people just can't be as cool as me, I'm afraid." He turned back to me. "What about you, are you OK?"

Before I could speak, I was lifted off my feet. "I'm gunna take her home so she can rest. She seems pretty beat," "Aaron" spoke.

Soul looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then."

I jumped at a chime that sounded throughout the halls, followed by, "Soul Evans, please report to Lord Death at this time."

He sighed. "I didn't even do anything, this time." He looked back at me. "I'll see you around, I gotta go see what crime I committed this time." He waved a bit, then left.

"Aaron", still playing the good student, carried me out of the school and to our apartment. He then placed me on the armchair, being unusually gentle as he did so. I refused to relax, as I knew he was planning something. He disappeared for a few minutes, and came back with thick towels. Confused, I watched him as he methodically went though the apartment, covering each mirror and reflective surface. I then grew scared as he finished his task and turns toward me.

He circled the chair, much like he did this morning, he didn't say a word, and just looked at me. A minute later, he looked straight ahead, smiling and chuckling as he continued circling, making me feel like prey.

"Well, what do we do, now?" He asked, smiling, his cheerful voice betrayed by the look in his eyes. "You didn't snitch, so you proved that you are at least good for something, and that would normally make you a good girl, right?" He asked, playing with a few strands of my hair as he passed.

He stopped. "Then again, it was your fault that you were in that situation." He slowly walked back in front of me. "Let me guess, you couldn't handle your punishment that you know you deserve, because you're not strong enough yet, right?" He sighed. "Sometimes i don't know why i even put up with you. You're weak." He tilted my face to look at his. "You let your guard down, and I almost paid the price." His face inched closer. "I'm not going to be expelled because a little bitch can't handle what's coming to her."

Instinctively, I flinched, and I heard him chuckle. "I'm not going to hit you, I need you to heal, and injuries after something like this would seem suspicious. At least..." he gripped my jaw and forced me to face him. "Physical injuries would."

With that, he force his lips onto mine, shocking me enough to make me gasp. He took this opportunity to push his tongue into my mouth, exploring everywhere and chilling me to the bone. I tried to push him off, but he broke away long enough to grab both my hands and pin them above my head with his left, then he came back. I tried to wiggle free, but my ribs felt like they were being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles.

He forced me farther into the chair, strattling my lap, and grabbing my ribs just below my left breast. I whimpered in pain, he moved his hand lower, until he reached my pant line and started to loosen my belt. I panicked, and thrashed even more, ignoring the pain that shot though my body, tears streaming down my face. Without warning he broke away, still retraining my hands, and smiled.

"Now where would the fun be if I broke you so soon?" He then got so close, his nose was touchinging mine, and i was forced to look him in his cold, uncaring eyes. "I'm going to beat you down, piece by piece, until the only thing left is a shell. Then, maybe, you'll be obedient. But," he gripped my hands tighter, "if you ever slip so much, again, I will not hesitate to destroy you from the inside, and make you feel like the piece of shit you are."

With that, he climbed off me and let go of my hands, then walked into the kitchen. He came into the room again a few minutes later, carrying a bowl of (f/f) soup. He handed it to me with another of his fake smiles, then wrapped me with the blanket that was on the back of the couch. Then he left, hiding in his room, laughter seeping through the door followed by (l/f/s).

I stared the bowl in shock, still thinking about everything that just happened. Realization settling in, I set the bowl on the coffee table, tears still streaming down my face, before curling into a ball and sobbing. I wanted to leave, but knew i couldn't get far. I needed help, but didn't know anyone that would help me. Nygus tried, but nothing would get better until he was out of the picture, and even I didn't have the heart to destroy the man that was slowly destroying me.

'Soul would help me,' i thought.

'No, he wouldn't.' I subconsciously thought back. 'He doesn't care about me, he just want to use me as an excuse, or as an object to make himself look cooler. He couldn't care less about me.'

I actually sobbed harder at that thought. No matter what happened, I would be alone, no one truly cared about me. I wondered again why I didn't just end it all.

'Because then he'd win. I may not be able to fight back, but I'm not a coward' I thought resolutely. 'But what if i am just a coward, and I'm just too scared to do it?'

I tightened my ball, and let my sobs quieten. The strain of the day exhausted me, and I fell asleep in the chair, the soup untouched on the table.