Hi, again! Read on and enjoy.

patito- Interesting suggestions…thanks for reviewing =)

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Most of the soreness had left Kyna's body within the next week, but not the pain in her mind. She felt so weak, weaker than she'd ever been before. The only blessing was that for the entire time since it happened, the Butcher hadn't laid a finger on her; any time spent away from him was sacred. Every once in a while, she could just lie there, and if she thought hard enough, her friends and loved ones would return to her. Today was one of those days; they would reach towards the girl, comforting her with their words…

And then, in the late afternoon, the door opened, yanking Kyna from her sanctuary. She blinked a few times as she heard him approaching her.

"I have a gift for you."

She didn't budge, so Bill took her shoulders, moving her back against the headboard. He then sat down and turned her away from him slightly. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a necklace and looped it around Kyna's neck, fastening it securely.

She looked down at the gift. It was a tiny little jewel of a slightly milky color; if anyone else had given it to her, the woman would've thought it was beautiful. But she knew it was just another way of the Butcher displaying his supposed ownership.

"Do you like it?" Kyna didn't answer, but the tears filling her eyes gave it away. "I want you to keep it on at all times. Don't ever take it off."

The sound of the words leaving his mouth made the girl cringe, so she turned away from him as much as she could. Bill was surprised to feel the tiniest bit offended at her reaction, but he held it down and got up.

"You must be hungry. I'll go get you something."

As soon as he'd left the room, Kyna released her tears.

It's like I'm a dog to him. Or a livestock animal that can be returned to its proper owner…

She snapped. With a silent cry, the furious woman reached up and yanked off the necklace, breaking the chain after a few hard tugs. Then, she hurled it across the room with all her strength; if it were open, she would have thrown it out the window. But of course, Bill always kept it closed. Though Kyna knew he would be upset when he saw what she'd done, she didn't care anymore.

About ten minutes later, the door opened and closed again. Bill brought some food over to the nightstand and placed it down, moving to sit next to the girl. Then, he noticed a line of blood on her hand.

"Hey." He took her palm and examined it. "What's this?"

The man looked at Kyna, expecting an answer. What he found was that his gift to her was no longer there. In an instant, pure fury filled his guts.

"You took it off, didn't you?" She didn't reply, so he gripped her wounded fingers, making her gasp in pain. "Answer me!"

"No, pixies flew in and stole it."

In an instant, Bill seized the girl's shoulders, squeezing them tightly. He stared into her rebellious eyes, growing angrier by the second. In a couple more seconds, he was sure to explode.

Instead, he shoved her away roughly before turning from her, glancing around for the necklace. Kyna looked at him, slightly curious. Judging by the furious look on his face, she was positive he would hit her. But he didn't.

After just a few seconds, Bill spotted the pendant on the floor by the urine pot. He picked it up and tucked it away into his pocket before turning back to his captive. Despite still being angry, he no longer felt the desire to harm her. He reached under the bed, pulling out the rope. Once the girl's wrists were bound, the Butcher walked back towards the door.

"It's obvious you can't be trusted to keep still." Kyna frowned angrily at this. "I don't know when I'll be back."

With that, he was gone. The woman sighed in relief, secretly glad that the man didn't hurt her. She was so sure he'd carry out one of his horrid threats; the thought of one of her bones snapping was frightening enough, but she was petrified of being burned. Against her better judgments, she found herself feeling grateful towards him.

Kyna shook her head, mad at herself for thinking such thoughts.

No, he's trying to make you magically worship him someday. You can't give in!

Wincing slightly at the tightness of the rope, she closed her eyes and tried to settle down.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Getting the necklace fixed wasn't difficult, but that wasn't the real issue for the Butcher. He was angry that Kyna had defied him like that, taken it off when he'd specifically told her not to. After pocketing it once more, he took a small walk next to the docks. It was slowly starting to get a bit less warm as New York entered August. Still, it didn't seem to stop people from their work. Things were less active during the evening, which Bill liked. Truthfully, he would never usually go walking unless his men were with him, but he knew he was in little danger anymore. Besides, he had to think things over on his own.

He didn't bother denying his feelings for Kyna to himself, but he wasn't sure what they were. It wasn't exactly love, but…what was it?

For some reason, I don't want to hurt her anymore. I mean, I'd promised to hurt her soul in the worst way. Making her fall in love with her mother's killer…but Christ, I can't possibly love her, right?

He scoffed at himself while walking, but he couldn't help but ponder further.

She tried to kill me when she was a kid, when it was certain she wouldn't do any damage. She spoke to me after making me believe she couldn't talk for all that time, threatened me with my own cleaver. Damn…she didn't give a fuck about her own safety.

Bill hadn't met a lot of people like that, with such courage. In fact, most of the folks he'd encountered in his lifetime, whether he murdered them or not, had never even been worth remembering. The Vallon boy was a coward for trying to kill him like a sneak, and Johnny was too scared to stand up for himself, only choosing the safe side. Monk was a somewhat influential man in Bill's view, but he was just an Irish bug who was stupid enough to think he would be someone here.

In all the people he could think of, the Butcher could only think of two people that truly stuck out, the same people who stuck out before. "Priest" and Kyna were equals in his book, for mostly the same reasons. Vallon was able to act on these reasons on several occasions, and while Kyna was never truly able to protect herself or others, she sure as hell tried. She didn't care what happened, but she used every ounce of her strength. And for Bill, trying was just as noble as actually doing something.

Very well, I've got some kind of sick love for her. Truly fucked up, but…

At that moment, the man made a decision. From now on, he wouldn't physically hurt her when she rebelled. Sure, he wouldn't turn into some sort of hero from a fairy tale, but he'd be gentle. And he knew how much Kyna would hate it. Yes…she'd hate it so much, but not for long. Sooner or later, she'd see that Bill was all she had left.

And then she'll be completely mine.

He smiled at the thought, but resolved to maintain his normal personality around everyone else; he would still be a butcher, just not towards her.

Consider yourself lucky, Kyna. You're the only one that doesn't have to be afraid of me. Not anymore.

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I hope you liked this one!