12
I swallowed what was in my mouth before feeling my appetite slip away. How did she know about David? I cleared my throat some.
"David is my friend, I met him a few months ago." I replied. Patricia made a light hm sound before placing some of the bacon in her mouth.
"He sounds like an old man. Friend of the family?" she asked.
"How do you know about him?" I asked. She inhaled some and looked away almost uptightly.
"Your phone. He left a voicemail." she said and my eyes brightened some at this. So she still had my phone and it was functional. "So is he? A friend of the family?" I could lie, what would it matter, she'd never meet him. But if somehow, she found out, then she would not trust me- none of them would. I shook my head.
"No. I have friends of all ages." I merely answered. That wasn't a lie. She nodded.
"He seems worried about you." she said gently and I looked away some, inwardly happy he was worried about me, thinking about me. Was he looking for me?
"I'm sure my friends and family are worried about me." I replied and she whipped her head back to me.
"They have nothing to worry about. You're in great hands." she assured and I nodded.
"I know. I'm safe." I replied and she nodded. She seemed to drop the subject and we began to eat.
"Do you love him?" she asked and I almost choked on my food, but I managed to chew it down.
"What?" I asked looking at her and she just continued to stare at me, her face still and stern, almost like my mother's face when she was going to snap at any moment.
"Do. You. Love. Him?" she asked once more. Her tone was cautious and unpredictable and I knew sign very well. I could see her knifing me in the throat if she did not like my answer.
I needed to diffuse her.
"No. I love my father and my friends who I graduated from college with. And Kevin." I replied. Patricia's eyes softened at this now. That got her. "My love for them is strong."
Patricia smiled lovingly.
"Good." she said lightly before cutting her egg in half and then cutting it again and eating a small piece. I needed to change the subject.
"You like jewelry?" I asked and she looked at me curiously and I looked at her necklace. She smiled and nodded.
"Ah yes. A gift from a family member. I cherish it quite a lot. You?" she asked and I nodded.
"Yes. I had a necklace at home. It has a pendent of the moon that was in the sky when I was born with a small garnet jewel at the bottom of it. It's my most prized possession." I replied. The only gift, David ever gave me. Patricia inhaled, placing her hand over chest.
"Oh that is so beautiful. Well I know what will help make your day. Dennis will go to your home and fetch it for you. How does that sound?" she asked. My entire body felt lit up at her words and I nodded.
"It would make me so very happy." I replied and she smiled.
"See, I know what makes you happy." she said tapping her fork in the air of my direction.
Later on that day, Dennis came in, dressed perfectly of course. No lint or stains on his clothes at all. With him though was a small TV on a rolling TV stand. He then handed me a remote.
"Patricia says we need more time before we can let you out. I figured this would keep you entertained while I am gone. There's a lot of channels on it." he said. I was mildly happy at the TV, but then feared for where he was going. Taking more girls this quickly, he was bound to get caught. And if he got caught then no one would find me. I slowly took the remote from him.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Therapy." he replied. I tilted my head confused.
"Therapy?" I asked and he nodded.
"Barry is in therapy. Some doctor he sees who think she has some understanding of us." he explained. I crossed my arms some and looked away. At least he wasn't going to hurt anyone.
"You're going to be gone long." I concluded.
"Not too long," he assured stepping closer to me. "We'll let Barry out, then I'll go by your apartment. Patricia said there was a special necklace you liked." I nodded slowly.
"Yes. It's in the nightstand beside my bed. You can't miss it." I replied and he nodded.
"I'll get it and a few groceries for us." he said. I had no choice but to nod.
"Okay." I replied noticing he was standing closer to me, so close my heart began to speed up suddenly. His forehead began to press into me once more like before, his lips gently grazing against mine, testing me once more. I slowly reply and feel his hand gently caress my cheeks. Why did his lips feel different from the Beasts? It was softer than his rough ones. Everything about him was different. Slowly, I deepened the kiss and he backed away suddenly, as if not expecting that. I was caught off guard by this and he just placed his hand over his mouth and looked away.
"Sorry." I replied gently and he nodded.
"No. It's fine… I just didn't expect you to initiate that." he said and hurried from the room. I blinked not sure what to think of what just happened. It was clear Dennis wanted some type of bond to form, maybe not like what was going on between the Beast and I. So I just sat down and looked up at the TV. I was somewhat glad they even gave me this. So I cut it on and channel surfed until I came across Freeform. A Siren marathon was on. I had already seen the first season, so I knew what to expect from episode nine and ten. As I watched and thought about sirens and their lives, it got me thinking some. Ryn fought her way to be a patriarch to protect her friends. Maybe I needed to somehow show Kevin and the other's that I wasn't some precious jewel that didn't need to be guarded. I needed to show the Beast I was not some woman to dominate, but an equal to him.
Maybe it was time that I become some type of animal strong enough to tame the Beast, at least enough that I could somehow have a say. It wouldn't be easy and could get me killed, but it was worth a shot.
A few hours later, the door opened and I stood up when I saw it was Dennis. The TV definitely helped. He gave a small, creepy smile as he walked up to me. I was getting used to him invading my personal space. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and I could see the black chain in his hand. A smile was already spreading across my lips and when he opened his hand I gushed at the sight of my necklace. The waning gibbous stared up at me mysterious as ever.
I smiled more at him and slowly placed my hand over his for a second. I then turned and lifted my hair and he took the hint and began to hook the chain around my neck. Oh how I missed this. Once it was clasped, I placed my fingers over the pendent before slowly turning and looking up at him. He nodded with approval.
"Yeah. Beautiful." he said and I nodded with pride.
"Thank you." I replied happy to have this closer to me. He nodded some before looking around some, his attention turning to the TV.
"I hoped that helped with your boredom." he said. I shrugged some.
"Yes. It helped while you were away." I replied and he nodded some. There was a pitter patter noise above us and we both looked up. Rain? Now all my happiness somewhat melted away at the thought of it raining outside and missing it. I didn't know Dennis was watching me when he suddenly took my hand.
"Come with me." he said and just pulled me from the room. I had no choice but to follow as he led me down the hall. He then turned through a door that had a faded stair case sign on it. He moved up what seemed like two stories of stairs. He then opened the door and we were met with pouring rain. My eyes widened as we slowly stepped out under a black umbrella like sheath that was installed above the door. It blocked the heavy rain above.
I noticed we were in front of some enclosure. It looked like maybe a den of some sort. On the right was a chained fence with bleacher rows. The smell of the rain captured me first and I looked all around as it came pouring down. It was cool out, but not cold. I let out gentle breath of air as I looked up at Dennis.
"Why did you do this?" I asked. Dennis just stared down at me before lightly raising his hand and resting it on my cheek some.
"Because in the off chance you ever have the opportunity to run, I'm hoping you don't take it." he said. I sighed gently and leaned in to his palm some before looking out at the rain. Some of the wind blew the rain onto us which made him scowl.
"Have you ever danced in the rain before?" I asked. He scowled some.
"Why would I? There's all kinds of stuff in that rain not only do you get wet, but you have all kinds of dirty bacteria on your body and clothes." he said, and I nodded before looking out into the rain and just moving right out from under the hood and letting the rain fall down on me. Dennis tensed greatly. "Jesus!" I wasn't too far from him and I just stared at him as he just raised his shaky hands to me. I slowly laughed at how stressed he looked at me getting drenched. My hair was flattened and my clothes stuck to me, but I didn't care. I raised my hands to the sky and praised the heavens.
"Okay. You had your fun. Had I known you'd do this, I would have brought a towel." he said trying to wave me back in. I opened my mouth and let the rain pour down my throat. "Aw no no! Don't do that! Come back Teleya!"
I was hardly even a few feet from him. He could easily just pull me inside, but that would mean getting his hands wet.
"Come and get me, Dennis!" I replied jumping in the puddles that formed on the ground. His jaw tightened some in annoyance and in one quick motion, he came out, grabbed me, and brought me back inside the door way. He wasn't entirely wet, but as I foretold, his sleeves were very wet. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and wadded it up.
"Now you're filthy. Take off your clothes, all of them. We need to wash them!" he said. I gave him a look as if saying 'are you serious', but the glare in his eyes confirmed it. I slowly and carefully removed my top and shorts.
"Panties and bra too." he said and even looked away as if to give me privacy. I slid down my panties and bra and gave them to him. He had all the clothes in one hand before holding up his hand to me again.
"I guess you can come with me while I wash these clothes." he said. Oh yes, because the OCD side of him needs to immediately and desperately clean these clothes, but he can't just trust me to go back to my room alone. So I raised my hand out and took his hand. He tensed more, knowing how wet it was, but just let me back down the stairs and toward the familiar hallway. I wondered what would happen if Dennis were to cross a line with me. Could I possibly get him on my side? Not a chance, he wanted me more than the Beast did. So maybe I should give him what he wants.