A/N: This is actually only half of the chapter, it got so long that I had to split it in half, to avoid having it too long. haha I just could not stop writing!
The second half will be up very soon! Hope you enjoy!
He stared at the sleeping figure in the darkness, laying there before him, and he really couldn't take his eyes away from the sight. Peyton looked as stunning as always, and she was so peaceful in sleep. He could hear her heavy breath, and he wanted to listen to it forever. It sounded beautiful, and he was so happy he was the one who got to wake up next to this amazing creature every morning. She was his. Derek realized he was still just as entranced with her now, as he'd been the first time he laid eyes on her. He walked closer and leaned in on her face, kissing her softly on the cheek.
"Peyton…" he whispered quietly into her ear. His hand stroked over her messy hair, and he watched as she slowly started to come to. Her eyelids flickered gently, and her tired eyes fell on him. Then, all too quickly, her eyes widened in alarm and her body stiffened.
"Hey there, lovely," he said and smiled, ignoring her sudden change of behavior. "Sorry it took so long, but I'm back now." His eyes glanced around the room, noticing the mess. Peyton sat up nervously.
She had gotten more than a little bored, having been stuck inside one room for the past three days. He'd never left her alone for more than a day before. She'd been angry with him, and had spent a lot of her time ruining everything she could get her hands on, mostly to quiet her thoughts and take her anger out on something, as well as to silence the nagging feeling of loneliness inside. There were pieces of bread and other snacks strewn messily around on the floor, there were crumbled bits of paper thrown everywhere, and ripped and ruined books piled up in a corner. Derek's eyes fell on a couple of drawings at the edge of the bed, and he picked one up, glad to see that she was at least drawing again. That was, until he saw what she had drawn.
The drawing was clearly one of him and her, but not in a way he liked. The person appearing to be Peyton was depicted as some kind of evil demon with sharp teeth, red eyes and an evil smile. The demon held an axe in her hands, and she had blood running down her mouth. It was clear where the blood had come from; in the background of the drawing, he saw what appeared to be himself… in two parts. Beheaded, with a twisted face, and blood spilling out. The blood ran out to the edges of the picture, and red framed it in.
As Derek looked down to the other drawings, he realized the rest of them all had the same appearance; very detailed descriptions of him being killed by her in disturbing ways. It was like they were taunting him, trying to push him to snap, and now really was the worst timing.
Peyton didn't speak a word, eyes wide. Although she had intended for him to see the drawings when she first drew them in a moment of pure anger, she now regretted it. She was too drained of power, and really didn't want to feel his terrible fists pounding in on her again, as well as all the other things he'd do to her. He looked dangerously angry where he stood, and she shivered.
The paper crumbled within his hand as he closed his throbbing fist around it, and she held her breath, afraid. His eyes narrowed and moved to stare in her direction, and her own eyes fell down on her lap. "What's this, Peyton?"
"N-nothing…"
"Really?" His voice was laced with sarcasm and anger.
"I… I'm- I'm sorry."
Peyton's heart thrummed in her chest.
"Oh, you're sorry, are you? Do you think I'm stupid, Peyton? Do you have any idea what I've done for you these past few days, while you were spending all your time wrecking everything and drawing these?" He pointed at the drawings with a trembling hand.
"Please, I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm sorry." Her voice threatened to break.
"Sorry won't cut it this time, Peyton. You always try to ruin everything, and I'm getting damn tired of it! But not today, no..." Derek grabbed Peyton's jaw, his fingers digging into her cheeks. She whimpered from the pain, and her body wouldn't stop shivering.
"Lucky for you, I have plans for us today, and I'm not going to let you screw it up. I'll forget about this for now. But trust me; you're not off the hook yet."
He would make damn sure to make her pay for her mistake later tonight, that was for sure. However, he had other plans for her now, and really didn't want anything to ruin it. He had been looking too much forward to it.
Derek left the room, but returned shortly after with some sort of dark green, silky material in his hands. He threw it into her lap. "I bought you this dress, and I want you to put it on. You're going to have a shower and put it on, and then I'll come get you," he said with a harsh voice. There would be no discussion.
"I'm not pleased with you right now, don't get me wrong Peyton, but I still have a present for you, like I mentioned earlier, and we're going to spend a nice day together. We'll talk more about this-" he wavered at her drawings, "-later."
Peyton didn't dare speak or protest, she only nodded.
As he locked her in the bathroom and left her alone a moment later, she let out a shuddering breath.
No matter the situation, she longed for a shower though, and was glad to have one, finally.
Her bathroom visits were the only thing she could actually look forward to during her long days. It was the one place where she got to be truly alone – except for the few, horrible times when he decided to join her in the shower – but this was mostly where she got her release. Sometimes she'd even only pretend she needed to go to the bathroom, just so she could take a break from him for a few minutes.
Peyton sat down, quivering from head to toe, and she couldn't get her mind off what had just happened. God, she was so stupid! She never really meant for him to see those pictures, she was going to ruin them, but a short while after drawing them she had fallen asleep, and the next thing she knew, he was waking her up. They had really just been for herself, to get her own emotions out, even if she had fantasized about shoving them into his face. But now there was no turning back.
She looked through the window, and stared despairingly. After her escape-try a month earlier, Derek had decided to put bars on all the windows, just to make sure she'd never get the chance at another escape, and it felt even more like a prison now than before. Peyton sighed and slowly removed her clothes. She walked underneath the steaming shower with trembling limbs, and tried to get her mind to close off. She avoided looking at the marks written across her stomach as she rubbed her hair with shampoo and cleaned herself. The hot water seemed to calm her down a little, and she started thinking about how she would make him forget about her punishment.
She decided that the best thing to do would be to act nicely towards him today. She just had to suck it up and get through it, because the tone he'd had, the look he'd had in his eyes after seeing her drawings, told her he would not go easy on her later. Maybe she would be able to save herself from his anger if she tried to act better; maybe he'd change his mind about her punishment then.
Peyton swiftly wondered how this became her life, and she shook her head, before turning off the shower.
15 minutes later Peyton was ready and dressed in the silky, green dress Derek had given her, and she was waiting for him to come get her. The dress fitted perfectly to her small figure, and it framed her chest with sparkling, transparent diamonds. The dress went down to her knees, and it was rather pretty.
He always made her dress up for him; she never got to wear normal clothes or pants anymore. He'd only given her dresses and small skirts… anything that would make it easy for him to look at her and touch her anywhere he wanted. He'd pointed out more than once how much he loved 'those sexy legs of hers'. She hated it. Peyton was never a person who loved to dress up in pretty clothes, despite the fact that Brooke used to love using her as a dress-up doll, but being forced to wear all these clothes made her feel so out of place. The dress she was wearing now was even prettier than usual though, and seemed expensive. She wondered what exactly Derek had planned for the day.
There was a sudden knocking on the door. "You ready in there?"
Before she even got the chance to reply, he had already unlocked the door, and was now standing in the doorway, looking at her. His eyes widened in lust as they fell on her, and his face broke into a smile. Peyton shifted uncomfortably.
"You look… wow. Stunning, Peyton. The dress looks good on you. It goes with your eyes."
He measured her, and she could see him licking his lips slightly. She felt like being sick, but remembered that she had to act nicely towards him. With great disgust, she managed to force a small smile, but avoided looking into his eyes. "Come here," he said and grabbed her hand, leading her into the living room. She sat down in the couch, gazing nervously around herself.
"I'm going to get your present, okay? I'll be right back. I know you'll love it," he said enthusiastically and smiled brightly at her. That definitely worsened her nervous state. He left her alone, going into some unknown part of the house, and she anxiously started twirling her finger into one of her curls.
He soon returned, and what he was carrying in his arms was something she'd never expected. Her eyes widened in shock and confusion, as he came closer. What he was holding in his arms was not something terrible, it was not something he could use to torture or humiliate her with… It was a little cat.
"Surprise!" Derek said gladly. Peyton was at a loss of words. She didn't understand. It must be a joke.
"Wha- what's this?" she said, thinking her mind must be playing tricks on her.
"It's your present, obviously!"
Derek sat down and held the little kitty out to Peyton, who accepted it into her own arms, still with a confused expression.
The cat was grey with black stripes, and couldn't be more than 4 months old. It had a red ribbon tied around its neck. As she looked down at the little creature, it playfully stretched its paws out to her with a light 'meow'. A small smile fell upon Peyton's lips at this action, and she looked at Derek, still not understanding.
"I know you've been feeling lonely, Peyton. I realize that being here with only me isn't enough company, and you want someone else too, a friend. So I figured until we're ready to have a baby together, you could have someone else as company. And here she is. All yours."
The first thing Peyton registered into her mind, was the fact that he said he was going to have a baby with her. That thought repelled her beyond anything. She would never have a child with him!
She looked down at the creature again, which now threw itself onto its back on Peyton's lap, and it wavered crazily with its paws, obviously wanting to play. This wasn't exactly Peyton's idea of a 'friend', but it was better than nothing, she supposed.
"I- I don't understand…" Peyton muttered.
"What's not to understand?" Derek said impatiently. "You know, I'm not that evil person you make me out to be! I just want you to be happy. I did this for you, because I wanted to make my girlfriend happy. Is that really so strange?"
Peyton didn't answer, as she stared down at the kitty. Its eyes were completely black from playfulness, and she couldn't help but smile at its innocence. It was absolutely adorable. Peyton scratched the kitty's stomach, and it actually started purring sweetly at her action. She had never really been a cat-person, or an animal person in general, but right now she appreciated any living creature that wasn't Derek. And who wouldn't love this little thing rolling around in her lap right now?
"I figured a cat would be the best choice, considering the fact that we live in the middle of the woods. It's the perfect hunting ground for a cat, and cats are good at taking care of themselves. All it needs is some shelter and company, which we can give it, and it can take care of everything else by itself. It's perfect."
Peyton nodded, looking down at the kitty, which had now curled itself into a ball in her lap. She could feel its warmth through her dress, and it gave her some sort of comfort she had never felt before. She patted the cat, feeling its soft fur and the continuous purring going through her fingers.
She forced herself to look at Derek, thinking she still had to make sure to keep him happy. "Thank you… for this. It's lovely," she muttered.
Derek smiled, feeling pleased. He tilted his head towards hers and kissed her on the mouth. She closed her eyes and let him, arguing with herself that he probably wouldn't hurt her too greatly if he was pleased with her behavior. He finally withdrew from her and stood up with a grin. "I'll let you two have some time alone… so you can get to know each other."
She watched him as he walked over to the kitchen table at the other end of the room, before she turned her attention back to her new pet. "You're a cute, little thing, aren't you?" she mumbled and scratched its neck. The cat replied with a pleased 'meow'.
"At least I'll have someone to keep me company… thanks, little girl." Peyton had a small smile upon her lips as she pet the cat; every movement it made was so cute and innocent.
"Well, you should probably have a name…" Peyton sat deep in thought. If this was the only friend she was ever going to have from now on, she wanted to give it a meaningful name. She thought of Brooke; the best friend she'd ever had in the world since she was eight, and she made her decision instantly. This could be her way of feeling close to Brooke.
"I'll call you Penelope." She knew Derek would never allow her to name it Brooke, but luckily, he didn't know Brooke's middle name was Penelope. Peyton smiled to herself as the little creature stared up at her. "That's perfect, don't you think? Penelope."
Penelope meowed in agreement. The minutes passed, and Peyton played with the little thing until it became tired, and was soon asleep in her lap. She let her hand slide over its fur, and it was so warm and soft, Peyton felt like burying herself within it.
"I'm sorry you'll have to live here with him," she whispered quietly. "At least you'll have the chance to run away if you want to, though. I wouldn't blame you if you did." Peyton exhaled, losing herself in thought. A sudden electrical snapping noise from over by the kitchen table drove her to look up. As she stared at Derek sitting there, she realized he was holding a camera in front of his face, pointing it at her. Peyton stared at Derek in surprise as she carefully lifted Penelope off her lap, laying her down next to her on the couch.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
He stood up and walked closer to her, and he had that lustful look in his eyes again, that look she hated.
"You know, it really was a shame I didn't have time to bring with me all the pictures I had taken of you earlier… after you'd passed out in your room the night we left together, there just wasn't any time to take down any of my pictures. Only because I knew that hero Lucas would be on his way to ruin everything. I couldn't risk that. And now they're all lost. So many masterpieces…" He sighed and stared into the air, apparently lost in his own mind.
"But I figured it was time to start making a new collection now, of us, of our life together. There were so many ways I imagined taking pictures of you in, before we met. When I was just watching you. And now I have the chance to make all those ideas happen…" His face widened into a smile, and his eyes sparkled ecstatically. Peyton felt uncomfortable, and she really didn't think she was going to like his ideas.