Chapter Nine
Scarlett
Monster leaves a little while after telling me to rest. I feel a little like a child he’s put down for a nap rather than a woman who’s been wrung out with taboo, strange, frightening sexual acts that confuse me as much as they make me explode with unwilling orgasms. Last night with the plug… today on the table…
I’ll never look at that table the same. Now, when I open my eyes and gaze at it, I don’t see the countless hours of torture I was subjected to.
I see, I feel myself totally chained down and forced to submit to Monster’s kinky torture…
which made me orgasm harder than I thought was possible.
His sometimes soft, sometimes hard, always dominant commands that lured me into a fuzzy, fluffy state of mind where I was so close to completely giving myself over to him, it was alarming.
The restraints didn’t make me feel trapped by the end of the ordeal. They made me feel free. Free from the burden of controlling my fate—free from making decisions. Free to simply take what I was given, which in that case, was an extremely talented and phenomenally cruel mouth.
I roll onto my back, pointedly shutting the table out. Ignoring the fact that, at least for now, Monster succeeded in rewiring my brain to not fear the table for pain.
He’s undoubtedly changed over the last nine months. He’s more coolheaded. Still quick to anger, but his anger no longer manifests in impulsiveness—it comes out through carefully laid plans decided far in advance, and methodical punishments designed to break me down.
The door creaks open. I wince a little and dart a glance to the side.
Monster steps back into the room, holding a pet carrier in his hands, and that’s what prompts me to shoot up into a sitting position.
Lucifer. He’s brought me Luci—a companion in the dreariness of my current situation.
An anchor in the storm, a reminder of my durability and resilience.
“Max tells me he’s been yowling at all hours of the day and night,” Monster tells me, setting the pet carrier down.
“Since you submitted for me so prettily, I figured you deserve a reward. I’ll bring in a litterbox later, along with some toys.
” Monster tilts his head to the side. “Is he an outdoor cat?”
“He’s leash-trained,” I murmur in response. “He likes feeling the wind in his fur.”
“Good. Then we can eventually take him on walks around the grounds.”
I blink slowly. “W-what?” Why would Monster offer me that?
“I know you think I’m a cruel, soulless monster whose only goal in life is to torture you to death,” Monster says softly.
“But that isn’t the case. Will I be hard on you?
Sure. Will I break down every wall and defense guarding you until I own you completely?
Yes. But will my aim be your misery? Never.
” He casts the pet carrier a wary glance when it rattles, and Luci lets out an anxious yowl from inside.
He can probably smell me, and he’s desperate to get to me.
“The cat will need to get used to me at some point,” Monster tells me—warns me.
Panic sparks inside my chest. “He—he doesn’t like anyone who isn’t me, or anyone who I don’t like.
” He took well enough to the sweet old couple that lived above me in my dingy apartment building—a kind pair that would bring me fruit cobbler every Friday night.
I think Luci only liked them because he sensed I appreciated them.
Everyone else, he despised. “He imprinted on me, and he’s very in tune with my emotions. He’s also extremely protective—”
“I’m not going to get rid of him if we don’t get along, Scarlett,” Monster says with a slightly irate sigh. “I just mean he won’t have a bed in our bedroom or a bowl in our kitchen if he can’t tolerate me. I don’t want to wake up to him clawing my eyes out, or have him attack me during dinner.”
“Our?” I repeat quietly.
Monster blinks. “Yes, our. This is our home, Scarlett, and eventually I’ll expect you to turn it into one.” He grimaces. “I did my best with decorating, but I don’t really have an eye for design.”
I’m so overwhelmed with confusion at his declarations, I can’t manage a response better than a dumb, “Oh.”
Monster’s lips tip up at the corners. “Still buzzing from your orgasm, I see. I like how soft you are like this.” He stares at me for a few beats, seeming to contemplate something. “Would you let me hold you tonight?”
“Only if you want me to claw your fucking eyes out.”
“There’s my Flower,” he chuckles mirthfully. “Alright. Enjoy the time with your cat. And, Scarlett? Don’t even think about escape. There is no more escape; there’s only acceptance and forward progress.”
He leaves on that note. I’m out of the bed in an instant, scrambling to the other side of the room, my foggy mind all but cleared.
I open up the pet carrier, and barely even see a flash of black fur before Luci leaps onto me.
I release a quiet, nearly hysterical laugh of relief as he sinks his nails into my shoulder with a loud yowl, informing me of his displeasure in the wake of our separation.
“I know,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around him.
“I know, Luci. I’m so sorry.” I kiss his head, tap his nose, scratch him under his chin, and he starts to relax for me.
He buries his head in my neck and rubs his face along it, reveling in my attention as I revel in his.
This cat is probably my favorite being in the world, aside from Eric.
God, Eric. I’ve scarcely thought about him during my time here. I miss my older brother so, so much, with a fierce, sudden ache that robs me of breath. What brings tears to my eyes is the very real understanding that I might never see him again.
Monster lost me once, and I can already see that his determination not to lose me again really knows no bounds. He’s hyper focused on keeping me, on making me accept my place through sexual torture and captivity. He’s trying to force a bond between us, and in doing so, he made a fatal error.
He gave me back the symbol of my progress, a shining beacon of hope in the desolation of my circumstances. Luci isn’t just a cat; he’s a reminder of how hard I’ve worked, how hard I will work to move forward and get the fuck away from this hellhole.
It doesn’t matter what Monster does to me. As I carry Luci to the bed and settle him on the blankets beside me, I renew the promise I made to myself the last time I was in these circumstances.
I’ll find a way to escape. Whether it takes a week, a year, or a decade. And, when the time comes, I won’t hesitate. I’ll put a bullet in Monster’s skull and rid the world of him, once and for all.
Monster returns with lunch as I’m dozing and petting Luci. Lucifer hisses at Monster’s intrusion, fur standing on end as he turns to face Monster.
“Down, boy,” Monster says, tone steeped in boredom. “She was mine long before she was yours. You’ll do well to remember that.”
As if Luci can understand him, he lets out a yowl of protest that seems to say, “over my dead body.”
“I’ll tell you what I told your mother; don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Monster sets a metal dog bowl filled with food down by Luci’s crate. I arch my neck to get a closer look, grimacing when I see raw meat in it.
“What are you feeding him?” I ask, worried.
“He’s a picky—” Luci’s guard seems to lower as he lifts his head and sniffs the air.
Abruptly, he abandons me, galloping to the other side of the room.
Luci’s so distracted by Monster’s offering, he doesn’t even pause to hiss at him before digging into the food, letting out territorial little growls.
“He’ll be on a raw diet from now on,” Monster says, watching the cat with raised eyebrows. “According to Max, who started vet school before bowing out, a raw diet is the best possible thing for cats and dogs. He told the chefs what to put together.”
My cat, who previously subsisted on wet and dry canned food, is now being fed gourmet meals by Michelin-starred chefs. This shit is surreal.
“Come to the table. Take a seat. Thank me for your food.”
My eyes flutter at the memory that Monster’s words summon. I was knocking on death’s door, a few days into my time in the cell, when he first uttered those words to me. They were absolutely devastating back then, just as they are now. A deep pit forms in my stomach, nearly suffocating me.
“Scarlett,” Monster says when I stiffen. “Come to the table. Not for me to hurt you—never again. But for me to take care of the most precious thing in my life.”
There’s that word again. Precious. I’ve never been precious to anyone—I’ve never held value beyond my body and its natural assets.
But the Monster who broke me keeps saying I’m the most precious thing in his life.
I’m wearing a collar made of precious stones around my neck, one he must’ve dropped a fortune on.
He touches me like he owns me, like I’m just a pussy and set of tits.
As soon as I have the thought, it’s overridden with evidence to the contrary.
He doesn’t just touch and treat me like a pussy and set of tits.
A body alone wouldn’t merit the jewels decorating my neck—only a person of high value would.
My head starts to pound from the onslaught of confusion and strange, unpleasant emotions.
“Come on, Flower,” Monster sighs. “If I have to tell you again, you won’t get to go outside today, which would truly be a shame. I have some things I think you’d like to see.”
Outside. Yes, I need to see the outside grounds if I’m going to successfully escape. I have to map out the compound—fortress—whatever the fuck it’s being called these days. I have to map it, find weak points, and devise a plan.
I force myself to stand from the bed. Every step towards the table feels like a step to my own demise—a walk to the gallows. A single experience of forced pleasure isn’t enough to wipe away the trauma that Monster’s phrasing dredged up.