New to the Family

Starve

Author's note: I just bombed a final...oh well. Sorry it has taken me a bit to update. I'm in the middle of exam season. 

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Jared cleaned and wrapped my arm in a new piece of gauze. I cradled my arm to my chest as he put away the supplies. I grit my teeth as the burning pain grew unbearable. It at least took my mind off of the thought of the meat. Just thinking of the previous dinners I have eaten made my stomach turn. If I started vomiting again, Jared was sure to cut me again.

"Why did you come in early?" I asked.

Jared closed the bathroom cupboard and turned to look at me. I could barely see his eyebrow raise beneath his faded baseball cap.

"Leah, you are not supposed to be asking questions," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said. My shoulders tightened and I gripped my wrist.

"I'll let it slide this time," he said. "I came in to make sure that you were okay. I know that yesterday may have been confusing. You will see that we do all of this to protect you."

I bit down on my lip. My knee bounced as I watched Jared's eyes scan over my body. He smirked before holding out his hand.

"Come here," he said.

I let out a shaky breath. I wanted to be nowhere near Jared. I didn't before, and I definitely don't want to be near him now.

"Leah, I really don't want to have to punish you again," he said.

I squeezed my eyes shut as my arm burned. I pushed myself up off of the edge of the bathtub. My knees wobbled as I walked toward Jared. My wounded arm stayed cradled against my chest. Jared grabbed my elbow and pulled me toward his body. I kept my eyes down, and he ran his fingers through my hair.

"You're so pretty," he said. "Dad is not expecting me to come back outside. We shouldn't waste our time."

He grabbed my chin and lifted my head. He kissed me. I took a step back, but he yanked me forward.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Please." My heart pounded in my chest. My throat was tightening and I was gasping for breath. "Please, I am in so much pain. Can we just play a game or something again? Your mom may need help. I could -."

"Leah," Jared cut me off. He placed his finger over my lips. "Do you love me?"

I nodded my head. He removed his finger from my lips, and he twirled it around a piece of my hair.

"This is how you can show me how much you love me," he said. "You were hiding a knife. How am I supposed to know that you did not want to kill me? Do this to show me that I can trust you."

"Later," I said. "Please, my arm hurts me so much. I promise we can do that later. Please, just let me feel a bit better first."

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Yes."

Jared smiled and kissed my forehead. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his chest.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. My arm was between my chest and Jared's, and the pressure caused the pain to run from my wrist to my elbow.

"Do you want to take a bath?" he asked.

"No."

It was an odd request. He drew me a hot bath last night while I was falling unconscious. He probably wanted to do the same thing. He probably would drug me and want to hold my naked body while I could not fight him.