New to the Family

The Start

 I held onto my aching stomach as everyone ate dinner. I offered to clean the kitchen, in hopes it would get me away from food, but Jared said no. He put a single slice of the meat on my empty plate.

"Eat that," Jared said, "and then you can have some dinner."

I shook my head.

"No, I'm not eating that," I said.

"You're only hurting yourself," he said.

A horrible cramp ran along my side. I grit my teeth as I leaned forward. There was a slight chuckle and I looked up to see that it was Gabe.

"I always knew that you were going to be a bit of a troublemaker," Gabe said. "Now, do what Jared said or starve."

"I would rather starve," I said.

"Suit yourself," he said. "You will not keep that opinion for long."

I looked back down at the piece of meat. Images of that poor girl hanging upside down while pieces of her flesh were stripped from her body filled my mind. My stomach twisted and my hand shot up and covered my mouth. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing to try and get rid of my nausea.

"Maybe it was too early to tell you, Leah," Gabe said. "But you did very well watching your first kill."

That's because I was drugged, I thought.

I jumped and my eyes flew open when Jared put his hand on my thigh. I kept my head down and pushed my plate away.

"She has been doing pretty good," Jared told Gabe. He reached across the table and put the plate back in front of me. "This is just one little thing that I still need to fix."

"Don't worry," Gabe said. "This will fix itself soon."

I hate how they always talked over me. If they were not trying to shower me with compliments they were talking like I was not in the room.

"What if she turns out to be like Dylan's girl," Jared said. "Hannah has tried to kill herself multiple times. I already have to watch her to make sure that she does not steal any knives."

"I haven't stolen any knives," I lied.

"Leah, don't interrupt," Jared said before giving my thigh a squeeze. "I just want to make sure that you're safe."

"Hannah has been very difficult," Gabe said. "Dylan has not had it easy with her over the years. They were going to come visit, but I do not think Leah is ready for that. Hannah would probably try to put bad thoughts in Leah's head."

"I promise she won't," I said.

There was one girl that managed to not get brainwashed by this family. There was one girl that gave me hope. If she has been here for years and did not get brainwashed then I could do the same. I could get out of here before they broke me. If Hannah came over then we could get out of here together.

"I don't want to ruin you spending time with your family," I said with a fake smile. "You can have them over. I promise I will behave."

"You will?" Gabe asked. "Prove it to me. Eat that meat."

"What?"

"You heard me. If you are behaving so well you will eat that meat."

I struggled to swallow past the lump forming in my throat. I looked down at the piece of meat. Jared squeezed my thigh again. His eyes were locked on me as I stared at my plate.

"Starving yourself is not good," Jared said. "I am only making you eat this because I know it will keep you healthy."

I had to do it. I had to. I needed to convince myself that this was going to save my life. I could not starve myself. I doubt that this family would not stop myself from starving myself to death. If I did have the opportunity to run, I would not have the strength if I was starving. The knife was hidden under my side of the bed. After stabbing Jared, I would need to be able to run. I would have to run fast.