| Hungering For Blood

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 

Earlier, when Vanessa had brought me my dinner — a simple chicken stew with cooked rice and fruit. salad as she called it — I picked up on her unease. Her eyes, which usually beamed with happiness, were clouded with concern. Was it for her love or her brother? It wasn't my place to ask, so I simply thanked her for the food, and she left. Usually, she would try to stir up conversation with me, try to persuade me to join them in the dining room or outside in the garden. But I wasn't ready.

For someone who had been confined to small cells and cages, with nothing but a steel bucket to piss in, being offered unlimited open spaces was too overwhelming all at once. It was already difficult for me to adjust to having such a large bedroom all to myself. And earlier, when I was summoned to Anthony's office, led by Vanessa, I had to fight the urge to collapse to the ground and cower in a corner. Too much space was almost as bad as too little.