He woke up slowly, pain coursing through his torso intensely. He groans, bringing his arm up to cover the light shining in his eyes. Thoughts from before he passed out flick through his brain and he shoots up from laying, eyes unable to focus on the spinning world around him.
He hears footsteps approaching quietly, feet tap tap tapping on the floor. He shifts, suddenly gaining more consciousness than before and remembering that he needs to leave. He needs to run and never look back.
He looks at the doorway, about to get up but feels a sharp pain shoot through his entire check, letting out a wheeze of pain. The footsteps move faster, the tapping turning into a thump thump thump as they approach quicker.
Fuck it, I need to move, I need to MOVE- He screams at his own mind, willing himself to just get up and escape before he loses his chance.
He barely sits up before the girl barrels into the room, tears flooding her eyes quickly. He looks at her terrified, trying to get up and get out.
"No, no, no!" She ran over, falling to her knees and shoving him back down into a lying position. Tears streamed down her face, yet there was some sort of sick smile that accompanied them. "Oh, thank god you're alive! But you need to heal, you need to heal so that you and I can play some more!"
She stroked his hair carefully, moving it from his eyes as he looked up at her, tears of horror filling his eyes.
She lays down next to him on the bloodstained floor, moving her hand to caress his cheek as her tears die down. "My love, why are you crying? Are you still in pain? I can get you some more meds, if you would like, but you've been out for a few days…" she turns his face towards her, the tears that flooded his eyes spilling down at awkward angles. "Why must you cry? I can't bear to see it, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't!" She moves quickly to hug him, careful to avoid the wound as she buries her head into his collar bone.
"Who the fuck are you?" He whispered shakily, dread holding his heart in a vice grip.
She sits up slightly, holding herself up by her arm. "Me? Oh, darling, I'm your lover! Your patron! Your everything!" She giggled as she stated the last part of the sentence, kissing his cheek happily.
A desperate sob escaped him as he squirmed, trying to escape this crazy woman's hold. He needed to leave because, look at that! He learned his lesson! He would never make stupid decisions like this again! He would never go out at night again, never explore abandoned houses again, probably never even leave his own house again! He would become a hermit and forget about the entire experience and live a normal life and-
"Sweet thing?" She cooed, holding his cheek softly as she moved on top of his pelvis to keep him from escaping. "What's wrong? Why do you want to get away so badly?" She moved down, laying her full weight on top of him. As her stomach pushed on the stab wound, he began to scream, writhing around trying to get away from her.
But he was weak. And she would take advantage of that.
Her breasts pushed against his chest, extenuating them as her face crept closer to his. He was forced to look at her, look at her breasts, but his mind was moving far too fast to process it.
"My toy, you can't leave! No, you're mine now, and my things don't get to leave-" she gripped his face harshly, moving back up before he could process anything and see what she was trying to do to him. "-now what would just be silly, wouldn't it? Oh, my love, my handsome darling!"
She rolled off of him, giving at least a little bit of relief to his body and he went limp again.
He lay there quietly, breathing slightly labored as he began to think.
Maybe it would be nice to be loved by someone? He never had anyone before her, so maybe he could get used to it. That is, until he tricked her into thinking that he wouldn't run away. And then, you know, run away. But he could play her game for a bit.
"So!" She interrupted the silence, making him jump slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. If she did notice, she clearly didn't care. "What's your name? Of course, the pet names won't stop, but-" she leaned in, caressing his face "-I'd like to know who I'm spending the rest of my life with."
It felt… wrong to give her his name. It's not like it would actually do anything to him, she's not some kind of fae from.his childhood fairytales or anything like that but… it felt personal. Important. And she wasn't important enough to know it.
"Well.. uhm- uh-" he stuttered stupidly. God, she may suck as a person, but was she hot. She smiled at him sweetly, waiting for an answer. "How do… uh… how do I know I'm gonna… get yours in return?" he wasn't really sure how that was relevant at all, but he said it anyway.
She laughed, eyes lighting up. "Me? You want my name too?" She giggled some more, leaning into him as she did so. "Oh, my lover, of course you're gonna get my name too!" She leaned in closer, her lips touching his ear making a shiver course through his body. "My name is Annabelle." She leaned away, looking into his eyes. "Can I have yours, now that you know you have mine?"
Annabelle. It was stunning. It fit her perfectly, in some horrifying way. It was her and that's everything that she needed to be. Annabelle.
Well fuck. I have to actually give her my name now.
"I'm.. I'm uh.." he met her eyes, shining gorgeously in the sunlight from the window.
Damnit, this girl almost killed him, and here he is, falling head over heels just because she told him her name! It's fucking stupid, he doesn't understand why he is the way he is. Maybe it would be better if he stayed with her, away from society and the pressure the world puts on him at all hours of the day. It's not like he had much going for him anyways, working some shitty job at a shitty grocery store and living some shitty life that would never bring him anywhere.
It hurt a little bit, knowing that the one person who seemed to care about him, even if it was in some fucked up possessive way, was a stranger. A complete and utter stranger, someone who knew nothing about him, didn't even know his name, and cared more for him more than his own deadbeat parents ever did.
It hurt. A lot. More than it should have, after all of those years, but his brain was in a muddled state and too far gone to understand most things in that moment.
Annabelle reached up and touched his cheek softly, a look of empathy and sorrow on her face. "Baby, what's wrong? Why are you crying, what are you thinking about?" She swiped her thumb over his eye, clearing away the blurriness only for it to come back seconds later.
He didn't really notice he was crying, too busy in thought to notice his world become fuzzy. He sniffled, tears sliding down his cheek and nose in an uncomfortable way. He wanted to curl up and cry, feel everything and nothing and be held and loved yet buried in the ground all the same. He lifted a hand, trying to bring it to his face so he could at least hide away some shame, but Annabelle stopped him. She held his hand tight, giving a comforting squeeze to it before pushing her forehead to his.
"You are everything I need in life, alright? I will make sure, until my dying breath, that nothing else can hurt you. I love you with everything I have, I-" Before she can finish what she's saying, he begins to sob.
That's the fucking problem! He wants to scream. That's the thing! You, a complete fucking stranger, care about me more than anyone I have ever met in my god forsaken fucking life! It hurts. It hurts and he just wants it to stop.
She lets out a pained noise, shifting and bringing his head to the crook between her shoulder and neck. "I'll make sure it stops hurting, love, I will do anything to make sure you stop hurting."
Oh.
He didn't mean to say that last part out loud.
His brain hurts, it's all messy and foggy and he's hurting mentally and physically and he wants to sleep and never wake up. Sleep until the house falls to the ground and takes him with it, until the earth comes around him and devours his soul, until he can breathe with the nature around him and be free.
But he's too far gone now to be free again. Not with Annabelle holding him tight, a pain squeezing at her heart when she hears her lover boy desperately sob and mumble about wanting to be free and happy and normal. Not when all she can do is let her own tears fall for him and hold him tighter. Not when all she wants to do is hurt him but she can't because she needs him.