I crashed into the door as it closed, trying to chase after him. My fists beat on the solid wood in anger.

“I’m certain you will feel much different in the morning,” I sassed to myself as I slid down the length of the door into a heap of nothingness. What I wouldn’t give to have slammed that wooden leg into his creepy, dead heart.

I wondered what would happen if I staked him. Would he burst into flames? Maybe disintegrate into a pile of ash at my feet? Or perhaps explode into a mess of goop and gore? All of which I had witnessed on various different sci-fi shows and movies. My personal hope would be the latter. To be able to still grasp what remained of him in my victorious hands, screaming to the gods in gory triumph.

What I wouldn’t give to just get out of this place. To see Kiera again. To go home.

My stomach groaned in the deafening silence. I tossed and turned in hopes of finding a position that would settle my stomach long enough for me to fall asleep, but it was no use. Exhaustion plagued me, but hunger was outweighing my need for sleep and keeping me wide awake in the darkness. Why did he have to be so cruel?

I understood that I was prisoner and he wanted nothing more than a pet, but still, pets needed food. Starvation was a flawed method of training.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I had first been brought here, and though it felt like weeks, logically I knew it could have only been days. Julian had come back a few times since he first demanded I kneel. There was always something new, steaming, and sizzling on a large plate, sometimes threatening to spill over the edges of the fancy dishware he held. The succulent aromas of each dish constantly threatened to break me and make me surrender to his wishes.

The last few meals, I wouldn’t even leave my bed. I knew his game. He would come in, demand my obedience, and when I wouldn’t respond, he would devour the food in an dramatically drawn-out period of time while sitting at the desk, making sure I knew that he was eating what was intended for me while I lay there, starving.

I practically lived in that bed, only leaving it long enough to relieve myself, which was becoming scarce due to the lack of nutrients in my body. And though my mind demanded I resist, my body had demands of its own. I didn’t know how much longer I would last like this. I had my fair share of water; the sink in my bathroom made sure of that. But even then, the normal human body could only last, at most, three weeks before it would shut down.

My mind often wandered off to some of the psychology experiments I used to conduct on the lab. At the time, I was far more concerned with a passing grade than I was how with how the animals might feel being trapped and manipulated. As karma would have it, here I was—the rat being tempted, trained into responding to rewards as long as I willing to demean myself.

Could I really be trained to do as he wished when I knew exactly what he was doing? And how he intended to do it?

Control a creature’s food, even a human, and you control them. This was all part of my training to become a forensic analyst. I had to know how these things worked. I had passed at the top of my class. I thought I knew what to expect, how to react, and how to stay alive long enough for rescue to arrive.

Clearly, I was wrong.

As I sipped from the faucet in the sink, I began questioning how I’d even passed those courses. I was not equipped enough to endure such punishment. And I feared that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

The absence of entertainment clawed at my mental state. I needed something to distract me from my impending death. I poked around every corner of my room, praying to find a book or an instruction manual, anything that I could read to pass the time. Maybe shred it and make a puzzle of the bits of paper.

But there was nothing.

Just as I was attempting to lift the mattress in one last attempt of finding something, I heard the locking mechanisms of the door being clicked over. My heart clenched in my chest as if I had just been caught red-handed doing something I wasn’t supposed to.

I stood by the headboard, straight as a plank, watching the door handle turn slowly. My eyes were glued to the wooden door, waiting to see his face appear.

And without disappointment, there he was. A gleam in his eyes. Though the poor lighting was less than accommodating. I couldn’t be sure, but I could have sworn they looked blue, even from this distance. Like perfect sapphires glistening in firelight.

The only color I had ever seen them were as crimson as blood, beautiful in their devilish, hunger-driven craze.

But now they appeared soft. Even more gentle then the days before. Compassionate, if I dared say so. They left me confused. How could the same beast that had kidnapped me, drugged me, stole from me, and starved me have the capacity to actually harbor a feeling such as compassion?

I was almost too distracted to notice the food, but my starvation won my mind.

On the silver bed tray sat a steaming omelet nestled closely to a pile of fresh bacon and a large stack of thick buttered pancakes. A tall glass of orange juice and a piping-hot cup of coffee sat beside the plate with a small white gravy boat I prayed held sweet maple syrup. My stomach flipped and groaned in anticipation, hoping to get even a crumb of the decadent breakfast.

Julian offered me a gentle smile, sincere and warm, before setting the tray on the table and taking his usual seat. But instead of focusing on his demands and hording the delicious food, he turned to me. Placing his elbows on his legs, he gazed at the wooden planks, deep in thought. I had never seen Julian act this way. He seemed almost distraught.

Could he be feeling remorse about keeping me here? About his ridiculous conditions on how I would be able to eat? I doubted it. Very much so. A creature like him probably didn’t have high levels of empathy, especially for his food source. This was a façade. An act he was putting on to get me to kneel beside him. To get me to take pity on him and miraculously want to please him in any way to make him happy.

I was irate. I knew the game he was pulling. But I could feel that part of me was caving. I couldn’t pinpoint what was alluring me; maybe it was in my nature to want to comfort another agonized soul. But did he even have a soul?

Julian’s eyes caught mine. The tortured look in his expression tugged at my rapidly beating heart.

He gestured towards the bed. “Abby, take a seat, dear.” His voice was deep, but the tone was so soft it knocked the air out of my lungs.

What was happening?!

I watched him with scrutiny for a moment longer before following his request and sitting on the edge of the bed. I made note not to sit too close, but not too far away. I couldn’t get myself to be so near to him—the thought repulsed me. But the allure of him warred with my better judgment.

He watched me for a moment. Was he trying to read my mind again?

“I’m sorry for how I have been treating you these last few days. My intention was never to starve you to this point, but clearly, your endurance was much stronger than I had ever anticipated.”

Was that a compliment?

He wrung his fingers in his hands, audible cracks and pops of his joints filling the stale silence.

“I don’t know what it is, and I was hoping it didn’t come to this.” I knew it. He was going to kill me. Taunt me with the food and finish me off in cold blooded murder. “But somehow I feel a strange connection with you. Something I haven’t felt in a very long time. And I would very much not like to lose this, which would mean you need to eat.”

Was he actually going to give me food, no strings attached? And what kind of connection was he talking about? Was he falling in love with me?!

We sat in silence, my hand mindlessly grasping a lock of my hair and twirling the brown strand in my fingers as I tried to analyze his words.

“No,” he said firmly, forcing me to look at him. “This is not love. The most you are is a pet. And in order for you to eat, unfortunately for you, I still require you to kneel.”

His words were like a knife in the stomach. I didn’t want to kneel to him. How could I let myself become some plaything for some food? Sweet, decadent food.

“If you care whether I live or die, I don’t understand why you need to subjugate me. Why not just drop off the tray and leave?”

He sighed. “I have no authority in this realm. You know what I am. You saw me kill. Either you become mine, which means unquestioned obedience and unwavering loyalty, or I must follow the rules set for humans who discover our existence.”

My mind raced with questions. Who set these rules? Another realm? Did he mean another planet, or some sort of parallel universe?

But before I could slam him with questions, he held up a hand to stop me. “Abby,” he whispered, gesturing for me to take a place at his side. “Would you please kneel to me, obey me, and be mine? In exchange I will feed you, care for you, and keep you safe for as long as you do so.”

At least he was asking politely now. But how could I do what he asked? And if I did agree to obey, what would he do to me then?

My stomach groaned loudly, the ache that growing more evident than ever before, and a feeling of nausea washed over me. I was so weak and frail. I could feel my life slowly fading from me.

I had no choice. If someone was coming to save me, I needed to be alive to be saved.

Lord, forgive me.

Slowly, I pushed myself up from the bed and made my way towards him.

My whole body trembled as I descended to kneel at his feet.

I hated myself. I would never forgive myself for giving in. But living was more important than my dignity, at this point.

Julian tenderly cupped my face, tilting up to force me to look at him. His thumbs gently wiping away the tears that began to stream down my cheeks.

“Good girl,” he whispered and placed a cool kiss to my forehead.

He sat up straight, a gleeful smile across his lips, and grasped the plate of food.

“Closer,” he said. I hesitated for a moment, but followed his request. I inched closer and closer until he was pleased, leaving my body snugly pressed against the side of his leg. Horror struck me as I realized I hadn’t showered in days. I could only imagine the putrid odor emanating from my grimy body. But he held me in place.

He stroked my hair tenderly before turning back to the food. He poured a healthy serving of syrup over the mound of pancakes, the glistening, translucent liquid cascading over the golden disks.

What I wouldn’t give for a heaping forkful of the omelet. And to my surprise, that was just what he gave me. Watching the steam billow from the eggs as it inched towards my mouth made me salivate more than I had ever known possible.

As I closed my lips around the food, my stomach rejoiced. Spices, peppers, onions, even bits of sausage danced around my palate and I moaned in pleasure. I had never tasted anything as glorious as that omelet in my life, and as much as I wanted to savor every bite, my ravenous hunger began to take over and pleaded for more.

I could smell the butter from the hotcakes and my taste buds instantly yearned for a hefty mouthful. And again, he delivered just what I was hoping for.

The gentle sweetness of pure maple syrup coated my tongue with hints of fresh melted butter as I chewed the fluffy pancakes. I didn’t know what heaven was like, but I concluded that this had to be pretty damn close.

Even the crisp, salty grease of the bacon was like a symphony of flavors I had never experienced before.

Bite after bite, he fed me everything I was wanting. Bacon, pancakes, omelet, even the juice, he took tender care of letting me sip from the large glass. And every last bite made me salivate and moan with satisfaction.

I had finished before I knew it and wished Julian had brought in more. After not eating in what felt like forever, I could have easily eaten a buffalo in one sitting.

He chuckled to himself and patted my head. “If you eat too much now, you’ll get sick. And besides, you won’t have room for lunch.”

Lunch. “What’s for lunch?” Despite the fact I had just given in and kneeled to this sociopath, I could already feel energy flooding back into my body. I had no interest in backtracking on the progress. If I did, I could only imagine what horrid things would await me. I figured the best way to go about my given situation was to go along with his orders now and make sure to keep him pleased long enough for help to find and rescue me.

His sweet smile melted a part of my hard exterior. I couldn’t help it. He was too charming for me to resist all the time. “You’ll see.”

As satisfaction washed over me, my previous fear pricked at my mind. My hygiene. My cheeks burned red in embarrassment at the thought of him sitting so close to me and the stench I was sure clouded around us. How he could even withstand being so close was beyond me.

“Go shower, and I’ll be back for lunch.”

I nodded and dashed towards the bathroom, quickly shedding the sheet-dress and hopping into the hot stream of water.

As I scrubbed my body, something dawned on me. Here I was, content and sated and doing exactly what he wanted. He had manipulated me perfectly. He was an exceptional trainer.