I was overcome with so many thoughts at once that my body went numb. I imagined that my jaw must be hanging open by the concern that was all over Jimmy's face. The only thing I could feel was the bile rising in the back of my throat.

I balled up my fists and I felt the cold meat between my fingers. I had forgotten that it was in my hand. Who was it? Erica, Brittany or Scott? Or maybe it was the other couple?

I dropped the meat on the ground and I got out of the chair. I could not be anywhere near that piece of chopped up carcass lying on the floor. The fact that the plate on the table was full of it made me even more disgusted.

I am the one that cooked that. I have been eating that. It was not like I had eaten it once. That was dinner every night for the past couple of months. My stomach was twisting itself into a knot.

"Julie," Jimmy said softly as he got out of the chair.

I shook my head and the tears started to fall out of my eyes. He looked so hurt, but I did not care. The family was a bunch of monsters, but they are the ones that are supposed to love me. He stepped toward me and I backed up.

"No," I choked out.

"Julie, please," he started to plead.

"No!"

Jimmy stopped walking. He must be shocked by me yelling at him. I jumped when I backed up into the kitchen counter.

"Stay away from me," I sobbed.

"Juliet, you know that we love you," he said.

His voice was more stern and it sounded like he was about to lecture me. He hands out in front of him. He looked like he was trying to approach a wild animal and not scare it off.

"You're all sick," I continued to sob. "How could you do that?"

"Remember all of our other traditions that you have gotten used to," he said. "This is going to be the same thing. I know it's new and scary now, but you're going to get used to it in no time. You've already settled in so well and you have eaten so much of it."

I reached behind myself, but I did not take my eyes off of Jimmy. My hand ran along the counter until I felt the wooden block. My fingers curled around one of the handles and I pulled out one of the knives from the wooden block. I held it out in front of me. The blade shook as I couldn't control my hands to stay steady.

"I want to go home," I said.

Jimmy's eyes grew big as he watched me pull out the knife. I have never threatened him before. I have tried to fight against him before, but my attempts were usually futile. Now that I had a weapon I could pose a serious threat.

"You are home," he said, "and you know that. You are part of this family. You are one of us."

"I am not one of you." I was crying even harder. "I could never do that."

"But you have, Julie," he said. "Think about how much you have been eating. It hasn't bothered you before so don't let it bother you now."

Nausea was overtaking my stomach. I had always wondered what the meat was, but I rarely ever questioned it. I trusted Jimmy. I did not think that he would do this to me.

I started to gag and I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. I could not hear Jimmy following me, but I did not chance it. I ran into the bedroom and then into the bathroom. I slammed the door behind me and I locked it. I covered my mouth until I got down in front of the toilet and began vomiting.

My stomach needed to be cleansed. I had to get every last bit of meat that was in my stomach out. Jimmy was knocking on the door as I continued to be sick. When I was done, I collapsed down on the floor and curled up on my side.

"Juliet!" he yelled as he pounded his fist onto the door."Open the door!"

I was sobbing and I could not control the tears. I sat and reached across the floor for the knife. I had a tight grip on the handle and the blade was pointed out in front of me.

"Go away!" I screamed.

"Julie!" he yelled.

The banging on the door slowed and became louder and more forceful. He was throwing his weight into the door with his shoulder. My lock was precious to me, but it was old and it would not withstand Jimmy's weight for long.

"Leave me alone!" I screamed. "I don't want to be near you!"

"Julie, please!" Jimmy yelled. "Open up this door. We can talk to each other."

"No!"

Jimmy threw his weight into the door one more time. There was a loud crack as the door flew open. I let out a scream. Jimmy's face was red and he was panting.

"Stay away from me," I said.

"I just want to talk to you, Julie," he said. "I promise I am not angry. I am not going to hurt you."

He took a few steps forward. I turned the blade so that it was no longer facing him and was toward me. The end of the knife was pointed at my chest as I held onto it with both of my hands.

"Come any closer and I'll kill myself," I said.

Jimmy stopped. His face paled and his jaw was hanging open. He shook his head.

"No," he said, his voice came out as a whisper. "Julie, that's the last thing I want you to do. I love you. You're my wife. I don't want to lose you."

He lowered himself onto the floor. He was kneeling in front of me and I did not move the blade. I was crying so heavily that I could barely see through the tears.

"I could not live if you left me like that," he said.

His voice cracked as he spoke. I have never heard him like this before. He sounded so weak and vulnerable. I let go of the knife with one hand and wiped the tears off of my cheeks. I was scared when I saw his eyes brimming with tears. I have never seen Jimmy cry before. I have never even seen him sad before.

"Let me leave this house," I said.

"And go where? You mean you'd honestly rather be in that strip club than living here with me?" he asked. His voice was wobbly and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Julie, I love you. Please, I know this is hard, but please don't leave me."

I stared at Jimmy as a couple more tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Jimmy wasn't the monster that I thought he was. A monster would not be kneeling in front of me crying. No man has ever cried in front of me before. He was really different from everyone else. He actually did love me and did not want to see me hurt.

I pulled the knife away from my body and dropped it. When Jimmy heard the clang on the floor he looked up at me. He shuffled toward me. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple. He slid the knife away.

He pressed his lips hard against my cheek and I tried to push him away from me. I may have dropped the knife, but I did not forgive him. He's been feeding me human meat for months.

This meant that I was a cannibal now. They were cannibals. I didn't think that they could get much worse than kidnappers, rapists, and murderers. They managed to do the worst thing possible.

"Don't, Jimmy," I said, pushing him away. "I don't want you to touch me."

Jimmy tightened his arms around me for a moment before letting go. I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried into them. I could hear Jimmy get back onto his feet and move around the bathroom. I did not look up until he touched my shoulder.

He had a syringe in his hand. I untangled myself and scurried back. He grabbed my ankle and yanked me back. I kicked and slapped him as he rolled me onto my side. I screamed as he pulled down the side of my pants and pierced my skin. He injected me as I fought against him.

When he put the needle back into the case, I struggled to get back up onto my feet. I took a few steps before stumbling and landing on my knees. I could not find the strength to stand, so I began to crawl out of the bathroom. Crawling soon became too difficult and I collapsed onto the floor. I managed to get myself to the doorway of the bathroom.

Jimmy came over and rolled me onto my back. He scooped me up off of the floor and curled me into his arms. My eyes were so heavy that I struggled to keep them open. I tried to scream, but it came out as a pathetic noise.

Jimmy placed me down on the bed. He brushed my tangled hair off of my face and kissed my forehead.

"Don't worry, honey," he said. "You're going to sleep well and feel better in the morning."