Something cold brushed against my cheek and my eyes slowly opened. There was an intense pain that spread across my temple. I was glad that the room was dark because my eyes watered and ached.

Jimmy was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had on his jacket. He must have already been outside working. Jimmy drugged me with enough of the medication so that I did not wake up to his alarm.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but it was so dry that I could not talk. I shifted my weight on the bed and I realized that my arms were stuck. I looked up to see that my arms were tied to the bed frame with rope. I gave my wrists a tug with all of the energy I could gather, but my hands went nowhere. My back was propped up with pillows.

Jimmy reached out and his cold fingers covered my hands.

"You'll only hurt yourself more," he said. "Are you thirsty?"

I nodded. I winced as the pain increased in my head.

Jimmy picked a glass of water up from the nightstand and brought it over to my lips. I struggled to drink from it. Some of the water ran onto my cheek and chin. I ignored it and greedily drank from it to relieve my parched mouth.

Once I was finished, he set the glass on the table. He gave me a soft smile and ran his fingers through my tangled mess of hair.

"You really scared me last night," he said.

I was fighting with my eyes to keep them open. It was like I was close to slipping into unconsciousness.

"I love you, Julie," he said. "Don't tell me that you are going to take yourself away from me like that again. So many girls have done that in this family before, and it leaves the men alone. I never want to lose you, so I have to make sure that you are not going to do anything silly while I'm outside."

I wanted to shake my head no. I want to scream and cry. I wanted to fight against the restraints. There was no strength in my body to do any of that. I could not even keep my eyes open as I began to fall asleep.

"Be a good girl and rest up," he said.

His lips pressed against my forehead was the last thing that I remembered before I fell back asleep.

When I woke up again, the pain in my shoulders became unbearable. The rest of my muscles ached, but it was nothing compared to my shoulders.

I looked up to see that my hands were still tied to the bed. I pulled on my wrists. The rope burned into my flesh and I yelped out in pain.

There was no point in fighting against the restraints. It would be a miracle if I managed to break free. Even if I did, I doubt that I would have the strength to get out of bed and walk. The doors were all locked anyways, so I would not be able to go far. Jimmy would find me crumpled on the floor somewhere and would be punished for trying to escape.

I stopped struggling and settled myself on the bed. I had to wiggle my weight around until I could find a comfy spot for my shoulders.

I looked over at Jimmy's clock. It was just past noon, and I groaned. They usually came in when it turned dark outside. I would be tied to this bed for another five or six hours.

The day was painstakingly long. I slept for a few more hours to try and pass the time. Every time I woke up I felt a little better. The pain in my head dulled to a manageable headache, and the only major pain was in my shoulders.

While I was awake, I could not stop thinking about Jimmy. My mind kept wanting to go back to the meat that I was eating, but I knew I had to avoid thinking about that. Any time I did, I could feel myself getting nauseous. I did not want to start vomiting and had to lie in it until Jimmy came inside.

It was much better to think about something that made me feel happy and safe. That was always Jimmy. Outside I was always on my own, but now I had a family that loved me. Jimmy protected me and made me feel safe. I was never going to feel lonely again as long as I had him. He was the only one who loved me.

I couldn't forget about the meat though. It was sick and disgusting. Only bad low-budget horror movie villains murdered and then ate their corpses. Maybe I heard them wrong? No. I remember last night vividly.

My train of thought was cut off when I heard somebody hurrying up the stairs. The door opened and Jimmy walked in. He had a plate in his hand. My stomach twisted when I saw that there was a pile of meat on it.

Jimmy put the plate down on the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. He tucked the loose pieces of hair, which had been itching my face all day, behind my ear.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"My arms are sore," I said. My voice was much hoarser than I expected.

Jimmy let out a deep breath. He reached forward and fiddled with the ropes as he undid the knot. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from gasping out in pain as the ropes rubbed against my flesh. I stretched out my arms, and my muscles screamed out in pain. I sat on the bed. Jimmy watched me as I stretched out my arms.

"Go to the bathroom," he said.

"Can I take a shower?" I asked.

"Not yet," he said. "Go to the bathroom and come back."

I slid off the bed. My knees wobbled as I walked to the bathroom. I looked over my shoulder to see Jimmy was staring at me. I hurried as I went to the bathroom. When I came back out, Jimmy patted his hand on the bed and I sat down next to him. He had the plate of meat in his hands.

"I need you to build up your strength," he said. "I want you to eat."

"I'm not hungry," I lied.

Jimmy shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Listen, this is not an option," he said. "Either you eat or I am going to tie you back to the bed."

"Please, Jimmy," I begged.

"What is it going to be?"

I glanced over at the plate. I jumped when Jimmy put his hand on my back. I clasped my hands together and held them in front of my face. Jimmy rubbed my back.

"It's going to be okay," he said. "You've been eating it for months. Don't let anything change now."

"I didn't know what it was before," I said.

"We wouldn't do anything to hurt you," he said. "If you eat half of what is on that plate, I'll let you shower and I'll take the ropes off of the bed."

I let out a shaky breath as I reached over for the plate. I picked up a piece of meat. My hands shook as I brought it up to my mouth. I gagged and turned my head to the side.

"I can't do it," I said.

"Yes, you can," he said. "Just don't think about it."

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

I had to do this. He was right. I was doing this for months. It wasn't like it tasted bad. I was sick thinking about it because I knew what it was. I did not want to be tied to that bed for days. This was going to happen, so I might as well do it now.

"Look," Jimmy said, picking up a piece of meat. "It's not hard."

He shoved the meat into his mouth. I closed my eyes and took a bite of the meat. I tried to think of a cow. If I believed this was beef then it would be a lot easier to swallow. I tried to think of the burgers Lina and I used to get after work that were drenched in grease.

I struggled with chewing and I had to fight with my tongue to swallow it. I shivered after I finally managed to.

"Can I take a shower now?" I asked.

"Eat two more pieces first," he said. "I want to make sure you're healthy and eating enough."

I took a few deep breaths as I reached out for the plate. I grabbed two more pieces. I managed to force them down without being sick.

"Good girl," Jimmy said as I swallowed the last piece. "Go take your shower now, but keep the door open. I want to make sure you don't do anything dumb."

I nodded and went into the bathroom. I could not close the door, but it did not matter. Jimmy had broken the lock. My last bit of protection, other than Jimmy, was now gone.

I turned on the shower and peeled off my clothes. I stepped under the hot stream of water and scrubbed my body clean.

I could not believe that I had eaten another human being. I could not believe how easy it was.

There was one thing that disgusted me even more.

I actually thought it tasted good.