Jared made me stay in this wedding dress for dinner. He sat next to me at the dining room table. His hand was on top of my thigh. My leg was bouncing, and he squeezed my knee.

"Calm down, Leah," he whispered into my ear.

I stopped shaking when I saw Lindsay walk into the dining room. She was the only somewhat friendly face that I had in this house. She set a platter full of slices of a roast. She sat at the end of the table across from Gabe. Jenny was scratching her fingernail along the grooves in the wood. Theo was beside her and leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

Jared filled my plate and set it down in front of me. The rest of the family shovelled food onto their plates. I stared down at the food while my stomach twisted into a knot. I spun the ring around my finger under the table. The clang of forks against plates echoed through the room.

"You need to eat," Jared said.

"I'm not hungry," I said.

"It's not an option," he said. "You need to eat everything that is on that plate. You need to stay healthy."

"I don't -"

"Leah!" Jared picked up my fork and dropped it on the plate. "Just eat. Don't ruin tonight."

I let out a shaky breath as I reached out for the fork. I glanced up to see that the family was staring at me. I took a small bite of the mashed potatoes and then picked at the vegetable one by one.

The family was quiet. Whenever I looked up, Gabe or Theo were staring at me. Lindsay had to keep piling food onto a spoon and forcing it into Jenny's hand. Jenny's shaky hand would then bring the food up to her mouth.

I cut a piece of the meat off. The meat was tough. I raised my eyebrow when I held up the meat and looked at it.

"What is this?" I asked.

Jenny broke out into laughter. Her cackle was high pitched. She held onto her arms and rocked herself back and forth on the chair. Lindsay rubbed her back, and her eyes darted over to Gabe.

"Eat the meat," Gabe said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did Jared not already talk to you about asking questions?" he asked.

"I have," Jared said. "She is just not listening to me."

"I should have taught you better," Gabe said. "It seems like this day snuck up on it. Next thing I know it will be Theo's wedding."

"I won't be getting married for a while," Theo said.

Jared put his hand on my back, and he ran his hand down the veil. The bobby pins holding it in place pulled at my scalp.

Jenny stopped laughing, but she was still rocking in her seat. Her hands were covering her mouth, and strands of her grey hair was escaping from her braid. Lindsay stopped trying to calm her down, and continued eating her dinner.

"It's okay," Jared said. "Eat it."

I sniffed the meat, and it smelled like beef. I bit into it. The taste was sweet, but it reminded me of beef. I chewed the meat, and swallowed it. Jared leaned in, and kissed my cheek.

I finished eating the food on the plate as Jared talked to Theo. When I was finished, Jared grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the chair. I was tripping on the skirt of my dress as Jared pulled me behind him up the stairs and into his bedroom. He slammed the door shut before wrapping his arms around my waist. I put my hands on his chest to keep somewhat of a distance between us.

"You're so gorgeous," he said. "I'm so happy to have you."

His fingers curled into my back and I bit down onto my lip.

"We're going have such a good life together," he said. "I am going to take care of you. I'm going to love you and always protect you. We're going to have some boys, and we're all going to be so happy. I can't wait to start our lives together."

I closed my eyes, and let out a deep breath to stop myself from being sick. The bile was creeping up the back of my throat. Tonight was supposed to be our wedding, so of course the next step in his mind was children. I had to get out of here before that happened.

"Aren't you happy?" Jared asked.

I shook my head. I squeezed my eyes shut when a warm tear rolled down my cheek. Jared pulled me into his chest and tightened his arms around me. He kissed the top of my head, and rocked me back and forth.

"I know this is all new and scary, but this is where you're supposed to be," he said. "I love you so much. Our family loves you so much."

His one arm left my waist. He picked the collection of bobby pins out of my hair. I gritted my teeth as he pulled out a few of my hairs. He removed the veil and laid it down onto the bed. His hand went to the back of my dress, and grabbed the zipper. I pushed Jared off of me. My bare feet stumbled on the bottom of the dress.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Jared asked.

"Don't touch me," I said.

"Leah, I'm your husband now," he said. "This is part of your duty to me."

"This isn't the 1800s." I reached behind me and zipped the dress back up. "I don't owe you anything."

"Don't be like this tonight. I'm trying to take care of you."

Jared step toward me, and I stepped back. He rolled his eyes as he walked toward me. I kept backing up, but my back hit the wall. He grabbed my wrists and yanked me forward. I screamed as his hold crushed my wrists. I dug my heels into the floor as he dragged me over to the bed. He tossed me down onto the bed. My glasses fell off of my face when my chest hit the mattress.

Jared put his hand between my shoulder blades to pin me down to the bed. He unzipped the dress with his other hand. I kicked my legs out, but Jared somehow managed to stay out of my range.

"Leah, stay still," he said. "I don't want to rip the dress."

"Get off me!" I screamed.

I tried to cling to the dress as Jared slid it off of my body, but I was unsuccessful. The dress piled at my feet. Jared grabbed my shoulders and spun me onto my back. He pushed me back further on the bed, and climbed onto top of me.

"Please, don't do this," I said.

"I have to do this," he said.

Jared pulled his hoodie up over his head. I tried to push myself out from underneath him, but his weight was crushing me. He removed his shirt, and something dangled around his neck. I squinted my eyes to see there was a pendant at the end of the metal chain he was wearing. I reached up, and the rough edges cut into my hand.

It was a key. It must be the key that they use to unlock that locked door in the kitchen. Jared chuckled. He leaned down and kissed my neck. He forced his hands under me to unhook my bra. I pounded into his chest with my fists.

Jared's hand slip up my chest, and his fingers wrapped around my throat. My chest burned as I tried to grasp for breath. I stopped punching him, and clawed at his fingers. His grip tightened as he pulled off my underwear. The sound of him undoing his belt rang in my ears. I kicked my legs out as my heart pounded in my chest.

He finally took his hand off of my throat. He pinned my hands against the mattress as he forced himself on me.

---

I clutched the blankets to my chest, Jared had begun to softly snore. The moonlight was pouring through the bars on the windows and casting shadows onto the floor. I had not heard anyone moving around the house for quite some time.

I sat up with the blankets held against my chest. The key was resting on his chest. It was rising and falling with every breath that he took. I reached forward, but he stirred in his sleep when I touched the key. I bit down on my lip as I waited for him to stop moving in his sleep. He rolled onto his stomach, and the key was trapped beneath him. I let out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair.

I could not just lie here.

That key must be for the kitchen door. There was that other door I saw when I was walking with Lindsay. The key could not be for both doors. I had to try that one.

I squinted as I looked down at the floor. My glasses were lying in a stream of moonlight. I lifted the edge of the blanket, and the cold air caused goosebumps to run up my skins. I picked up my glasses, and then looked around at the clothes lying across the floor. I managed to find my underwear and Jared's hoodie. I was going to look for a pair of pants, but I did not want to wake Jared up by opening the dresser drawers. The hoodie was much too large for me and it covered a lot of skin. If I had to run for freedom half naked, it would be better than not being able to run at all.

I changed into the clothes, and tiptoed across the floor. I opened up the door, and slid into the hallway.