It was the house.

The same house that stole a year of my life.

The same house HE kept me in.

The same house he took me to.

His voice enters the depths of my mind singing THAT song.

"I will take care and serve with flair
and give you teddy bears!
You're not alone don't be scared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the love is still prevailing
We'll tell jokes, but don't do tricks
or I'll have to light you with a candlestick

But don't worry cause the good ones don't get hit
I'll untie you for dances
if you have won your pass to
be my guest"

I remembered all the times I tried to be good, tried to be the girl he wanted and failed. That single part played through my mind over and over again. What if I was good enough for him? What if I followed his directions? Would I love him?

The second these thoughts flow through my head, images of my broken and bloodied body lying in the cold and dark flash through my mind and fuel the burning rage that has been restless inside of me.

Darkness and fear slowly creep into the empty void in my chest. My breath quickens and sweat accumulates on my forehead. My breath comes out in short, puffy breaths almost louder than the sound of my beating heart. All sound around me becomes muffled, leaving just me and the house. It challenged me, but I stood tall a fought back.

I can't let it own me. The fear is just a reaction, an emotion, it can't own me my whole life. It has to end. Today.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and it brings me back to reality. The house is still taunting me, but the weight on my shoulder is overpowering the temptation to answer its beckoning calls.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trigger you or anything..... this is... my house." Adam said with pity in his eyes.

"Y-your house?"

"Yes, I live here but...."

"You fucking live here? I got kidnapped, beaten, engaged and raped in that house and you live here? Where were you when all that was happening? Why didn't you help me? Were you a part of it?"

He put his hands up in defense and slowly backed away, "No I wasn't here, I swear, I just...."
He wasn't able to finish his sentence before the fiery red of rage fills the vacant space in my chest. The first crack of bone I hear when my fist connects with his face fuels the anger. I hit him repeatedly, trying to burn it out.

The sounds of skin splitting and bones breaking fill the quiet night air. It overpowers the heartbreaking screams escaping my mouth for every ounce of pain I experienced while in that house. I only stops when my fist is covered in the thick, warm substance leaking from the both of us.

I look down at him to see the disaster I created but there are barely any bruises. Even the ones that were there slowly began to fade. He stays there, staring at me in disbelief. The red was gone but so was the black and all that was left to fill the void was the anguish from all of my pain and sadness.

Warmth envelops my shaking stops and soothing whispers meet my ears. I'm not sure what they are saying but I can slowly feel myself calm down. Tranquility overwhelms me and a new darkness follows.

*~*

My eyes slowly open and everything around me is foggy. I can see blurbs of people surrounding me, leaning over my body. When my vision clears I realize none of them look familiar, neither did the room I was in. I felt around me for something familiar but there was nothing, not even my clothes.

"Where the hell am I?" I say, much softer than I intended..

A light-skinned version of Adam gasped, "The beauty speaks! Well hello there, I wanted my voice to be the first one you heard when you woke up. I'm Marquis, I'm so happy that you are okay."

"Shut up Marquis, she might pass out again at the smell of your breath. Please excuse this conceded ass person right here. He was dropped as a child," an intimidating girl said while rolling her eyes.

"You guys, I think you're scaring her. I'm sorry Bella, I'm Aiko, you fell asleep after trying to kill Adam and he brought you inside and you slept for a whole day." A much softer looking Asian boy said while fidgeting with his collar.

"A day?"

"Yeah, you did a number on him and yourself. Your therapist said that you must have panic attack disorder now, and that's probably what happened." said Aiko. "That technically doesn't make any sense but oh well."

"But I don't have...."

"Aw the poor baby," Marquis said. "I can make you all better."

He laid in bed next to me and wrapped his arms around me kissing the top of my head softly. The moment his lips touched my skin I wanted to punch him in the nuts, but once he engulfed me in warmth all violent thoughts dissipated. Although I enjoyed his embrace, something about it felt off.

"If you don't let her go in the next 2.3 seconds I will personally come and remove you," Adam said, standing at the door, shirtless I should mention, with a dark look in his eyes.

Marquis got up much quicker than I thought possible and a different mood settled over the room. Everyone slowly backed away from me as if I was Frankenstein's monster coming to life.

Adam walked closer to the side of the bed I was in slowly and carefully. Everyone in the room was making me feel like an injured  deer, and I can't say I was enjoying it. I really wanted to jump up and scream just so I could see the look on their faces. I chuckled softly to myself at the thought which made them look even more frightened.

"How do you feel?" he asks me.

"How do you think I feel? I don't know where I am and I'm not even wearing my own clothes. Did you..?" I said the ghost of a smile still apparent on my face.

"Sadly no, that was Angel. I would've but Mama J would have skinned me alive,"

"Maybe you deserve to be skinned..." I mumble.

He smiles.

"They are just some spare clothes that were left around the house. It was kinda hard finding something to fit you. How do you shop and stay sane?"

As of late, when someone comments about my curvy body I get self conscious, but now the only thing I felt was a light playfulness. There was something about the way he teases that makes it feel different, or is it me finally getting better?

"I don't that's how."

"It's okay, love, I know of something that'll fit you perfectly." Marquis came back and sat next to me wrapping his arms around me, which I fit into perfectly.

"Marquis, if you don't stop touching her I swear to the heavens I will beat the living shit out of you."

"I don't think my shit is alive so there's nothing for you to beat." He smirked and kissed my cheek softly while maintaining eye contact with Adam.

I lay there still very confused but thoroughly enjoying the playful banter. He didn't try anything else, just held me close. Just as I thought I was getting too comfortable to care I remembered something very important.

I jumped out of his arms and onto the floor, "I need to call my dad. He's going to go crazy! Oh my gosh, we fought last night and then I just disappeared. What if he thinks I got kidnapped again? He could think I'm dead! He would never forgive me for walking out on my own without telling him. Why did you have me go with you that night?"

Everyone sat there staring at me for a good five minutes while I sat there scared out of my mind.

"Are you.... done? I don't want to be rude, but you were kind of going off on a tangent there and I couldn't explain," said Aiko slowly reaching towards me.

I look around at all their cautious faces and sigh, "Yes, can you guys stop treating me like a scared, dying animal?"

Everyone in the room shrugged but I could feel a layer of tension being lifted.

"It's dinner time anyway. Adam, can you please finish cooking? A woman's gotta eat!" Angel says.

"Ooh sorry love, I have to leave you if there's food involved," Marquis laughs before running out of the room screaming 'food'.

The rest of them leave the room in a hurry mumbling about getting food, aside from Aiko who stayed with me. He didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I'm calm now."

He laughs.

"I wasn't waiting for that, but good, I'm glad. When Adam brought you in you were knocked out cold and covered in blood. You hurt yourself really bad while attempting to hurt him. He called your dad who called your therapist--who's horrible by the way--and they both said you can stay here for as long as you need."

"What the hell? My dad agreed to that? He doesn't even know any of you."

"Well, that part was easy. I go to your old school and Adam said that his brother, Marquis, is in your 'Not a Victim's' program. The therapist thought it was a good idea for you to be around some normal people who know what you have gone through."

"Let me guess, my dad said yes after the doc said yes?"

He nodded.

"And the panic attack disorder?"

"Oh! That came when Adam had to tell them why you were passed out. He basically described what you did and what you looked like just, you know, without the fact that you tried to kill him."

"Huh." I sat there letting all of this soak in.

I was basically stuck here for another month. The more I think about it the better it sounds. I know my dad has a trip that he's wanted to go to for the longest time, and now with me out of the way he came finally go.  It's also good for me because I can miss my therapy sessions. That way that stupid doctor won't be able to stuff my body with every kind of depression pill there is. This is hypothetically the best possible scenario.

"You want to see my favorite part of the house while everyone else is eating?"

I nodded, smiling sweetly and trying not to look like I was conflicted with the situation. Thankfully, he was sweet and seemed to understand my discomfort with this whole situation and took my hand as we walked. We stopped at the end of a large corridor with a set of double doors in front of us.

As soon as he opened the doors, a familiar sense rushed over me. The room was covered in pictures and paintings and every form of art imaginable. When the lights were turned on, soft music played in the background, setting the perfect ambiance for the room.

The room was lit with a colorful gem with a flame inside of it. The color reflects on everything around it, casting an eerie shadow over all the art. I stand in the middle of the room taking in everything at once, when one picture in particular catches my eye.

It  was a painting of a large silver wolf surrounded by a beautiful clearing. His fangs were bared and blood was dripping from them but instead of looking vicious he looked playful, happy. There must have been some type of slide show playing behind the picture because it seemed to move as if it were alive.

The wolf pranced around the clearing flaunting his prey around for everyone to see. Suddenly a large deer appeared in the picture and he crouched down low to get it. just as he was about to pounce, a spear went straight through the deer's heart, killing it before the wolf got the chance. Light laughter filled my years but I had no idea where it was coming from.

Suddenly, Aiko appeared directly in front of the painting taking me out of my gaze.

"The breakfast is ready. We should go eat before it all gets taken."

"Uh, yeah sure...."

I followed him out back into the dining hall but the peculiar picture wouldn't leave my mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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-chey