Page 38 of My Demon Neighbor
"It was the opening night of my first gallery display, almost a year ago now," I murmured. Well, ten months and three weeks,but who was counting? "I was so excited. It was like a dream come true, you know?"
Pythor squeezed my hand, keeping me in the moment as my past tried to rip me back to that night.
"There were drinks, and those crazy small snacks, and people seemed to really like my paintings. It was the best night of my life." If only. "But then I met this guy. He flirted with me a little, then asked me out, but I said no. I wanted to focus on my art, on my career, and I was perfectly happy with hookups when I needed to let loose. I didn't want to be tied down. Anyway, he left, and I didn't think much of it."
I took a shaky breath, wishing I could just end the story here. Meeting Pythor's eyes, I knew he wouldn't mind if I did, but I had to keep going. I had to tell him everything.
"Later, I got a cab home, but the guy's tire blew before we could reach it. Now I can't help wondering if he planned it somehow, put something on the road to make it happen," I wondered, shaking my head. "We were pretty close to my place, not this one. I had an apartment before. I decided to walk the rest of the way, not yet aware of how much danger lurked in the dark."
Pythor squeezed my hand, and I focused on it, on his warm skin, on the comfort I could draw from it.
"I'd barely walked for a minute when... when someone grabbed me. He dragged me off to an abandoned house, and I realized he wasn't alone. There were five of them, all big, terrifying men, and one of them was the guy who'd flirted with me earlier in the night. He was... he was angry I'd rejected him, and he wanted to teach me a lesson."
I fell silent, not having the strength to explain what happened next in detail. I was sure Pythor could draw the right conclusions from everything I'd said. "They took turns," Imumbled, my voice barely above a whisper as Pythor's hand squeezed tighter around mine. I had a feeling if it wasn't my hand he was holding, he would've broken it. I could almost feel the rage wafting off him, and somehow it gave me the strength to keep going. "When they were done, he stabbed me in the stomach, and they left me there to bleed out. I somehow managed to drag myself out onto the road. Almost got run over before the driver realized I was hurt and called an ambulance. I woke up in the hospital."
I slumped back, as if I was a puppet and someone had just cut all my strings. Hella reached up, licking my chin as she tried to comfort me. I gave her some scratches with my free hand, unable to look over at Pythor. I was afraid of what I'd see on his face. Sure, he was angry, but was he also disgusted? Did he pity me? Think I was damaged?
I didn't want to know.
