Prey

Chapter 51

Doe's POV:

It took me another sleepless night before I pulled myself out of the cage.

Another silent, agonizing 24 hours.

The only reason being that the dry ache in my throat was beginning to feel unbearable.

The hunger pain, I could feel with, but the pain in my throat was bringing back bad memories I couldn't handle on top of everything else.

I took a blanket with me as I emerged from it, hugging it around my shoulders.

My body started shivering a while ago and hadn't stopped.

Whether it was from lack of food, fatigue, or everything in between.

I couldn't pinpoint a source. I couldn't find it in me to care.

Keeping my eyes on the floor, I trudged over towards the table.

The food Xander placed there for breakfast still sat there, but that's not what I wanted.

My gut twisted at just the thought of trying to stomach something.

Instead, I grabbed the jar of water that say beside it.

It'd been sitting out long enough for the ice to have melted.

Which was perfect.

Lifting the glass, I held it close to my chest.

Part of me wanted to just crawl back into the cage, but the other was begging me not to turn around to get there.

I hadn't checked where Xander was when I initially got up.

I couldn't. Every time he came into my view it caused a break in my heart that I kept failing to contain.

That mixing with what was already haunting me...

That deep, grievous, sorrow that had embedded itself into every inch of my body.

It was like nothing I've experienced before, and yet only got worse and worse.

It felt like most of my energy had been spent keeping my tears at bay.

Never had I had to try to hold them off for this long, but they were fighting against me now more than ever.

And whenever I caught even a glimpse of him, they worked like a faucet.

I couldn't do that right now.

I knew it was only a matter of time before they broke through. My fight was slowly depleting.

After a moment of hesitation, I allowed myself to look up towards the couch and window.

No sign of him.

That thought only gave me the smallest flicker of relief.

My next thought was to just go and sit on the couch until I knew it was safe to return to my solace.

But the couch wouldn't give me enough room to look away if I were to hear him approach, and the place where he kept putting food was way too close for comfort.

My eyes then planted on the window, and my legs followed.

I set the glass down onto it before carefully pulling myself up.

The memory of the last time I sat up here flashed across my mind, freezing every muscle in my body for a short moment.

That stupid conversation and the smile we shared when he pulled me away from it before she-