Prey

Chapter 57

Doe's POV:

I couldn't tell you how long I had slept.

The clock read 10:33 am, but I couldn't recall the time when I fell asleep.

It had to have been at least 15 hours.

However long it was, it was much needed and well deserved.

That and the food that I managed to eat.

After both, I could proudly say that I did feel better... physically at least.

As well as the new clearness in my mind that was clouded by my exhaustion.

The headache that had been haunting me was gone and took the constant state of shivering I was in with it.

Even so, I still kept that same blanket around me as I emerged from the cage and moved to the couch.

For... comfort of sorts.

There was a small icebox waiting for me on the coffee table which held a smoothie inside of it.

I favored my left arm while taking it out. Both my shoulders were injured, but Layla's bite hurt less than the thumping soreness from my right one.

As I lifted it out and sat down, I spotted the note taped to the side which told me what it was.

Banana-Peanut Butter-Chocolate

A combination you couldn't really go wrong with.

Which was nice because I woke up craving something sweet.

I took it as a good sign that I was craving food again at all.

Looking over the note again, I plucked it from the side of the jar.

It was in Xanders handwriting, leading me to believe he got this just in case I happened to wake up while he was in the shower.

Which, well, I did.

In fact, I just heard the water turn off.

His first shower since Layla came by I think.

Which went for me as well... I should probably do that after he's done.

I tried not to focus on the sudden knowledge of how greasy my hair was and instead brought my knees closer to my body to help support the cup while I sipped on it.

With my newfound clarity and partially clear mind, I debated revisiting my old thoughts to try to make any more sense out of them that I couldn't before.

That mixed with the talk we had last night.

I wanted to try to reevaluate it, but I also didn't want to jump back into that rabbit hole again.

I know that I probably needed to... this situation was still one that I couldn't get away from.

The ball was tomorrow after all, and as far as I knew, he was still going with her.

That and the fact that the ball was a deadline that ended up being one of my main concerns.

Since his latest plan to Layla was that he was going to let her have me after that.

I knew... or at least I thought I knew-

I wanted to know that he was just trying to cover his lie.

That he didn't really mean it.

And after last night, after he told me what was going through his mind at that moment, he only further proved my point but still...