Unmasked

4. AKA Dining Alfresco.

I undress and get ready for a well-earned shower. I'm still badly wounded and I'm pretty sure my ribs are broken. I get down to my layers of cyan-wrap and am in excruciating pain as I start unraveling it, but as bad as it is, I'm thankful for it. Those sweet seconds of agony served as a temporary distraction from the filth Kilgrave has engraved into my mind. But soon the hurt was over and I was forced back to abiding commands; 'freshen up, get dressed and meet him out on the balcony'.

After my shower, I come back into the bedroom and find a new outfit laid out waiting for me. It has to be said that Kilgrave does have style; he knows what he's doing when dressing me. I get dressed and 'meet him on the balcony' as instructed.

He stands, hands in pockets, overlooking the lower deck, keeping his eyes focused out into the distance. The fresh wind gushes through his nut-brown hair and runs up my nose, bringing with it the pungent smell of Kilgraves aftershave. He has a staggering sense of pride, overlooking the waters below like a mighty lion looking upon his kingdom.

"Darling" he says in his strong, brisk accent. "I've had breakfast served out here...I know how you love to eat Alfresco." The strong smell of cinnamon once again enters my noise. I let it taunt me toward the lower deck where the chiefs have set up an array of colours acting as our breakfast. To my excitement, the strong smell was coming from bowls of oatmeal, penetrated by the spice. There were baskets of fresh bread, bacon, eggs, and sausage. Kilgrave's British after all, I know he likes a cooked breakfast to start the day. It must be said that I haven't eaten like this since he last had me, when we sat outside my childhood home. The way he put my neighbor in her place after she claimed to have seen my parent's accident coming. I knew he could sense my anger at the time and to my surprise, he rose to the occasion.  I hadn't contemplated it again after that day but as I look back on it now its actually a pleasant memory - seeing the look on her face after he forced her into exposing herself. Besides the rape and mind control, he does take care of me...right? .... No! Of Course not what am I thinking?

"Don't wait for me Jess, you dig in. I can tell your hungry." I'm hungry? I hadn't been able to spare a thought to my stomach but now he mentions it I'm starving. Without hesitation, I dive into the food before me. This newfound hunger rages like a beast inside me, only tamed when I gulp down portion after portion of breakfast. Kilgrave wanders around the table and sits opposite me with a familiar smile on his face. He giggles and shakes his head with a sense of disbelief. "See, this is part of the reason I like you. You aren't like other girls Jessica. You couldn't care less what people think of you. I must say I've been through quite a few 'companions' in my time; what with my good looks and all. Each one of them has ended up a pathetic heartbroken wrench. But, if given a chance, they'd each go through it all again, as if they've forgotten how much it hurt the first time. This is where you're different. Unlike the rest of them, you'd rather live lonely. You use sarcasm to distance people, avoiding any chance at heartbreak. Your tough, and not just physically. You've got thick skin Jess and as good as that is, it means you get incredibly lonely. No man dare look past that temper of yours, no man dare try to figure you out." I wasn't paying much attention to his words but his last sentence catches my thoughts. Who is he to presume what men will and won't do? He has no right to wonder about my love life.

My eyes narrow as I gradually look up from my food. "You're wrong." I tell him. Luke. I haven't thought about him since I left my flat last night. A whirlwind of guilt swirls around in my stomach. How could I do this to him? Leaving him alone with a nurse I'd just met; abandoning him for a life with KIlgrave. The worst of it is I have no choice but to do so. But I know him. He won't just sit around waiting for me and although I hope for it, he won't move on either. Eventually he'll come looking for me and it won't end well when he does. I can tell Kilgrave hated letting Trish live, he won't want to do it again. Then add the fact that Luke and I were sexually and romantically involved...Luke's a dead man walking. Yet, the selfish part of me wants him to find me, hopes he will kill Kilgrave and take me away. But I quickly remind myself that won't be. Not now Kilgrave had got stronger. There's no hope; not for me or Luke.