dolly ❥ lrh

0 3 | d r o u g h t

03 | DROUGHT

in the moments following his exit, seph remained paralysed on the mattress, with dry, drooping, bloodshot eyes. her frail limbs laid limp, and her back perspired against the chafing bedsheets uncomfortably.

it was hard to know how long she'd been lying here, but being burdened with that man's presence was something she wanted to stall for as long as she could.

her chest rose and fell with slow, chesty heaves, and she had disciplined herself not to gulp down too many breaths, because doing so felt like swallowing sandpaper now as a result of her relentless wailing from earlier.

her gaze was trained to the cracked ceiling above her. in his absence, she had resorted to counting every crater and crevice in it, to alleviate the undeniable fear she felt for his return. she had counted 47, by the time the door opened again.

he stepped into the room with measured strides. she shut her eyes to avoid another panic attack, yet this only worsened her anxiety. each step he took brought him closer to the bed and, as desperately as she tried not to, all she could will herself to do was wonder what this man was really capable of. the very notion of being harmed seemed almost inevitable, and it frightened her to death, and beyond.

"i'm sorry i took so long, sweetheart," were the first words to fill the mind numbing silence,"but i have your drink here."

seph's lids remained firmly shut, but her now trembling limbs gave her away. she could hear him approach her bedside, and wished to break free from the restraints on her wrists with all she had. she wished a lot of things, things she had once taken for granted, but every day privileges seemed more like luxuries to her now.

the sound of a glass mug being set down on the bedside locker to her right sent a tremor all the way down her spine, but she didn't truly feel his presence until the mattress sunk beside her, and the heat that radiated from his body came into contact with her own. she gulped down a dry lump, and fought to keep the tears that welled behind her closed lids at bay. she couldn't cry again, not when she was already so drained of energy, and anything that could keep her hydrated.

she would by no means accept whatever drink this man was going to give her. she would not accept his hospitality, like this. it was the most cruel and despicable insult, after everything he had done to her thus far.

she trembled in the frigid air of this room, but would not succumb to the warmth of his body. the very notion of sharing something so intimate brought about the sensation of bile at the very back of her throat. she instead made a blatant effort to resist contact, to pull away from him as much as she could, given her bound wrists.

"i've brought you some water," he clarified the drink, with the deep thrumming of his voice,"won't you have some?"

seph did not answer. she lay in the dense quiet following his inquiry, with only the sounds of his deep, unwavering breaths to fill it. she had never felt tension quite as thick as this. she then heard him sigh and, naturally, anticipated the worst.

"you're thirsty, love, i can tell." he stated, and this filled her with nothing but resentment, and a rampant desire to belt him across the face. the coarse grazing of his thumb against her chapped bottom lip shocked her, sending her mind into instinctive panic, and she jolted away from him, reduced once more to a whimpering, writhing bag of bones, struggling against the ropes that burned her wrists.