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Brandon stood behind me with one hand on the back of my chair., breathing over my shoulder, and I realized I didn’t need chains because he had control over my whole life. He had my fear, my obedience.

When we were done, he took the phone from my hand.

“Will I be able to get a car?” I asked. I hoped he would say yes. I needed that freedom.

He shook his head. “No, Starla. Do you think I’m stupid? I’m not going to let you run off again. I will be in charge of your money and your phone. You want to buy something on your phone? Ask me. You need something from the store? I’ll take you. Until I know I can trust you, there will be strict rules.”

My heart dropped. My wings were still clipped. “Okay, sorry I asked,” I mumbled.

He opened his mouth to say something, probably yell at me, but there was a knock at the door. He froze and looked at the door. I don’t think he was expecting company.

“Don’t move,” he told me.

I rolled my eyes when he turned his back. Where would I go?

Brandon walked to the front door and opened it. On the other side stood one of his good friends, Landon. Alice, who was once my best friend, appeared too.

He invited them in like he was a fucking host on some game show. A smile was plastered on his face. “Hey! Come in, guys. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Sunlight streaked across the entryway, and it made me want to shrink into the floorboards. I forgot what it felt like to be seen by regular people, people who weren’t monsters. My hands shook under the kitchen table. My skin still hummed with old bruises and new fear.

Landon’s jaw dropped the second he saw me on the other side of the kitchen. Alice froze. For a heartbeat, she didn’t say a thing, just blinked at me, eyes darting from my face to my neck and back again. Her mouth hung open. I wanted to turn away, but I couldn’t move.

I looked better than I did when I first got back. The bruises Brandon gave me were fading and healing.

Alice rushed over first, arms already spread wide, barreling into me. I barely caught her before she wrapped me up in a hug so tight my ribs threatened to crack. For a second, I just stood there, arms limp at my sides, wanting to melt into the floor. It hurt when she squeezed me, bruises throbbing, but I didn’t say a word.

“Oh my god,” she gasped. Her voice was cracking, like she was about to cry. “Starla, where the fuck did you go? We thought you were dead! I kept calling and texting. I lost sleep over you, oh my god, oh my god…”

I looked over her shoulder and saw Landon standing awkwardly in the doorway, shifting his weight. I saw the split-second confusion, the uncertainty. Maybe he saw the bruises. Maybe he just saw a broken thing, standing hunched and snapped in Brandon’s kitchen, too small for the room.

I couldn’t speak. I just stared at the table, covered in boxes and wires and new phone packaging. I heard Alice sniffle. She wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve, then pulled away, hands on my shoulders.

She stared at my face, her eyes searching. “Jesus, Starla, you look like hell. Are you okay?”

Before I could answer, Brandon slid up behind me, one hand on my hip. His grip was just a little too tight. I tensed up, but tried not to show it. His mouth split into that wide, friendly smile I’d seen him use a thousand times, the one that always fooled people.

“She’s okay now,” Brandon said. “It was a rough couple weeks, but I brought her home. I found her. She’s safe.”

Alice blinked, looking at him. “Why didn’t you call us? Or tell someone she was back?”

Brandon shrugged, squeezing my hip. “We wanted some privacy. Starla’s been through a lot. Needed some time to recover, you know?”

I faked a smile. The muscles in my face failed me. It must’ve looked like a grimace, or fear. Landon drifted further inside, glancing at my bandaged hand, then up at Brandon. He had no clue, none of them did. If I screamed, would they even believe me?

Or would they simply ignore the facts and the warning signs, like that sheriff did?

Landon coughed. “That’s crazy, man. You really found her? Where was she?”

Brandon didn’t miss a beat. “Dropped off the radar. Total breakdown. I tracked her to a town two counties over where she was holed up with some bad people. It took a while to convince her she needed help. But I did it. I brought her home.”

He made it sound like he was a fucking knight in shining armor. Knowing Brandon, he actually believed it. That was the scariest part.

Landon nodded, soaking it up. “Damn, man. I didn’t know you had it in you. What a mess.”

Alice barely looked at him. Her eyes stayed on me, flickering over my face, counting every shadow, every bruise. She squeezed my hand under the edge of the table. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’ve been through hell.”

I waited for Brandon to answer. I always waited.