Buttons and Lace (Buttons 1)

That was the one nice thing about my captivity. He didn’t starve me. I could eat when I wanted and however much I wanted. His goal was to hide my abusive circumstances by keeping my waistline at a healthy level. If I were smart, I would starve myself until death took me. But I was too weak for that. I loved food way too much.

Francine returned with a floor-length gray gown. It had a deep opening in the front, showing off my cleavage. The designer name wasn’t printed anywhere, but I knew it was a one of a kind. Whoever was coming to dinner was important.

“I’m not wearing that.”

“Come on...” She tried to remember my name but realized she didn’t know it. The only name she knew was cunt. “I don’t want to use the Taser but I will. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you.”

I eyed the dress in her hands before I glared at her. “When I get out of here, I’m going to hunt you down and kill you for saying that to me.”

Her lips remained tightly pressed together, and her eyes didn’t change. Those words didn’t affect her in the least. “You want to be treated better? It’s not that difficult to make it happen.”

“By escaping?”

“No. You want Bones to treat you better? Then give him a reason to.”

Bones? That was his name? That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. “Damn, could he pick a worse name?” I actually laughed for the first time since being imprisoned.

“They call him Bones for a reason.” She continued to hold the dress, but her patience was waning. “He keeps one bone from every victim. He has an entire display in this house—a reminder to what happens to those who cross him.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat when I pictured that room. I imagined femurs and tibias glued to the walls. I imagined hands and feet sticking out of black chests. The thought was so demented it sent a shiver down my spine.

“Don’t be his next victim. You think he treats you bad? You haven’t seen his full potential.”

How much worse could it get?

“Soon, he’ll break your leg just to make you scream. He’ll make you limp around the house for a week, forcing you to get a glass of scotch or a TV remote just to watch you struggle. Only when he finally grows bored of it will he call the doctor.”

Now I was officially freaked out.

“Yes, it can be much worse. So be thankful.”

How could I be thankful? My captor was even sicker than I realized. It was only a matter of time before he grew bored with his usual torments and graduated me to a new level of pain.

Despite how much it hurt my pride, I asked the question that might save my life. “How do I make him treat me better?”

She smiled, victorious. “You’re a smart girl. I thought you might be, despite that tongue of yours.”

“Are you going to answer me or what?”

She beckoned me out of the chair and pulled the dress over my head. She turned me around and zipped up the back, making it snug around my waist. She smoothed out the layers. It fit like it was made just for me. Then she placed a silver necklace around my throat, perfecting my appearance.

I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. It was the first time I’d looked clean in a very long time. I took showers every day, but I didn’t have hair supplies. I didn’t have anything that could remotely be used as a weapon. Even a hair dryer was off-limits, so I had to dry it with a towel. The clothes I wore were flimsy and old, like a slave before me had worn them. The transformation was prominent, just like a caterpillar to a butterfly. I was a different person now.

She placed her hands on my shoulders and looked at my face in the mirror. “It’s simple. Make him fall in love with you.”

***

Bones called for me to join him downstairs for dinner. I wore the silver gown and the expensive jewelry, along with a pair of heels that made me three inches taller.

Francine said I should make him fall in love with me. But could a villain, a psychopath, feel anything remotely close to love? Would he ever care for me? See me as a human being? It would be nice not to be smacked around and raped every single day. If I made him fall hard enough in love with me, would he let me go?

Was that a possibility?

I walked down the grand staircase and kept my hands on the rail so I wouldn’t trip. I wasn’t used to wearing heels, and I wasn’t used to walking downstairs in them either.

“Ahh...there she is.” Bones rose at the head of the table. Four men sat with him, drinking scotch and whiskey. They all wore dark suits similar to the one he donned. They rose to their feet and watched every step I took.