Page 53 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“And then when I woke up, I rolled over—”

“Uh huh,” Amelia urged me to continue.

“And someone was standing in the corner.”

If Amelia’s eyes had been wide before, now her tiny button nose looked like it was balancing two ping-pong balls on either side of it.

“Excuse me, miss ma’am?!” she blurted, her mouth dropped open. She made a noise that sounded like a seal, and I laughed, finally.

Damn, I needed that.

“Someone was standing in your bedroom?!”

“Yeah, and then he—”

“HE?! Who is HE?!”

I was quiet, flipping my phone on and opening the gallery. The video was there. It was right there in front of me, but I couldn’t force myself to click on it. I couldn’t open it. The thumbnail showed enough—my tear-stained face, beat red, with his hand around my throat. I couldn’t watch what he had done and—

“Hey?!”

Amelia had snatched the phone from me, and she stared down at the screen, one eyebrow cocked and her eyes darting between me and what she saw between her grubby little hands.

“Holy fuckin’ shit, dude,” she said, her voice a quiet whisper. “What is this?”

I simply sat there in silence, my mouth opening and closing as I fought to think of what to say, but there was nothing. How did I describe it? What could I even say? I didn’t know. I didn’t know what to say, and so I simply shrugged.

What was this knot in my stomach? I didn’t even recognize my own emotions, and why was I telling her at all? Was it a cry for help?

“Vanessa,” she whispered, still staring down at my phone. “What happened?”

“I…” I swallowed hard, trying to push down the apprehension that plagued me. “I don’t know? Really? S-so I mean you can just—”

I reached over quickly with a shaking hand and jabbed the screen with my finger before I lost my nerve.

“Just… maybe keep the volume down a little.”

It was instantaneous. It was up full blast, and she wasn’t touching the button. Just as well. Maybe I needed to listen to it. Maybe I needed to hear it again to really feel it.

“Look, babe. I want you to see how beautiful you look when you fall apart for me.”

Hearing his voice sent a jolt through me, but it wasn’t fear. What was it? It was disbelief and embarrassment. Why? Because of what happened, or because of who was watching it?

I didn’t feel anger, fear, or sadness. I felt… shy.

“Vanessa, what?!” Amelia blurted, her eyes narrowed and her mouth hanging open as she looked at the screen.

“I can’t wait until you belong to me. You made me like this, Vanessa. You turned me into a monster. I’m gonna cum so deep—”

Reaching over, I snatched the phone away and quickly silenced it. I didn’t want her to hear the rest. Because I didn’t want to hear it? No, that’s not what it was.

It was because it felt… personal?

You just don’t want her to hear how hard you came for him.

The voice in my head made me blush even harder as I turned my phone off and shoved it in my purse.

For the first time I could remember, Amelia was completely silent, simply gaping over at me.

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