Chapter 4

Hope you are enjoying this! Long ish chapter. Hope you all enjoy.

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Anika had fallen asleep long before Jace came to check on her. He smiled slightly, she looked absolutely beautiful; fair skin, blonde hair, despite her closed eyes he was imagining those beautiful blues. He brushed her locks out of her face and waited till she stirred. He smirked and watched as she rolled over and her eyes shot open; wide and full of fear. He licked his lips, their children would be the best looking of the entire family. She sat back against the bed, blood rushing heart pumping. She could hear alarms going off in her head, he was too close. His warm breath left her hair raised, he smiled and leaned closer to her, their noses centimeters apart.

She leaned farther back and he leaned closer. “So Annie you are supposed to have an apology for me.” He had a wide smile on his face, his teeth were shiny white. “Annie honey what is your apology?”

She was shaking, her small frame looked like leaves in the wind. “I..I.. I uhmmm.. I..” She couldn’t think of anything, she should have thought about it before she fell asleep, but she was exhausted. He smiled and sat back realizing she was afraid of him. “I am really sorry about punching you, really really sorry.”

His eyebrow arched, his lips formed a thin line. “And?” He coaxed.

“And I am sorry I called you and your family insane.” His pursed lips slowly began to form a smile.

“And?” He asked again, this time his voice was louder almost demanding.

“And I am willing to.. to.. try the meat again.” His smile dropped, that was not what he wanted; however it was an apology of sorts. He looked her over, her eyes were darting around the room as well as looking over his face filled with panic.

He chuckled. “Anything else?” He asked, he had his right hand placed on her left and his left hand on her knee. He saw her gulp, her skin was covered in goosebumps.

“I will.. I will allow you to kiss me.” He grinned, he would have let her go with the apology she had given him, but now he got what he wanted. He leaned close to her, she was trying not to cry, every bone in her body shook with fear. He grabbed her chin carefully and tilted her face up towards his. Their lips met and it felt like a spark ignited, her eyes shot open and his stayed firmly closed. She was going crazy. He was not her true love, he was a psychotic killer who kidnapped girls and ate people. After a minute he finally pulled back.

“Now that was what I call meant to be.” He commented. She felt herself gag. He undid the handcuffs, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. “Honey let us go eat dinner with the family. You can cry all you want; they wont mind. All the spouses do at first.” She felt her stomach turn again, he was actually a nut. Spouses, they are really kidnapped slaves who have become brainwashed. Her eyes grew wide, they all seemed so happy they all had children together. Was she going to become like them, Stockholm syndrome? She remembered reading a book about it once, she had skimmed through; maybe if she would have read the entire thing she would have been in better shape.

“J..ace please I… I don’t feel hungry.” She said tears brimming her her eyes.

He smirked, a laugh erupting from his throat. She sat back against the bed in silent fear, he smirked grabbing her hand. “Honey I know that is a lie at least a little, you are so skinny. You were starved by your family weren’t you?” His smile was almost crazy, what happened to the nice man who had helped her settle brought her food Oh right, this crazy brought her human meat and says that she is supposed to be his wife. He waited for a reply, she stayed silent, her eyes wide with fear and defiance. “Did they?” He snapped.

She gulped. “Sometimes..” He frowned and sat beside her, he was an actual psychopath, he pulled her into his lap.

“Go on and cry my love, shh shh.” He held her against his chest. His mood swings were drastically changing. “Love we will never harm you, not unless you miss behave. See your wrists, that was your punishment for punching me as well as saying those bad things about our family.” She was shaking, he kissed her forehead and then her nose and lastly stopped on her lips. His breath filled her mouth, tasted sweet. Like the meat.

Her eyes were still opened wide, she would not close them. If she did she would be saying she was accepting him, allowing him to do this. She felt violated, he pulled away from her a soft smile on his face. “Come on lets go down to dinner, I want to make sure you are healthy enough to work and take care of children. Make sure that you can survive pregnancy and living here.” She felt herself stop shaking, he was trying to take care of her?

“Why do you kill people?” She asked softly, his jaw became clenched.

“If someone comes into our home they either die or are brought into the family, everyone here knows how to or will learn to kill. However a few of the families here are not full cannibals like we are, they do not actually enjoy the meat like we do. They are actually serial rapists and killer-“

She jumped from his lap and ran to the other side of the room. “What are you insane, you have a bunch of children and women in the same place as rapists! I am in the same place as killers, rapists, kidnappers, and cannibals..” She dropped to her knees sobbing into her hands. Her body felt numb, he slowly made his way towards her. He knelt down taking her hands in his.

“Baby girl, they do not bother us, they are part of the family too. We help them and they help us.” He said as he lifted her up onto her feet. “Love they rape or kill and bring them here, they usually keep the rape victim around for a while and continue to do it;..I think that is disgusting.. but it is their way of life, then they kill them. We take the bodies and use every bit, the bones and the extra meat we don’t eat goes to the dogs, the only thing that isn’t really used is their hair. We even use the blood, for special baths you and I will be taking one soon together once you are comfortable.”

“B..aths..blood..blood baths why?” She asked shaking, he had held her close to him.

“It is old tradition, we take baths in the blood of those we eat as a way of thanking them for their sacrifice. However the reason we do this is because it is said to keep us alive longer and healthier.” She nodded softly. She was still shaking, she honestly looked like a leaf. He took her hand. “Do I need to handcuff you to me? Or will you behave during dinner?”

“I…I what is your dominate hand?”

“Right.” He replied. “Yours?”

“Right hand.. so no.. I wouldn’t be able to eat…” she whispered softly. He nodded a wide smile across his face. His teeth were straight as well as a clean white. She was surprised by this, however she knew that she needed to be strong, just keep being the weak girl they think you are.

He held her hand all the way down the stairs. “This week the dinner is at our house, don’t be scared. You will be just fine as long as you behave. Answer their questions, do not gag or throw up, not down here. If you need to tug my shirt three times and then ask to use the bathroom.” He whispered, she nodded as she shook. He sat down on a chair after placing her in the one beside him. The table was full of sweets, vegetables such as potato based foods like mashed potatoes, chips, and baked potatoes, there were also fruits, and the meats. She let out a groan, this was going to kill her.

He squeezed her hand tightly. Everyone else sat down after the oldest man Charlie prayed. They actually prayed, they acted like a normal family, a normal happy psychotic family. She dug her nails into her thigh, she pierced the skin, she gasped in surprise. Jace took notice and smirked, she was trying to hide her fear and disgust. Good, she was trying to show he was doing well as her man.

“So Jace how is she coming along?” George asked, his smile was wide and crooked, his skin wrinkled.

He smiled. “Real good, only had to give her a small punishment, she saw the error of her ways. She wishes to apologize for her actions.” She looked to him in panic. He squeezed her hand and nodded, his eyes flashing. She gulped and nodded.

“I would like to apologize for my..my bad manners when you brought me here. I also would like to apologize for calling your customs crazy..” She said hardly wavering. He smiled and kissed her cheek lovingly.

“Look at that, you are such a good girl.” Brian, Jace’s father said. “You are training her real well. Damn, I thought she would be screaming all night, like the others do. Hell your mom screamed for a month, every damn night son.” He said patting his mothers shoulder, a blush crossed her face. She had ginger hair while his father had the same chocolate hair as Jace did. She saw where the girl who said to keep her got the ginger hair. The toddlers were all lined up in a row in a handmade five seat highchair. The last seat closes to Emma, sat the baby. She was babbling and playing with applesauce.

She liked the children, suddenly Marian the youngest sibling of the teen twins spoke up. “She told us a good story today.” Her eyes were wide and full of wonder.

“Really, was it good?” Sephora, her mother asked as she handed Marian a plate.

“Super good,” Amin replied. “There was magic, death, and blood.” The parents all looked at one another, this girl was perfect for the family. She was already telling their children stories with people dying. They smiled looking at her.

“You fit in already.” Charlie said as he handed her the plate of human meat. Everyone was staring straight at her, she hesitantly grabbed a slice. It looked like bacon, pretend its bacon. “You don’t eat much?”

“I was starved by my birth family. They would go days without letting me eat, not..not used to this much food. It..its all smells wonderful.” She let out a sigh, they all looked terrified for her. These people killed and ate humans but they were worried that she was abused by her family. These people were worried about her well being when they murdered and raped people.

Who were these people?

“One more slice love, please. You will need to eat everything you take alright baby?” She hesitantly took another crispy slice. Bacon it is all bacon. Pretend it is bacon. They all began to eat, she ate everything on her plate except for some mashed potatoes and the meat. He looked her over and patted her thigh softly. He leaned close. “You have to eat it all.”

She nodded and picked up the piece of meat, she shuttered and closed her eyes. Bacon, it is just bacon. She took bite and it sat on her tongue, the flavor danced across her tastebuds. She let out an audible moan, as she opened her eyes everyone was smiling, she tried not to cry.

She liked it. She fucking liked the taste of human meat.

Jace held her hand warmly, she finished the food on her plate and Jace’s mother handed her a cookie. “You belong in this family.” She felt tears stinging, she ate the cookie and felt her stomach flip. She liked the damn meat. It tasted like brown sugar.

It tasted good.

That is when she heard a knock on the door and everyone looked to one another. “Fresh meat.” George whispered. “Keep her silent Jace or take her upstairs.”