Love Unfortunate by Claudia D. Christian Page B

soul who had found her along the riverbank one month prior. He wasn’t the same boy who had gifted her with his innocence four days before. He wasn’t the man who had sworn to live his life with her one day after.
    That one was dead and this damnable creature now stood in his place.
    She hated him. She wished she could destroy him. She wished she could destroy herself.
    "Control your anger, little bird. Control it before it causes us both grief."
    Liana’s face mimicked ice. The cold, smooth surface didn’t betray the helplessness running rampant in her heart. "There’s no point in this, Laurent."
    "Of course there is. You’ll leave." A dangerous grin tweaked his pallid lips. "I won’t let that happen." Laurent’s pleasant response seemed obscene in the midst of his violent hands. Finally finished shredding her clothes beyond repair, he picked up the scraps and threw them out the narrow window.
    Liana’s shoulders sagged. Sharp gasps tormented her lungs. The urge to weep picked away at her heart. Liana fixed her gaze upon him and wished she hadn’t.
    Framed against the night sky, Laurent’s lean body reminded her of what was forever lost. She DID hate him. She DID wish she could destroy him. But most of all, Liana wished they could go back to the way things were.
    Why couldn’t I stop this?
    "Now, go to sleep. I’ll be back again tonight." Laurent barely glanced in her direction as he strode out the room.
    "And the sheets? Blankets? Will you take them too?"
    Don’t leave me. Please.
    He stopped at the door. "No."
    "Why not? I could wrap myself in them and find a way to walk out of here!" she pointed out snidely, angered with her detestable weakness.
    I SHOULD want him to leave.
    Laurent turned. He answered with a tiny smile. "You could."
    "I will!"
    The gentle façade vanished. Ruthless cruelty took its place. "You won’t."
    "Why not?"
    Coming towards his wife, Laurent gave no answer.
    Only a smile.
    * * * *
    The faint odor of urine tainted the air. Liana felt humiliated.
    I couldn’t control myself. It just came out.
    Instead of being disgusted, Laurent had simply laughed. And after the laugher, nightmarish gratification had taken over. Thick, sweet, acrid…nauseating. Liana saw herself greedily gulping it down, swallowing every bit of demented passion.
    It’s too much. I’m weakening. Eventually I’m going to break. Then what will happen to him?
    Therein lay Liana’s strength and torment.
    You keep me here, locked away, not knowing I do the same to you. So which of us is the monster?
    Her cage, her prison, wasn’t made of stones and iron. The pain tearing her apart, piece by piece, wasn’t the present circumstance of captivity. The tower meant less than nothing to Liana.
    Her agony was something else entirely.
    It’s all my fault. I should’ve never tried to manipulate Laurent. I should’ve known this would happen.
    Liana did know. She knew and didn’t care enough to change her course.
    And now we’re both paying the price.
    Beneath her fragile façade lay a busy demon—one tirelessly carving a jagged hole in Liana’s conscience and heart. Known as Blame, it had burrowed its way deep inside, branding her with every breath she took, every dream she tainted.
    My fault. It’s my fault. All of it.
    Blame possessed an addictive quality for Liana. It tempted her to accept wretchedness while giving despair beautiful purpose. It wrecked, tempered, destroyed, and renovated. Blame amalgamated truth and lie, keeping Liana in black obsession.
    Tonight will be different.
    Night descended and the air turned cold. Sounds of castle life ceased, leaving Liana completely alone. Sprawled on her back, legs open with wanton need, she felt her world shrink. It became a void where sadness, regret, and misery retreated.
    Soon.
    Liana’s limbs trembled with manic anticipation. She wondered at what familiar torments Laurent would devise for their mutual pleasure.
    Restraints? Asphyxiation? Gentle, normal