Bliss

"I assume you have internet here?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to order you some fucking clothes that fit, what size do you wear?"

"I don't know," she whispered fearfully.

"Then I'm going to guess. I'm thinking about hanging around here a few days, Bliss. What do you think of that? Maybe even moving in. Would that make you feel safer?"

She blinked at him fearfully, her expression incredulous. "Safer? To have the bad guy in my house with me? Why would it?"

"I'm not the bag guy, Bliss! You are being a little dramatic," he yelled, setting his bags down and closing the distance quickly.

Bliss whimpered as he took hold of her and tilted her face up to look at him.

"And I heard you this morning. You slept well last night, you felt safe. Safe enough to sleep. That means you like that I am here, on some level. Probably more than one if the way you come for me is any indicator," he grinned.

Bliss blushed and tried to look away, but he held her face tight.

"I think you like me a lot more than you'll admit to yourself," he grinned. "Now tell me more about what that woman was on about this morning. And tell me what pills you are on and what they do."

"I don't want to do that," she whispered, trying to pull away.

"Alright. I had an idea to help you with all of your shit," he shrugged, then picked her up bodily and went to the curtains in the living room. He yanked then open, then stood, making her face the window.

"Stop!" she wailed, turning away and closing her eyes. "Close them! He will see in!"

"He who?"

"Please! Please, I will be good! I will tell you everything, please close it!"

"Settle down, Bliss, no one is out there. No one is looking in. Even of there was, no one can get in and if they tried, I would protect you. No one is going to hurt you ever again."

"Please! He can see in!" she cried, starting to hyperventilate.

"Easy baby, there's no one there. Who are you talking about?"

"Osborne! Osborne is watching me! PLEASE!"

"Who is Osborne, Bliss?"

Bliss only whimpered and went limp, starting to shut down.

Cade closed the curtains and carried her back to her bedroom, then tucked her in as he stroked her back. He didn't really know what else to do for her, not without knowing what all of her issues were and what medications did what. He realized then that he actually cared about her issues and fixing them and knowing what her medications were so he could help her.

He wanted to fix her.

He HATED women with issues and drama and high maintenance.

With a scowl, he went and got his laptop and logged on, trying to figure out who Bliss was talking about.

Adding Osborne to the search with her grandmother's name brought him up immediately. Osborne Pettit, her fathers youngest ½ brother, he had lived in the house for several months when Bliss was around 12 or 13. He had been reported missing and never been heard from after living here for 8 months. Still missing, a dozen years later. Cade cocked his head, looking over the picture of the man. He looked like a man who was the sort to prey on girls.

Sicko.

He wondered what the man had done to Bliss, why she was so terrified of him. Why she was so convinced he was still out there, trying to get his hands on her.

Now he wanted to find the asshole and put him in the ground.

He sat down with Bliss and rubbed her arm. "You better?"

She didn't answer, curled up in fetal position on the bed, snugged into her blankets.

"Babe? You still freaking out? Do you need a pill or something? Water? What do you need? Fuck. Didn't I tell you to turn the AC up? It's god damn freezing in here! Where's the thermostat?" he demanded, getting out and going out into the hall.

He couldn't find one. He looked all over the house, in every room, in every closet, behind every door. Opening the door, he stepped out back and looked, but there was no unit. He walked all the way around the house in the sweltering heat, the humidity so bad it was like breathing through a wet, wool blanket. By the time he made it back to the back door, he was soaked in sweat and he wanted a shower. There was no AC unit anywhere.

Going back in, he searched the house again before going back into her room.

"Babe! Babe, where's the AC? Where's the thermostat? I'm like, literally fucking shivering in here! Bliss! Come on, wake the fuck up! Get up!" he demanded, tugging on her.

She only let out a whimper and curled up more tightly in fetal position.

"Fuck," Cade sighed in frustration. "Whatever, scoot over, let me in the fucking blankets," he demanded, kicking his shoes off. He climbed in with her and moved close, putting an arm around her. Immediately, she turned and burrowed into him, hiding her face and clutching him like a lifeline. He felt a bit of shock and annoyance, then felt warmth suffuse through him everywhere. She was coming to him for comfort, she trusted him.

She needed him.

He smirked slightly, then rubbed her back gently, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "I have you, babe. You're fine, you're safe. I have you."

It was cathartic to feel her eventually relax in his arms, but still hold on to him like she didn't want him to let her go, even after she calmed down. He was content to just lay there, though usually he bored of snuggling in a matter of seconds and reaching for his phone or getting up to do something else. Just now he felt calm and content to just focus on how she felt in his arms. The way her hair smelled like shampoo and she smelled like soap.

He wanted her. To hold her, comfort her, keep her forever. He NEEDED her to be his.

Forever.

He'd never in is life considered committing to anyone, but he wanted this terrified little women. He wanted to heal her and make her love him.

"Bliss?" he asked softly after over an hour. "Do you feel better?"

In answer, she pulled away from him and sat up, looking down at her hands.

"Why don't you get your book, my love? I brought my laptop, I need to answer some emails and look some things up. We can curl up on the couch and you can read while I work. I will keep you safe. Alright, my love?"

She nodded slightly and went to her shelf, pulling down a book with a well worn cover. How many times had she read it?

He got up and pointed his phone at her shelf, slowly recording all of the titles while she watched in confusion. As soon as he got the all, he sent the video to his best friend's girlfriend who was also a reader and worked in a store that carried a large amount of books. He asked her to find a dozen or so titles that were as close to those as she could find and he would pick them up.

As soon as he was done, he took Bliss out to the living room after grabbing his laptop. She tried to sit further away, but he pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the top of her head.

She started reading, and after a moment, she let her head fall against his arm as she read. Cade smiled softly, pleased that she was so comfortable with him.

He found himself getting anxious to finish answering emails, all of it for work. He'd never minded it before, but just now it frustrated him. He'd worked out a deal that he would do paperwork sitting at home on days off if he didn't have to hurriedly do it at the end of shift. He got to leave early and take it home and do it. It had never bothered him before, but just now he wished he'd done it already.

Finally, he finished, feeling a little breathless. His excitement over being able to pay attention to her shocked him a little, but he brushed past it quickly as he turned to her with a smile.

"Hey babe, all done!"

She put a finger in her spot and looked up at him warily.

Cade grinned and leaned in, kissing her softly. For a wonder, she didn't pull away! She didn't quite kiss him back, but she let him kiss her.

Cade pulled her book away and eased her down to the couch, kissing her more passionately, his hands roaming over her gently as he poured all of his adoration into her. After a few moments, her hand went to his arm and her body began reacting to him. Tensing and writhing slightly, she began tentatively kissing him back.

Cade let out a small, euphoric sound as his heart lept with excitement. He wanted so badly for her to give herself to him! For her to love him like he loved her!

He froze, pulling back to look down at her in amazement as she panted and looked up at him in a stunned sort of confusion.

Love.

He loved her. He loved her and he wanted her to love him.

That was insane! He'd known her a matter of days!

It didn't matter. He knew without a doubt that he loved her and he wanted her. Forever. He wanted to see her happy, to make her happy. He'd never wanted that before, not ever!

"Bliss..." he whispered wondrously, looking her face over.

She looked up at him, still confused as her eyes kept going to his lips. He found himself grinning, seeing in her face that she wanted him to kiss her again, that she had been enjoying it... it pulled everywhere in him. His heart, his soul and definitely his body.

Lowering himself slowly, he kissed her again, then stood and picked her up to carry her back to the bedroom. "Babe, you're going to have to tell me where the thermostat is in here," he grinned. "I can't live in the bed under the blankets."

"I don't like to be called 'babe'," she whispered, blushing.

"No problem!" he answered quickly. "I love Bliss anyway."

Laying her in the bed, he realized how quickly and without reservation he had agreed to stop calling her what he called almost every female he came across. It didn't matter, he DID like her name. And he wanted to make her happy!

Grinning, he tossed her on the bed and pulled her clothes off as she stared wide eyed, but didn't struggle or ask him to stop. When he pulled her legs wide and looked down at her, she did go tense, but she didn't struggle or say no. When his mouth covered her pussy as he sucked and licked, she let out a sigh of pleasure and her body went relaxed.

Cade groaned in pleasure, pleased beyond measure that she was giving herself to him. Pleased more than he imagined he would be that he was giving himself to her as well.

His mouth and fingers worked her like he never had in his life, trying to please her, trying to make her happy, trying to give her all he could.

When he drew moans from her and she buried her fingers in his hair, he was euphoric, overwhelmed with his affection for her. She was so perfect!

When she came, going taut and vibrating rigidly, he let out a wail of satisfied relief. He wanted so badly to please her!

"Mmm, Bliss, that was perfect," he panted, kissing her thigh, then her stomach as he moved up to kiss her again. "I want to make love to you, my perfect love," he whispered, pulling her close to him.

She smiled and pulled him in for a kiss and his heart hammered in his chest. She wanted him! She liked him!

He realized he was crying happy tears when she sat up and pushed him to sit up too as she turned to straddle him. Her small fingers stroked his hair as she looked him over.

"Look at you," she whispered wondrously. "So handsome and perfect. Who would have imagined a man like you would ever need to prey on anyone? Let alone a small, helpless woman all alone in the world."

"I shouldn't have done that!" Cade half yelled, horrified now. "You deserve better than that, I'm so sorry!"

"I know you are," she nodded softly, stroking his lips. "You are all, always sorry, aren't you? Yet you are also different in your own way."

Cade realized something was wrong, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Shaking his head slightly, he tried to clear the fog. Why wasn't she an emotional wreck anymore? How was she sitting there so confident and in control?

"Bliss?" he asked in confusion, looking over her face.

Her smile then was almost wicked. "It will all hit you soon," she told him softly. "Would you like me to show you the basement?"

"The basement? I've been through this house backwards and forwards, there is no basement."

"I'll show you," she offered, jumping up.

Cade found himself following her down the hall as she pulled him by his hand. Her perfect little body looked amazing as her limbs moved. She took him into the pantry and pulled a shelf from the wall, showing the hidden staircase down, then pulled him down as she turned on the light.

There was no furniture, just a huge, empty concrete space full of... men?

They all looked terrified as they watched Bliss fearfully, moving to the back of the large room. They were all older men, most of them overweight, balding or ugly. All of them were naked.

Cade didn't understand at all as he watched them all cower from the diminutive naked girl.

"Bliss?"

Bliss turned to him and gave him a smile. "Uncle Oz was first," she told him, motioning to the youngest of the group. He looked to be around 30, overweight with a mostly shaved head and glasses. "Then it was Dr VanDenHurtz," she went on, nodding towards a tall older man with a sunken face. "Every summer, like clockwork. A new one finds me. I put the call out and open my door one day a year. One day a year, I take another off the streets."

"What are you talking about?" Cade demanded, confused.

"But you were a bit different, weren't you? Yes, you preyed on me, but it was a first for you. An... extenuating circumstance... and you were so incredibly easy to turn. Two days rather than a month... almost as if you wanted to fall in love. You were meant to. They all do eventually, you all do. As soon as you do... you are mine," she smirked, looking him over like she was going to devour him.

Cade felt a pang of fear spike up as he looked at the men again. The men who were all terrified of her. What the hell had she done to them?

What had she done to him?

"Still haven't figured it out?" she asked with another soft smile. "Remember," she whispered, touching his arm.

Cade remembered.

Knocking on the door, someone letting him in. It wasn't her. It was someone else, a young man. The place was abandoned and he had wondered what the kid was doing there as he looked around.

When he turned back to the man, he realized too late that he was an accomplice who had run. The man rammed a steak knife right into his eye before running out the back door.

He didn't remember it, but he could see somehow as his body had been found, covered, taken away. The house still empty and abandoned, no one inside.

He had never left.

He had died here.

He had died.

All of these men were dead.

Bliss was dead.

Cade shivered slightly, looking down at her fearfully.

Bliss smirked again. "So you see? Every year when Summer hits it's hottest day... I call out to the closest predator. You all always come for me, always. Some are rough, some try to trick me with gentle words, but still do as they please. You... I still don't understand why it took so little time with you."

"You aren't weak or vulnerable at all, are you?" he demanded almost angrily.

She shrugged a single shoulder and gave him a smile. "I was in life. Now? Not so much," she giggled. When she giggled, it made the hair on Cade's arms stand on end and all of the men in the basement screamed as one and cowered in the corner of the basement, trying to get away from her.

Cade scowled down at her. "If you think you're going to cow me like you have those assholes cowed, you are dead wrong," he hissed.

She grinned. "Of course not. Not yet. By this time next year though?" she laughed again and it was malevolent. "Next year, the hottest day of Summer will be August 4th. I have until then to make you sorry you ever preyed on anyone, let alone me. Next year, I will show another man what waits for him and you will be among them, terrified and eager to please."

"The hell I will!" he growled. "You listen to me, Bliss! This ends right here! I WILL spend the next year with you and the next and the next! As many years as it takes to heal you and fix you and stop you from being this hate fueled revenge machine! You say I'm different from them, it's because I am! I am here to fix you. I WANT to fix you. I wanted to since before you somehow got your witchy hooks in me! Now come on, back upstairs! You're going to tell me all about all of this!" he demanded, pulling her up to the couch. "Tell me how other people can see me if I am dead? How I talked to other people?"

Bliss curled up, giving him a smirk. "You never left, Cade, you saw only what I wanted you to see. Anytime you thought you were away, you were simply in an altered state in your own mind until you came back. There's no leaving here, Cade. Not once I've taken you. No one talked to you, you never went to work, you never texted anyone or ordered any books. Nothing is even here in this house. All of it is what I want you to see and nothing more. I looked into your soul, saw the version of me you needed me to be for your predator to surface and I became her."

"That's entrapment!"

"No such thing in the afterlife," she giggled. "And even so, not really. If you weren't an inherently bad person, my call wouldn't have reached you. It would have moved past you to the next closest. That's how my gift works."

Cade looked down, his head in his hands.

He was dead.

"How do I find out what's going on? See... myself? See what people are saying? My funeral? All of that?"

"Oh, pet, you don't want those details. Everyone thinks they do, but hearing the small secrets, knowing what people REALLY thought of you. Not what they say to others up on that stage, but the whispers between coworkers, the neighbors, the ex's. Those are the best, when more than one ex shows up and they start talking! Old Henry got to watch his wife meet three of his mistresses and FOUR of the people he abused before me. That was a fun funeral! I adored making him watch! He deserved to see how much he was hated!

"You though. You are a bit different. Not many hate you, but not many like you either. A few distant friends will come and your ashes will be interred alongside your mother. You had no will and no one knows what to do with you. No living family, no one who loved you. Just a friend who wasn't even close to you. He was your best friend, but you were middling on his list of friends and his girlfriend hates you by the way. Calls you The User. Guessing from the way you treat women? You think you are so perfect... you just couldn't stand to hear no," she giggled. "Best part of how confident you were? You are mediocre in bed. Even as hot as you are doesn't make up for how lousy you are with your mouth."

Cade growled and sat up, yanking her head back as he got in her face. "You think you're going to upset me?" he demanded. "You think anything you say can upset me? You're wrong! You know why? Because I am still going to fucking heal you. Make it so you let all those assholes move on or whatever the fuck you need them to do so you aren't in so much pain. And you think I suck at eating your pussy? Don't worry, we have a long fucking time for you to teach me how you like it!" he told her, pushing her down to the couch and kissing her.

Bliss went stiff in confusion.

This wasn't right!

Once she had control of them, she was in control! They only did what they were told!

Her train of thought wandered as he kissed her, his heat and passion kindling something in her like it had earlier. Made her think of something besides her anger.

As the passion kindled that fire, something else bloomed in her as well.

Hope.