The Experiment Pt. 04

We decide to wait. There is a short but steep stairway that leads up into the back door of the Dungeon, and the door opens to the right. I can hide out between a pair of dumpsters and still get a clear view of the door since it's elevated. The monster thinks we may see who owns the vehicles, or whoever would show up next for an appointment. Someone that owns a piece of the heart I think belongs to me.

It's getting colder in the steady drizzle that is soaking through my water-resistant rain trench. The cloudy sky has grown darker, barely a dusky twilight to see by. But the green monster will wait all night if she has to. She's ready to catch someone in the act, to see who would dare try to steal from me. To see who has taken all his attention.

The thought of his betrayal takes away the strength of the monster. It depresses me so much that I begin to cry. I cry because I'm huddled in the cold between two smelly dumpsters like a crazy woman. Because I know the monster inside me is grasping for something else to blame besides ourselves.

The back door suddenly opens and a person steps out. A woman, older. Old enough to be my mom. The employee holding the door open for her isn't Damian. I breathe a sigh of relief, and then redouble my efforts to be patient. I'm shivering and I'm hungry, but the monster tells me this is what we need to do. We've gone this far down the rabbit hole and can't back out now.

An hour has passed and my wet feet are now going numb from standing in the cold. My face is covered in tear-streaked eyeliner. There is only 1 car left, the SUV, and his motorcycle. The door opens and a man exits. Big and burly, wearing leather and heavy boots. He looks like an employee, like a security guard maybe. I'm nervous when he walks in my direction, heading for a dumpster. I crouch down while he tosses in a small bag of garbage that lands in the bin with a thud. I hear another voice while I'm crouched and can't see the door. A smooth, low voice.

The burly man gets in the SUV, waving towards the door, and saying goodnight. I duck down as the SUV backs out and shines its headlights in my direction. I can hear footsteps thudding down the steps, then walking into the parking lot. Alone. The green monster is disappointed and also confused. And also very upset with herself. But still somehow more upset with him. This disappointment makes me leave my place of hiding and walk towards the motorcycle. Just as he is walking towards it.

I pull my hood back just as he is about to put his helmet on. Damian stares at me with eyes agog, unsure of what he is seeing.

"Siena?"

I don't answer, my trembling body too cold and too distraught to speak. He's smiling at first, then concerned as he studies me. My silence doesn't help.

"You are soaked, Siena. How long have you been here?"

He takes a step towards me, holding out his hand and I take a step back, staying out of reach. The concern becomes disturbed.

"Siena, why are you out here?"

His question sparks anger in the green monster, so she speaks for me.

"Seeing how late you actually worked."

He pulls his face into a grim smile.

"I see. Miss Siena has been spying on me."

The green monster is triggered by his words, but only silently glares at him with daggers in her eyes.

"And what did she find out in her spying?" he asks, "What did she learn by hiding in the dark?"

I feel a poisonous level of anger so toxic that it wants to throw something or hit something. But I have nothing but my green monster who has now shrunk to this pathetic girl inside of me. And the girl is humiliated, so we turn and start to walk away.

He's calling after me as I pull my hood up and walk towards the opening to the street. I keep walking as he calls my name one more time, and then he stops. Then I hear him walking away. It's such a defeat, it's all I can do to keep my head up and walking as I begin to cry. The green monster caused this mess and all she can do is cry.

I hear his motorcycle start up and I move to the edge of the alley so that he won't accidentally hit me. The bike is slowly coming behind me, slowly moving until it's right beside me. He says my name again and I don't answer, I don't look up.

The bike lurches to a halt and he grabs my arm.

"Siena, stop."

I try to move but his hand is clamped around my upper arm; he is not letting go.

"You cannot walk home in this."

I still can't look at him, I just try to pull away. "It doesn't matter," I mumble.

"It matters to me."

His words touch something that is breaking inside me, and I'm forced to look up, to see what the words really mean.

He is staring at me intensely through the flipped up visor, his blue eyes eerily reflective in the dark alley.

"Let me take you home. Please."

He asks but I know there is no arguing with this, that he will forcibly pick me up and put me on his bike if he has to. And I want him to be forced to interact with me until I realize how tired and exhausted I feel. Too tired to fight.

I gingerly climb onto the back of his bike and cling to his jacket, trying to hold onto the gathering of stiff leather instead of having my arms around his waist. This works until he starts going faster and my hands slip on the rain-dampened leather. He feels this jerk of my hands and immediately slows down, turning his head to the side, waiting till I wrap my arms around his chest before he picks up speed again. I begin to cry as I'm forced to lean against his back, to feel myself pressed into him. An exquisite form of torture to be so close to him when I least want it.

The rain is finally easing up just as he goes up the hill to my apartment. I know I will have to be quick when I get off his bike, to keep myself from further humiliation. He's just pulled up to the curb when I let go, trying to clamber off as he quickly shuts off the engine. I stumble onto the sidewalk, and try to reach the front door of my building before he can intercept, but I can hear his boots thudding in quick steps behind me, quietly calling my name as I ignore him. A sad reversal of the very first time he drove me to my apartment, the giddy chase where we couldn't keep our hands off each other.

I've gotten the door to my building open, but the electronic lock for the heavy reinforced glass is just a tad too slow. I can feel his arm reaching out, smacking onto the glass as I step forward. He's in the vestibule, and follows me as I turn the corner and open the door to the stairwell. I know he's following, but I let the door swing into him with a smack as his hand stops it from closing.

The dry and brightly lit stairwell feels harsh and unromantic, it feels worlds away from our previous life in this area. I'm a few steps ahead and waiting for him to grab me or stop me, I'm waiting for something to break this horrible state I'm in.

"Siena!"

He doesn't need to grab me when his voice is stern, angry. I stop in my tracks, turning sideways on the step so I can indirectly face him. He's still standing at the bottom step, yanking off his helmet so he can look up at me.

"I am not going to your apartment. But I demand an answer to my question."

I'm already trembling, too weak to stand up to his rightful inquisition.

"What did you think you would find there, at my work?"

I have no words to explain myself and the green monster is mute.

"Did you think you would catch sight of a client who was a lover? That I would betray you?"

It's such a painful thought but an even worse pain to hear him say it out loud. He takes a step up, and repeats his question.

"Do you not trust me?"

He takes another step up and I'm biting my lip.

"Answer me, Siena. Do you not trust me?"

"I don't trust other people," is what I finally blurt.

"The work that I do, that is what you don't trust? Or you don't trust that I could be tempted by another? Is that it?"

He takes the next step up and is now eye to eye with me, leaning forward, cornering me.

"You mean the way you were tempted with me?" I snap defensively.

He lunges forward, pressing me into the wall, trapping me between his outstretched arms with his face inches from mine.

"Does Miss Siena think that Mr. Damian is at the mercy of his desires? That he is not able to control himself when faced with temptation? Or that he only saw Miss Siena as temptation? That you would be nothing more than a conquest."

His eyes are narrowed in icy blue fury, a fury that is barely holding back the pain I can hear in his low voice. Tears are stinging my eyes when his hand lowers and clutches my hip. He leans in further, his lips millimeters from mine, only to dart down and into my neck. His hot breath just below my ear, while his hand squeezes my ass, his legs on either side of my legs, pushing himself into me. My weak and unprincipled body is already responding, heat surging as he gets between my thighs. I'm gasping as his other hand comes up to my jaw, a forceful hold that won't let me go, but teases my lip with his thumb. He keeps pressing into me, trapping me in this lustful fury that I want to consume us.

But suddenly, he pulls away.

Both his hands let go, my body sinking down as my legs struggle to hold me upright. His face is a nasty smile, a cruel satisfaction to have proved how easily he seduced me. He stalks down the stairs, barely a glance back as he yanks the door open and walks out.

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To be continued...