ONE

Chapter 6

"Excuse me !?" I said , almost catching whiplash at the speed at which I turned back around just to see him MUCH closer now.

"Oh come on Elena , don't tell me you're deaf too ?" He said toying with my mind as I didn't have anything to defend myself with or words to describe how gross and slimy I felt when he started applying Shampoo to my scalp. To my dismay he didn't go further than my shoulders. But he sure LOOKED a lot.

I instantly felt dirtier under his burning gaze and no amount of soap could wash that feeling off. Trust me , I've tried.

"See , now didn't that feel great ?" He said from the doorway while he watched me wrap a towl around myself.

"No. It didn't.  So the show's over now , you can leave. " I said pointing at the door.

"Elena , when are you going to learn that this is MY place. I can do as I please and you're not going to get rid of me. Till death do us apart." He said smugly.

"Is it that easy ?"

"Now , now , don't get ideas cause I have ways of making people change their minds. And trust me , you're not going to like it. "

"Really well -"

"And neither will Miss Grace." He said making me stumble as if I was suddenly weighing a ton.

"You'd...hurt a helpless old lady ?" I said shocked .

"I didn't say that , you did. But don't force my hand Elena. "

I didn't say a word there after as my feet automatically followed his to my closet -that was now fully stocked with clothes - as he laid out an outfit for me.

I haven't felt this emotionally numb and scared since my mother died and Miss Grace took over that role in my life... I was 7 . So you'd understand where this overprotectiveness came from when Miss Grace was invloved. She may not have been my biological mother or lived under the same roof as I did , but she was my mother equally as much.

"Come on now,  enough with the silient treatment. I like you much better when you're spunky and feisty. " he said , bringing my head down from the clouds as the words registered in my brain.

"Is... that why you chose me ?" I said softly, making him speechless for the first time in his life.

"I've... told you that I don't have to explain myself to you Elena. What part don't you get ?" He wasn't yelling this at me like last time nor was he saying it in a whisper like I did in realization. But he  said it in a monotone .

"I'm sorry..." I apologized to this jerk for the first - and hopefully the last - time in my life. I don't know if it was the starvation or the fear that something could happen to Miss Grace, but I wasn't feeling up for another lesson real soon.

I watched as my words registered in his brain making him almost speechless again , clearly not something he expected me to say. But neither was him threatening Miss Grace. 

"Well... uh , it's fine. Now just get dressed and meet me downstairs in 10. Don't make me regret this Elena." He said before shutting the door behind him.

After I had dressed I opened the door to reveal no one there waiting for me . Was this a test? To see if I would run or not ? Whatever it was , today wasn't the day for me to push the limits and find out. I was too broken up about Miss Grace to do that. So instead , I walked down the long hallway trying to remember where the turns was and how many we've taken. I've walked this route 4 times since I've arrived with Cade so surely it couldn't be that difficult. Right ?

A left and two rights. Another left and followed until the end of the hall. Another dead end. My third attempt. Giving up I did the only thing reasonable to do in this situation ,

"Derek?" I called him. What else was I supposed to do ?

"Right here. " he said appearing from behind one of the walls .

"How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to see you fail for the third time at getting anywhere. " he said , crossing his arms.

"Oh." Was all I said. I was feeling stupid and above all else,  humiliated.

"But you did pass my test in not running away. Or that's what I think you did , right? "

"Right. " I said bowing my head , not in respect to him - though he would surely take it as such - but at the feeling of being powerless and demeaning.

"Good girl." He praised me making me cringe just by him saying that. It didn't sound pleasing to the ear. Not mine anyway. So I didn't reply nor bring up my head.

"As your reward we get to have breakfast , just the two of us." He said making me bring my head up immediately. He would've taken it as me being excited at so called 'alone' time with him when in reality I was happy that his grinch of a father wouldn't be there. So instead of giving him the satisfaction of knowing I was happy about his father's absence,  I remained silent and ate every last bite of food on my plate. And more.

"So , tell me something about yourself ?" He said making me almost choke on my waffle.

"What ?"

"Yeah, tell me something no one else knows about you ?"

"Why are you being like this ? He's not even here ." I said leaning forward making him crack a smile.

"I know. I'm just being polite."

"But why ?" I said louder this time .

"Do I need a reason? "

"Uh... yeah. No offence dude but you just let me almost die of starvation over 12 days . And now you're trying to what , get to know me ? So I'm sorry if I'm a bit shocked that polite is even in your vocabulary. " I said taking another bite. 

"It's great to have you back Elena." he said with a chuckle as I completely ignored that part since it had NOTHING to do with what I just asked him. Instead I kept eating in an awkward silience,  waiting for him to explode.

"Fine ! I feel guilty okay . Is that what you wanted to hear !? That I feel guilty for almost killing you ? Cause I do ! Okay Elena. I feel so stinking guilty it hurts ! " he said , jumping up from the table and walking around  as he said that.

"Why ?" I said barely above a whisper while I could see it was killing him that I wasn't lashing out at him. He wanted me to jump up and yell and hurt him for doing this to me, but that would only make him feel better about himself. He'll think we're even. And we're not. Far from it.

"I don't know okay ! I thought that if I taught you a lesson you'd be more submissive and obedient to me. "

"But I'm not a dog Derek , you know that don't you ?"

"Of course I know that ! Dammit Elena why can't you just yell at me !? Tell me what a jerk I am ? How physco that was ? Huh !?" He said , literally pulling at his hair.

"Because that would only make YOU feel better. " I said calmly before getting up from the table and walking back to my room. It may not be the best place to go after suffering in it for the past 12 days but , it was the only route I now learned to remember.

Do you like Crazy or Calm Elena better? Please let me know in the comment section below. Thank you so much for reading . I hope you all enjoyed it . Until next time , keep howling my wolves ❤🐺

//updates every Tuesday//