15

I walked in silence mostly listening to Hedwig talk about his favorite music and dancing, meanwhile, I was looking up and around a bit lost in my thoughts. I was so close to freedom, but this man, this sick man stopped all of it.

Hedwig was dancing a few feet in front of me, glancing back at me and smiling bright. My warm smile kept him at ease to keep talking. I looked up at the ceiling in some thought of my escape. Now that I was calmer and had time to think I realized a few things I hadn't noticed before while trying to leave. Animals. I saw animals. The noises they made didn't even register to me, because I was so afraid and my adrenaline was high. I saw bears, live and up close. That meant this zoo was temporarily closed. I looked at the back of Kevin's head and realized something. The zoo would open up again and people will find me.

Did Patricia know this already, did Dennis? Did they have a plan for the future opening? Did they have plans for me? I looked around once more. Was this only temporary? We returned to the laundry room and I placed the clothes in a dryer with a laundry sheet before sighing silently.

"So are you gonna marry Kevin!" Hedwig blurted, and I whipped my head around him, eyes confused.

"Why would you ask that?" I asked. He was dancing in front of the doorway spinning swiftly and shaking his head.

"Isn't that what men and women do?" he asked. I scoffed lightly leaning against the dryer.

"Men and women who love each other." I said. He paused now, hands dangling in the air.

"You don't love Kevin?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I haven't truly gotten to speak with Kevin in a long time. I care for him as my friend but I do not know if he loves me." I replied. Besides how I can love someone who is this sick, whose personalities have completely devoured them and done horrible things? Hedwig looked down some in thought.

"Huh… so what about the Beast? Do you love him?" he asked. I blinked rapidly crossing my arms and looking away.

"The Beast does not see me as a woman, just a thing to possess." I replied. Hedwig frowned now and slowly walked up to me.

"That's not true! He likes you. He wants you to give him babies!" he said with frustration. My body tightened up at his words. The Beast is an animal who just sees me as someone to mount before or after he was finished eating people. I shook my head. He couldn't possibly want that from me could he?

"You don't know what you're talking about." I stated swiftly.

"Yes I do! Just ask him! He'll tell you!" he said. I wasn't in the mood to fight. I looked down shaking my head with frustration of my own before moving around him.

"I'm going back to my room." I merely replied. Hedwig followed moving in front of me. There was a deep rumbling coming from above and Hedwig and I both looked up. This must be the storm Luke was talking about. Hedwig winced, fear filling his eyes.

"I hate storms." he said before taking my hand and moving quickly into the hallway.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he led me back to my room.

"Ms. Patricia says if any bad weather happens, I'm to make sure you're secure in your room and that Dennis has to watch you." he explained. I could hear the loud pouring of rain above me and a burst of thunder that came along with it. Once I was back in my room, Hedwig was gone and I was left alone to myself for a little while longer. So much for my phone. The door finally opened and in came neatly dressed Dennis. I was sitting on my bed when he moved around the room inspecting it almost.

"Heard you had some trouble… the Beast had to take care of some trespassers." he said lowly as he finally pulled the chair away from the desk and sat it in the middle of the room. I looked down wondering where those bodies were. Did he feed them to one of the animals; the tigers maybe? I nodded slowly.

"Yes." I replied. He nodded and crossed his arms some looking me over.

"You okay?" he asked. I simply nodded not really wanting to think about the innocent men I had just sentenced to death. They probably didn't mean any harm.

"I'm alright." I answered looking up at him now and he nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you run? You had the chance." he told. His eyes observed me hard it seemed like he was really trying to figure me out. I did try. I was seconds away from freedom before I was found again. I sighed heavily and shook my head.

"I don't know." I replied.

"Yes you do." he said standing up and moving over to the bed leaning over and placing his fists into either side of the bed, my legs between him. I leaned back some.

"I wouldn't have gotten far." I replied. There was another hard rumbling of thunder from above and the lights flickered over us. We both looked up at the ceiling. Would they go out? Dennis leaned back until he was standing up. He looked away with mild disdain.

"Ansel has been asking for the light. It seems he's infatuated with you." he replied dryly and I was not sure how to respond to his words. He seemed kind, and is still a part of Kevin. Had these personalities not been so complex, I might have been able to like all of them. Dennis looked back at me, a flash of surprise on his face, before hiding it again. "And you reciprocate these feelings?" My mouth opened to speak but I stuttered some."

"I like all of you, the ones I know." I replied. He shook his head frowning.

"Our feelings are not the same. Hedwig, sees you as a big sister, someone to look up to, Patricia a daughter she always wanted-"

"And you?" I asked and he stiffened some.

"The woman who was always supposed to be mine." he replied before looking away for a second. "You shouldn't lead Ansel on if he admits his feelings for you."

"Why not?" I asked

"Because you can't love him! You can't love any of them!" he snapped. I jumped a bit at his sudden tone and he sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his head. I was mildly worried for Dennis down. It's like he's struggling with himself. He wants to like me but doesn't want other "parts" of him to like me. I can only imagine how difficult growing up for him and facing puberty alone. The kid Dennis was still kid Kevin to me. The three of us knew each other and were separated and now here we are as adults I could tell he's losing it. Was I doing this to him. He started to pace around the room some.

"We should have never saw you." he said. "I knew you coming back into our lives would change things. We all used to be on the same page. Not everyone wants the light, but since you got here, everyone wants to meet you, everyone wants to see and talk to you and have more purpose around you." I could hear the stress in his voice and I quickly got out of the bed and took his hands in mine.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." I said and he looked down at our hands intertwined and looked up at me, his eyes seemingly lost for a moment.

"I wish things could go back to the way they were." he replied coolly and softly. I blinked some not understanding.

"Like, before Kevin saw me at the zoo?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No like before we were older, before when there was still innocence in your eyes, and before your body became scarred. Everything had to be tidy and you would never question me, you just cleaned what I asked you to clean and made sure to never have dirt on your clothes. You were perfect." he explained. I gave a mild smile at his words. So, he really did remember much of our childhood together. The rumbling of the storm continued over us and I looked him over some.

"Would you like me to dance for you?" I asked. His eyes began to light up at my questions and he nodded.

"Yes." he said and I nodded and we separated from each other as he moved back to the desk and picked up a small radio. I moved over to the bed and slid my clothes away knowing he would ask me to anyways. I heard music playing. I looked up in thought of the song. It was gentle and hardly audible but the rhythm was enough for me to move hips to. I closed my eyes for a second before turning to face Dennis. He was sitting down with the radio clutched to his chest. His eyes watched my hips as I started to move my hips in a circular motion. I ran my hand over my arm as I drifted into the music. Maybe Kevin would return, maybe I would be able to speak to him somehow.

The last time we spoke was when I danced and maybe this will bring him back. Dennis's dark eyes watched me and he swallowed hard as I continued to dance in my spot. There was too much space between us and so I decided to move closer to him. As our legs were getting closer, Dennis leaned back some, his eyes changing from focus to foggy orbs. I began to gently roll my hips around in front of him. His eyes watched my stomach and then moved up to my breasts and finally resting on my face. We stared at each other, his body remaining tight and straight as I continued to grind my body against the air in front of him. I whipped my hair some so it landed over my shoulders, covering my breasts some. How far can I take this personality? I got my answer when Dennis just dropped the small radio and stood up.

It made a low static noise before shutting off. I stopped dancing and looked up at him as he just stared at me.

"I'm trying to be good." he said raggedly and I shook my head.

"I'm not asking you to." I replied and suddenly his lips crashed into mine hard and aggressively and his arms wrap around my ass and lift me suddenly up, and immediately my body was falling down with him on top me as we landed on the bed together. The kiss changed the second my head hit the pillow. Our mouths opened together and our tongues began to fight for dominance. Wasn't he afraid of this being dirty? I guess I would find out.