‘Come over here,’ he said, slow and even. She rose with difficulty, flexing out her tender knees, the skin on them aching with each movement. She could see angry red indents from where the rocks pressed into her flesh before dropping her hemline down to cover her legs. ‘You’ll attend to my cheek now,’ he said sternly, his voice low and ominous. This sudden calmness worried Miranda.

His cheek bore a bright red burn in the round shape of the pan and she had to stop herself from smiling at the sight. She sat down next to him and applied the burn cream to his cheek, desperately wishing she could apply it to her own as well. Smiling at the obvious pain she was in and the look of longing she was giving the tube, he ripped it from her shaking hand when she was done and told her to continue making his lunch. He’d taken the skillet away and laid out lunchmeat in lieu of grilled cheese. She heard him rearranging the pebbles behind her. Her knees were still throbbing, she wasn’t sure she could handle kneeling on them again.

When she set the plate in front of him, he didn’t smile, but grunted and said, ‘Kneel.’

Miranda looked at the ground next to him where he’d spread out another thin layer of pebbles. She tried to stop the tears but they slipped out anyway, stinging mercilessly as the warm salty liquid traveled over her cheek. Lifting the bottom of her dress once more, she lowered herself slowly to the ground. When her knees hit the rocks she bit the inside of her cheek in an effort not to scream, the copper taste of blood filling her mouth. She tried not to yell out again for fear that he’d hit her. She watched him eat with the obligatory smile on her face, her cheeks trembling with the effort. As awful as the pebbles were, if this and the burn were her only punishments for her actions, then she could push through.

After she washed all the dishes and he approved her work, he led Miranda back to their room. She waited behind him, anxious to put distance between herself and him even if it meant being chained to a wall. But before he unlocked the door he turned around, startling her. He hauled his arm back and punched her in the face. Blinding starbursts filled her eyes as she fought to remain conscious. He held her body upright when it sagged toward the floor. He grabbed her by the throat, making it difficult to breathe. She felt a warm trail of blood trickling down her left cheek.

‘You try something like that again, and I’ll kill you. You hear me?’ he growled, his spit landing on her forehead. ‘Do you understand, Fourteen?’