TWELVE

ELVIRA

I stand frozen for a few seconds, trying to process what has just happened. Then, with a heavy heart, I slowly sit back down on the bed. I bite my lip to keep myself from crying, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I can't believe how my life has turned upside down in just one day. I woke up this morning, never expecting that by nightfall, I would be in a strange man's bed. It's surreal and unsettling, and I can't wrap my head around it.

"You are not to talk back to me or oppose my decisions, Elvira," Demetrius says, taking a last sip of wine from his glass.

He turns to face me, his movements slow and calculated. He carries himself with an air of arrogance, his head held high.

"You don't have the right to question me, Elvira," he says, his voice cold and commanding. "Do you understand?"

I hang my head, pain evident on my face.

“Do you fucking understand, Elvira?!!!” I hear him roar, this time around he sounds very angry. The air around us grows suffocating and thick.

"Y