Page 47 of Dollhouse

“Try to rest,” I say, knowing it sounds stupid. How could he? But he nods at me like it’s good advice and when he does, I spot something silver behind his head. It looks kind of like a bowl.

My stomach drops, and I peek behind me to see the same. Two bowls, complete with the engraved bone on front. One with water, and one sitting empty.

Dog bowls.

It’s almost indescribable, the gut punch that comes right after it becomes clear we’re going to be subjected to complete degradation while we’re here. Bundy didn’t just bring us here to use us, or to upset the Finches. This is a humiliation ritual and one I can’t see a way out of. Looking at my cage, the collar tightens as my throat clenches. What would Noah think if he could see me now?

Shame licks at my skin and I drop my head. Abstractly, I’d known that Mercy avenged the victims of men like this. I knew they hunted monsters but I’d never been able to quite picture what the monsters looked like.

Suddenly, I’m surrounded by them.

I look back up and Bo fiercely studies my face. The protective flair rises and I try to hide my turmoil. If nothing else, I can try to keep him calm.

“Remember the last time we were at work with each other?” I ask.

He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have, but he humors me anyway. “Yeah. I was so hungover,” he rasps.

I laugh. “We had no idea what was coming when we went to work that day.”

He tries to smile back at me, then flinches in pain and my heart sinks.

“Everything can change in a minute, can't it?” His voice is barely a whisper, the defeat heavy in each word.

I nod. “I’m sorry, Bo. If you hadn’t been there with me you’d probably be at home right now.”

His brow furrows, and he shifts closer to the bars, though it’s clearly painful for him to do so. “I’ve never once regretted being there with you or anything that happened after. I barely hung on for so many years, working for Eric and needing to keep him in my life to pay my rent.” He bites his lip, that vulnerability back on his face that had finally started going away in the last few months. “I was never able to get rid of that feeling of being stained by him.” He tries to smile. “He might have fucked me up more than I thought.”

I curl up on my side, reaching one hand out as if he could take it. As if we could hold on to each other somehow, to keep our heads above water. “I get it, Bo.”

“Oh no, I see we’ve interrupted quite the little psychotherapy session.”

The crooning voice makes my stomach clench, and my head snaps toward the doorway.

It’s Eric, and seeing him sends a jolt through my body. He freezes, standing right next to Bundy and staring straight at me. I hate him. The strength of it is staggering, but I can’t seem to break the stare-off.

His eyes are wide, taking in the sight of my complete humiliation, but he stays silent at Bundy’s heel.

“Looks like you’ve gotten comfortable. Perfect. My two newest pets,” Bundy starts, that half grin on his face as he walks toward a leather loveseat to the side of the door. “I gave you an easy day to acclimate, but that is now coming to an end.” He steeples his hands, looking back and forth between my cage and Bo’s, before pointing at his. “Please release him.”

He beckons for Eric as he takes a seat, telling him to follow suit.

Coward. It should be shocking to see him here, to see him taking orders from such a terrible person. Every truth I’ve discovered in the last few months has killed the love I had for him. God, I was such a stupid, doting wife. Loyal to a fault. I rotted in that house silently as he played wingman to a psychopathic sex trafficker.

Cutting my eyes to Bo, my heart flies. Release him? It’s obvious they won’t let us go and suddenly leaving the cage seems dangerous. “Bo,” I call. I don’t even know what words to use for this situation, I just need him to know that I’m right here. He’s not alone.

A guard leans down and reaches for the padlock. Bo snaps. The quickness of his attack surprises everyone considering how much of a mess he is, and yet his fist smashes into the guard’s knee, causing him to stumble backward.

My mouth drops open, watching in horror as Bo attempts to scramble through the low door to the cage, when he’s snapped up by the hoard of guards that seem to hover in every room.

“Bo,” I scream, hands tangled in the bars, rattling as if I could force the thing to break apart. “Bo, please don’t fight them.”

He ignores me, snarling as he cracks his head back, breaking the nose of the man who holds him in a bear grip. Blood sprays across his hair as a second guard punches him in the side of the face.

Screaming, I try to bash the door to my cage, my forearm burning with each new attempt. I need to get to him, he’s mine to protect. It’s my job to keep him safe.

My Bo. Blood drips from his busted lips, eyes hazy as he struggles to keep himself from falling.

Turning on Eric, I level him with my fury. “Do something! That’s your family, how can you just watch this?”