Pleading words of mercy fell disregarded, stifled by the hand of a false lover. The weak "stop" inflicted its own principles upon the speaker, silenced as innocence darkened into twisted fantasies, scrambling to crawl his way out, forced to surrender under horrendous remarks inflicting guilt. Reminders of relationship status deemed more like the buzzer and slam of faded metal bars shutting, locking him in a filthy cell; victim falsely accused as the criminal walked free with the key swinging in her grasp.

Misguided love, succumbing to the first to reprieve him from torture. Though she wasn’t the first, just the most manipulative, bending his thoughts into believing she was sanctuary, now abusing that power for gruesome desire. He was prohibited from a word of protest, forced to endure her satisfaction as he begged his subconscious to travel anywhere but her unyielding grasp.

Eerily still hands redid the buttons of his shirt, perfectly pressed material ruined to wrinkles and disarray. The vest suffocated his chest, suppressing his lungs from fulling expanding as his heart slammed against the fabric. The faint clink of his belt was terrifyingly quiet against the ceaseless ringing in his ears.

He didn’t blink, he didn’t breathe, and for a moment, he didn’t move, empty gaze staring at the carpet that once led to comfort, now reminding of misery. The sink ran in the bathroom, a ticking clock of how little time he had to flee. His subconscious — previously traitorous in forcing him to witness — graciously shifted his limbs forward, carrying him out the door and away from the house of horror.

Snow littered in his hair, perching atop his clothes and seeping into his skin. The ache of stinging coldness was forgotten in his scarily blank mind, void of thoughts as he drew closer to the familiar fortress of proper safety.

Festive lights flashed at his approach, soft creak of rickety old porch steps being the first comprehensible noise in his head. Cars lined the driveway, an undoubted display of your family lined in the living room, celebrating the holidays. He couldn’t feel guilty, he couldn’t feel anything but empty.

Three knocks hit the door, each puncturing a hole in his lungs, stealing his breath. Hollow eyes raised to meet yours as the door swung open, left in a draining state of shock and scarcity as his mind hid away from the reality of what she’d done to him. Shivers racked his form, draped in snow and fear, eternally silent against the weight of it.