The Nuthouse

Shaun shouted in pain as she bit into him and he punched her until she let go. He gripped her by the neck and he tightened his fingers, attempting to choke her out.

Rosetta felt the blows like they were happening to someone else. She could hear the smack of his knuckles against her cheek, but she barely felt it. She bucked up underneath him, kicking at his groin as she brought her wrists down toward his head, wanting to bash it in.

Shaun groaned as she hit his head, seeing stars. He pulled away from her, falling back as he scrambled for the table to help himself up. He grabbed the hammer and eyed her for a moment before he swung, not at Rosetta, but at the wall repeatedly as he shouted in frustration.
"What. The. Fuck!" He shouted with each strike before he tossed the hammer to the ground.

Rosetta was on her feet as soon as he stood, the room spinning slightly. She moved away from him when he came toward her with the hammer, in stance to dodge the attack, when he hit the wall instead. She was bleeding, probably from her cheek she assumed, but she let it go. She was too startled to see Shaun the way he was. What the fuck indeed.

Shaun probably looked as crazy as he felt, and he just looked at Rosetta his yellow eyes wild. He hated her, hated the way she made him feel and he wanted her gone, but he didn't necessarily want her dead. He stalked towards her before he grabbed her chains yanking her towardsr him.

Rosetta hadn't been expected it, and so she stumbled right into his arms, her hands catching his shoulder as she found her footing. She looked up at him slowly, her hair in her face, her breath erratic. She was so close to him, it was jarring.

Shaun caught her as she fell forward and he was startled. He hadn't been this close to a victim unless he was luring them, or torturing them, but for some reason this felt...different. He moved her hair out of her face as his gripped tightened in her locks and he shoved her against the wall. He was clearly struggling with something, debating.

Rosetta grunted as he pulled her hair and shoved her against the wall.
"Stop fucking manhandling me." She hissed.
Jesus, didn't he realize she was going easy on him? She didn't provoke him very often, and when she fought back yeah it was enough to hurt him but just so that he'd let her go. She could have gotten the upper hand and maybe killed him by now, but she hadn't. Just like he hadn't.

Shaun wasn't a rapist, he even gave her privacy when she bathed, even if he did take a glance every so often, but for some reason the idea crossed his mind. That repulsed him more than the torture, more than the killing, but his body had other ideas.

He tilted her head to the side and he roughly bit down on her neck, giving it a rough kiss. "Tell me no." he hissed. "Say it."

Rosetta had dated one boy in high school, and now she couldn't even remember his name. He had taken her to homecoming, but she assumed Stephen had threatened him because he disappeared mid dance and avoided her after that.

Sometimes after Marcus took Stephen out for quality time, Stephen would come into her room at night. She had been young, and conflicted. She had loved her brother at one time. He never got past groping, but she assumed that was because she had killed him first.

She had been expecting Shaun to rip her throat out with his teeth, but just when she was going to push her thumb into his eye, the bite turned into a rough kiss. She froze, both her body and her mind.
"No." She whispered.

Shaun immediately let go of her and he took a step back. For the first time in the month he couldn't look at her, feeling...ashamed? He turned away from her and moved to the collection table and rummaged underneath one before pulling out a set of keys.

He couldn't kill her, he didn't know what to do with her. So what if she was going easy on him, so what if he was going easy on her in return. A month with him was enough to earn her freedom, even if she ratted him out, he'd be long gone.

He moved to stand in front of her and he took her wrists and unshackled her wrists.

Rosetta rubbed the skin of her wrist when he took off the chains. She looked at him carefully for a moment. Was he going to grab her if she moved toward the door? Did it matter? She could fully fight him now. She edged around him, not turning her back to him as she pulled on the handle of the container.

And then she slipped out into the sunlight. It was so bright, she shielded her eyes but she didn't stop running.

Shaun moved after her, but once he got to the door he had to force himself to stop. He watched her run, and he gripped the door handle tightly.
"Live easy..." he whispered. The memory of her would have to suffice as a collection.

He got into his car and he drove to his house. Once home he readied his emergency kits. If she talked, it wouldn't take long before the search was on, and he was ready. Now all he had to do was wait.

Rosetta got to her apartment in record time. She threw the clothes in the garbage and ran the shower hot, scrubbing furiously. The next thing she knew, she was in bed passing out.

Days passed, and no one came for Shaun. There was a newscast a week later about the return of a missing decorated Army woman. In the picture Rosetta was in full uniform, next to Amon, a big smile on her face. It had been taken just after her promotion to lead sniper.
"Rosetta Thomas claims she does not know the man that held her captive for over a month, and no details or charges are being released at this time." The news anchor said.

Shaun had watched the news religiously after the first day, but nothing ever came from it, until he finally saw the report on Rosetta. Army? No wonder she could fight, no wonder she gave off a vibe that had strength written all over it. She was trained, she would never break easily.

He did research and eventually found an address and he debated. That would be weird? That...could never possibly end well, yet she was all he could think of.
"Fuck it..." That night he went to her apartment, sneaking inside before finding the door. He had no way of picking the lock so maybe he could just...wait...

Rosetta heard the doorbell ring. She had security downstairs, but of course they didn't know who they were looking for. She just had a buzzer in her apartment and all she had to do was press it for them to show up. That being said, she just opened the door. She felt safe. She wasn't going to let Shaun take that from her.
"Yea-" She began, but then her eyes widened and she started to slam the door shut.

Shaun was going to back out, he was being way too risky, but then his heart skipped a beat when he heard her. He wedged his foot into the door frame, blocking her even if it was painful.
"Wait..." he whispered. "One minute."

Rosetta slowly let up on the pressure of the door. Why should she? Jesus, he beat her. Savagely. She should blow his head off and be done with it. But she hadn't even reported him and she didn't know why the fuck not.
"What?" She whispered, swallowing. "Don't try anything. I'm armed, I have friends in the lobby. What do you want?"

Shaun nodded.
"I won't...promise." he whispered, raising his hands. "I"m not carrying. I just...I don't know why I'm here...."

Rosetta slowly stepped backward and motioned him inside. She backed up into the living room, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I don't know why you're here either. You know I could have given them a full description of what you look like and have them hunting you down right now, right?"

Shaun nodded, eyeing her.
"I know." he whispered. "That's why I'm here. Why didn't you turn me in? Want me to sweat it out, baby girl?"

A muscle twitched in Rosetta's jaw when he called her that.
"I don't fucking know." She admitted, meeting his eyes. "I didn't feel like it. I wanted the attention to die down as soon as possible." It just made it easier for Marcus to find her. "Pick a reason, any of them work."

Shaun noticed the twitch and he couldn't help but smirk. He took a step closer to her before his eyes swept over the place.
"Hmph, whatever you say, Rose." he whispered.

Rosetta just about slapped him, but she settled on balling her hands into fists.
"You think you know me because you gave me some water and threw water on me for a month, then watched some news cast? You don't." She didn't step backward. She was still just as defiant as she had been in the container.

Shaun simply shrugged.
"I know I don't know you." he whispered as he began to circle her. "I only know you were alive for a month, and that I can't kill you. I know your name, and where you live. Everything else you can share on your own, or not at all."

When he was behind her he lightly tugged on her hair.