Chapter 4 BOUND.

---

CHAPTER 4

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

JED'S POV

I opened my eyes-and was swallowed by darkness.

My wrists were bound behind me, skin raw against cold metal. My legs ached. My heart thudded violently in my chest like it was trying to escape the cage of my ribs.

"No... no, no, no," I whispered, panic rising like bile.

And then-his voice.

Familiar. Hateful.

I froze. The sound of his laugh slithered through the room, followed by others. His men.

The pain was familiar, too. The kind that never really goes away. It just waits in the back of your mind, ready to strike the moment you're alone with it.

His hand brushed my skin and I flinched, stomach twisting in revulsion.

"It's been a while," he said, stepping closer.

I yanked at the chains, fury shaking in my veins. "Let me go," I said, voice cracking.

I wasn't weak. Not anymore. But... I couldn't do this again. Not again. Not him.

I'd begged for death once. Every single day. And he never granted it. Just took and took and took.

He leaned down, brushing his lips against my cheek. I turned away and spat at him, breathing hard. He deserved every ounce of my hatred.

He backhanded me. The taste of blood bloomed on my tongue. A blade pressed against my face, dragging slow and deliberate until the burn stung deep into my cheek.

Then-he ripped my clothes.

My chest tightened. I could barely breathe.

I screamed and twisted, choking on my panic, on my shame. But it didn't stop him.

"I missed this," he muttered.

"You're a sick, pathetic old man," I hissed.

His eyes narrowed. He grabbed a syringe off a nearby tray and plunged it into my neck. I cried out-once, raw and helpless-as the world around me began to blur.

"This'll shut your mouth, slut," he growled.

I lost feeling in my limbs. My head tilted, vision swimming with shadows. I couldn't move. Could barely think. But I could feel.

Every breath. Every touch. Every second of him stealing something from me again.

I wanted to scream. To fight.

But all I could do was exist inside the prison of my own body.

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall.

When it was over, he left me there.

Unchained.

Unclothed.

Unspoken for.

And yet somehow still breathing.

---

I woke up screaming.

My whole body drenched in sweat. My fingers were still clenched tight around my pillow like I was gripping for life itself.

The nightmare had been too real. Too vivid.

I sat up, shaking, heart pounding so hard I could hear it echo off the walls.

Then-

The gunshots.

The men.

The snake tattoos.

Mave.

My body moved before my thoughts could catch up. I bolted out of bed and flew down the hall.

"MAVE!! MAVEEEEE!!!" I shouted until my voice cracked. I checked his room. Empty.

Panic crushed me again.

What if something happened?

What if I was too late?

What if it wasn't just a dream?

I stumbled into the living room, expecting chaos-blood, broken furniture, bullet holes. But... everything was untouched. Like nothing had happened.

I heard a sound.

I turned.

Mave stood in the kitchen. Cooking. Humming. Alive. Unbothered.

I froze. My breath caught in my throat.

He turned toward me, surprised. "Jedi? What's wrong?"

I stared at him like a ghost had answered the door.

No bruises. No wounds. No signs of a fight.

The world spun under my feet.

Was I dreaming?

Did it really happen?

It felt so real.

--