And then I watched her approach my bed and reach for a pillow. For some reason, my heart was pounding up to my throat. When she finally lay down in my bed and immediately fell asleep, I was surprised at myself.
I wasn’t angry. Instead, I felt a smile on my lips again. It said so much about Kate’s feelings for me. I felt downright intoxicated by these recordings.
Is this what it felt like to be in love?
I quickly switched back to the livestream, and my smile died.
Kate was no longer in her room.
I switched to the cameras’ overview and watched as she stood just inside the hallway, the bedroom door behind her.
Again my heart pounded. This time for a very different reason: Kate was looking in a particular direction: toward the door, she was absolutely not supposed to open.
I watched her, with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity, as she hesitantly walked toward the room., I had explicitly told her about the rooms she was allowed to use. This one particular room was not one of them, and for a reason.
It was another test. Was Kate trying to get punished by me, or was she just being careless?
By now, my little hummingbird should know better. Maybe I had been too gentle with her after all. I had not punished Kate very hard so far. Why that was, I had to admit to myself: I didn’t want to lose her.
Kate’s hand clasped the doorknob and turned it. She opened the door to the room I now regretted not locking.
“Drive faster!” I yelled at my driver.
Kate
I didn’t have the slightest clue why I was so drawn to this door that I hadn’t noticed before.
It was as if my subconscious told me that I needed to check out the room that lay beyond.
When I finally opened the door, absolute darkness greeted me. This unsettled me. Every other room in the house was flooded with daylight. Hiroshi had automatic shutters.
So why was this room dark?
Without thinking further about it, I felt for the light switch and flipped it. Immediately, the room was illuminated by indirect light. There was no furniture, and yet the room was not empty.
The walls were hung full of writing and tons of photos: Photos of me. Stunned, I stared at the walls. I hardly noticed how I entered the room so that I could turn around my axis. Little by little, I took a closer look at the documents hanging among the photos. It was the police file of the car accident, documents of the orphanage, testimonies, job applications, and on top of everything, photos of me again and again. He even had a newspaper article that reported the car accident. There was a copy of my lease of my current apartment. Everything was in chronological order. In the end, the photos showed me running errands for the law firm and me sleeping in my bed.
I couldn’t believe it. All this time, I had thought I was stalking him when it had been Hiroshi stalking me. Everything he had done to me, I had believed to be punishment, and now I was learning it was something else entirely.
A loud bang made me wince.
Had that been the front door? Was Hiroshi back, or was it someone else? I knew I had to get out of this room, but I was in no condition to move.
Startled, like a deer in headlights, I listened to the approaching footsteps.
When he finally appeared in the doorway, his expression made me shudder.
Before I knew it, my back and the back of my head collided with the wall behind me. Hiroshi’s hand was at my throat, squeezing the air out of me. Stars danced before my eyes, and it was impossible to say anything. Still, I opened my mouth, only to have Hiroshi’s other hand squeeze it shut. And he held my nose in the process.
Hiro
Seeing Kate in that room made me furious, but not just with anger. I couldn’t think straight anymore. Before she could even think of running away, I had already thrown her against the nearest wall. Before I could plead for mercy, I covered her mouth.
I wanted to take her here and now, but I knew she would fight back, and I didn’t want that.
“I told you which rooms you could use, little hummingbird,” I whispered in her ear as I waited for her to pass out.
I couldn’t tell what I was feeling anymore.
It was something between anger, fear, and despair.
I was sure I would lose her, yet all of this had been a part of my plan.
Kate should know the truth, and yet I was afraid of her reaction.
Had I really believed that she would not open the room? Why had I risked that?
Did I want to know if she would love me, anyway? Or maybe just because of that?
Or did that one dark part of me just want a reason to finally do the thing with her that I had been putting off all this time?
Yes, that had to be it. And yet, I had to carry out this one final punishment. Because I wanted to free Kate, my little hummingbird. Countless times, I had tortured her by stimulating her clitoris, but never had she come to orgasm. Often enough, her eyes had welled up with tears. That sight had softened me every time.
Now I had no choice. This time I had to go through with it. Because it was my last chance. For weeks, I had tormented her, never once offering her a wish, even though I had promised her.
I had always intended to punish her when she wished for freedom, but I had never been able to bring myself to do it.
Kate
When I came to my senses, I realized I
