The Life of Anna, Part 4: Ensnared (12 page)

Anna felt tears coming to her eyes and shame
filling her.

Stop it, Anna.
She was tired of
being a doormat. At least she could stand up to the dancers without
getting in trouble with Devin.

She pushed away the shame and narrowed her
eyes at Jackie. “Do you want me to share them with you?” She
laughed and looked her up and down. “Though you’re probably too
skinny to hold their interest.”

“I didn’t know fat girls were the rage these
days.”

Anna gave her a wicked smile. “Your dad
seemed to enjoy my
fat
body. Though his cock was so tiny I
could hardly feel him.”

Jackie’s eyes widened and she took a swing at
Anna, who ducked easily out of the way. “Don’t you dare talk about
my dad that way.”

Anna laughed again. “Has he started comparing
your pathetic little body to mine? Jealous that he wants me instead
of you?”

“Why you little bitch!” Jackie lunged at her,
pushing Anna to the ground. “My dad would never do that to me.”

“Because you’re not worth it,” Anna snarled,
holding her hands up in front of her face to block the other girl’s
blows. She got a hold of one of Jackie’s wrists and twisted it like
Devin had done to her. Jackie fell to her knees. She studied
Jackie’s face. “Is your dad’s name Mel?”

“How did you...?”

Anna grinned menacingly. “I know your dad,”
she said softly, kneeling down in front of her. “I’ve watched him
lust after me and lick his lips as he stared at my pussy.” Anna’s
voice filled with spite as she lowered her voice even more. “He’s
not good enough for me to bother with. I only fuck important men.”
She gave Jackie’s wrist one last twist, and then stood and pushed
her way through the crowd that had gathered.

“Anna!”

She froze at the anger in Isaak’s voice.
Isaak walked to her and gave her a disapproving look. “What the
hell is wrong with you? You don’t start fights.”

Anna was about to give a smart remark when
she looked behind Isaak and saw Peter standing in the doorway
frowning at her. Her anger melted, replaced with fear.

She looked at Isaak. “I’m sorry,” she
whispered and ran out of the room, pushing past Peter and running
out the nearby exit.

She could feel Peter’s anger as he walked up
behind her. “I said I wouldn’t tell Devin about Aaron, because you
seemed like a lost little girl. But you’re really nothing but a
bitch, aren’t you?” He turned her around to face him. “I don’t know
what to think of you, Anna. I really don’t. Devin said you might
need discipline, and I was beginning to disbelieve him. Did you
have Aaron lie for you?”

“Lie?”

“All that stuff about Wilhelm and him having
permission to be with you? Is he some past lover that you don’t
want to get rid of? Or are you just defiant and like being
punished?”

Anna blinked, not knowing what to say. “I
would never ask Aaron to lie for me. I know Alex told him he
could...comfort me before he left. I don’t know what Wilhelm told
him. I didn’t even know Aaron was a Brother until recently. I
haven’t slept with Aaron since we broke up shortly after I turned
twenty. We were dating and then Isaak made us break up because I
was a student and he was in the company.” She looked up at Peter.
“I will stay away from him to keep him safe. He was my best friend.
And Alex’s too. I would do anything to keep him from getting
hurt.”

Peter studied her as she spoke. “Why were you
fighting with that girl? Jackie, is that her name?”

Anna sighed and told him what happened. He
watched her carefully as she talked, weighing her words carefully.
“I’m tired of crying at everything. I can’t stand up to anyone
without fear of being punished. But I thought I could with her.
Though her father is a Brother and I’ll probably be punished
anyway.” She stared at the ground.

“I went and filled out the application for
the apartment this afternoon. I’ll be moving in this week. I want
you to move in with me when I do.”

“Why so quickly? I thought you didn’t like
me.”

Peter shrugged. “The sooner you are staying
with me, the better I can keep an eye on you.”

When she was at the theater the rest of the
week, she stayed away from Aaron and Aaron stayed away from her.
Travis and Jenna avoided her too. She suspected Aaron warned them
to. She began to feel lonelier than she had before Devin had
brought Peter to the city. She danced her best during classes and
performances and hoped Devin and Peter would be pleased.

By Friday afternoon, Anna and Peter were
living together in the apartment that Peter had picked out. Anna
had to admit it was much nicer than where she’d been staying. It
was four times the size, with floor-to-ceiling windows at the end
of each room. Half of the apartment consisted of a large kitchen
with breakfast bar, a dining area and living area. The other half
consisted of the bathroom, two huge closets and a bedroom that
could easily fit a king-sized bed along with a small desk.

For the first few nights, Peter let her sleep
with the TV on, but then said he couldn’t deal with it anymore and
made her turn it off. She was so afraid of her dreams that she
managed to keep herself from sleeping too heavily and avoided them.
When she began to see the room, she managed to wake herself before
it fully materialized. She didn’t want to see Alex.

Peter put up pictures of his family and of
the St. Petersburg countryside. Every day, Anna had to look at the
picture of the man who took Alex away from her. What seemed even
worse was that Peter had his eyes, so every time she looked at him,
she saw Vitaly. She liked looking at the nature pictures, though.
St. Petersburg was very pretty, whether covered in snow or not.
Anna was fascinated with the pictures and found herself staring at
them at odd times.

Peter kept sex very impersonal. He always
approached her from behind and would only have anal with her. He
said he would not use her pussy again until she knew with her whole
body that he was in control of her, with deference to Devin. They
had sex every night and every morning. He used lube, which Anna was
thankful for, and did thank him, several times. This seemed to
please Peter. At night, he would caress her clit in that special
way he had that wouldn’t bring release. When she had screamed and
begged and pleaded for a sufficient amount of time, he would put
her on all fours and suck on her clit until she came with an orgasm
that shook her entire body. Then he would fuck her ass and then go
to sleep.

After
Petrushka
finished, they had a
few weeks off before Nutcracker rehearsals began. For the most
part, Anna stayed in the apartment. Peter had made friends with
many of the dancers and went out with them. He didn’t invite Anna,
and she stayed home alone.

Isaak called her one day and told her that
she had been promoted to soloist and that she would be one of the
ribbon dancers in the second act of the Nutcracker. “Don’t make me
regret this decision, Anna,” he warned.

When classes and rehearsals began again, Anna
found herself thankful to be around people again, even if they
ignored her. She and Peter joined the principals and soloists
during morning classes. Peter never held her, or even kissed her
unless they were at the theater or studio. When they were at home,
he ignored her, unless he wanted sex. She began to look forward to
being at the studio, just so he would be affectionate towards her,
although the schizophrenic relationship was starting to take a toll
on her emotions. She became very shy again and wouldn’t speak to
anyone. She was no longer the ice queen. She was once again the
scared little girl who had left Jack’s house.

She put all her energy into dancing and hoped
that both Peter and Devin would see how hard she was trying. When
Devin wanted her on Friday nights, she would sit at his feet and do
exactly what he asked of her without thinking about it. Peter would
pick her up the next afternoon and take her home.

One Saturday, about a week after rehearsals
began again, Peter picked her up and Devin walked out with her to
speak to him.

“If it’s all right with you, I think I’ll
send some men over to your apartment that would like to spend time
with Anna.”

Peter shrugged. “Sure.”

Devin didn’t know when they would come, but
Anna was supposed to be home in the evenings in case someone wanted
to see her.

A few days later, the first man knocked on
their door. Anna opened the door and her heart dropped into her
stomach. It was Zach.

“H-hello, Zach.” She hadn’t seen him since
the night she’d gone to the Symphony with Kurt and Wilhelm.

Zach smiled broadly at her. “Hello, Anna.
It’s good to see you.” He walked in and stopped when he saw Peter
sitting on the couch. “Who are you?”

Peter stood and greeted Zach. “I’m Peter.
I’m...Anna’s keeper.”

“Lucky man,” Zach commented. He turned back
to Anna. “Bedroom?”

Anna nervously walked to the bedroom door and
opened it.

“In here,” she said softly.

Zach walked in and Anna glanced at Peter, who
had returned to watching his TV show.

Zach grabbed her hand and pulled her inside
the bedroom.

After Zach left, she huddled on the floor
next to the bed, bloodied and bruised from Zach’s “play.” She had
tried not to scream, so as not to disturb Peter, but didn’t think
she’d succeeded.

She knew she needed to change the sheets and
take a shower so she could take care of Peter before they went to
sleep. With trembling limbs, she started pulling the blankets and
sheets off the bed. She got the sheets into the washing machine and
then stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower.

“Anna, why are the sheets off the bed?” Peter
walked into the bathroom as she was getting out of the shower and
he stopped short when he saw her. He exclaimed something in
Russian. “What happened?”

Anna saw herself in the mirror. She had welts
and scratches all over her body. Her nipples were bright red from
Zach biting and pinching them. Her pussy lips were bright red as
well.

“I... I’m okay,” she said, reaching with a
shaking arm for her towel.

Peter pulled it off the rack and handed it to
her. She looked at him warily. Why was he being nice now? He
stepped towards her and she instinctively stepped back and nearly
fell on the slippery porcelain. He caught her arm before she fell
and when she was steady, put the towel on her shoulders and helped
her out of the shower.

She trembled with fear and cold as he gently
dabbed the towel over her body to dry her and then helped her into
her robe.

“Let me put the other set of sheets on the
bed,” she said and walked towards the linen closet.

“No, I’ve got it. Come sit down. I’ll take
care of it.” Peter led her to the desk chair and then proceeded to
make up the bed.

Anna shook with fear as she watched him
quickly make the bed and replace the pillows and blankets. He
picked her up and placed her gently in bed and then sat next to
her.

“What happened?” he asked softly.

“Didn’t you hear?”

Peter shook his head. “I went out. I...didn’t
want to listen.” He pressed his lips together. “Maybe I should have
stayed.”

“To join in?”

Peter gave her a disgusted look. “I don’t get
off on hurting women, Anna,” he snapped. “I’ve told you that.”

Anna shrank back on the bed and tried not to
cry. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “Do you
know him?”

Anna nodded.

“You’ve been with him before?”

She nodded again.

“Has he hurt you before?”

“That’s all he does. He likes it.”

“You looked scared when you saw him. You knew
he would hurt you?”

She nodded.

“Why did you let him come in?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you knew he would hurt you, why would you
let him come in and be with you? Haven’t you told Devin?”

Anna stared at Peter, not understanding what
he was asking.

“Anna, why haven’t you told Devin that he
hurts you?” Peter demanded loudly.

“He...he knows. Zach’s always been like this
with me.”

Peter stood and walked to the window,
standing with his hands on his hips and looking out into the night.
Anna watched him, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly he wheeled
around and looked at her.

“Let me get this straight: Devin knows how
that man is, and still allows him to come to you?”

“Of course,” she whispered. “Most of the men
who have visited me in the past have hurt me. It’s why I was raised
the way I was. They can use me as they want and Devin gets what he
wants out of them. I heal quickly...or at least I used to.”

“Is this what Aaron was talking about when he
said that bruise was the least of what Devin does to you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know what Aaron
knows.”

“Has Devin always been this way?”

“What way?”

“Abusive.”

“Well, not always. He was nice to me when I
was little. And when Alex was alive, he treated me respectfully.
Alex made sure of that.” She twisted her wedding ring on her
finger.

Peter ran his hands through his hair and
looked troubled. “Go to sleep, Anna. I need to go out for a little
while.”

Anna knew better than to ask him what he was
doing and simply nodded and untied her robe.

“Do you want the TV on?”

Anna gave Peter a startled look. She still
didn’t understand why he was being nice. “No, thank you,” she
whispered. “I’m fine.”

He kissed her on the head and then left the
room. She heard the apartment door open and close a few minutes
later. She turned out the lights, curled up under the covers, and
cried herself to sleep, hurting and confused.