Tender Cruelty

• Lana-jade Cole
• Short Story
• 2014

Rose was okay. She staggered into the room, before collapsing in a heap. She was okay. Things were okay. It was all okay.

What a lie that was.

She couldn't escape Clara. No matter where she went, the small woman's all-knowing smile was present in her head. Those eyes that appeared so soft, but froze her to her core. She seemed so gentle and virtuous, yet Rose knew better.

Rose was haunted by the girl. Constantly felt her presence.

She was never alone. Even when she was the only person in the room.

The young woman's soft laughter sounded in her mind. Her eyelashes fluttered as her vision swam. Her breathing was but ragged pants. Her chest was constricted, and she felt like she was suffocating.

The door opened. No words were spoken. The only sound was her heavy breathing, easily masking the soft padding of bare feet on the carpeted floor. She felt hands all over. She was pulled into a lap. Her lap. Clara's lap.

Clara continued to stay silent, running her small fingers through Rose's blonde tresses. Rose sighed. Content, yet distraught. She wanted to push the brunette away. She wanted to pull her closer. To connect their lips and bodies. To feel her flesh and breathe her scent.

She turned away.

She had to get out. She had to get away.

Clara didn’t react with offense. She smiled, soft and melancholic.

A breathy sigh. A growling stomach. Shivers danced along Rose's spine as the bitter cold consumed her naked flesh. A whimper escaped dry lips.

"Shhh," Clara whispered, caressing the fair-haired woman's face.

Rose deferentially silenced herself. She was far too weak to move any further, and her throat was raw from continuous weeping.

But it was okay now.

Clara was home.

Why did she continue to return?

What did she return for?

Surely not Rose.

"Please," Rose tried.

Clara patiently ran a finger along the elder woman's jaw.

"I'm so hungry..."

A frown marred Clara's delicate features.

"Rose," she began. "You know the rules. Did you eat the food on the table?"

Silence.

"Rose," she prompted sternly.

Rose cracked. Salty tears began to trail down her gaunt cheeks. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I was so hungry. I couldn't help it. All I've had this week was a slice of bread. I'm so sorry."

Clara was not okay, though she appeared to be.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but you know the rules."

Clara had a problem.

"I can't feed you if you disobey me."

Clara loved Rose to the point of obsession. She loved the woman so much, she wanted to control her. Keep her under lock and key, away from the rest of the world.

Rose loved being loved.

It was all she'd dreamed about, since her father died, and her mother favoured the company of strange men over her own daughter.

Rose obediently did not eat.

She suppressed her sobs and closed her eyes.

She eagerly awaited another horrific day in Clara's deceivingly tender embrace.