With my back straight and my stance wide and confident, I took a piss and flipped the lid shut, even though my neck itched and I was almost in agony from the need to turn, to run, to escape the presence I could feel behind me.
I washed my hands. I cupped them, taking a long, deep drink, the relief instant and overwhelming.
The cool of the water rushed down my oesophagus, soothing everything all the way down.
He hadn't moved. I'd have felt the motion in the room's air currents, heard the rattle of that chain.
Like a belled cat lurking right behind a mouse.
No, I wasn't a mouse any more than I was a rabbit, dammit.
I rubbed water on my face, my confidence growing for real, instead of being just something I was putting on for show.
Maybe he didn't want to try to take me on. I wasn't that much smaller than he was, right? A few inches shorter.
