Liliana found me while I was doing laundry. She sat down on a fallen log to nurse Henry, near where I was scrubbing the clothes. For a while we both focused our tasks, until she broke the silence.

"Trevor told me yesterday what he was making you do", she said. Her voice sounded lifeless, but I did not lift my head to look at her. I was too ashamed.

"I tried to argue with him, but he wouldn't budge, as usual. I couldn't bare to watch it, so I left. I'm sorry", she continued.

"You don't need to apologize. There was nothing you could do. There's nothing anybody can do", I said. My voice caught. It was getting difficult to hold back the tears now.

"How do you feel? No, I'm sorry, that's a stupid question. What I mean is, did Marcus hurt you?", Liliana asked. I could hear the helplessness and concern in her voice. I shook my head.

"Marcus was nice, at least compared to Trevor. He didn't hurt me", I said, while keeping my head down.

"But in a way it's worse than anything Trevor did to me before. Until now he only hurt me. Now he's changing me, turning me into someone I don't want to be", I said. The tears started to spill over and flow down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry", Liliana said. She moved to stand behind me, using one hand to hold Henry and the other to pat me on my back until I calmed down.

While I cried I also thought of an idea. Marcus couldn't perform with a girl who looked like she was suffering, and Trevor enjoyed hurting me. Could it be that if I looked like I enjoyed it, Trevor would be unable to perform too?

It was a stupid idea that had almost no chance of success, and would almost certainly result only in me receiving extra punishment, but I had to try something to resist, something to tell myself that I tried to fight back, tried to save myself. I couldn't keep waiting for others to save me, or for Trevor to drop dead on his own, because so far neither of those was leading to any results and my situation kept getting worse.

I didn't see Marcus again until dinner. When Liliana learned that Marcus would be staying for the night, she left to stay at her parents' home again so that she wouldn't have to witness Trevor forcing me to entertain his guest in my bedroom.

I used that night and the following morning as an opportunity to practice, trying to make my performance more convincing. Marcus said that it was still obvious that I was acting, but that I did improve somewhat. That would have to do, because he left the village after breakfast. Liliana came back almost as soon as he was gone.

In the afternoon Trevor took me to the creek far behind his property, his favorite spot for punishing me. He made me take off my undergarments and hold the back of my skirt up above my waist with my tail. I tightly clasped my hands up above my chest and did my best to stay silent and remain standing upright while he methodically belted my calves, then my thighs, then finally my bottom until they were raw.

When he was done he had me lie flat on my back in the dirt. My raw skin ached from the weight that was placed on it and from the friction that his movements inside me caused. Remembering my plan, I started to let out little moans, as if I felt pleasure at what he we doing to me. He frowned but kept going. I kept making the noises, each time a little louder and at an increasing frequency. I felt him get soft, until he finally slipped out. It worked!

My feeling of accomplishment was short-lived. A moment later a scream was wrenched out of me when powerful jolt of pain was sent directly into my brain from the collar. Trevor laughed.

"You're welcome to try playing tricks like that any time you wish to be punished", he said. He left the pain on and watched me writhe on the floor, tears and snot running down my face. It was almost, but not quite as bad as the first time he forced himself on me. I still had some awareness of my surroundings.

After what felt like an eternity he resumed what he was doing earlier, before I tried those tricks. It was only when he was finally done that he turned off the pain and left, leaving me lying alone in the dirt.

Liliana was waiting for me when I got back to the house. She hugged my tightly for a long time, not caring that she was getting mud on her clean clothes.

"What happened? You look worse than usual", she whispered.

"I tried to make him stop. He punished me", I answered curtly.

Liliana then had me explain exactly what I tried and why it didn't work.

"That bastard", she said while angrily biting her nails. "So he only gets aroused when you're in pain?"

I nodded.

Liliana paced the kitchen while wringing her hands and muttering to herself. I watched her without comprehending her actions until she stopped. Then she looked at me as if she only just noticed me sitting in the room.

"Well, we better get you cleaned up. I'm sure you'll feel a little better after a bath", she said. She took me outside and lit the fire underneath the bath tub. I took off my clothes and entered the tub when the water was warm enough. Liliana went to fetch me fresh clothes from my room, then helped me clean myself, but the whole time she was fussing over me her mind seemed to be clouded with dark thoughts.

After the bath was over she gave me a cool cream to sooth my sore skin and helped me get dressed. She then told me to rest for the remainder of the day, which was what she often did on the days when Trevor gave me his special attention.