No, I respect him in that. [It's an automatic, snapped reaction, something that slips from his gut into his mouth without ever having been a thought. It was an unconscious admission, but now that it hung in the air he couldn't deny the truth in it. He lets out a short frustrated growl.]

I understand that in a way I really don't think you do. He chose to be there, he set the stage, and he was determined to see it through. He refuses to see himself as a victim, and that's the lie he needed to survive that night. I didn't intend to break it unless it was absolutely necessary.