I don€t open my eyes so I can€t see him, but I can smell him. He thickens the air I breathe, choking me with his scent€¦his aroma. I shiver. I have to resist. If I€m not strong, then I will be relegated to the same fate as this predator whose sickness infects me even now. But now, I crave him and he knows that; he has been counting on my need to end the gnawing pain. How he would savor my surrender. I€m alive, but how much longer will it take until I beg him not to be?