I’ve been kidnapped by my stalker. Was this all a ruse to get me to trust her? So, she can… what? What does she want with me? I don’t know her. I’ve never met her. Why me?
I pick at the god-awful breakfast. It’s eggs and beans, but the eggs taste weird. I think they’re powdered; the orange juice is tart and burns going down, and it's sour as fuck. But I eat, drink, and feel sorry for myself. I’ve got enough chain to make it to the bathroom, but I can’t get further than the door or to the window. I’ve tried everything, but I’m bolted to the wall. I’ve tried to tug, pull, yank, but nothing. After about thirty minutes, she comes back with a book.
“I thought you might like something to read. We might be here awhile.”
“Where exactly is here?”
“This is our safe house.”
“Our?”
“Yes.” She frowns, then smiles. “Mine and yours.”
“Can I see the rest of it?”
“Soon.” She drops the book on the bed.
“Vic.” I sigh. “Will you stay with me a while?”
She smiles and nods. She sits on the end of the bed and smiles again, looking down and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Wait… wasn’t she a brunette yesterday? This hair is lighter and longer.
“Wait, did you colour your hair?”
“Wigs.” She shrugs.
“Why?”
“Disguise.”
“Do you need to be disguised in here?”
She shrugs. This doesn’t look like a wig, though, but neither did the one yesterday. I’m so confused. We sit in silence for a while. I’m unsure what to say, and she seems unsure too, awkward even. I don’t know what to say or do, but I feel I need to ask questions. But she seems distant.
“Do you know who those men were who were in my house?” She shakes her head. “Do you know why they were there?” She nods but doesn’t say anything. “Vic, why were they there?”
“To kill you.”
“But why?”
“Because you’re a distraction.”
“A distraction for who?”
She turns to leave, and I reach for her, grabbing her wrist, and her eyes flick to mine. “Vic, please. I need to know what’s happening, who’s behind all this.”
She doesn’t seem the type or capable of pulling whatever all this is into place. When I was in that room, someone else was there with all the shooting. I believe she’s just here to keep me locked up till whoever’sbehind it all shows up, and I need to be long gone when they do. I can’t even begin to understand who I’ve pissed off enough that they’d want to kill me. I’m a nice guy. I work hard. I help old ladies across the street. Who have I wronged so bad that they want me dead?
“I want to be honest with you, Jacob, I really do, but right now, the less you know, the better. I’m sorry that you got dragged into this, and I’m trying my best to get you back home, but I just can’t see a way out at the minute.” She turns and leaves.
I tug again and again at the shackle, but it doesn’t give, so I prop myself up on the bed and read, because what else am I going to do?
Vic
Chapter XXVII
I try to be nice over the next day or so. I try to answer his questions. It’s clear he assumes I’m just the nanny, and I’m fine with that for now. I want him to relax, to trust me, and while he’s talking to me like he is, it feels… nice, I think. And I miss Xav. I’m not sleeping, well, more than an hour or so because I’m here alone, and I’m not wrapped in Xav’s arms.
The nights were the worst growing up. I don’t fear anything but the dark… I don’t like it. It's not the dark per se; it's a dark bedroom. As children, nighttimes were the scariest. I used to cry, but Xav used to sneak in and wrap me up and hold me all night. I don’t remember it any other way, and while even Xav couldn’t save me from the nighttime experiments, he saved me from the monsters in my head. I soon became reliant on him for sleep, and it only intensified as we got older. I miss the warmth of his skin, the faint flutter of breath against my neck, and his steady, strong heartbeat against my back, letting me know I wasn’t alone. Not to mention the strong, tight grip of his arms, which only got stronger the more we grew up. And now I can’t sleep without any of that. I toss and turn for a while and decide to get up. It’s useless anyway.
