by J Marie
corner of the patio, closest to the water. As we sat down, the staff poured us the
same detox water we had on the beach and then removed the lids covering out
plates. The moment I saw it, I almost flipped it off the table in rage and disgust.
A steaming bowl of chicken stir-fry sat in front of me, mocking and distasteful.
“Something wrong?” Holly asked as she picked up her fork, concern all over her
face again. I quickly looked up to brush it off.
“No. It’s fine,” I said with a half-smile. It was not fine. I never wanted to see
another chicken stir-fry in my life, let alone eat one! My time at the warehouse had
completely ruined stir-fry for me forever.
“Do you not like stir-fry?” Holly asked.
“No, it’s fine, I just … who chose our lunch for the day?”
Holly furrowed her brows in confusion. “I did,” she replied, taking a quick bite.
“Oh. Okay then.” I guess no one told her.
“But every meal required approval from Mr. Davis first,” she added.
“Ah. Of course,” I gritted.
Mr. Davis and I would be having words later.
We ate in silence for a while until Holly attempted to make small talk about the
weather, which I reluctantly obliged. She talked about how summer was her
favorite time of year and tried to get me to talk about my favorite season. She
wanted to know my favorite everything, actually, which was rather annoying. Fall,
Christmas, purple, wolf, Limp Bizkit, and ironically enough, Goodfellas.
Holly’s methods of figuring me out through means of conversation were
interesting to observe as she danced around subjects I knew were forbidden for her
to ask about. She neglected to ask about my family, where I was born, or where I
had gone to school. I almost found it comical how she carefully tiptoed around
anything that wasn’t a generic question, especially since she was doing a good job.
It seemed as though she were trying to remind me of all my favorite things, to
motivate me to experience them again as if they still had the power to make me
happy. I appreciated the efforts, but I was more interested in turning the
conversation to her.
“How did you come to accept employment here?” I asked. Holly chewed her food
as her eyes focused on the table, her mind clearly deliberating her answer. Finally,
she swallowed, but didn’t meet my gaze.
“I was recruited from the nearby hospital on the mainland.”
I raised my eyebrows. She didn’t exactly come off as a native.
“You live on the mainland?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m doing my residency at the hospital there.”
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
“How are you able to complete your residency and still do this?”
“I requested two months leave.” She smiled.
“Why would you do that? Won’t it screw you up?”
She folded her lips together as if she didn’t want to answer my question, but I
already knew the answer.
“Never mind,” I said. “It makes sense now.” I was sure Darren was paying her a
small fortune to come out here and be a live-in physical therapist.
“When an opportunity comes along to pay off your student loans, you jump on it
before it disappears,” she said sadly.
“No, I get it. You don’t have to feel bad about it. I’d probably do the same
thing.”
She nodded and began to push her remaining food around with her fork. I looked
down at mine. I’d eaten maybe a quarter of it.
“Did you not like your lunch?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Small stomach.” It was a miracle I hadn’t thrown up yet.
After the staff had cleared our plates, Holly suggested we lounge on the beach
for a while to let our stomachs digest. I was agreeable to that, as long as she
remained quiet for once. We relaxed on the most comfortable chaise lounge chairs
imaginable with a large beach umbrella overhead to protect us from the sun. Hank
and Blondie sat next to a tree about a hundred feet from us in regular lounge chairs.
As I laid against the chaise, I realized I had done more activities in these last few
hours than I had in weeks. And I was suddenly exhausted for some stupid reason.
Before I knew it, I was out like a light.
9
DARKMEMORIES
Pain suddenly exploded on the side of my head as I flew into the concrete wall,
unable to slow my momentum. It didn’t matter much since I was already on to
the next wall, the back of my head aching like it had split in half. I felt the snap of
my wrist as it crunched painfully under my flesh and left me screaming in agony
and terror. I tried to defend myself, I tried to hold my own, but I was weak, tired,
and pathetic. I begged him to stop, pleaded with him, but he had his own agenda.
He shut me up with a broken jaw instead. And then, when I thought it was over, the
boa constrictor returned, snaking his arms around me and squeezing me until I was
thoroughly broken and gone.
“Run from me again, Jaden. Because if it ever happens again, I can’t promise you
I’ll stop next time.”
“Jaden, wake up.”
I woke with a jolt. Snapping my fist out in the direction of the voice, I connected
with something soft and hard at the same time. A loud feminine grunt echoed in
my ears as I finally opened my eyes to find Holly on the ground, clutching her face
and looking up at me in shock while my hand ached something fierce.
Fuck.
“Shit, Holly, I’m so sorry,” I said quickly as I tried to calm my racing heart. “Are
you okay? I didn’t mean it.”
“What the hell just happened?!” yelled Hank as he and Blondie rushed over.
“It was an accident,” I said to them, as Hank bent down to check Holly.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled as her hands covered her nose, but I could see the
blood begin to gush between her fingers. Fuck, I hoped it wasn’t broken.
“Why did she hit you? What did you do?” Hank asked Holly a little too
aggressively.
“It’s not her fault,” I dejected. “I was having a nightmare and just reacted when
she woke me up.”
Hank sighed in annoyance, shaking his head, and helped Holly stand. “I’ll take
Holly to see Ginsby. It looks like it’s already starting to swell. You stay here,” he
said to me as he started to walk away with her.
I sighed deeply. “Fuck.” I groaned under my breath, pinching the bridge of my
nose. Blondie was still standing there, looking at me like I was a misbehaving
toddler. “What?!” I shouted at him as he stared at me behind his stupid sunglasses.
“Nothing,” he said as he put his hands up in surrender.
“Fuck this.” I groaned. “I’m going for a walk.”
I turned away from him and headed for the shore to get as far away from the
house as possible. I was gonna hear so much shit for this later, but I didn’t want to
hear it now.
For the next hour, I wandered the island, exploring through the brush and palm
trees with an obviously bored-out-of-his skull Blondie, who watched me from a
polite distance. I attempted to learn the lay of the land before I was called back to
the house, but nothing ever happened. Yet.
As I walked through the brush, I noticed all the di
fferent colored plants and the
songs of the birds I kept hearing outside of my window. But as I watched a certain
bird above me, I nearly ate the dirt as I tripped over a rather thick stick on the
ground. Ignoring the slight ache in my side, I bent down and picked it up, noticing
its light weight and rounded edges. It was a little longer than a normal baton but
too short and weak to be a bo staff.
I continued my walk, casually spinning the stick in my hand, feeling the motion
and smiling at the memory of twirling a familiar weapon in my hands.
Unfortunately, the last time I held a bo in my hands hadn’t ended well, but so what.
The twirling was good therapy for my wrist since it was so light. Maybe I could
eventually find something heavier when it became strong enough.
As I twirled, I looked down at my knuckles to notice they were a little bit red. My
nightmares were getting worse, frequenting at least once a week now. The
memories were growing darker, the pain so fresh in my mind, it was like it
happened yesterday. Waking up from one nightmare to the next didn’t help. Each
bloody and broken memory was a reminder I would never be able to fight Darren
off, a reminder of how strong he was, and how fucked I was. You’d think it would
amp up my fear of Darren, but in reality, it only made me want to kill him that
much more.
“Miss Jaden,” Blondie finally called, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s time to
head back to the house. Dinner will be served in an hour, and we need to get you
ready.”
“Right,” I said and turned toward the direction of the house.
“Ah, I would leave the stick,” Blondie suggested.
I looked down at it, finding it completely harmless, but agreed with him and
placed on the ground where I would be able to find it again. I then headed back to
the house, my stomach now in knots as I worried about Holly. I’d probably broken
her nose. Fuck, I was such a shit.
When we got back to the house, I didn’t see Hank or Holly and was instead
escorted straight to my suite. I took a shower, made my hair into soft beach waves,
put on a little makeup, and changed into a silky pink sundress. I was kind of hoping
I’d catch less shit if I made an effort to please Darren with my appearance.
When I was ready, I was escorted by Blondie—still no Hank—to the dining
room. Darren was not there yet, so I sat down and waited for the impending storm
to arrive.
10
RED
I stood in the sunroom, scratching my chin and contemplating Jaden’s latest work
of art. Dark colors of black, gray, and red smeared beautifully across the canvas
while a giant red blotch bled down the center. As if I had painted it myself, I had no
trouble translating it … because it was the exact same shit in my head as well. The
only difference was I reveled in my darkness, while Jaden was still trying to
understand her own. Darkness—with the only color dominating it all being the
same red that dripped down Jaden’s painting. Red represented all the best things in
my world—passion, anger, love, hate, blood … Jaden’s hair. No wonder it was my
favorite color.
Holly had conjured up this interesting exercise, and I knew Jaden would hate it,
but at least the result was interesting to regard. Maybe I’d have her paint once a
week just to see if the colors would change. Holly had a bunch of other stupid shit
she wanted Jaden to do besides her physical therapy, all of it designed to either
keep her busy or change her mentality on what was important. Part of it was for her
to accept her place and learn to find happiness in it, no matter how minuscule it
was.
The fact that Jaden had punched Holly in the face wasn’t exactly a surprise, even
if it was by accident. Her body was getting ready to fight again, and it needed to be
curbed … or perhaps just controlled.
My world was too dangerous to allow Jaden to become soft, which was why the
desensitization was so important. The fact that she didn’t even blink when I told
her about Benito had me wondering if she had planned it. She knew what I would
do to anyone who fucked with her, and she seemed to have used that to her
advantage. I was more impressed than I was pissed since I didn’t want anyone so
susceptible to Jaden’s manipulation guarding her to begin with. She was simply
exposing my weakest links when they couldn’t handle her anymore.
What a fantastic system.
A killer existed somewhere inside Jaden, and it was slowly exposing itself. The
idea of making her more and more like me was becoming too intriguing to resist.
Her talents needed to be consolidated, reformed, and controlled. But even after all
of that was accomplished, one thing would still be missing.
That big red blotchy thing in the middle of the canvas.
It was time to increase her dependence on me. She’d love to hate me until she
didn’t know the difference anymore, and then I would tilt the scales in my favor.
She’d be mine forever.
Turning on my heels, I left the painting behind and headed to the dining room
where my lovely, angry little redhead was waiting. She was sitting right where she
belonged, her knee silently bouncing under the table—her nervous tic. She must
think I’d be pissed about what she did to Holly. She did break her nose, but Holly
would live, and everything would resume as planned.
Watching Jaden from the hallway, I couldn’t help but notice all the things I loved
about her. That gorgeous hair, her soft skin, her small yet solid frame, and how
carefully she studied her whereabouts. I knew she was listening for me, waiting for
me to come in and start raging about Holly, but I had no intention to do that. At
least not anymore when Jaden finally snapped her head around and saw me
standing in the doorway.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked incredulously. I smirked.
“Long enough to know you’re nervous about something,” I replied. Jaden glared
at me as I rounded the table. “Do you have something to be nervous about,
princess?”
Her mouth formed into a tight line at her pet name. I loved that she hated it so
much.
“I’m just curious as to how Holly is,” she replied carefully.
“And what did you do to Holly?” I asked her.
She immediately narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t act like you don’t know,” she
said with a tone far too strong for one in her position.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t say I didn’t know. I said for you to tell me
what you did to her. Or do you need more clarification?”
Jaden’s scowl came back full force, and I met it with my own, daring her to start
shit with me. She instantly softened.
“I think I accidentally broke her nose,” she said regrettably. It almost sounded
like an apology.
“You’d be correct.”
“Shit,” she said under her breath, turning back around in her chair.
I pulled my chair out and sat down. “Why did you hit her?”
“I told you, it was an accident,” she replied harshly.
“And how did the accident happen?”
“I had a bad dream, and she woke me up. I reacted;
I couldn’t help it.”
I furrowed my brows at her. “What were you dreaming about?” She glanced at
me.
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, placing her elbows on the table and resting her
head in her hands.
“It does when I’m the one who’s asking,” I replied sternly.
She looked back over to me, her head still in her hands. She didn’t want to
answer, but she couldn’t lie either. She’d learned that much, at least. “I dreamt
about our reunion in the jail cell after I got away,” she said gently.
I felt my fist tighten and my blood heat. I didn’t like the sound of that. “Not my
fondest of memories.”
“Nor mine,” Jaden said quietly, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I trust it won’t need to happen again,” I said, unable to subside the venom in
my voice.
She flinched and looked away, like that might somehow hide the memories
flashing in front of her. I’d been brutal then, furious and unforgiving. In a way, I
regretted it because I hadn’t just clipped Jaden’s wings, I’d fucking torn them from
her body. She would never escape me again, and if that meant she’d have to learn
to walk in her cage instead of fly, then so be it. Even though I hated it, I wanted that
memory to last. I wanted her to remember how cruel I could be so she could learn to
appreciate the times when I wasn’t.
“Jaden,” I warned her; I was still waiting for her answer. She flinched just the
tiniest of a fraction, but it was noticeable to my eyes.
“No, Darren,” she said, hiding her mouth behind her folded hands. “It won’t.”
Her eyes found mine as she said it like a vow—sharply and surrounded with
conviction. She was angry with me, but she would have to get over it. Truthfully, I
never wanted to hurt her like that again. I wanted her strong and durable, but if my
princess needed a reminder of her place, that there was no escape from me, then I
would do what was necessary to ensure that.
“Good,” I said, finalizing that conversation.
A few short moments later, our dinner was brought out, and I decided to
entertain a new conversation.
“Tell me about your day with Holly,” I ordered as I began cutting into my steak.
Jaden finished chewing on her steamed carrots before she finally answered.
