by J Marie
“Good, sir,” Clive answered. “Though she was a little argumentative, she is
beginning to adjust.”
I nodded in agreement. “I noticed she rearranged her room today,” I said.
“Yes, she did do that,” Owen replied with a nod.
“Do you know why?”
“She said she didn’t want to return to the same room she once escaped from.”
I smiled at his ignorance. “You’re half correct, Owen.”
I could see his eyebrows furrow behind his special glasses. They were designed
to register heat signatures as well as gain access to the security cameras throughout
the estate so they could not only see every potential threat, but they could also
watch Jaden without completely fucking with her privacy.
“Jaden rearranged her room in a way that she thinks will give her a defensive
advantage against me,” I continued, and this time they both gave away their
confusion. “Did you notice where she moved her bed? On the adjacent wall between
her bedroom door and bathroom door? Did you notice which side of the bed she
decided to sleep on? The one closest to the bathroom door?”
Clive and Owen raised their chins as if they suddenly realized what they had
missed.
“It would take me an extra six steps to get around the bed to get to her before
she’d make it to the bathroom. Before, nothing impeded me, and though those six
steps are not much of a concern to me, nor will they protect Jaden from me any
more than if her bed was right in front of the bathroom door, it was still something
the two of you neglected to foresee.”
Clive and Owen both looked at each other as if they were ready to start
apologizing, both clearly becoming uncomfortable.
“It’s okay, boys. I’m not mad, but this is an example of the kind of shit she will
try to pull, and she’ll do it right under your nose if you’re not careful. Jaden is no
idiot; she is very intelligent, and she will continue to find ways to push the barriers
of her boundaries until she runs out of options. You must be there to foresee and
discredit those options.”
They nodded in unison, their postures stiffening as they considered the
challenge ahead of them.
“She will try to push you and annoy you. Do not give her the reaction she wants.
It’ll only encourage her. One day, this behavior will cease, but until then, you need
to be suspicious of almost everything she does because it’s almost always in her
own self-interest. You don’t have to address every little thing she does, but make
sure she understands that you’re on to her, and eventually, she will stop bothering.
Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” they both said in unison.
“Good. I’ll be gone most of the day tomorrow. So long as Jaden is cooperative,
she can leave her room. It’s supposed to storm tomorrow, so she is not to wander
outside. I’ve had the staff set up her paint set in the upstairs office. You can suggest
it after her workout if she likes. Questions?”
Clive and Owen both regarded each other before Owen spoke. “Do you want us to
have her put her room back the way it was?”
I shook my head. “No, no. Let her think she has the right idea, and I’ll show her
it was wasted effort.”
“Yes, sir,” they both said.
“Good. Dismissed.”
Clive and Owen both left without another word, leaving me to deliberate the
future ahead. I expected some resistance from Jaden, some new forms of rebellion,
whether they were sneaky or up front, she would find new ways to seek an
advantage. And I feared I would have to let her fail in every attempt before she
would finally succumb to her fate. She needed to come to the conclusion that every
idea she had, no matter how small, was useless to her, that her efforts would be
foiled and her ass reddened for even thinking of it in the first place. I had to quash
the idea of escape. I knew she wouldn’t make the same mistake of fully escaping a
second time, not with her family hanging in the balance, but that didn’t mean she
wouldn’t try to line up her dominos and wait for the right moment to watch them
fall. I had to make sure there were no dominoes left for her to take—until she
finally came to realize she no longer wanted them.
22
SHRINK
Two weeks back at the estate and it was as if I never left. The staff and other
guards still ignored me like I was invisible, except for the two stupid fucking
stalkers who never left me alone. If I thought I annoyed the shit out of Hank and
Benito, Clive and Owen deserved awards. They directed me everywhere—where I
could go, what I could do, how long I could do it, and whether it was considered
productive. They analyzed everything I did down to the tiniest detail; suspicious I
was trying to thwart them in some way. It was kind of cute.
I had to admit for the first day or so, I did test my boundaries with them, but to
their credit, they never gave an inch. They never cracked a smile, no clever
comebacks, not even so much as a smirk. They were like ice, and they never melted.
I’d only been threatened to be tranquilized twice since they first started, which I
thought was decent enough on my part—once, when I refused to paint the first
time they introduced me to my “art room,” where I deliberately put my knee
through a canvas, and another time, when I argued too much to continue my
workout. I was only allowed an hour since Darren didn’t want me exhausting
myself, which was bullshit. He worked out at least two hours a day, so why couldn’t
I?
But after a few short days, the fight in me began to die. With zero inches to be
given, I felt stuck, moving in a single file line with no deviations in sight. It was do
as I was told without argument or wake up back in that fucking cage I hated so
much. I could feel myself slipping back into my depression as I went through my
days, mundane as ever, like the good little robot they all wanted me to be. Most
days, I felt emotionless, doing things of no interest just to keep Darren happy.
He tried to spend more time with me, though I was less than enthused. I was
still pissed about Holly’s death, and when he explained that it was unlikely she
would have made it off the island alive in the first place, it didn’t help much. I
didn’t argue with him; instead, I’d nod my head and do my best to remain
complacent, almost to the point I thought I would bore him. When we fucked, I
didn’t fuck him back; I just laid there, came when he made me, and waited for him
to finish. I no longer cared. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, but I had a
feeling if I became too dull, he would once again try to light my fuse. But the truth
was I wasn’t interested in interacting with him, not in the same way, at least.
I no longer felt the need to push his buttons because that would require
attention on my part; that would only give him the edge he wanted. I knew I
couldn’t ignore him. I’d been punished for that before. So I just gave him the bare
minimum, which I had a feeling would become exhausted soon. The push was
coming. I could feel it. I just didn’t know what form it would take.
But the more troubl
ing problem was … I almost wanted him to light the fucking
fuse.
As more time inched by, I quickly became bored out of my fucking skull. I had no
short-term goals, nothing to motivate me to accomplish anything except for
Darren’s orders that I do something “productive” every day. With everything as
controlled as it was, it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I lived for the
tension between Darren and me.
Yeah, he was dangerous as hell, terrified the shit out of me, and would hurt me if
I got out of line, but fuck if I didn’t love to play with fire. It got me off, and I knew it
worked the same way for him. Maybe I was truly becoming a masochist because
when I knew shit was about to get real, I felt more alive than a baby bird taking its
first flight from the nest.
In the middle of the week, Darren was working from home, and after I’d finished
painting a new piece, I’d been told I’d be meeting Sid for a reason that no one would
tell me about.
“Wait, what?”
“Please follow us, Miss Jaden,” Clive had said, directing me from my room out
into the hallway.
“I want to talk to Darren,” I retorted, remaining firm in my position. I wanted to
know why the fuck I was meeting with Sid. I hadn’t seen him much since our last
“private” conversation on the island.
“He’s busy. Now, come on,” Owen quipped.
I balled my fists in my bands until my knuckles turned white. This was it. This
was Darren lighting my fuse. But he wasn’t just putting a match to a wick. This was
gasoline on a bonfire.
“Fine,” I spat and stormed through the hallway as they escorted me to some
private office downstairs, coincidentally, not far from Darren’s office. This was
stupid. He was just going to listen in on everything I said and then I’d be in trouble
for telling the truth when he didn’t like it. This was a fucking trap, and it wasn’t
fair.
Clive and Owen opened the double doors, and I found Sid sitting on one of the
couches in the center of the room. There was another comfy looking couch across
from him, with a small coffee table with a tray of tea and snacks laid out.
“Hello, Jaden,” Sid said with a warm smile. I responded with my usual bitchface.
“Sid,” I said.
“Have a seat, please.” He gestured toward the couch, and I took a seat while
Clive and Owen closed the door and stood a few feet behind the couch. “Would you
like some tea?”
“No, thank you.”
Sid took a sip of his own mug before setting it down on the tray and picking up
his notepad. I felt the tension increase.
“Well, I thought you and I could have a nice private chat, just between the two of
us.”
“Private?” I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of my
shadows.
“You can speak freely here, Jaden. There won’t be any penalties for what will be
spoken today.”
“Yeah, right. You have no authority to guarantee that.”
“You have Darren’s word,” he said seriously.
“His word by your association?”
“I promise you, he approved this. Please don’t feel hindered by the lack of
notice. He wanted to catch you off guard in hopes you would be more … honest.”
I scoffed.
“So how are things? How are you feeling?” he asked me, his warm attitude
quickly becoming annoying.
I tilted my head. “Really, Sid?”
“Miss Jaden, please remain cooperative,” Clive interrupted, the subtle warning a
reminder to get my head out of my ass.
I turned my head to him. “He said I could speak freely, so shut the fuck up,
Clive!” I snarled. I’d been here less than a minute, and I’d already felt more
emotion in the last few seconds than I felt in the last two weeks. It was easy for
anger to find its way into my life.
“Watch your language,” he replied sternly.
I sighed in annoyance. “I’m as good as can be expected, Sid. I hate my life, but
I’m alive. What more do you want from me?”
“We all just want you to be healthy and happy,” he said with a shrug, somehow
actually sounding sincere.
I snorted. “We can’t always get what we want, Sid. Trust me, I know.”
“You seem to have adjusted differently than expected,” he continued. “You
follow the rules without complaint, you tend to your own needs when required
without prompt, and you seem to find some spectrum of enjoyment in your day, yet
there’s still no spark left in you, Jaden. Where has it gone?”
I smirked. My assumptions were officially confirmed.
“So Darren is bored with my compliance already, huh?”
“I never said that,” Sid replied quickly.
“You didn’t have to. I know what he wants. I’ve just been waiting for him to
admit it,” I said slyly.
“What do you mean?”
I released a breath of satisfaction and smiled. “He’s not the only one who knows
how to test people, Sid. He wanted obedience, I’ve been obedient. Like a goddamn
robot, I’ve done everything he’s requested of me without argument like he expects.
You want to know where my spark is? It’s in Darren’s fist, and instead of bothering
to pry his fingers open, I’m waiting for him to grow tired and loosen his grip.”
“Miss Jaden,” Owen warned.
“Well, that’s quite an assumption. You think Darren will tire of your obedience?
Why do you say that?”
I rolled my eyes. “This is basic psychology, Sid. Everyone knows once you
complete your conquest that you move on to the next one. Otherwise, you’ll get
bored. Darren is no different with me. I’m just proving that to him.”
Sid’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think it wise to test him, Jaden?”
I shrugged off his warning. “He does it with me for the same reason I do it with
him. Neither one of us is exactly forthcoming with information, Sid.”
“So you’re just pretending to be overly obedient to annoy him? Is that it?”
“Sure, Sid. Let’s call it pretend. Let’s pretend that if I don’t listen to him, he
won’t hurt me in the worst way imaginable. Let’s pretend he’s not holding my
family over my head to ensure I listen to him. And let’s pretend I don’t hate every
second of my existence so that he can feel a smidgen of enjoyment with me. I’m
just a big fucking pretender,” I snarled.
“Miss Jaden, please watch your language,” Owen reminded me again, and I
whipped my head around to glare at them.
“If the two of you won’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to turn into a miniature
Hulk and then you’ll be forced to tranquilize me and ruin my ‘therapy session.’ Sid
said I could say what I want, so sit down and shut up.”
“Let’s move on then,” Sid interrupted, obviously now trying to distract me.
“Why don’t you tell me what else in on your mind, Jaden?”
I flat out laughed. “I can’t if the Wonder Twins back there won’t stop
interrupting me. This is fucking pointless, anyway. I’m sure I’m already in trouble
as it is, and I don’t feel like contributing to my own demise any more than I already
have, so I think I’ll just cut this
session a little short. What do you say?” I said,
standing up, but Owen took hold of my shoulder and pushed me back down to
sitting.
“Come on, Jaden. You’ve been so cooperative throughout everything else. Why
is now any different?” Sid asked.
“Because this is bullshit. You’re just going to try to get into my head, and it’s not
happening. I’m not going to allow you to attempt to breach my mental walls to give
Darren another advantage over me. You’ve already confirmed what I wanted to
know, and I have no further need to cooperate, so just let me suffer my life in peace
now.”
“Jaden, I just want to know what can be done to make things less miserable for
you.”
I huffed, anger beginning to spread through my veins like wildfire. “Any
suggestions I make are strictly against the rules. Why torture myself with the idea
of freedom when I know I’ll be denied every time?”
“What do you want, Jaden? Just start with something small.”
I exhaled sharply. “Fine. I want to be able to go outside when I want and
wherever I want WITHOUT Rocky and Bullwinkle constantly up my ass. I want to be
able to go beyond the trees, where I can find one moment of peace when I don’t
want to fucking kill everyone around me.”
“That seems reasonable,” Sid said with a nod.
“No, it’s not, Sid, because I can’t be trusted. And I’ve earned that mistrust.”
“Everyone has to be given opportunities to earn it back.”
“Good luck explaining that to Darren.”
“Darren’s a reasonable man, Jaden. Give him time.”
I turned back to Sid with more menace than I had control of. “Reasonable? Are
you serious? Reasonable!? Oh, my fucking God! This is why this is bullshit! You call
threatening to murder my entire family if I don’t comply with his rules
reasonable?” I nearly shouted, fresh anger seething through my voice.
“Well, n-now, let’s be fair here,” Sid stuttered, now seeming to backtrack.
“Fair? Are you fucking kidding me! Do you even know what that word means?” I
shouted, rising to my feet and looming over him.
“Calm down, Jaden,” Sid practically pleaded.
“Miss Jaden, please cooperate,” Clive demanded.
I almost turned and knocked him out myself.
“Calm down? You’re the one who wanted to get inside my head and try to tell me
