THRIVE: Book One

Chapter 99- Misguided Motives

Warning: abusive behavior and trauma.

I can feel the tears streaming down my face as I watch Justin get dressed. More so than ever, I feel disgusted and violated by his actions. I can't bring myself to speak, but I can feel myself screaming inside. Every muscle in my body wants to fight, but he still has a hold over me, paralyzing me in place. As he finishes dressing, he turns back to me and smiles, gazing over my naked body.

"I didn't think it was possible, but you are more beautiful than ever, Nika." he smiles as he approaches me, running his fingertips up the side of my body.

"Only my friends are allowed to call me that," I state angrily.

"We've been over this before, but I'll let it slide for now." he sighs as he gazes at me. "Now what to do with you? I can't have Cameron trying to take you away from me again," he states as he ponders the question.

"I thought you were always two steps ahead." I scoff at him. He looks at me and rolls his eyes as suddenly I regain the ability to move. I quickly sit up, but as I try to slap him, my muscles fight back and stop me.

"Nice try dearie, but I'm not dumb enough to fully let you go." he chuckles as I start to stand up "Go ahead and get dressed, but for the record, I think you look better this way." he smiles as he watches me.

"Fuck you, Gael," I growl at him as I pull on my skirt.

"Oh, drop the pissy act already. It's disrespectful." He sighs.

"Not gonna happen," I state as I tie my shirt closed.

"Oh well, bad habits to lose over time I suppose." he shrugs as he gets comfortable on my bed. I glance at the door but realize I'm unable to leave of my own will.

"Seriously? What else do you want from me?" I ask in frustration. I need to stall and give Cameron enough time to find me here. Justin sighs as he watches me wander to the window, looking out at the dark night sky.

"Valerie," he begins, "I need your help convincing everyone of my plan to rebuild our empire," he states. I turn around and look at him, confused.

"What the hell makes you think that I would ever help you with something like that?" I ask angrily "You don't have control over my mind and I sure as hell am not going to willingly support any of your idiotic schemes." I state.

"I guess I'll just have to convince you the old-fashioned way." he shrugs.

"Even if anything you said remotely made sense, you still seem to be ignoring one extremely important fact," I state in annoyance "Our people are gone, they all got sick and died centuries ago." Suddenly he stands up and begins to approach me, I try to back away but am stopped by the window ledge.

"For now." he smiles as he stares into my eyes. I glare at him in confusion at the thought.

"What are you talking about?" I ask with uncertainty.

"Veronika, do you truly believe that the only ones who can be called here are the ones who originated on this land? How naive." he smirks as he speaks sadistically "We could easily bring about more castaways to fill some of the empty streets."

"That's a disturbing idea," I state glaringly "Do you really think they would just follow us? They would see us as nothing more than crazy cultists and want to find a way home." I explain, but he brushes his face past mine, speaking softly into my ear.

"Not if they can't remember where they came from," he says twistedly as he starts to back away. I stare at him in horror at the idea, the fact that he would want to brainwash more people again is unsurprising and just as disturbing as before.

"You're despicable, you know that?" I state with disgust. He laughs as he turns around and paces across the room.

"Maybe, but you're incredibly short-sighted." he sighs as he looks outside "Strength comes in numbers, and we are seriously lacking in bodies."

"That's all people are to you, isn't it? They're just puppets in your twisted games." I shout furiously.

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about each and every one of them." he states thoughtfully "As I said, Zade had possessions, and I have puppets. The difference between us is that I recognized their humanity, all the while he kept his locked up like dolls in a false state of royalty," he explains. Suddenly, my mind flashes back to the way Zade and I had met in that life. I can still feel the way I felt when he abused me for the first time, the pain and devastation stabbing into my chest like a knife.

"At least he learned from his mistakes." I say defensively "That's far better than you."

"That is a positively silly thought," he states as he paces across the floor to the table "You seem to be implying that I have made mistakes that are in need of correction."

"You're too high and mighty to even consider that you have, but the rest of us know the truth," I state as I move across the room to the couch, sitting down and crossing my legs. I feel nervous as I try to keep the conversation going.

"I think you simply have trouble understanding my motives, my dear." he sighs disappointedly.

"Maybe, but that's because they're constantly changing." I say as I rest my elbow on my knee, putting my fist to my chin "Last time around, you basically admitted to planning to kill all but Mateo and me. Now, you want to have us all join you as if that never happened?" I explain skeptically "Wouldn't you just make up your mind for once?"

"That's where you're wrong." he states angrily as he twistedly makes his way back to me "I didn't plan to kill them all even if it had seemed that way. And some of my motives have never changed, particularly in regards to you, precious." he smiles as he gently tilts my chin up to look at him.

"You've always wanted to get me away from Dante, I know that," I admit as I glare forward.

"You seemed to fall for him without reason, I will never understand why. Your heart clearly beckons for someone who understands you better, yet you chose to connect with him." he explains as he angrily stares down at me "When I discovered that he had enveloped a part of himself inside of you, I couldn't just sit by and let him take you like that." he explains.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, my heart beginning to race.

"Any child born from that misguided affair would have been damned." he states as he roughly grips my chin "I did you a favor." Suddenly, I feel my entire being filled with fire as I realize what he had done to my daughter.

"You son of a bitch!" I scream as I launch myself forward, tackling him to the ground. My forehead burns as he tries to regain control, but my mind is far too enraged. I dig my knee into his chest and one by one, I repeatedly punch his face with each hand "How could you!" I scream in anger as tears stream down my face.

"Valerie?" I suddenly stop as I hear Cameron's voice from the doorway. "What the hell is going on here?"