Chapter 5:
The door swung open and she felt her heart racing. Mikayla looked over at Jackson. But he didn't say anything. He just stood there, watching her. Her eyes darted between him and the book. She tried to focus on reading.
Just like the other books it was about a kidnapping. This was another book that she'd already read, though it was some years earlier.
Jackson's intimidating presence loomed over her. It made it damn near impossible to finish a single sentence of book.
Finally she turned to him and said, "Can I help you?"
A wide, mad grin crossed his face. He came inside and kicked the door closed. He moved towards her and suddenly she felt her nerves telling her to move. She scooted as far across the bed as she could.
The chain on her ankle limited her movement. Jackson sat at the foot of the bed and she sat near the head of the bed. She leaned against the wall, her legs stayed at an awkward angle, leaning slightly toward him. The sat in silence for a few minutes.
Mikayla was nervous. All of the emotions that she'd been holding back were starting to flood her. She bit her lip and dug her fingernails into her thumb to keep herself focused.
"Are you enjoying the books?" asked Jackson.
She looked over at him, confused. Was he seriously asking that? Her heart was racing.
"Oh yes, I'm really enjoying reading your notes praising or criticizing kidnappers," she snarked.
"Mikayla, I––"
"I don't care about you! I don't care about anything you have to say."
"You should care. And maybe if you didn't interrupt me you would care. I just want to love you and protect you."
"Protect me from what? There's nothing out there that's going to hurt me. At least nothing more than the usual things that hurt everyone else."
"You'll understand someday."
"No. I will never understand why you chose to kidnap me. I will never understand why you chose to commit a copycat crime. Don't copycats usually want the world to know what they've done?"
"Hardly," he snorted. "I'll know what I've done and that's really all that matters."
"Then what's the plan. Keep me in a small room and never let me see sunlight like the girl Austria? Ooo ooo! Or maybe you'll keep me in a coffin under your bed. Or are you gonna take me to England like Nori so I'm too far away to find?"
"Look, Mikayla, I don't have everything planned. But I'm gonna make this work. And I know you're upset right now and I don't blame you."
"You don't blame me for being upset about having my life stolen?" she asked with maximum sarcasm.
"We're both adults here, so why don't you relax and talk to me rationally."
"Rational went out the goddamned window when you kidnapped me."
"Look, I chose you. You're here. Nothing is going to change that. It doesn't matter how you act. I'm not going to let you go," he snapped. "So why don't you just be grateful that I felt you were worth protecting."
"And why was I worth protecting? According to your notes I'm weak. I'm not like the girls in these books. I'm not going to sit here and let you torture me or rape me or whatever it is you're going to do."
"I'm not going to torture you."
"Really because you didn't seem to against it even if you prefer it be used sparingly. Aside from my weakness what was it that made me stick out?"
Jackson sighed and leaned over to the stack of books. He shuffled through them and took one that she'd yet to read. He flipped through the pages and found something. He handed her the book.
"While a weak woman may be easier to kidnap there's less fun in it. There's less of a challenge. A strong willed woman can still be a good target if everything else lines up. No family or one that lives far away. A woman with a shitty ex could be an ideal target because the ex can be used as a fall guy." Mikayla read that paragraph to herself a few times. Combined with the first list it all fit. And she knew that Rachel would tell the police to look into Anthony. He certain deserved to be in jail for what he did to her, but it wouldn't bring them any step closer to finding her.
"I didn't choose you because you're weak. I chose you because you seemed like the most fun. You're beautiful. You're smart. I mean, you're still physically weaker than me, but don't feel bad about that, most people are. And I'll have fun breaking your spirit and molding you into my perfect woman." He had an almost childlike smile on his handsome face. It was terrifying.
"So you really are trying to replicate Theo Masterson. You think you can make someone fall in love with you by force. I'm going to tell you now, you're wasting your time. I'm me and I'm not going to change that much."
"We shall see," he said as he leaned closer to her.
She whimpered slightly as one of his large hands wrapped behind her head and his lips descended on hers. He made her feel so small.
This time she couldn't stop the tears.
He quickly pulled back. "What's wrong little dove?" he whispered. He rested her chin in his palm and wiped her tears with his thumb.
Mikayla jerked her head away from him, refusing to talk. She scowled at him and he quickly got the hint. Jackson moved away from her. She thought he'd leave, but he didn't. He leaned against the wall.
She grabbed the blanket and wiped her eyes.
"So what was the deal with you and that guy Anthony?" asked Jackson.
Mikayla sniffled. Crying had instantly congested her. She didn't feel like talking to this man. So she wouldn't. She stared at the blank wall with a frown trying to hold back from crying again. She couldn't believe she let him see her cry.
"I mean, he'll probably take the fall for your disappearance. Probably won't go to jail, but he'll be their prime suspect. Does that upset you?"
She still didn't talk.
"If you're going to give me the silent treatment I can just leave."
He started to stand up and her stomach dropped. She didn't want to be with him, but she didn't want to be alone. Right now he was the only one there.
"Wait . . . Please don't go. Not yet."
"Then don't give me the silent treatment ever again."
"I won't," she said, well aware that she would definitely do it again. She just wasn't ready to be in isolation again.
Jackson sat back down. He put his arm out for her to cuddle with him. She looked at him confused. He quickly put his arm down. Whatever his plan was he didn't seem to be rushing her for physical contact.
"So, tell me about Anthony."
"He's my ex boyfriend. He played Theo Masterson. We were spending upwards of 10 hours a day in very weird and intimate positions and it just seemed natural to start dating. We didn't even really talk about it. We just had a break in the schedule and suddenly realized we liked spending time together."
"So what happened. You didn't seem thrilled to see him."
"He was a typical bad ex. There's not much more to say," she lied.
"Don't lie to me, Mikayla."
"I'm not."
"You are. I listened to you the entire night. I know he was more than a typical bad ex," said Jackson.
"Fine. Anthony and I dated for two months."
"That's not long. What could he have done in that time?"
"We started dating near the end of the production. Things were going very good. I liked him. He liked me. Filming wrapped and we finally had time. He wanted to go to the next step in our relationship. I wanted to wait. I wanted to get to know him a bit better before I slept with him. And Valentine's Day was coming up in like two weeks so I thought it would be perfect timing. Well, he didn't like that. He was done waiting. So he started yelling at me and getting pushy when I told him that he'd crossed a line. He wouldn't let me leave. He threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the bedroom. He forced me to give him a blowjob. In the end I just did it to get him to stop. He held my head in place the whole time. When it was all said and done I broke down crying and he called me a weak c-word."
All the hairs on Mikayla's arms and legs were standing up. She felt like a loser and she was starting to tear up again.
"Do you want me to kill him?" asked Jackson.
"What?" She looked over at him. She wasn't expecting him to say that.
"I told you that I want to protect you. And I do. I can kill him if that would make you happy."
"Do you not see the irony of the situation?" asked Mikayla. "You're offering to kill my ex because he assaulted me. And yet you're well . . . " she trailed off. She didn't want to finish that thought.
The muscles in his face tightened. And his hand balled up into a fist. "I'm going to go now," he mumbled.
Before she could say anything else he stood up and left. She was alone again with only her demons to get her through everything. She sat there in stunned silence for way too long before she resumed reading. But she just couldn't get into the books.
She pulled the blanket over herself and drifted off into a deep sleep.