Nick had isolated her from everyone she loved: her family, her girlfriends, and even Howie. She wanted to break free from him, but how? One night, she tried sneaking out of his apartment through the bathroom window. She got at least one foot out the window, but was quickly caught by Nick's watchful eye.
“What are you doing?” he asks her in a calming voice. “I...I was just getting some exercise in, that's all. Window crunches are the best...type of exercise.”
“I see. At 2 am?” “Yes.” Nick nodded in understanding, then walked over to her. “You know what? You're such a bad liar, Marie.” “I'm not lying...” he grabbed her arm, and pulled her body towards him. “You can't get away from me, Marie, you know that...” His eyes changed once again to a stone cold blue as he gazed upon her scared expression. “Are you scared? You shouldn't be.”
He lets her go and steps away from her.
“Get back in the bed. You just pissed me off...”
“Nick, please...I won't do it again...I promise...”
“That's what you said last night. Now, GO.”
With her hands folded in front of her, and her head dangling down to the floor, she scuffles away towards his master bedroom.
“And Marie?”
She turned around, still frightened of him.
“ye—yes?”
“Don't disobey me again. Do you understand me?”
She stayed silent. He approached her, and gripped her hair, yanking it towards his chest.
“I said... do you understand me...?”
In a whimper, she says, “Yes....please...don't hurt me...”
He lets her go, and nudges her to the direction of his room.
“That's a good girl...”
As if nothing was going on, Marie and Nick were walking down the side street, heading to a buffet. You can tell from the look on her face that she did NOT want to be a part of this any longer. Her last boyfriend didn't even try this, or go this far. She was happy that he didn't. She couldn't believe that he was doing this, simply because Howie's her best friend, and that she likes hanging out with him more than Nick.
“he's jealous...” she thought. “He thinks that Howard was planning on whisking me away to a faraway island some damn where. And frankly, I wish he did.”
The two “lovebirds” walked past a cafe, just a few blocks north of the buffet. Howie and a few of his partners were sitting by window seats, chatting it up. He stopped talking when he glimpsed Marie looking unhappy. “Excuse me for a moment...” he said while getting up, walking out the door. He called out to her.
No answer.
“Marie! Marie!!”
“Don't...answer him,” Nick whispers to her, and she obeys. They kept walking down the sidewalk, until they turned the corner, clearly out of Howie's view.
“What was THAT all about?” he thought; he tried to think nothing of it,but he couldn't escape the fact that something was not right.
“Um, listen, I'm gonna head home, ok? I forgot I'm expecting company.”
“Company, huh...? What are her measurements?”
“It's not like that, Perry, alright? Now, the meeting has to be put on hold until a later date, ok?”
They nod in affirmation, and I leave the cafe.
Nick walked back into my kitchen, and stood in front of me.
“Why are you treating me like this? Huh?” “Don't talk. Just listen.”
He leaned down in front of me, and said, “Have you memorized everything I told you? Huh?”
I stay silent.
"Silent, huh...?" he charges up to me, and yanks my hair backward. “I said, DID YOU?” “Yes, I did...please, don't hurt me...”
“Oh, trust me, I won't hurt you. This time. All you have to do is be a good girl, and I won't lay a hand on you. Got it?”
As he lets my hair go, I look down, and nod in forced agreement.
This...maniac has completely sealed me away from family and friends. This is all because I was hanging out with Howie. He was NEVER like this when I was hanging with his other friends. It's not fair. And everytime I would try and escape, he would always catch me in the act. It's like, he knows my every move. I haven't been at my own apartment for days, because he's holding me captive; I'm his puppet, he says.
I see him come back into the room, and looks over at me with a fiendish smile. He tells me that he had to run a little errand, and that he'll return in an hour or so.
Perfect.
“Now, I don't want you to try anything stupid, so I locked the doors in the house.”
“Why in the hell would you do that?”
“Because a silly little bunny like yourself would try and sneak out the house, and hop away from me. I don't want you to do that. You don't want me to hunt you down, do you?”
“No.”
“Good girl...” he says to me in a deepened tone. To think that used to turn me on. Well, it didn't and it never will again.
He winks at me, and turns to the door, opening it and walking out. As the door slowly closed, it automatically locks. “Locking Sequence Complete,” I hear from a small distance. Once again, I was a prisoner in his apartment.
I get up, and run to the door, yanking and tugging at it. No such luck. It was locked TIGHT. I slide my body down to the floor, and start to cry, knowing that this was it. There was no escape.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This story is almost complete! (pats self on back) I want to take this time to thank each and every one of you in reading this story (and all of my other stories.)
