Stockholm Syndrome

5. The Truth.

"I have her," J simply says. Why would he say that? I thought he was supposed to say he doesn't have me! "Well, give her here," the man says. My hands start to shake. "No," J tries to close the door on him, but the man stops him, "No? We had a damn deal, J. You grab the girl, keep her until I get here, then give her to me," the man explained to him. Deal? All this was a deal? "There she is, come here sweet heart." He saw me. I ran more into the kitchen while he came after me. Help me J. "Markus!" J ran after him. The man, Markus grabs my waist tight, pinning me against wall. "We're going to have so much fun baby girl," he whispered those words into my ear. My breathing was uneven, I was beyond scared. I saw J come up behind him and pry his arms off of me. "Get out of my house," J demands to Markus. I couldn't move, all I could do was stare. "We had a deal! Give me the girl!" Markus punches J in the face, making him fall to the floor. Markus grabs my arm with all his strength making our way to the door. "Ow! J! J!" I try to resist following him but the grip only gets tighter. J rushes in and pulls Markus off of me, "Go upstairs!" J commands me. I don't budge. "Don't you dare touch me again!" J slams him against the wall. They fought. "Understand!? Do you! Under! Stand!?" J yells while punching him in the face multiple times. "I nearly killed you once, I will do it again, I swear, but you won't be waking up next time," he assures him in his ear and literally throws him out of the door. J wipes drops of blood coming down from his nose with his sleeve. I couldn't help but run up to J and give him a hug. "Get off," he mumbles. "Shut up and let me hug you," I snapped at him. I stood there hugging him while he just... stood there. I guess he doesn't do hugs. The atmosphere got awkward as I continued hugging him, so I stop. I mumble a soft sorry and he says nothing. "Let's go to bed," he insisted. "But it's only 4 o'clock," I spoke, confused. "We're going to nap so we can stay up later," he suggested. I like the idea. I agree and follow him up the stairs to his bedroom where we lay. It's always easier sleeping knowing someone his there. We lay on our own sides of the bed not touching any part of each other's body. I fall into a quick, deep sleep.

"I want to spend one more day with you before I let you go, Emily," J whispers in the middle of the movie. "You're going to let me go?" I looked at him with a big smile on my face, "Yes, but I'm going to miss you," he said looking down. I'd never seen him sad like this, or smile, besides when he's drunk. "Why did you keep me here?" I wondered if he would tell me the real reason this time before I leave. "Look, I thought you were good looking. In all honesty, I didn't think I would ever find someone who looked as attractive as you did. I wanted you for myself, I didn't want anybody else to have you," I feel that his inner heart was speaking. "Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?" I ask looking at him. "I didn't want you to think I was weird." I like this side of him. The side of him that's kind of afraid to speak his mind but doesn't even care at this point. He put an arm around me and pulled me close. I look up at his face that was already staring at me. "Screw it, who cares how old we are. I don't care about anything right now," he states, moving his lips quickly towards mine, nearly touching.

My eyes flew open. Damn it! We almost kissed and it was just a dream, he was so much more sweet in the dream! I look to my side and see J looking at me, "We slept for 5 hours, it's nearly 9 o'clock," he informs me. I yawn and sit up. "Well... What now?" I question. He gives me no answer but motions me to follow him downstairs, so I do. I sit on the couch while he messes around with the TV pulling out a few movies. That's what we did for the rest of the night. We stayed up until 4 in the morning watching movies. "Why did that man, Markus, want me?" I spoke for the first time within those 7 hours. "It's a long story," he simply says. "I've got time to listen," I look at him. "No, it's none of your business to know," he says staring at the TV. "I'm the one staying here, I deserve to know," I noted, putting him in his place. "Fine," he gave in, "long story short, Markus has done terrible things to girls in the past, like raping them, abusing them, and all that shit. We work as a team. I capture the girl and keep them for a few days, while he drives here from Boston. After he drives here, I give him the girl and get money, that's pretty much how I make money in the first place. Anyways, he came here to get you but I didn't let him. I saved your ass." He was looking at me the whole time he spoke. "H-How many girls have you done this too?" I ask, stuttering. "It's not an easy job, I've only had 6 girls, counting you," he admits. "Why didn't you let him take me then?" I curiously ask. "Because," was all he said. "Because why?" I needed to know, I was desperate. "Because I didn't want him hurting you, okay? Okay." I couldn't take my eyes off of him because of how truthfully he spoke. "You won't let him hurt me?" I ask, making sure. He shook his head no. "Do you promise?" I ask. "I don't make promises, Emily," he states. "Well you're making one today. Promise you won't let Markus hurt me, J," I stare at him. "Fine, fine. I promise I won't let Markus hurt you," he gives in. Lately, it's been easier to talk to him about things and also getting him to speak more. I then wanted to get off of the subject. "Can I play with your tattoos?" I ask. "Play with my tattoos?" He asks confused. I guess I should have phrased it better. "Can I like... trace them?" I started playing my fingers nervously. "I suppose," he says quietly while taking off his shirt. He reclines the couch that is big enough for the both of us so he can lay on his stomach while I trace the permanent ink on his body. "Feels good, huh?" I ask. "Yeah," he agrees with me. "Good." I lay on my stomach next to him, my fingers roaming freely around his back. "What made you want to keep people here?" I ask quietly. He sighs heavily, "I told you, I was abused as a child," he replies keeping his eyes closed because he was relaxed. "That doesn't explain why you like kidnapping people. You haven't hurt me," I continue tracing. He opens his eyes and turns his head to face me, "You don't know what my parents did to me, Em." Em? Nickname? I like it. "Then what did they do to you, J?" I ask. He sits up, causing my hand to fall from his back down to my side. "They hit me, kicked me, starved me. They kept me tied up in the damn basement for days, Emily!" He seemed to get angry every time he mentioned his past, I asked for him to calm down. "They would keep me down there, tied by ropes. They would come down and laugh at me, eat in front of me, humiliate me." He was on a roll, he's not going to stop talking now, he stares at the pillow as all the memories run through his head. "They whipped my back, that's why you see scars. They starting doing this on my birthday... my 10th birthday. 'You're a grown boy now son,' my dad told me. My parents were my role models. Stupid parents. I hate them, they loved my siblings more than they loved me." It all makes sense now as to why he keeps people, it only makes him feel better to watch people go through what he did. "So, how many of the girls did you tell this story to?" I ask. "1... You," he says with a blank expression. "Just me?" I was surprised. "You're the only one who cared, you probably really don't care deep inside, but anyways.. M-" I cut him off this time, "Hold on right there. I DO care, J. It's not like I'm gonna listen to all this and NOT care. You've been through a lot, my mom always told me not to judge people because you never know what their story is," I explain to him. "So you didn't judge me at all?" He raises one eyebrow, it was kind of cute. I shook my head no. "That's a first. Anyways, Markus was the one who killed my parents. I watched them die in pain, he hung them," he said simply as if he didn't care. "HE killed YOUR parents?" I cover my mouth with my hands. He nodded with his answer, "Yes. Then, Markus began to raise me. By age 15 I was drinking. Age 16, selling drugs. 17, taking drugs. Age 18, I kidnapped someone for the first time, a 16 year old virgin. Markus raped her, poor girl, he made me watch. I didn't want to watch but he made me," he shook his head, disappointed in himself. "Why? Why didn't you leave?" My soft, breaking voice got out. "I needed somewhere to stay. He was my only hope, I promised I wouldn't tell anybody what happened to my parents. Also, at age 18, Markus says, 'damn it J, I'm tired of you living here. Go build your own house.' He was drunk that night, he gave me a shit tone of wood so I built this place. I didn't even know what on earth I was doing, I wasn't even educated in school properly." He rolled his eyes. "I was a messed up child, just like I am now," he says. "You're not messed up," I added, trying to make him feel better. All I wanted to do right now was give him the biggest hug ever. "Whatever," he lied back down on his stomach. He shakes his head. "It's okay," I whispered quietly softly stroking his hair out of his face. He looks up at me with a different look plastered on his face. I haven't seen this look before, I haven't seen it the whole time I've been here. I bite my lip and look at his back that has all the tattoos on it. I begin tracing his tattoos again to get his mind off of things. I could do this all night, I could touch his soft skin all night.