The Captive Life of Samantha Roberts

Chapter 20: Freedom

We arrived at the mansion, and I immediately went to my room. I looked at the painting and my furniture. I laid down on my bed and took in the scent of home.

"You seem really excited to be back." Justin stated from my doorway.

"Yeah, I miss the simplicity of this place. I feel like I can be the real me here. I don't have to look around to see who is listening to my conversations." I said slowly sitting up on my bed.

"I agree. I wanted to make sure you're okay. You didn't say anything the entire trip here." He said walking over to my bedside.

"I should be the one still there. I shouldn't have left him." I said as my eyes started to water, but I fought back the tears.

"No, you shouldn't have even gone there in the first place. However, everyone made it here because of you. You saved all of these people. Maybe not Gemma, but everyone else is extremely grateful for it. Jonas did what he thought was right, and it was his choice to trade himself for Jenny. You had nothing to do with it." He said sitting down beside me.

"I encouraged him to be a hero. I was the one who said all of that to him. I didn't know that this would happen. I was just trying to encourage him when he was nervous about us leaving the island." I explained.

"You were right then. Someone needed to trade themselves for Jenny, and it was courageous of him to be the one to do it. He's going to be strong because he is a strong kid. He'll be alright, and I don't think he would want you to be worried about him." He told me.

"There is something else I need to tell you. I'm changing Justin. These eyes terrify me because they make me think about what is coming. I know I beat her for now, but she's sure to come back. These eyes are a reminder of that. They are sinister." I said shuddering when I thought of what the Dark Flame could do.

"Don't worry Samantha. You're eyes might be a sign of what is to come, but it is not a sign about now. If you spend the entire time from now until then worrying, then you won't be prepared. I could help you with your power control like Dr. White did with me. We could make you invincible." He said happily.

"You're right. I think that's a great idea, but I'm still scared Justin. " I said.

He picked up my hand. I instantly calmed down.

"It's okay to be scared. I'm scared for you. I'm scared of loosing you again. I'm scared of what The Dark Flame can do. I'm scared of clowns." He said.

I couldn't hold in my laughter.

"You can laugh all you want, but clowns are horrifying. Anyways, my point is I'm terrified of a lot of things, and I don't see fears as weaknesses. Fears are the things that make us human. It's alright to be scared, but it's not okay to let your fears consume you. It's like me not going outside because there could be a clown on the front steps. We do have to overcome our fears sometimes, but we have others to help us get through them." He said smiling at me.

"You're right. I'm not going to let that spirit take anything else away from me. I'm going downstairs to talk my friends with my amazing boyfriend, and there is nothing that the Dark Flame can do to stop me." I said confidently.

"I missed you. I feel like a haven't seen you in ages." He said.

"It was only two months. Although, I was asleep for most of the time." I said shrugging.