MAD

25

Written 9/25/16

Justin POV
It's been a week since Zaida's little episode and she's been acting strange. She stares off a lot and doesn't listen when I talk to her, I often have to repeat myself. I feel like Marina Joyce.

"Zaida are you feeling okay?" I ask for about the millionth time this week. She completely ignores me and continues staring out the window. "Zaida!" I say a little louder.

"The fuck do you want? Shit." She snaps and glares at me.

"I asked if you were okay and you completely ignored me."

"I keep telling you I'm fine, do I have to spell it out?" She groans and tries to walk past me before I pull her into my chest.

"I know there's something wrong. Please talk to me." I turn her head to look at me. She sighs.

"I don't want to talk about it." She looks at the ground.

"Please? I can't go on like this. There's clearly something bothering you."

"It's really nothing. I'm just being dramatic. I shouldn't have taken out on you, forgive me?"

"Of course, but remember you can always talk to me. I l love you." I plant little kisses all over her plump lips.

"I know, but it's really nothing. If it was really bad I'd tell you. Don't worry about it Justin." She strokes my face before walking down stairs.

The hell is wrong with her?

Zaida POV
I hate lying to him. I really do, but I have to he'll worry too much.

What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?

The truth is I've been through a lot and my past isn't pretty, luckily I can't remember it, but the bits and pieces I get here and there are horrific.

Justin POV
Her behavior hasn't improved if anything it's gotten worse. She had another nightmare or whatever it is and thought I was someone else. I had to hold her down until she snapped out of it and she was almost stronger than me.

"Zaida!" No response. "Zaida! Princess!" I'm starting to get anxious. I can't find her anywhere and she's not responding. "This isn't funny babe! If you're hiding please come out!" I hear a loud thud upstairs and sprint to our bedroom. "Zaida!" I hear a low groan coming from the closet. I open the door slowly and see her lying on the ground crying. I quickly cradle her in my arms. "It's okay baby we're gonna get you help." I carry her to the car and start our ride to get help. I stop at the first pay phone I see and punch in some numbers.

"Marcus?"

"Yeah who wants to know?"

"It's Justin-"

"Justin? Motherfucker don't call me! I'm hang-" Marcus snaps.

"Don't hang up! Please! I wouldn't call if it wasn't serious."

"Fine."

"Look I know you and Zaida aren't on the best terms right now, but there's something wrong with her and I don't know what to do."

"It sounds like you need a doctor. Maybe it's a cold." He laughs.

"No it's not. She keeps waking up in cold sweat and she screams or thinks I'm somebody else. She's mentioned your name a couple of times when she talks in her sleep.

"Okay you have to get her to me ASAP." He gives me an address and time. I don't know how well she's going to do on a jet considering the state she's in.

Surprisingly, she slept silently the ENTIRE jet ride.

I rent a car and we make our way to the address. When we pull up I'm surprised to see a mansion. There aren't many houses around them, it's mainly vacant which gives me an uneasy feeling.

I carry her to the door and knock three times like he told me. He opens it and wastes no time before taking her from me and leading me in.

"Stay here. You're not going to want to see this." Marcus warns.

"How do I know you're not going to try and hurt her? I'm coming."

"Fine. Don't be mad when it gets ugly and stay out of my way."

He takes us to the large backyard before running inside. I hear him fiddling with some door and he brings out a large black bag. He sits her in a chair, making sure it's at a specific angle and pulls out a gun.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I leap for him.

"I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to shoot her just watch." For some reason I trust him. He pulls a syringe out of the bag and hands it to me. "When I say go you need to inject her with this." I don't ask questions.

He loads it with only one bullet and points. The bullet goes straight past her head in front of her. It was like a switch went off and she came running towards Marcus. Zaida tackles him to the ground and wraps her hands around his throat.

"Pac you stupid fucker!" She screams.

"Go!" I inject her with the clear liquid and she goes limp, falling on top of him.

"The hell was that!"

"I'll explain it later." He throws her over his shoulder and grabs the bag. "Are you coming or not?" He leads me inside. " Stay here."

"Where is she?" I ask when he comes back.

"Asleep in her bed."

"So explain what's her deal?"

"Look, I can't tell you everything but Zaida doesn't have a pretty past. There was somebody that wanted to see her in pain and they shot her in the head. She was in a coma for three months and ended up having severe Amnesia. She gets flashbacks every now and then, but she rarely gets them in episodes. This only ever happens if they're really violent memories." I'm stunned.

"So what was with the gun and stuff?"

"It's a reenactment of her incident. It's like a reset button."

"And you always do this by yourself?"

"Does it seem like we have any family?"

"So Zaida doesn't know about any of this?"

"Nah she knows." And she didn't tell me? "Don't mention her episode to her. She feels embarrassed and ashamed about it." I nod.

"Marcus! Where are you?!" Zaida screams from upstairs.

Marcus sprints upstairs and closes the door.

My poor baby.

Marcus POV
"Zaida I'm here are you okay?" She runs to me and tells me how much she's missed me. "I missed you too." I kiss the top of her head. "Justin's downstairs if you're ready to go."

"Justin? Go? What are you talking about?"

A/N: Long awaited I know.