Trapped

Chapter 3-Emi

That was then, and this is now. It had had been three years since Will had taken me captive. Three years I posed as his loving, doting wife. I wasn't locked up in chains in a basement, Will took me outside regularly, like a normal husband. Every time we went out, I had the chance to get away, to tell someone what had happened to me-but I didn't. It was as if I couldn't bring anything to my tongue. Will had a grip on me, that wasn't physical, but emotional-psychological. Even when I was unwilling to do so, I listened and did what he said. Part of me feared freedom now- I was beginning to find comfort in being captive.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door- a very gentle knock. I straightened up and quickly wiped the tears from my face. I fixed the best smile I could manage as he came in.

Will came in carrying two cups of coffee and a generous slice of lemon cake. He knew lemon cake was my favorite.
"Come by the window I'll pull up chairs," he said.
I smiled and got up quickly. I brushed my satin dress and sat down in the chair.
"Yum, is that lemon?" I said enthusiastically. Was he buying it, I thought. Was he believing that I had gotten over the incidents of 30 minutes ago. I scanned my eyes to the dirty bedspreads. Then I glanced back at Will. He smiled as he took a piece of cake from his fork.
"Here comes the airplane!!" He cooed as he forcefully brought the cake to my face. I took a bite and ate the cake.
"Delicious."
"Looks like you're still a fan of the recipe," he chuckled. There was that dimple again, that smile- the one that often momentarily made me feel like he wasn't a bad person, made me believe that he could not be the man that held me captive all these years. But sadly, that wasn't the truth.

"So Emi, I have some plans for us this coming week." he said. Emi. He had named me Emi the first day of my capture. I was not Bridget Wiley anymore. I was only Emi-Emi Tassel. Sometimes I forget that I was ever a Bridget.

"What for?" I asked curiously. He furrowed his brow. He looked at me with an expression that signified both confusion and anger. I was afraid.

"Emi, next week is our anniversary.." he said sternly.

"Of course. You don't think I forgot did you?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

"Better if you didn't. And besides, how could you? These were the best three years if your life so far right?" he said. He's mocking me, I thought. He's mocking me and he knows I won't object. But it is even more painful to tell him yes.

"Good, we'll go shopping tomorrow, together." he said. 

Like always, I thought.

He smiled and cupped my face with his hand. I smiled back, forcefully. Then he got up and took the remaining dishes with him. I watched him close the door behind himself. As soon as I heard his footsteps go down the stairs, I burst out crying, covering my mouth with my hand to make sure the noise didn't escape the room. Flashbacks of the times before my capture came rolling in my mind. My parents. My sister Shaina, she was only 12 when I last saw her. I wondered how big she had grown. I wondered about the questions and anguish that would lie on my family's face right now. Had they forgotten me, assumed I was dead? Were they still looking me back in Illinois? This was now Seattle,Washington, where I have called my "home" for three years. Tears uncontrollably rolled down my face as I recalled the events of that night Will drugged and kidnapped me in the restaurant. I had to fight, no matter how long it took, I had promised myself. But on days like these, it was hard to keep that promise. He had taken so much away from me, I barely recognized myself anymore. My name, my family, my identity. Bridget Wiley had become Emi Tassel-Will's Emi Tassel.