Stockholm Syndrome

71: I Woke Up

71: I Woke Up

I don't know what I was thinking when I quietly marched into the bedroom that Luke was reading in.

He looked up from his chair and instantly noticed the mood change by the look on my face. Then he saw the book in my hand. He instantly stood and I could see the terrified guilty look on his face as he did so.

He didn't start with the 'I can explains' and 'Madeline, just hear me out' before I could even start my sentence. He waited for me to say what I wanted to say, knowing that there was no way of him getting out of trouble.

"What is this from?" I asked. Probably a stupid question. "Are these yours?" Another stupid one. Luke nodded, biting his lip. He set his reading book on his chair. "Did you take all of these?" I didn't even have to open the book for him to know what I was talking about. But I did anyway and he, once again, nodded.

"Most of them."

 "I'm giving you a chance to explain right now before I decide whether or not I'm going to freak out alone or right now in front of you." I warned him. Luke was silent for a moment.

"You obviously weren't supposed to see those." He began. I almost yelled at him then and there but I calmly waited until he was done before I blew up. "It's... It's like doing a History project in school... You have to do research before you actually do the project." He explained. I think I was following him.

"You said you only stalked me the last two months before you took me." It was weird saying that. Like, just imagine saying that in a normal conversation. 'Like, hey, you're a stalker, anyways, blah, blah, blah.' Luke made a weird movement of his head.

"I didn't say only."

"You lied to me."

"I promise, I have never lied to you. I just haven't always told you the extent of the truth. I was trying to protect you." He tried. I ran my hand through my hair, shaking my head. Luke and I were both silent for a moment before he was staring at me and I lifted my head to look at him. I was finally looking him square in the eyes.

"Tell me why I'm here." I said, slowly, annunciating each word rather carefully. Luke opened his mouth and I knew he wasn't going to skip around the truth anymore. He had promised not to do that if I looked him in the eye. He was going to tell me. A wave of fear pulsed through my body at the idea of finding out. His mouth opened and I was ready.

Then I woke up.