Freedom

Part 27: Jerome Sets Danica Free

The cop that Danica had referred to in her drunken stupor was actually very accurate. Of course, she had been drunk while acting in the role of kidnapper-having disarmed and brutalized the officer in an alley way, then roped him up, blind folded him, tossed him in the back of a truck, car-jacked said driver of the truck; then drove his ass to the back of the Galavan's house and hauled him into the building.

Some people do some heinous things while under the influence. Danica's insanity peaked while under the influence of drugs and alcohol; and Jerome knew that her inner-psychopath lay in the arms of meth and alcohol.

Galavan wouldn't approve of allowing drugs in the house; but my God, she was a nagging, sober, logical 18-year-old woman with a conscience-Jerome would fix that. He had seen her go four days while high. All he had to do was make her sustain longer than that; then she would surely break. Then... permanent, beautiful insanity.

When Danica sobered, she couldn't move. She had been strapped down to the bed with rope. Oh, yeah, and duct tape. She couldn't holler out. Danica looked around and saw only the interior of the bedroom. *What the hell*. She felt cold. *Why cold?* She looked down at her body. She was naked.

Danica wrestled against her restraints, unable to peel her mouth open through the duct tape. She looked around and noticed candles burning, each light on a different piece of furniture.

Jerome opened the door and closed it behind him. He was dressed in his robe, a striped shirt underneath, still smiling as usual.

Danica made a noise through her muffled mouth. Jerome looked at her.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said darkly. "How did you sleep? Hope I didn't wake you up."

Jerome stepped by the bed.

"So," he continued, "I gave it some thought, and I was going to give you some rosy cheeks to go with that smile, but I figured you weren't into 'light-my-face-on-fire' thing, so I thought of something different."

He reached under the bed and pulled out a syringe. Danica shook her head wildly.

"You don't even know what's in this," said Jerome. "Again, the *close-mindedness*. Tsk, tsk."

Danica shunned away as he tapped the needle with his fingertips.

"I had a cousin who was really into this sort of thing. It drove him crazy," he added. "Made him do some weird shit like shooting himself out of a cannon. Real Daredevil acts, know what I mean?"

Danica made a sentence.

"No back talking. Play nice with the other kids; unless the other kids want to fight, and then you'll have to kick the other kids' butt," Jerome said.

He looked at Danica fondly.

"I just finished playing Russian Roulette; and I won. If you're wondering if everybody wants to know where you are, I merely told them that you're sleeping off a *really* tough hangover. Hence, nobody is coming up here anytime soon. Gives us enough time to play."

He sat down beside her.

"We've been having some issues-you and me. And when I was playing 'Who's the Boss' with my buddy, Greenwood, it gave me the idea of a Russian Roulette of our own." He grinned wickedly. "See, there are two things that I like about you, but you're only violent and funny when you've got an extra *oomph*-" he slammed his hand on the bed, making the mattress jump-"when you're not *you*."

Danica's eyes widened in fear as he placed the needle by her neck.

"See," he stopped before administrating it to her jugular, "you like little details. But I'm the shot caller of our little gang. And I need you to be fluid in our decision-making. This, by the way, I call it the Trojan Horse. I have no idea what's in here," he added, "but I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it."

Danica closed her eyes as she stuck the needle in her neck. She made a scream through the duct tape-Jerome beamed as she shook violently.

"Quit fighting it," he suggested. "This will make you insane." He lowered his face to hers and sighed, "Then you'll be just like us."

Danica struggled, pulling at her restraints, straining under the sharp pains of whatever he administered to her bloodstream. She had never felt anything like this: it was painful, but there was a certain bliss to it all. Jerome bit his lip as she squinted her eyes in pain.

Then she went still.
Jerome withdrew another needle from under the bed, steadied his hand and he gave her another shot. Danica's body ceased and her eyes popped open. Another body shake, more muffled screams.

Danica realized what he was doing. He was torturing her.* One bad day*, he had said. And the only way he could get her to go this was to retain her where she couldn't say no.

Jerome watched her. All he did was smirk and watch her body flush red, then turn pale white. Convulse and then lie still. Danica's eyes streamed tears, both from pain and perhaps some heart-break. But she started to feel...*Or perhaps it was less than feeling*.

Jerome leaned forward and grazed her ear with his lips.

"You're gonna be amazing. Once you realize that pain is nothing, but something you can *relish*," he soothed, "you will be free. When you realize that emotion is just a weakness, you will be free."

Danica's body ceased again, but this time she didn't shed tears; instead, her back arched. Jerome looked down from her face to her waist, watching in delight as her toes curled; his eyes bolted to her fingers as they clenched tight against her ropes. Danica met Jerome's; they pinpointed and then dilated.

"*Beautiful*," Jerome moaned, staring into her eyes.

Danica struggled against her restraints. Jerome broke his trance. He clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Here we go," he resigned. He withdrew yet another needle from under the bed. "*Baby*, we can do this all night long." He withdrew a bag and threw all the needles onto the bed; there were 20 of them.

Jerome put the needle in her neck again. He pulled the duct tape off her mouth. She cried out-

"I'm going to fucking kill-"

Jerome punched her hard in the face and put the duct tape back on her mouth.

"You have a lot of fight in you," Jerome said approvingly. "Such a strong, fighting spirit. Admirable."

He withdrew a knife from his pocket.

"Let's make this more interesting. More intimate."

Danica sighed. Jerome smiled.
"That can either mean you're bored or you are giving up. Which one is it?"

Danica flicked both her hands up. Surrender. Jerome looked pleased.

"Okay. Now we're doing this one more time," he said. "But if you fight it, we're gonna have to get a little freaky."

Danica nodded.
He put another shot into her neck. Danica felt the oncoming pain-but this time, it dissolved from pain to pleasure. The harsh burning that she felt earlier that brought her to tears felt like a gentle sauna. The intense migraine faded, turned to a heightened sense of euphoria. Danica's mouth tore at the duct tape with a big smile.

Jerome nodded, watching her body cease in excitement. Then he rose to his feet. He cut off her restraints with the knife then he climbed on top of her. Jerome placed his lips to her neck and licked her needle marks.

"Your drug abuse has released you," he whispered. "How poetic." He withdrew the duct tape from her mouth.

Jerome placed the knife in her hand.

"Give it your best shot, kitten."
Danica grinned. She captured his mouth with hers, pulling him into a kiss-passionate, enflamed.

Danica pushed Jerome off her and mounted him; one hand went to his throat, the other held the blade to his neck.

There it was. Jerome could tell that this threat was different. A beautiful psychopath. Finally.

Danica pressed the knife into his throat, expelling blood. She only cut deep enough to mark him, not kill him. Danica bit her lip as Jerome's eyes rolled back into his head.

She was free.