House of Dolls

Their First Supper

The days that followed were a blur of activity. Nathan continued to play the worried friend as he appeared at various locations to assist in the search for Anna. He'd scour the town and nearby parks with her family, hanging missing person flyers and duping them all once more. Except for Officer Stanley, everyone began to believe Nathan was innocent. He had a feeling Nathan knew more than he let on, but there was no evidence of his involvement in her disappearance.

Anna, along with the four other victims, remained in their hidden rooms for the rest of the week. The police were at a standstill because they had no other leads to work with. Nathan had them chasing what appeared to be a ghost.

Nathan had a plan to make Anna see things his way on the day he decided to release them from their holding cells. He first went downstairs to tend to the first four girls. He had Kayla, Katherine, Mia, and Jordan put their wrists through the hatch in the hidden door, zip-tied them, and led them back to their rooms one at a time. All four girls appeared to be in a trance as they continued to drink the water Nathan had drugged earlier in the week. None of them dared to defy Nathan as he led them to their rooms and eventually locked them in.

He proceeded up his spiral staircase to retrieve Anna as he locked the basement doors. He walked into the library, swung open the bookcase, unlocked the hidden door, and walked into the room. Anna sat on her bed, seemingly dazed, with a confused expression. Her eyes were sensitive to natural light because she had been in a nearly completely dark room for the entire week, with only a small lamp to provide illumination. As Nathan approached, Anna drew the covers up to her chin and moved back against the wall.

"Nathan, please let me out of here. My family, I'm sure, are worried. You can't do this to them, or me. I thought you loved me." Anna pleaded for her release between tears as she fixated on Nathan. She was still in shock that her long-time friend would hurt her like that.

"I am letting you out, Anna," he softly replied.

Anna sat up straight, a hopeful expression on her face as she heard Nathan say the words she had hoped to hear. "Thank you, Nathan. I swear I'm not going to say anything. I'll just say I needed some alone time." She believed it was finally time for her to be set free.

Nathan then smiled as he looked at Anna "I'm not letting you leave the house, but I am letting you leave the room to return to your room. And I love you, Anna, which is why I'm looking after you." Nathan approached Anna as she began to hyperventilate at the prospect of not being able to return home.

Anna buried her face in her hands and began sobbing uncontrollably. She raised her eyes to Nathan for a brief moment so he could see the pain on her face "You can't do this to me, Nathan! Please let me leave! If you truly loved me, you would not be doing this to me!"

Nathan could see the anguish on her face, but he refused to grant her wish to be fully released. He walked over to the bed and showed Anna the zip ties. "Hold your wrists out, Please," he asked.

"No! You can't do this!" Anna summoned enough adrenaline to leap to her feet and charge Nathan.

He quickly grabbed her, spun her around, and threw her to the ground in a fetal position. He became increasingly enraged as he pressed his weight against her, "Stop doing that, Anna! You know it's pointless to fight me! You already know what I'm capable of, and I don't want to hurt you any longer!"

Anna then collapsed onto the floor, succumbing to Nathan's force. "Fine, just do it," she sobbed as she put her hands behind her back. She whimpered softly, knowing she had been defeated.

"Anna, stand up and put your hands in front of you, not behind your back. You're not a prisoner of mine." As Nathan said this to Anna, she stood up and looked at him with a puzzled expression.