“Is there anything else you need right now?”she asked me.
Oh, the things I needed right now …
The list was way too long and impossible toaccomplish, so I gave her a small shake of my head and shenodded.
“Okay. Just push this button if anythingchanges, okay?” she said, pointing to the small red buttononthe left side of my bed. Inodded at her and she wentonherway, picking up a bookonthetable and sitting down to read.
For the next thirty-five minutes, I laidthere, absolutely bored out of my mind and completely disinterestedin the tablet. I didn’t feel like playing a game, watching a movie,or reading. I wanted my body to heal so I could get the fuck out ofhere. Sid came by for a few minutes to check on me, but he didn’thave anything useful to say. Just that I needed to rest andcooperate.
I spent quite some time analyzing my roomand the world outside of the windows. I could hear birds; theysounded different, but I liked it. I could hear the ocean, so itdidn’t sound like we were too far from the beach, but that wasliterally all I could hear. No cars, no horns, no people, justnothing. I had been isolated all over again.
A few minutes later, I heard the door to myleft open, and I closed my eyes in anguish knowing it was Darren. Icould feel him before he even opened the door, mybodyso well-tuned to his dominatingpresence.
“Out,” I heard him say, and the mere soundof his voice brought tremors to my skin.
The guard and the nurse both immediatelystood and left the room without a word, leaving me alone with him.I kept my head turned away from him as I focused on the sunlightoutside the window, but the slow rhythmic sound of his footstepsagainst the tiled floor made it hard to ignore.
He stopped at the left side of my bed, and Itensed from how close he was. He then leaned down and took the sideof my still bruised face in his hand, rubbing his thumb along mycheek before placing a soft kiss on my temple. A wave of emotioncame over me as I cringed into myself, two single tears fallingdown my face. Fear, rage, and pure unadulterated hatred all washedover me like a tidal wave and I instantly wished I was dead.
“How’s my princess?” Darren asked with thatsnide attitude of his. Yeah, he was considering this some personalvictory. Fuck him.
I didn’t respond, just curled my lips indisgust while his thumbs gently wiped away my tears. He rose upthen and walked toward the window, his hands restingbehindhis back. I glanced at him from thecorner of my eye. He was in another suit of course; black jacket,black pants, white dress shirt, and black tie, clean-shaven, andhair styled to perfection.
Just go …
He sighed heavily and finally spoke.
“I expect you to cooperate with Sid and hisstaff to ensure your recovery. We will not leave the island untilI’m satisfied with your progression. So in essence, I’m giving yousome control of when we return home. It’s all up to you.”
Oh, how sweet of him.
Darren then turned away from the window toaddress me, his hands remaining behind his back as he glared at mefrom across the room.
“I hope by now you realize escaping is notan option, and something you will never want to consider again. AsI’ve said before, things can always get worse, and as of now, theywill be.”
I was already aware things were going to getworse. I had calculated that long ago, but I was worried as to howbad he would make them.
“You will not take a single breath withoutmy knowledge of it. You will not move or speak unless grantedpermission by me. All of your “freedoms” have been revoked and youcan consider the luxury of privacy nonexistent. From now on, youwill havetwenty-four-hoursupervision with severalbodyguards,and you will not take a single step withoutmy say-so first. Not until you can be trusted—if ever.”
Darren then headed over to my bedside andpulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket. He unfoldedit and tossed it intomy lap, butI didn’t have the courage to move my eyes.
“And as for your little plan to save yourfamily, you were not as successful as you thought you’d be. I havea strategy for everything, Jaden. Don’t ever forget that and maybenext time you can save yourself the wasted pain and energy.”
I winced my lips in absolute anger, but thepain radiating in my jaw brought more tears to my eyes. I foughtagainst them, but they continued to well in the corners until onefinally fell.
“I hope it was worth it,” he said,straightening his jacket. “Because, as of yesterday, you’re nolonger a missing statistic. You’re officially dead to theworld.”
I squinted in confusion as his wordsregistered. What in the hell did he mean I was officially dead tothe world? I finally looked up at him with my confusion, but hejust smiled at me, leaned down, and kissed my forehead beforerighting himself.
“Get well soon,princess.” He smirked. “I have a whole new curriculum foryou, and I can’t wait to get started.”
With that, he sauntered out of the room withhis hands in his pockets, looking perfectly pleased with himself ashe opened the door and walked out, the guard and nurse returning inhis stead.
I looked down at the piece of paper heplaced on mylapand instantly sawmy name in bold letters. I picked the paper up with my good handand realized it was a news article, but the title had me confusedand horrified all at the same time. “Body found in Detroit AlleyConfirmed as Missing 25-Year-Old, Jaden Wilder.”My eyeswidened while my heart monitor practically blasted from my poundingheart.
“Local police confirm the body found inan alley in downtown Detroit yesterday was identified as themissing woman. Severe thermal burns prevented fingerprintidentification, but dental records have provided positiveidentification.Thecauseof death has been determined as a drug overdose.The remains were later soaked with gasoline and lit on fire,possibly to prevent identification. Police have been unsuccessfulin locating the woman’s mother and boyfriend to claim the body, butsome of her distant family members have stepped forward. Funeralarrangements are being made for this Sunday …”
My mind swam in a whirlpool of panic andterror as I couldn’t even finish reading the article. I was dead.The world thought I was dead, and they were planning a funeral. Afuneral where people who knew me might be, who would nowunknowingly be placing themselves in danger. Not onlythatbut another person, one whom I didn’t evenknow, had taken my place on my deathbed and would now be buried sixfeet under because of me. Her family would never know the truth andneither would mine.
