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I frowned. “The one who put you in here.”
“That’s his name? I had no idea.”
“Dr. Vincent Lockwood,” I said, knowing full well that if this went south, and he found out she knew his name, he might decide to get rid of her. I didn’t know how things were going to unfold from here on out, but deep down, I was already certain I wasn’t going to let him touch her again. “His mother,” I continued, “Is she dead? Still alive?”
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. How would I know? I didn’t even know his name. Is this what he told you? That I did something to his mother?”
“Yes. Looking at you, though... I think he’s lying. I know he’s lying.”
I expected her to jump on that and confirm that he was a lying psycho bastard, but instead, Maya averted her gaze and hug her knees to her chest.
“Maya? What’s wrong?”
She looked so small and helpless, so exhausted and beaten up that I felt a powerful urge to wrap her in my arms and cradle her while I promised her the head of Vincent Lockwood on a silver platter.
“My name is all I can remember,” she said. “My name and my job. I’m a kindergarten teacher.” She reached a hand behind her head. “When he kidnapped me, I fought him, apparently. My memory is gone. It’s because I hit my head and got a concussion. I didn’t think a concussion could be so bad. I get flashes sometimes, images that pop into my head, but I can’t always make sense of them. I feel like my memories are just out of reach. When I try to push and remember, I get these terrible headaches.”
I clenched my jaw and squeezed my hands into fists, imagining Lockwood’s brain matter slip through my fingers as I crushed his skull.
Maya looked up at me again. “What I’m trying to say is... Mason, right? That’s your name.”
“Mason Stonewarden.”
She smiled. “That’s a unique name. I like it. Mine is so boring. Anyway, what I want to say is... You’re here to get my side of the story, but I don’t know what it is. I know he kidnapped me, and he’s been keeping me here for a few days. He feeds me but doesn’t care about me. He draws my blood once in a while and does something with it in his lab. That’s all I know, and most of it, he’s told me himself. So, I don’t know if I did anything to his mother... I just don’t. If I repeat his name to myself... Vincent Lockwood, Vincent Lockwood... my mind draws a blank. I can’t remember if I know him or not. I don’t think I do, but my thoughts are so jumbled.”
She hung her head and pressed her hands to her eyes. Slowly, she started rocking back and forth.
“You couldn’t have,” I said. “Look at you! A kindergarten teacher?”
“I don’t know... I don’t know...”
“Maya.” My hands shot out before I could stop them. They landed on her arms, and she startled when she felt my touch.“Maya, listen to me. Look deep inside, reach deep down, and tell me what you feel the truth is.”
“Mason, I...”
“Just do it. Go with your gut, not with your confused thoughts. That’s all because of the concussion and the trauma that piece of trash has put you through.”
She looked up at me, and I noticed she wasn’t shaking anymore. She didn’t push me away, though I was probably squeezing her quite hard. I let heat spread through my body, down into my hands and fingers, and let that heat – the heat of my body – warm her. It was a soothing kind of heat, not the kind that was red and filled with rage, like I’d felt earlier for Lockwood.
Few people could draw this heat out of me. It was the heat of my heart, not the heat of my belly.
“I feel like,” she started hesitantly, “I feel like... I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I work with children. I remember some of my students. Their names and their faces... I feel like someone who loves children could never do what Lockwood is accusing me of. What do you think?”
“I think you should trust your intuition because I do. You didn’t do anything, Maya. He’s lying.”
“Why, though?”
“I don’t know.”
I got up to my feet and extended a hand to her. She stared at it but didn’t take it.
“I’m getting you out of here,” I said. “Come on.”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“Maya, come on. You have nothing to be afraid of. I will take care of you. I will crush him and take you far away from here.”
“No,” she said.
