It had been a week since I had fallen into the pond. Most of my time was spent playing with Olivia or trying to avoid Francis, but every day dragged on as I tried to keep my sanity. I was starting to get homesick and tried of acting. 

Several times my act had cracked, and I broke down. When that happened, I would lock myself in the bathroom for hours on end until I pulled myself together again, as I had currently been doing. I had cried a lot in the past week, but now my tears have dried. 

I looked at myself in the mirror for what must have been the hundredth time. My eyes had lost their entire spark and I found it hard to look myself. I had changed so much in the past week. Due to not eating enough, I had lost some weight. Yeah this was nice, but I would have been more appreciative under different circumstances.

My hair had lost the sunshine it once held; not surprising since I hadn’t been outside since my near death experience. In fact, Francis wouldn’t let Olivia or me out of his sight. Even when I just hung out in Olivia’s room, he had demanded to keep the door open. I think he had become paranoid after that night.

Despite his clinginess, he had become nicer. He didn’t hit me anymore, but sometimes I could tell he was holding himself back. While I was grateful for not getting hit and that my bruises had finally faded, I was still truly terrified about what he had planned for me. 

After three or four days, he had kissed me again; it happened when I was doing dishes after breakfast. I was drying off the final dish, when his arms wrapped around me. By now I was used to this, but his words sent chills down my spine. 

‘My world is almost perfect,’ he had whispered into my ear. 

I tried ignoring these words, but he spun me around to face him. His hand gently pulled my chin up to look at him, and I felt my eyes go wide. He was smiling down at me with suffocating affection. My breath caught in my throat as his face neared my own. I closed my eyes and his lips met mine for the second time. 

I had thrown up later that day. He had not only stolen my first kiss, but my second also. Every morning and every night he would kiss me now. Even though I hated it, I was getting used to it. I could finally hold my stomach after the first four or so kisses. My body couldn’t handle it anymore, but I had to endure it. I would rather have to deal with a few kisses than being beat.

I decided to stop thinking this nonsense. I had the whole day to go still, and I wouldn’t spend it with my head in the gutters. I splashed cold water over my face and pulled back my hair. Thankfully, Francis had bought me hair products so my hair wasn‘t a mess. 

I had made a list one night, and in the morning everything I needed was here. I don’t know when he was able to sneak out and buy me my things, but he did. Now I had my shampoo, conditioner, hair ties, and a proper hairbrush. 

I dried my face and zipped up my sweater. Even though we had heat in the house, it was still bone chilling outside. If I had fallen into the pond today, I would probably freeze within a few minutes. This winter was going to be brutal, but it hadn’t snowed yet.

Time to go meet my nightmare. I pulled open the door and made a path for the kitchen. I could already smell breakfast being served, and Francis hated it when I was late. It is not like I cared what he thought, but I was still trying to avoid getting hit.

“Good morning Haitlin,” Francis said cheerily once I stepped into the kitchen.

He walked over, kissed me on the lips, and pulled out my chair. I sat down and looked at the pancakes he made. They looked good, but I wasn’t that hungry. Olivia was smiling and looking up at me with large eyes.

“Guess what Haitlin?” she squealed.

I could tell she was excited, but I didn’t know why. 

“What, sweetheart?” I asked.

“I’m going to visit my Uncle Ian!” 

My mind completely stopped, and then went into hyper drive. Uncle? Francis had a brother? Why was Francis shipping her off? Does Ian know about me? Could he help me escape? 

So many thoughts soared through my head, but I had to rein back for now.

“I didn’t know you had a brother, Francis,” I said while looking up at him.

He just smiled.

“Er- how long are you going to be gone, Olivia?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. Daddy says I’m leaving today but I might not get back until Monday.”

What day was it? It had to be Friday, so she would be gone about two days. I still couldn’t get over the fact that Francis had a brother.

“Francis, I need to speak with you in the hall,” I said.

I threw my napkin down and stormed out of earshot. I needed to look angry so I could squeeze out as much information and plans he had. His hand held my shoulder and I looked up to see his concerned face.

“What’s wrong Haitlin?” he questioned.

Time to act like I really cared.

“How come you never tell me you had a brother?” I asked, pretending to look offended.

“It never came up, sorry. Is that all you are worried about?”

“Olivia is leaving with some man I never knew existed, and I am worried. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Okay Sugar, look. Ian and I had a falling out years ago, but he has been trying to contact me lately. I finally called him last night, and after catching up he asked if he could take Olivia out for a few days. His girlfriend owns a kid fun land and thought it would be nice for Olivia to get out,” he said truthfully.

Even after all of that, I still some questions. Why did Francis choose last night to contact Ian? Did it matter, or was I just over thinking things? Wait. This meant I would be alone with him for two whole days. That cannot happen.

“I want to meet him before he just suddenly whisks Olivia away. I want to know who she is spending these two days with,” I said.

If he meets me then he might know who I am. My dad probably had me in the newspapers by now, so everyone should know I had gone missing. A teenage girl going missing for a week and a half in small Willow Springs is big news and should be all over the news. 

I wonder what picture my family had chosen for people to identify me. Hopefully it was one where I looked at least half decent and not my school photo. My eyes were half closed and I looked like a hobo in my school picture. I mean really, what school has picture day on their first day of school?

“My little brother is trustworthy, don’t worry. You don’t need to meet him, it’s alright,” Francis interrupted my thoughts.

“Does he know about… me?” I asked nervously.

I bit my lip while looking down with concern. I needed to know as much as I could, but finding the right questions were challenging. 

I felt his hand slip under my chin, and pull my head up until my eyes met his. They were warm and inviting, not cold like I imagined they would be. I thought he would be angered at my question, but apparently he wasn’t.

“He knows that I have a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, amazing woman in my life and that I love her,” he whispered.

My breath caught in my throat at his last words. Did he really love me? Was he crazy? Well, yeah I already knew that much, but seriously? A few forced, one sided kisses and he ‘loved’ me? More like he had a sick obsession. 

His lips met mine again, but this kiss lasted longer than any of the others. I think someone would call this a more ‘passionate’ kiss, but I only found it more disturbing. He was advancing too fast and if I didn’t find a way to cool his jets then I would be in trouble. He had already cracked my innocence; I don’t need him to completely shatter it.

After he pulled away, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I had to play this off without showing how deeply traumatized I was. If I ever escaped, I knew I would need counseling for several years due to this experience. 

The minute I got into the safety of my family’s arms, I knew I would break. I would shed this mask I bore and let everything catch up to me. Deep inside, I knew Francis had changed my life forever; that he had already gotten to me. It was a hard realization to face, but I guess I had always known. 

“Haitlin, I want you to know how much I love you,” Francis whispered in my ear.

I jumped in surprise; I had not noticed he was this close.

“Okay,” was my lame response.

What else could I say? What does a person say in that situation? ‘Okay’ seemed to be the most neutral answer I could find. It is not as if I could actually tell him the same thing. I may be putting up an act, but I do have boundaries. He may have taken away my first kiss, but he can never make me say I love him. 

A smile spread on Francis’s face and his eyes twinkled. He really must be deep in some sick fantasy that his mind had crafted to look this in love. If only I could just tell him how much I loathed him. Rejection would have been so sweet, but I couldn’t. 

I knew his mind was a fragile being, and if I messed with it anymore then he might snap. I really did not want to be covered in bruises for another week. 

“Let’s go finish breakfast,” I told.

Truthfully, my appetite died several days ago but I would do anything to get out of this situation. His affection was suffocating, to the point I felt like my lungs would have collapsed had I not said anything. 

“Let’s.”

He grabbed my hand and walked me back into the kitchen where I pretended to eat for the next few minutes. Olivia was already done, but stayed to talk about her upcoming trip. She truly looked exited, but inside I was terrified of what would happen once she left. 

I didn’t really learn much about Ian, since Francis decided to get all ‘lovey-dovey’. All I really found out was that Ian is Francis’s younger brother, and that they were estranged until lately. It made me wonder what they looked like, and where Francis grew up. 

I wanted to see the people who raised a kidnappe;, maybe it was just a family gene. They could be a house full of criminals for all I knew! A murder father, crook mother, animal abuser brother, and a kidnapper; sounds about right.

Okay, so I was being a little too harsh, but you never know.

“Haitlin,” Francis repeated.

“Yeah,” I answered, not knowing what I was agreeing too.

I get lost in my thoughts too often, and that could come back to bite me. Luckily, this time he was only asking if I was done with breakfast. He took all of our plates to the sink while Olivia jumped excitedly in her seat.

“Haitlin, could you please help ‘Livy pack her things? She should only be gone about two days, but she will need a few outfits. You don’t mind, do you?”  Francis asked.

This was the first time hearing Olivia’s nickname in a while. Honestly, I didn’t like it. The nickname did not fit her and it reminded me of liver. 

“Sure, I don‘t mind. Come on Olivia,” I replied.

“Yay!” she squealed in delight. 

She grabbed my hand, towed me back upstairs and into her room. A bright pink suitcase covered in white printed flowers had already lain on her bed. Several clothes had already been thoughtlessly jammed into it along with several stuffed animals.

“Olivia, we need to fold the clothes so more can fit in. Okay?” I asked.

As it was, the suitcase probably wouldn’t close because of everything inside of it. I know when I was young I never folded my clothes, but when I was young I always had a mother to do it for me. Poor Olivia only has Francis as a role model. 

‘And now she me’ I thought. I shook my head at this. No, she may look up to me but I am not her role model; no matter how much she thinks I am. I just don’t think someone who got kidnapped is someone to look up too. 

“Okay,” she sighed, “but I don’t know how to fold clothes. Daddy always does it for me!”

“Well now you can learn,” I replied.

I smiled down at her and grabbed a shirt out of her suit case. We went through all the steps of folding clothes until she caught on; then she wanted to be a big girl and do it all by herself.

During this little ‘session’ I asked her about her Uncle Ian. She said she remembered seeing pictures of him, but never recalled meeting him. This made the whole situation a little weirder, if you ask me. 

Why would Francis suddenly let Ian take her out? He rarely lets us out of eyeshot, much less outside. I don’t see the reasoning behind why he would let her out. What was he planning in his sick mind? Did I even want to know? Yes, yes I did. If I knew then I could have prepared for what he was going to do. 

I turned my thoughts toward Olivia. Did she know what was going on? Was that why she would willingly go with this man if she barely knew him? Personally, I wanted to meet him, but I knew there was a slim chance at that. Francis probably didn’t want to risk him recognizing me.

Olivia smiled at me, breaking me out of my contemplation. So badly I wanted to ask her if she knew anything, but she was so young. Would her dad really tell her those kinds of things? Or was I just underestimating her? She may be young, but I knew she caught on fast.

“Olivia,” I started, but never finished.

Francis knocked on the door the second I was about to ask Olivia if she knew anything. I tried not looking at him with a glare, but I knew it would still be there.

“Look at my two beautiful girls,” he said with a smile.

I faced my back to him and watched Olivia. She was biting her lip, trying not to smile, and sitting on her now packed suitcase. In her hands she held Kevin the unicorn, playing with his hair. She looked so adorable, but I could tell she was fidgety. I just didn’t know why.

“Olivia, Ian is waiting in his car outside. Let’s go,” Francis said.

She immediately jumped up, grabbed her suitcase and ran for the door. I stood up and walked behind her while trying to figure out what she was hiding. Now I knew she knew something.

Francis laughed at her and tried carrying her suitcase for her, but she was having none of it. She took off down the stair, with her suitcase bouncing down every step. Francis finally ran after her and caught her at the door. He picked her up, embraced her in a hug and whispered something in her ear.

When he put her down he pushed back her hair and planted a kiss on her forehead. 

“Goodbye baby girl,” he cooed.

“Bye-bye daddy.”

Olivia then walked over to me and hugged my waist. Before she could let go, I bent down to her eye level and pulled her into a real hug. This little girl was the only way I ever got a break in this house. Now she would be gone. Next time I see her she may just be my enemies daughter, not the sweet little girl I now embraced.

“You be a good girl, okay?” I choked out in a whisper.

I couldn’t keep my voice from cracking. This is just another person Francis is taking away from me. One other person I will might never see again. Who’s to say Francis won’t kill me before she get home?

Tears stung my eyes and threatened to spill over, but I couldn’t show weakness to Francis. I needed to be strong, now more than ever. Now I would be completely and utterly alone.

“Okay Haitlin,” Olivia whispered back. 

She left my arms, tugged open the door, and walked away. And with that, she was gone; exactly how I wanted to leave the nightmare that now wrapped its arms around my waist and pulled me in close.

Just like that, my life took a turn for the worse.