You Are My Sunshine - The Phantoms
Lovely - Billie Eilish ft Khalid

All I see is a bright light. It stings my eyes and I screw them up tightly, turning my head from the pesky brightness.

"Aw, did I hurt you? Is it too much?" I peek my eyes open and come face to face with another human for the first time in what seemed like years. For a moment, happiness flood my systems and I wanted to smile. But it soon dawns on me where I was as the pain gnaws on my wrists and in my head. I silently nod my head at Jase and he purses his lips. He pushes the large glasses up his nose and shines the flashlight up and down me. The faint light coming in from the outside teases me as he walks around behind me and back in front of me.

"Well? How do you feel?" My stomach answers for me as very loud gurgling erupts from my stomach. I look down at my stomach and back up at Jase.

"I feel like I want to get out of here," I say and Jase purses his lips. He clicks the flashlight off, shadows casting on his face and giving him more of a sinister look.

"Do you think you deserve to come out? Are you going to behave? You caused me quite some trouble, I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you yet," My eyes widen and I decide it was now or never to deploy my plan. I needed to play a psycho to outplay the psycho.

"Oh, I'm going to behave! You made me realize something, Jase. You made me realize how much you do for me and I forgive you for hurting me and kidnaping me. I've been spending all this time trying to get away from you when all you want to do is protect me!" Jase looks at me silently, listening to my every word. I needed to convince him more, he wasn't buying it.

"Plus, I . . . miss you. It was so lonely down here," I shut my eyes and say, hoping that saying that would be enough to convince him.

"Why didn't you just say so? Let's get you out of here, love," Cold hands grip my wrist and the tight restraints are peeled off of my wrists. I yelp from the pain and Jase stops for a moment, looking at me with concern.

"I'm too hard on you, aren't I?" I nod my head at him and he sighs, turning his head away from me and looking to where the opened door was. I could see him tightening his fists to the point his nails were digging into his palm. My eyes bounce around and I cringe as I place my hand on his fist. He straightens at my touch and his hand unravels, intertwining his fingers with mine. So cold, so tight. I tell myself I need to get used to this if I want to get out of here.

"Stupid, stupid. Come now, let's get you upstairs and cleaned up. We have so much to do now that you're mine again,"

//

I stand in the shower and try not to think about the fact Jase was standing right outside the door with no knob. The warm water rolled off of me as did the blood and tears from days before. The first thing I noticed when I was out of that blackroom was the fact that there was no doorknob on the bathroom door and there was no door on the frame of where I woke up. Color me thrilled.

There was absolutely no way I could keep up this charade for very long. I couldn't handle the fact I had to warm up to Jase, I utterly hated this man. Yet, there was the only way for me to survive him. If I wanted to get close to escape, I needed to close to him. Hell, I'd never been in a relationship before, I didn't know how to act. How was I supposed to put up this facade if I didn't know what to do? What to say? What to think? I needed to do exactly what he wanted me to do, but I needed to make it look like I wanted to do these things.

"Almost done, love?" I rapidly blink and remember where I was. I quickly scrub the blood from my arms, avoiding my purple wrists and still sore feet.

"Yeah, uhm, can I have something else to wear? My other clothes are dirty," I reply and turn off the water. Thank god there were already towels in the room or I would have rather stayed in that black room. I wrap the towel tightly around my body and step back across the tub, yanking the curtain tightly back so there was no way he could see me. Jase opens the door walks in, stopping right outside the curtain barrier.

"Shy, are we? Don't worry, you are going to warm up to me more," I silently mimic him and move my hand like it was talking. Sure, when pigs fly maybe. He exits the room and shuts the door as best as a knobless door could be shut and I hear steps walk away from the door. I whip back the curtain and look at what he brought me; a pair of my own jeans, my own sweater, and a few other personal items. I get dressed and was surprised to find the necklace dad had given me for my birthday before he died. Just a simple yellow acacia, a running joke to remember what they named me after. I felt a bit touched.

I walk out and see Standing at the end of the hall where the kitchen was. He beams when he sees me and motions for me to come to him.

"Let's fix these wounds, shall we? You're walking fine, so your feet must be better. How are those wrists?" He grabs onto my lower arms and inspects them, tutting.

"Bad," I whisper and Jase clicks his tongue. He goes over to a cabinet and opens it, pulling out a small medical kit. Well, what did you know? He grabs gauze and ointment, shutting it and walking over to me. Once finished wrapping my wrists up, he puts them away and claps his hands together.

"What would you like to eat? It's only about 9 in the morning, so breakfast, obviously. Pancakes? Oatmeal?" He looks up at me and pushes the glasses up his nose. I wasn't going to get sick of that. He stares at me, leaning out a bit in expectancy. I open my mouth and close it before opening it again and shrugging.

"Pancakes."

"Good choice! Sit down and I will cook for you," He motions to the same kitchen table from a few days ago. I pull a chair out and sit down across from the fridge, watching him as he gathers what he needed. Alright, I needed to keep him happy. I needed to answer him when he wanted me to, I needed to act like I wanted what he wanted. God, this was going to be so hard to do. The more thought I put into it, the more I wanted to be at home, my home. I knew I couldn't ask to leave, at least not yet. I had a lot more time before he would trust me enough to let me out of this house.

"So, how are you feeling? I'm sorry I've neglected you so, but you needed to be taught a lesson, my love. But do tell me everything you're feeling, I won't judge you," I stay silent and open my mouth. It seemed that was all I could do instead of answering him.

"I should be hearing a long rant, sweetheart. Why is there silence?" I could feel the intenseness forming in his words and I start to stutter before forming words of my own.

"My wrists hurt a lot but my feet are finally healed. I feel a little scared," Jase stops moving and his back straightens at that statement.

"Oh?" Is all he says and I curse myself for saying that. I needed him to think I was in love with him, remember?

"But I really just missed you. It was really dark down there and there wasn't anything to do except think about how much I like you. Especially how you take care of me, like just now," Jase relaxes and goes back to making the pancakes.

"Of course. I will always take care of you, Acacia. You don't need to be scared anymore," He turns around to look at me with a bright smile. I give him a small smile and he looks over at the wall like it was a far distance. Jase quickly shakes it off, breathes out and goes back to his work. I could smell the food and it made my stomach grow impatient. Without warning, it loudly gurgles again and I groan from the internal pain.

"Don't worry, almost done," Jase says and brings me three pancakes. I look down at them and look back up at him.

"Well, go on. Eat, I know you're starving," I giant part of me didn't want to eat them. I couldn't exactly see what he was doing at the counter. The big part of me screams at me not to pick up the fork and to throw them in his face.

"Eat," He commands once more and I look back up at him, a deep scowl starting to form on his face. I quickly pick up the fork, cut a bit and force it in my mouth. Jase smiles and walks back to the stove with the pancakes. That was almost a close one. I continue to eat the pancakes and realize how good they actually were. Store bought or not, I liked them very much. Before I knew it, they were all gone and Jase was just sitting down with his own plate. He looks down at my empty plate and scoots me the one in front of him.

"Go on, I don't mind. Have at it," I grab my fork and dig in once more. I forgot how big of an appetite I really did have.

"What would you like to do today?" Jase asks as I eat and I shrug my shoulders. He frowns and crosses his arms. I set my fork down and place my elbows on the table. I needed to look comfortable so he would be convinced.

"How about we just spend the day together?" I chirp as one of my eyes squishes up in a slight cringe. Jase stares at me, then looks away like in the distance once more. He then snaps out of it again and smiles at me.

"Of course. Anything for you. How about a movie?" I nod at this and go back to the pancakes. So far, so good. I finish the pancakes and Jase grabs the plate placing it in the sink.

"Thank you," I say and Jase smiles at me. I looked at him, really looked at him and noticed dimples on his cheeks from the smile. He catches me staring and that makes his smile widen even more. I look back down at the table and internally scream at myself. Bold of him to assume my motive for staring.

"Come to me," Is all he says and he outstretches his arms and motions his hands for me to come to him. I am still sitting and bounce my eyes around the room. He purses his lips and leans against the counter of the sink. Very bold of him to assume my motives, indeed. A deep frown replaces the childish smile and he motions one more time at me.

"Acacia, I'm growing impatient," I did need to sell my act. I tell myself I need to do this to get out alive. I need to get used to this. I swallow my pride and scoot out of the chair, walking up to him. His arms wrap around me and pull me into his chest. My cheek squishes against his chest and I try my best to keep the groan in my head. Do this to get out, do this to get out, do this to get out.

"Isn't this nice, my dear? I can get used to mornings like this, can't you?" He places his chin on my head and starts to hum. I start to pull away and his arms squeeze me tighter. I squirm and place my hands on his chest to push away.

"Stop struggling," He warns and the blood runs cold in my veins. I stop and he contently sighs, going back to humming the nameless tune.

"I'm going to take such good care of you. You're never going to leave me."