The very first thing I feel is a massive headache. I try to open my eyes but I realize I am blindfolded. When I try to remove it, I find that my hands are bound behind my back. I try to focus on what I am hearing but all I can hear is the pounding in my head. I try to recall how I got here but my memories are floating around aimlessly inside my head and I can’t make sense of them because my mind is still fuzzy. My heart is beating impossibly fast; it feels like there is an Olympian trying to win a race inside my chest. I tell myself to take a deep breath and focus, which is when I realize that I am gagged as well. I will myself to calm down and my mind starts to get clearer, as does my recollection of what happened. The chair that I am bound to is very hard and uncomfortable. It must be a sturdy piece of furniture though because each of my legs are tied to the front of the chair and, as I try to wiggle to see how much slack I have, the chair doesn’t even budge. I hear footsteps coming toward me and my breath catches in my throat. The footsteps circle around me, as if they are studying me. I cringe when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“I am going to take off the blindfold,” a man’s voice says. “Nod if you understand,” he adds.
I comply and nod my head to indicate understanding. He removes the blindfold and it takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. I only now remember whose voice this is. When my eyes come into focus I look around. I’m in a sparsely lit room. The windows appear to be taped up and the walls are lined with thousands of pictures. There are pictures of Mika, pictures of Mikaela, pictures of Eric, pictures of Jill and—oh my God, so many pictures of me. Some of these are so close-up, like he was standing right beside us. He has been like a fly on the wall. Okay, this is creepy as hell, I feel like I have stepped into an episode of Criminal Minds.
“I can remove the gag.” Jasper continues, “If you promise not to scream. I don’t want to hurt you, so don’t give me a reason okay?”
I nod again and Jasper removes the gag. I swallow hard.
“Today must have been my lucky day,” he says, smiling brightly as if we are two friends catching up. “When I heard you on the phone with Kingsley Jr. I knew this was my chance,” he says as he tucks an errant strand of hair behind my ear.
The dude is giving me the creeps but something is telling me that if I want to make it out of here, I better play along. How could I have been this stupid? How could this guy always have seemed so harmless and sweet? If you would have asked me just this morning to describe Jasper, I would have said that he was sweet and kind and probably the kind of guy you would take home to meet your parents. Is Jill right after all? Do I have absolutely no intuition at all when it comes to men? I try not to zero in on the images that are plastered all over the wall but it is hard not to. It is obvious that he has been putting a lot of his time and effort into following all of us around, and judging from the pattern in which we appear, some more than others.
“Do you like my work?” he asks, voice almost giddy with excitement.
I plaster a smile on my face and nod.
“Hmmhmm.”
He claps his hands excitedly, like a child who just got praised. He takes a step closer to me and taps the tip of my nose with his finger.
“I knew that you were something special when Kingsley Jr. started following you around,” Jasper muses.
Wait, what the hell is he talking about? I want to ask him what he means but I am not entirely sure how to approach him yet.
“He doesn’t deserve you, you know,” Jasper bites out, his tone suddenly aggressive. “He doesn’t appreciate you. He just wants to own you because he can, but he will never love you the way that you need, the way that I do.”
I can tell from his erratic mood swings that this guy isn’t very stable and now it’s clear that he also has some kind of delusional infatuation. I realize that if I want to have any hope of getting out of here, I must be careful not to antagonize him.
“Do you want to have a closer look?” he asks me, voice laced with eagerness.
Strangely enough, I actually do want to see more. I also hope that he will untie me to walk around so that I can find a way to escape.
“Yes, please,” I say, fake smile in place. “You are so talented. I would love to see them up close.”
I watch him ponder my words.
“I will untie your legs so you can walk around,” he says as he starts to lower himself. “But you better not make me regret it,” he bites out.
“Oh, you won’t,” I promise smiling as sweetly as I can.
Hell, right now I would promise this nut job the moon if I thought it would keep me alive. Jasper unties my right leg and rubs where he untied me. I think he’s trying to restore the blood flow or something. I can barely stomach his hands on me and it isn’t without difficulty that I am able to mask my true feelings. The bile rising in my throat doesn’t deter me from the task at hand. I am going to do what I need to do to get out of here alive. Jasper finishes untying both my legs and then helps me stand. When I get up I feel unsteady for a moment. My legs wobble and my head spins. Jasper steadies me.
“Careful, not too fast,” he says with genuine concern in his voice. “Take a deep breath.”
I do as he says and inhale deeply, which seems to help. After what seems like a good few minutes we walk to the wall opposite me so I can see the pictures more clearly. This wall has a lot of pictures of Mikaela. She seems to be spending a lot of time with both Mika and Eric because at least one of them is in almost every picture. These have been taken over a long span of time. Mikaela is exceptionally beautiful so I can see why he has so many close-ups of her face. I stop at a picture that particularly grabs me. Mikaela looks distraught in this one, the hurt on her face abundantly clear.
“People can’t hide from the camera, you know? You capture a person’s true feelings through the lens,” he muses.
I’m not even sure if his statement is directed at me or not, so I choose not to respond. We continue to walk over to the next wall. This wall has a lot of Mika. Him at the gym, walking into his office building, him at restaurants and at clubs and with women—so many different women. And then there are the pictures of Mika and me. There are many pictures of my time spent with Mika and as I scan the walls, I note that they seem to be in chronological order. That’s when I notice pictures that shouldn’t be there, pictures that I am sure must have been taken before I ever started working at Hillcrest. I see pictures of the night my friends took me out after I passed my boards and of me on stage singing. What in the actual fuck is going on here? I squint my eyes to look closer and my heart drops when I see someone else in the picture. Someone that shouldn’t be there. Mika is standing by the stage, looking at me with an intense look in his eyes. Jasper’s words from minutes ago repeat in my head. I knew that you were something special when Kingsley Jr. started following you around. Now it clicks. I understand what he meant. Mika was there that night, watching me sing, and this lunatic was watching him. I scan through the pictures and see several pictures of Mika walking into or leaving Heritage Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where I did my clinicals for nursing school. I feel like I have been kicked in the gut. Is that where he found me? I start to feel nauseated at the thought of Mika stalking me because that is exactly what it looks like he did. How long has he been watching me? What else has he been responsible for in my life? I think back to my conversation with Mrs. Sims today. Had Mika set up everything that has happened in the last few weeks in order to get closer to me? Jasper’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
“Come look over here,” he says almost impatiently, as if he cannot wait to show me more. He grabs me by the arm and steers me toward the neighboring wall, his touch both gentle and firm.
The next wall scares the shit out of me. This wall is completely covered with pictures of just me. There are pictures of every facial expression I have ever made, it seems. Fuck, this doesn’t bode well for me at all. These pictures are from the last month or so. Me at the grocery store, walking into my house, me and my friends at our monthly dinner, and me at the gym working out. There’s even a picture of me bending over as I pet a dog at the park. It’s weird that I can’t even remember this happening. This psycho has the story of my life, or at least the last month or so of it, in major detail on his damn wall. Picture after picture after picture of me doing mundane things. Just when I start to think that this whole situation cannot get any creepier my eyes fall upon several pictures of me sleeping. Panic starts to rise inside my chest when I realize what this means. Holy shit, this guy has been in my house and photographed me while I was sleeping. I tell myself not to overthink this right now, to keep my head in the game. I cannot let fear overtake me. Get it together, Raeva, I chant inside my head.
“Aren’t these beautiful?” he breathes.
Jasper is right behind me. I can feel the warmth of his breath against my neck. It isn’t improving my nausea.
“I especially love this one,” he says, pointing at picture of me on stage singing.
I look at the picture he pointed out and study it for a moment. At first it’s to humor him but, when I look at the picture, I barely recognize the woman in the frame. The woman on that stage is sultry and striking.
“That’s the night I saw what he saw,” Jasper muses, more to himself than to me.
His words make me realize that while at first I was just a byproduct of this obsession—obviously, this all started with the Kingsley twins—his focus somehow shifted to me. While there are many—And I mean many, pictures of Mika and Mikaela, there are way more of me, and it looks like he’s been watching them a lot longer. I sneak a glance at Jasper, who is watching me intently. I am not sure what his endgame is but I do know that I need to be smart here.
“These are incredible,” I say as I gesture around the room. “You really are quite good at this, aren’t you?” I say, hoping that flattery will earn me some room to play.
His face lights up and Jasper beams at my words. Bingo. I am obviously on the right track here.
“I knew that you would like them,” he says happily.
I smile as big as I can.
“Like them? I love them! I want you to make more,” I say with what I hope is the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.
“You do?” he says, his eyes widening a little. “Do you really love them?”
I nod and he beams at me again. Then he squints his eyes.
“You are not just saying that, are you?”
Okay high school drama club, don’t let me down now, I silently pray to myself. I frown and hope I am not overselling this.
“Why would I just say that?” I say while I nudge my head to a picture of me sitting next to Jill and laughing animatedly. “You have captured incredible shots here.”
I smile at him and he returns the smile.
“Why do you have all these pictures of Mikaela and Mika?” I ask as casually as I can.
He shrugs.
“They were just a job.”
“Oh?” I say nonchalantly. “And I am not just a job?”
He looks at me exasperated.
“How could you even think that?” He says as he grabs me by the shoulder. “You are everything to me. Can’t you see that?” he says as he points at the wall containing all my pictures. “All I have to do is finish the job so I can get paid and then you and I can be together.”
Okay, so delusional is added to the mental list I have in my head that describes Jasper. I dread the answer to the question that is burning on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to stop myself from asking it anyway.
“Okay…so what do you need to do to finish the job?”
“I have to get rid of Kingsley Jr., like I got rid of his sister. I’ll do a better job this time, you’ll see. I am supposed to frame him and let him rot in jail, but now it’s different. I’ve changed the plan. It’s better now, you’ll see.”
Holy shit, he’s the one that put Mikaela in a coma and framed Mika. Somehow I knew the answer to my question would be just that. But who is paying him the big bucks to make this happen and what has he got planned for Mika? My heart constricts when I think of him hurting Mika. I may never be able to trust him or even be with him, but I love him and can’t let Jasper hurt him. For a nut job he’s pretty smart because he’s gotten away with all this stuff while both Mika and Mikaela have security. She must have ditched her security like I did with mine I think wryly to myself. I tell myself not to allow self-pity in right now. Wondering if Mikaela will ever wake up or if I will ever see Mika again are not the things to think about now. I need to focus on trying to get away from Jasper, preferably alive. I start to bounce as I squeeze my thighs together in the universal sign for “I need to pee.”
“Jasper, I need to use the little girl’s room,” I say, rocking from side to side. “Can you let me use the bathroom, please?”
Jasper looks conflicted. I decide to try and tip the scale in my favor.
“You wouldn’t let me pee on myself, would you?” I say, mortified.
“No…no of course not,” he stammers.
I smile.
“Can you untie me, please? Just so I can use the bathroom?”
I look at him expectantly, he seems to be struggling with himself.
“Okay,” he mutters finally. “Follow me.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I turn and follow him. He opens a door that I hadn’t noticed because it was covered with a crap ton of pictures. Note to self: scan your environment better when you are trying to find a way to escape. We step into a small hallway and he guides me to turn left. Jasper opens the door to a small bathroom and gestures for me to enter. I walk in and am immediately disappointed. There is only a very small window and not only is it way too small to even try to climb out of, it is up way too high and has bars across it. I guess now I’ll have to follow through. Jasper unties my hands and rubs my wrists. I feel like there are millions of little bugs crawling all over me every time this creep touches me. I try, and somehow manage, to keep the disgust that I am feeling from my facial expression. And the Oscar goes to Raeva Ray. He steps out of the bathroom and shuts the door, giving me privacy. I look around the tiny room and tell myself that at least the bathroom seems clean. I slump down onto the floor and allow myself a moment to wallow in my overwhelming flood of emotions. This guy is seriously disturbed and I am afraid, not just for me but for Mika and Mikaela as well. There is no telling what he has in store for them next. I use the bathroom and wash my hands. As I reach for the door handle it gets pulled open and I nearly fall to my knees. Jasper catches me and keeps me standing.
“You were taking too long. I came to check on you,” he says, disgruntled.
“Girls need a little longer in the bathroom, don’t you know that?” I say sweetly.
I peer down the hall and see what looks like a front door when I step out of the bathroom and start to walk back toward the door to the room we came from. A little voice inside my head says that this might be my only chance to get away. I need a distraction, a good one. I make a snap decision and I don’t even consider the fact that I will most likely regret this. I turn and push Jasper against the wall and seal my mouth on his. Immediately it feels wrong but it seems to have the desired effect. He melts into me and when I feel him relax I know he has dropped his defenses. I have only one chance at this. I push his arms above his head and continue to kiss him. I pull my knee back as far as I can and then, with all my might, I plunge my knee into his groin. Jasper cries out in agony and doubles over. I watch this happen in slow motion while all I want to do is get out of here at the speed of light. I turn and run as fast as my legs can take me toward the front door. When I reach it, I unlatch the barrel bolts at the top and bottom of the door. Then I turn the knob…which doesn’t budge. It’s locked and I obviously don’t have the key. Fuck. Panic starts to seep in, my throat beginning to close up as my breathing increases. I look behind me and see Jasper coming toward me with a murderous look on his face. I took a chance that didn’t pan out and now I am most likely going to die. I look around the hallway, which seems to be shrinking by the second. There is nowhere for me to go and it only takes Jasper seconds to reach me. He grabs me by the hair and pulls my head down with one hand while the other wraps around my throat.
“Now that was very stupid,” he says menacingly.
He lets go of my hair and pushes me against the wall as he increases the pressure on my throat. It will only take ten pounds of pressure for him to kill me. What the fuck? Who thinks of something like that right before they are going to die?
“You are a liar just like them. You don’t care about me at all.”
He pulls me from the wall and slams me back into it.
“Look at what you are making me do!” Jasper yells.
I try to pull his hand off me but he’s too strong.
“Jasper…please stop,” I manage to choke out.
He doesn’t seem to hear me at all so I start to dig my nails into his hand. He is cutting off the oxygen supply to my brain and I know that this is it, this is the moment I am going to die.