Page 2 of 3013: Wonderland

Juliet met James shortly after she joined the company, though she had done her best to avoid him since she considered him one of the big bosses. He was also known as being quite a player, and anyone with that type of reputation wasn’t someone she was interested in getting involved with. For her, her goal of becoming a prima ballerina was more important than dealing with any relationship drama.

Although James had asked her out a few times, she turned down his requests. She’d figured he probably issued the same invitation to all of the pretty dancers in the company. While most of them probably took him up on his offer, she wasn’t interested. That didn’t stop him from continuing to pursue her, though.

After she became a principal dancer, he sent her flowers after every performance. Since he hadn’t been her only admirer to do so, she hadn’t taken that for the red flag it was until it was too late.

Every time she had rejected him, it had only made him more determined to have her. However, it was more than just a challenge to him. It was something much darker and more disturbing. He’d created an entire fictional relationship between them in his head, but that hadn’t been enough for him.

He had been determined to make his twisted fantasy a reality.

She hadn’t been aware that he had been stalking her for months. Hadn’t realized that he knew every move she made, who she spoke to, and everything in between. He had evenbroken into her apartment and installed cameras in every room so he could watch her and study her routine.

Life as she knew it had ended the night James had kidnapped her after the company’s annual charity gala. She’d found out later that he had told everyone they had been planning on bonding for a while. He’d made up a story about their elopement and told his family they had waited until after she became a principal dancer so she could establish herself and avoid accusations of favoritism.

The first few months had been pure hell.

While everyone had thought they had been off enjoying a romantic honeymoon, he’d kept her prisoner in an isolated house he’d bought by the sea. He’d had a stage built on the lower level, and he made her dance for him until her feet were bloody and bruised. When she collapsed from exhaustion and pain, he would heal her wounds and allow her to rest just enough for her to do it all over again.

She felt like a puppet on strings, or one of those tiny figurines trapped inside a music box. The physical and sexual abuse she suffered was horrible, but sometimes she thought the psychological torture he put her through was even worse. He dictated every aspect of her life. What she ate, when she slept, what she wore. He tried to strip her of every autonomous thought she had in order to make her completely dependent on him.

If she didn’t comply with his demands, she was severely punished. She was a quick study and learned to comply and do what he wanted. She’d understood that gaining his trust would be the fastest way to free herself, so that was exactly what she’d done.

It was useless to fight anyway.

James rarely left her alone. Besides him, there was also a guard and an assistant on site who were there to makesure she didn’t escape. The guard, Willard Stillman, was a taciturn former soldier with cold eyes. He made Juliet extremely uncomfortable whenever he looked at her, and she knew he had no qualms about hurting her. He was the type who liked to leave bruises on her wrists and arms, and she had no doubt he would have taken it further if given the chance.

The assistant, Beatrice Price, was a former dancer and medical who was in charge of treating Juliet’s injuries. She hated Beatrice almost as much as James since the bitch always did the bare minimum when healing her. She also loved doing petty shit, like cooking meals she knew Juliet disliked or embellishing tiny infractions just to get her in trouble. It made sense once she discovered Beatrice had once been James’ lover. They had only been together briefly, but it was obvious that time had meant more to her than to him.

Once James thought Juliet was adequately under his control, he brought her back to Zion. While she was given a little more freedom at home, she was still a prisoner. She had to adhere to the grueling training schedule at the company to make up for her absence, while still being closely monitored by Beatrice, who watched her every move. Willard had taken on the role of her driver and bodyguard, ensuring she went home directly after she left the company every day.

To the outside world, Juliet and James were a fairytale couple. Their bonding might have seemed enviable, but she hated every second of it. Being with him also made her a lot of enemies since the other dancers were jealous of her new status. The company had always encouraged rivalries rather than friendships between dancers since they claimed it made everyone train harder. Because of that, she’d never had a lot of friends to begin with, but after she returned, she was basically shunned.

She was also highly scrutinized by James’ family members. They didn’t think she was good enough for him since she didn’t come from a prominent family and made sure she heard it at every opportunity. At least his sister appreciated her talent and how hard she worked in the studio.

Whenever she wasn’t dancing or training, she was confined in their home. James continued to monitor her through the security system. She couldn’t see the hidden cameras, but it was confirmed whenever he mentioned something that happened while he wasn’t there. The only good thing about that was Beatrice had gotten caught lying about several things, and that had saved Juliet from getting punished.

Although James thought he’d successfully molded her into his ideal woman, he had never broken her. She only allowed him to think he had. She hid her hate well and had never given up hope of being free. She was simply waiting for the right time to safely escape.

That wasn’t easy when she was constantly under surveillance. There was also the necklace James had gifted her that was actually a powerful shock collar. She’d learned early on during her captivity that the collar could knock her out in an instant. Since James, Beatrice, and Willard were able to trigger the shock collar, it made running essentially impossible.

That didn’t lessen her desire to escape. In fact, it only made her more determined.

During her captivity, she’d had plenty of time to reflect on her situation. James had figured since she had grown up in a group home she had no family he had to worry about coming to look for her. Since she didn’t have any close friends at the company, he’d thought she was isolated and alone. That she was someone he could use and abuse without facing any ramifications.

Juliet might look delicate, but she had a spine made of steel and the willpower to survive anything. She was no stranger to pain or suffering, so his punishments didn’t have the effect he wanted on her. She convinced herself she could endure whatever he did to her as long as she held onto the hope that her torment would end and she would get her revenge.

But escaping wasn’t a simple undertaking.

Her chance to break free wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment event, and nothing about it had been easy. While it was true she didn’t have any family, she wasn’t completely without resources. There were a handful of individuals she’d met back in the group home who she knew she could count on. They weren’t able to speak often, but she was confident they would drop everything and come to her aid if they knew what was happening to her. Actually, she was pretty damn sure they would have cheerfully ripped James to pieces if given the chance.

That thought helped spur her into action. Because she had no access to the outside world, it was impossible for her to reach them to ask for help. James had destroyed her personal wrist unit when he’d claimed her, and she couldn’t risk trying to borrow one from someone else at the company. She’d considered stealing one, but there were too many security cameras inside the building for her to take that chance.

It had taken her a while to figure out who else she could ask for help. Ironically, it had been James himself who had finally handed her the answer she’d been searching for. As a reward for behaving well, he had allowed her to visit The Donut Stop to enjoy a single donut to satisfy her sweet tooth.

Back when she first started with the company, she’d noticed the small bakery when she passed by it on her way home. She loved sweets and started stopping there as a special treat whenever she had a good week of training. She especially likedstopping there after a late night in the studio when no one else was around.

During those visits, she’d gotten to know Emma Rage, one of the bakers, pretty well. Emma always opened the bakery early in the morning to get a head start on preparing for the morning rush. While they couldn’t be considered intimate friends, she thought Emma might be willing to help her.

She figured if she could somehow pass her a note asking her to contact her friends, she would finally get the help she needed to escape. Unfortunately, Juliet hadn’t seen any familiar faces during her visit to The Donut Shop. However, her disappointment had turned to veiled excitement when she’d discovered Emma had mated with a Helios who worked at Exodus, the sanctuary located several blocks away.

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