Page 23 of Mine, Forever

“Just let me know what happens tomorrow.”

I took off without saying goodbye to Maria which was out of character for me. I knew who to keep on my good books, and she was someone I didn’t want to push away. There had been many a time when she’d cleaned up a mess of mine so it didn’t come out of those asylum doors to destroy my good standing with the government officials, but the thought of John owning Ebony had me angry. I needed to fucking find him now before he fucked everything up for me.

I thought back to that day at the cabin when Ebony had asked me what made me into the monster I am. The truth was, it was my father. He forced me into this persona—whoever the fuck I am, mostly because he was a monster himself. The problem was I was much worse than he had ever been. I think he knew that in the end. He knew I would kill him the second I saw him, but oddly enough I hadn’t. I’d asked someone else to do it, and look what damage control I was doing now because I’d been too chicken-shit to commit patricide.

He was still fucking around and in secret which scared me more than if he’d made himself known.What was he hiding?

There could only be one reason why he was staying silent for so long—one reason which scared me half as much as losing Ebony to him.

He had plans for me.

Chapter Five

EBONY

Six Months Later

I tried to wiggle my fingers around to make sure I didn’t get pins and needles again. This jacket was so damn restricting—I guess that’s the reason for it. Maria had made sure I didn’t hurt myself again by placing me in a padded cell, but that hadn’t stopped me from scratching my skin so hard that I bled. I couldn’t go through another treatment. They had started to wean me off the anti-psychotics, and it was making me lose touch with myself. I felt as if I were an outsider looking into a trap where I couldn’t get myself free.

“Ebony, how are we feeling today?” Maria asked, through the hole in the door.

“Fine.”

“You up for me taking the jacket off you?”

I looked down at it and back up at her. “Yes, please.”

“Good.”

She opened the door and cautiously stepped inside as she always did with me. When I didn’t make a run for her, as I had on some previous occasions, she unstrapped the jacket. I moved my arms out, stretching them while she discarded the torture device.

“Come on, love.” She held out her hand, and I took it allowing her to pull me up to my feet. They felt funny, probably because I hadn’t used them for two days, so I struggled against her to find my balance. “There you go. You’re doing so much better.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Of course, I’ll bring something to you.”

She sat me down in a room with a table in the center of it. I’d been in here a few times when I’d been out of isolation, but I didn’t like it. I knew what it meant when I was brought here.

Hewas here, and he wanted to talk.

Maria returned with a tray of food. It looked like mush, but after not eating for two days, I was happy to devour it as if it were a grade-A steak. That’s what I imagined as I scooped the crap into my mouth.

“You have a visitor.”

I had only just finished eating when Maria came in with Jett trailing behind her. She took my plate and closed the door behind her without another word. Jett took a seat opposite me—the table, the only thing stopping me from choking him to death. There was something plaguing him. I could tell by the way his hair wasn’t as slicked back as normal, that he’d been running his hand through it causing parts of it to hang down on his forehead. His shirt was creased, and he hadn’t shaved in days.

“How are you?”

“Fine.”

The last few weeks I’d been having the weirdest dreams of Jett and me, happy and in love. It had made me question the reason behind my hatred for him. Maybe he was doing this to me because he cared and then after he didn’t visit for a few days, I began to hate him all over again. His visits were becoming more and more frequent, almost every day, and I found myself looking forward to them in a way. Then there was the part of my brain which wasn’t crazy, the part that knew he was a sadistic prick meaning only to cause me harm. The two sides of my brain were driving me crazy. Soon, I would need the treatments they were already giving me only this time it would be legitimate.

“They said you’ve finished your ECT now. That’s good to hear.”

“Yep, don’t remember much about anything. I’m sure you are happy about that.”

“Eb… I only wanted you to forget what happened to you, you know… the things they did to you.”

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