Page 92 of Mind Maze

“Oh,” Theo says. “There’s a baby picture of you left at this part. Did you use it as a bookmark? Is this where you’d like me to continue?”

I want him to get away from me or for Caius to catch him in this horrible act of drugging me. But I don’t hear Caius’s voice. Just Theo’s.

“Wow,” Theo says with a whistle. “This starts out pretty dramatic. The person who wrote this says, ‘I was a captive.’” He playfully tugs at my hair. “Did you write this? Is this your journal?”

I don’t want him reading Vivienne’s journal to me. It’s private and it brings up terrible memories of what that awful woman did to me. The last thing I want is for him to read it to me as some sort of torture.

Why is he doing this to me?

“The man took me after promising to heal my broken mind. At first, I believed him. His methods were genuine. But I was too broken.” He pauses and I can hear a page flipping. “I was a teenager. I trusted him. Ava told me I could. I trusted her because she was the closest thing to a sister I ever had.”

Ava?

My mind spins as I try to grasp why that name seems important, but Theo continues on. I know I need to keep up.

“He raped me. I cried and fought him. But then he told me he loved me. That it always hurt the first time. Eventually, he wore me down into believing what we did was an act of love. Sometimes he even let me out of the cuffs so I could touch his hair.”

Theo huffs and speaks to me directly. “You were delusional, Romy. That’s not love. And here I thought this whole time my brother took your V-card.”

I want to scream that this stupid journal isn’t mine, but I can’t. All I can do is listen as he reveals things about Vivienne that paints a more vivid picture of who she was before she became my monster.

“It didn’t take long for me to get used to what he did to me. I began to enjoy his closeness. When we were together, the terrible depression and twisted thoughts in my head were snuffed out. He was my cure from all my ailments. I didn’t need his therapies, I needed him. And when he was gone, off working to help others, Ava would look after me. She would sneak me treats and brush my hair. I loved her so much.”

I must have drifted off because Theo shakes me and says, “Am I boring you? You were snoring. We’re getting to the good part. Sorry, I skimmed ahead. I’ll read it to you.”

“One day, I just knew. I knew I was pregnant. I’d need to confirm it, of course, but it felt like great news. Maybe then I’d be able to leave my room with the stupid cuffs and locked door. He would take me to his home, make me his wife, and we’d live happily ever after. I could play with his soft hair whenever I wanted and it would be perfect. I’d finally have a family.”

Theo curses. “Shit. I have to go. But hold on, let me read this last bit to you before I leave. It’s pretty damn interesting.”

“The door was left open one day and I happened to not be cuffed in bed, so I knew it was my opportunity to find him and tell him the good news. I went to his office and let myself in.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “It was a stab to the heart. He was having sex with her. My sister. Ava. Her red hair hung beautifully behind her as she rode his body. The moans of pleasure that came from her were foreign to me. He never made me sound like that.”

Theo makes a clicking sound with his tongue. “Sounds like he moved on to greener pastures, babe. Sorry that happened to you.”

It didn’t happen to me, though.

“I backed out of the office, disgusted. He would choose her because she was far more beautiful than me. What would happen to me? Would they lock me up until the baby came? Would they steal the baby from me? Impulsively, I ran down the hallway to a break room for the employees. There was a door they used to go out and smoke. I was shocked when it released me into a courtyard. I was free.”

He makes mumbling sounds as if he’s skimming some parts that don’t matter.

“I knew of one of his friends. He lived in New York. It was a long journey where I’d hitchhiked for weeks. Once in the city, I lived on the streets for a couple of months until I finally located where the man lived. When I got him to answer his door, I spilled everything to him. The pregnancy, the betrayal. Everything. And then he came up with an idea. He’d keep me safe and protect my baby. After the birth, he’d raise it as his own.”

Theo grumbles. “This doesn’t make any sense. This isn’t you, is it?”

Since I don’t answer, he continues. “This journal is out of order because I’m trying to tell you a story. My mind is always fractured, so I grasp at things when I can. I hope this makes sense.”

Theo laughs. “No, lady. It’s confusing as fuck.”

He reads some more aloud. “Anyway, as you read before, I messed it all up. My mind cracked in a horrible way when my new love, your new father, betrayed me. I wanted to hurt him. To remind him the child was mine to do what I wanted with, not his. And every time I did those things, it was another jab to hurt him like he hurt me. Whoever reads this, if anyone, know that I did it to get back at him. I’m not crazy like they all say.”

I jerk awake again and am able to open my eyes again. The room is empty, from what I can tell, and the suite is silent.

I have to get up.

My heart pumps hard even though my limbs feel like jelly. I know it would be easy to go back to sleep, but I need to force mybody to move. If I can get ahold of Caius, he can help me. His brother has lost his mind.

It takes everything in me to roll onto my side to face my bedside table. My phone should still be plugged in. When I spy it sitting there, I nearly cry out in relief. I grunt and groan as I inch toward it. The blankets have fallen away, exposing my bare breasts, but I’m beyond modesty at this point.

I have to call Caius.

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