Chapter 14

Jessica awakes on the floor beside the bed, her hand is handcuffed to the frame of the bed. Jessica tries to get free, but it's no use. She was stuck there. Her head ached, and she traced her free hand along her forehead. There was a huge gash that was bleeding. Jessica felt nauseous and dizzy. She tried to focus on the room, but it was fuzzy and spinning. Laying her head back against the bed frame, her scalp was tender. She investigated her head carefully, feeling soft spots and moist spots. Controlling her breathing, she tries to think of a way out of this. She inspects her hand and the handcuff. Sliding the ring up and down, there wasn't much space left on the smallest part of her wrist. She thought about breaking her thumb or dislocating it to give her some extra room to slide the cuff off.

"Good evening." she heard Matthew coming from the bedroom door but she couldn't see him. Blood drips down her left side and into her eye. "Are you thirsty? It's been a few hours, you should probably hydrate." Jessica starts to cry, her emotions getting the best of her. Ignoring her emotional outbursts, Matthew proceeds to enter the room, he places a tray on the bed and opens a water bottle. He pours the water into a bowl then he offers it to Jessica, holding it just outside of her mouth. She hesitates turning her head away, but realizes this might be her only chance to get water into her body. She co-operates, for now, and drinks the water as he tips the bowl for her. He then takes the bowl away and drops a face cloth into the bowl. "Don't drink that." He tells her as he opens a package of powder and dumps it into the bowl with the towel.

He gives her the remaining water in the bottle and places it in her free hand. Then he kneels before her with the bowl, soaking the towel and ringing it out. He gently wipes her face, cleaning off the dried blood and attending to the fresh wound. Whimpering, Jessica asks, "Why are you doing this?" Matthew looks at her with a raised eyebrow. He began to smirk. "Because you’re bleeding." He said softly, chuckling to himself. "No, why am I here?" She asks him, more sternly. "Well, you wanted to eat so I cooked you a lovely meal. Then you wanted to swim so we did that. Then you wanted me, so we did that too. And now, you're here." He shoots her a devious smile, then dunks the blood-soaked towel into the bowl of water. He rings it out again and returns to cleaning her face. "That's not what I mean." She says annoyed with him, pointing at the handcuff.

"That's only temporary." He says smugly, appearing annoyed with her as well. "I need you to be good." He says now holding her chin so that she can look into his eyes. "Will you be good?" He asks her sweetly. She holds back from spitting in his face. If she wants to get out of that cuff, she may need to play nice. "Would you like to take a shower?" He asks, pointing to the connecting bathroom. "I'll let you. I'll take the cuff off as long as you promise not to leave this room, okay?" Trying to contain herself, she nods in agreement. He pulls a key chain out from his pocket with many keys attached to it. He selects a small silver one and unlocks her hand from the bed.

She rips her hand out before he can open it all the way. She rubs it gingerly, there are red lines from her hand hanging against the metal. He puts the keys away and leaves the cuff dangling. "Towels are in the bathroom cabinet. Please, don't use white. I believe there are some brown ones, use those to dry up." He stares at her for a moment and begins to speak carefully. "I want you to stay with me. I am afraid you'll leave. Prove to me, you'll stay?" He stands up with the bowl and face cloth and leaves the room. There is a clicking sound from the other side of the door, and then silence after that. Jessica slowly gets to her feet. She feels weak and sore. She quickly walks to the bedroom door and tries to open it. Locked? She thinks to herself. The knob won't budge. She inspects the handle further and sees that there is a deadbolt in the handle with the key part facing her.

That's what that noise was. He must have locked it from the other side. Jessica reviews her surroundings. Large bedroom, no windows, attached walk-in closet, again no windows, and a connecting bathroom, with no windows. She couldn't escape this part of the pool house. Jessica sits on the floor and tries to think. She scratches her head, feeling dried blood collect under her fingernails. Maybe I should take a shower. She thinks as she slowly gets up and walks to the bathroom. She opens the cabinets and sees white towels on one side, and brown on the other side. Afraid of what he might do to her if she doesn't obey, she grabs one of the brown towels and shuts the cabinet. She runs the hot water, allowing the room to get steamy, then she cools it down and steps under the large square rain-like shower head.

Tears stream down her face as she allows her emotions to come out in the safety of these glass walls. She missed her Mom, knowing that she is probably freaking out not knowing where she is. And sadly, she missed Derrek. She wishes she just waited for Derrick to collect her and stayed at the café where she was safe, with Erika. Oh my god. That's when it hit her. Erika's phone! I can call the police! I can call Derrick! She excitedly finishes up the shower and turns off the water. Wrapping herself up in the towel she bursts out of the bathroom and into the closet, but her purse wasn't there. Did I move it? She checks the bedroom but doesn't see it there either. Defeated again, Jessica sits down on the bench in the closet and looks at all the clothing hanging, just for her. For the rest of her life. However, longer that may be.

She shops through the outfits, admiring each one for all of its beauty. If only these were different circumstances, just hours ago, Jessica was having the time of her life. And now, she isn't sure of what her life holds. Gowns, dress shirts, pretty scarves, and accessories. What a shame. Jessica felt depressed, how could she ever escape? She reluctantly put on a white tank and a pair of loose jeans. Sitting on the bench she looked up at all the clothing again. Was it all really just for her? Or had he had other victims, and what happened to them? She pulled out a long satin scarf and wrapped it around her body, the sheer material had a beautiful floral pattern and it was big enough that she could wrap her entire body in it. Suddenly, this gave Jessica an excellent idea.

Jessica pulled all of the scarves out of the basket. She weaved three of them that were close in length together and created a very strong braid. This made it hard to rip through the scarves, which was exactly what Jessica intended. She dragged one of the bedside tables and placed it behind the door, leaving just enough swing for Matthew to open it and enter the room. Then Jessica sat on the table and waited for Matthew's return.