“All right! I’ll write your stupid book!” I fought back.
His face contorted and his lips twisted as he sneered at me. He raised his hand high above and slapped me with the back of it.
“I don’t like your tone,” he gritted out as he took my collar and shook me. “I hold all the power now. You do what I want now!”
My body shook, my mind lost in the aftermath of what he would do to me. I was angry, but I was scared, too. Our silent moment was interrupted by the Talking Head’s “Psycho Killer.” The irony wasn’t missed by me or by Frank as he laughed.
“I see your phone is ringing.” He smirked. He walked over to a small table and picked it up, putting it on speakerphone.
“Kass? Can you hear me? Where the fuck are you?” Jason yelled on the phone. “KASS!” he shouted.
“Calm down now, young Jason. You don’t want to upset my author. She is going to start writing soon and you know how writers are with their delicate dispositions,” Frank hissed.
“Where the fuck are you?” Jason’s voice resonated through the phone. “If you lay a fuckin’ finger on her you’re dead! I’ll fuckin’ kill you myself!”
Frank only laughed as he heard the words. “You just try, little boy. However, right now she’s here all alone with me,” he taunted.
“You piece of shit! Don’t you dare touch her!” Jason’s angry words made me cry. I wanted him to come, but I was afraid of what could happen.
“Try anything and she and I die together,” Frank warned.
“Let me hear her voice. Let me know she’s okay!” Jason pleaded.
He sounded so desperate. I could hear his faint sobs. I wanted to yell out, but Frank pointed at me and picked up a hammer.
“Don’t say anything stupid now, Kass.” He threw the phone at me.
“Jason?” I said meekly.
“Kassia! Are you all right?” Jason shouted his voice cracking.
“Jason, I love you. Jason, do you hear me? I love you. I'm okay. Don’t come here!” I yelled out, frightened of what he’d do to him.
“KASS….”
Frank growled and marched towards me and hit me hard.
“KASSIA!” Jason roared again.
Frank picked up the phone and took off the speakerphone. “Well, I guess I need to teach this girl some manners. Bye, Jason!”
Frank threw the phone across the warehouse, knelt down before me, and grabbed my hair. He turned my head so I would look at him.
“Now, bitch, you’re going to learn that I'm the only one in your life,” he growled. I opened my mouth and spat on his face.
“Screw you!”I said defiantly.
He sucked in his breath, wiped off his face and stalked off. He left me alone in the warehouse for I don’t even know how long.
My body ached and my hands were bleeding. I tried to get out of the tie wraps, but I couldn’t. I could feel the deep lesions on my wrists now. Desperation hit and I began to cry.
“Don’t cry.” Frank finally came back, his face riddled with sadness. “I don’t want to see you cry.” He knelt down and wiped my tears. “I was coming back after I let you cool off. I wanted to teach you a lesson on how to treat me. But seeing you cry makes me feel bad,” he pouted.
“Ah, well,” he sighed and stood up. “When should we start, my little Kass? I’m really excited about our collaboration.” He smiled. “I want our next story to be great. Don’t you?” he turned and asked me.
I nodded, trying to hold back my tears.
“Good. I’m so happy you’re on the same page as me. You know, I would have had you sooner had it not been for that fuckin’ boy, Jason. I drugged you at the club. Everything was ready, but no, your boy toy Jason with a hero complex had to be there.”
He sat himself down at the little table he had in front of me and flipped open his laptop. “Now let us forget the past and think about our future. Shall we? I would want you to type this, but I can’t trust you just yet. So you speak the words and I will type for you.” He looked at me and grinned.
I cried, now knowing the most precious thing, which held me safe all these years would be tainted by this man. The tiny little gift I was given was about to be taken away from me.
“Please…please, just let me go. I don’t want to write a novel. I don’t want my words corrupted by you,” I sobbed. “Just please leave me alone.”
Frank began to shake and yell at the top of his lungs. “You will do this!” he snapped. “You will write our story! My story!”
He rose from his chair and grabbed the hammer that lay on the table.