I cautiously approach the living room, where Jim is sitting and watching TV. I creep towards the couch, close enough so he'll be able to hear me, but far enough away he can't touch me.
"Jim," I say quietly. He looks up and smiles. I've made it a point to avoid him whenever possible, but he didn't call me down or request my presence.
"Hey, darling. Finally chosen to come talk to Daddy?" His question and his voice and his accent and just everything about him makes me terrified and I can't help the tremor in my hands.
"N-No. I have a problem." The smile doesn't leave his face as he pats the bit of cushion right next to him.
"Come sit down, then. I haven't seen you a lot. You're always hiding out away from me. Must say, I'm pleasantly surprised you're down here." I just keep looking at him nervously, unwilling to sit down with him. He rolls his eyes and pats the couch again.
"Come sit down, love, I won't bite."
"No, you'll just cut and punch and kick," I mutter as I sit down on the opposite end of the couch, on the very edge so I can run if need be. He chuckles slightly and then shakes his head.
"Now, this just won't do. Come closer, darling, no need to look so afraid. Tell Daddy what's wrong."
"Don't call yourself Daddy. My father is dead. You are not, nor will you ever be, him. Don't taint my memories of him," I say in a strong voice. I don't regret saying it, and it's definitely worth whatever he'll do because of it. To my surprise, he nods.
"Very sorry, love, wasn't trying to ruin your memories of your father. Come sit closer to me, though, you're so far away."
"I know I am, that was the point."
"Come sit closer to me." His voice is kind, but I hear the silent threat behind his words. I scoot a tiny bit closer. He sighs dramatically and wraps his arms around my middle. I start trembling at the contact, but he just picks me up and places me on his lap. I clench my jaw shut as all of my muscles tense. If he notices, he doesn't say anything. He wraps his arms around me, pressing me up against his chest and effectively immobilizing my arms so I can't get away. He places his chin on my shoulder and when he talks, it's in a low, hushed tone.
"Now, darling, what was that problem? Come on, tell me and dear Jim will fix it for you." I take a few breaths until I find my voice again.
"I'm bored." He laughs softly as he presses a kiss to the back of my head, which makes me flinch.
"Go find something to do, then."
"But I've already done everything there is to do."
"Everything? I find that hard to believe."
"But I did. I cleaned the entire mansion, I marathoned Doctor Who, I read all of the books in the library, I learned German, I can now play the piano, and I even beat Seb in poker."
"You learned German?"
"Yes. It was really easy, it only took me a few hours."
"You learned German? In a few hours?"
"Yes."
"Du schaust atemberaubend in Jogginghose."
"Don't be ridiculous, no one looks good in sweatpants."
"Impressive. And... You beat Seb in poker?"
"Yep."
"Sebastian?"
"Yes."
"Sebastian Moran? Are we talking about the same person here?"
"Yes."
"But no one beats Seb in poker." I shrug.
"I did."
"No one beats Seb in poker. No one ever has. Ever. What, have you been playing since you were an infant?"
"No, I just learned how yesterday."
"You just learned how to play poker and you beat Seb? What, did you sell your soul to the devil or something?"
"Don't be silly, I'd never sell you my soul. It's the only thing keeping you from owning me completely."
"Is that what you think of me? You think I'm the devil?"
"No, I know you're the devil."
"I'm not the devil, love."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"See, I've always thought that the devil would take the shape of your worst fear. My worst fear is being trapped and unable to do anything about it. I am trapped here. You have me trapped. There is nothing I can do about it. This is my worst fear. You are my worst fear personified, you are the devil."
"You're not trapped." I look down at his arms, which are still keeping mine from moving, and he follows my gaze. He lets go and I stand up, happy that I'm freed from his grasp. I don't like it when he touches me.
"Alright, what should we do about your boredom then? Hmm... I could teach you how to turn people into shoes."
"Um... I-I think I'll pass on that one." I know he's totally serious and would show me how to turn human skin into shoes, which I don't want to see.
"I get it, murder in creative ways isn't for everyone. Alright, I have an idea, go put your shoes on." I don't move. I want to know what his idea is before I willingly go with him. He rolls his eyes at my stubbornness.
"Grocery shopping, darling, that's all." I walk away to get my shoes, resenting the idea of spending time with Jim. When I come back down to the living room in jeans and a t-shirt, Jim calls me over to him.
"Come here, darling." I stay frozen. Whenever he asks me to go over to him, he always hurts me.
"I won't hurt you, I just have something for you. Come here." I start trembling. Sure, I've been sarcastic with him before, and sure, I've insulted him, but he still terrifies me. I'm terrified he's going to kill me every time he talks to me.
"Adalia, love, come here. No need to look so terrified. It's alright, come here." Reluctantly and hesitantly, I walk over to him, though my movements are stiff and robotic. He smiles as he puts his hands on my shoulders. I flinch hard and he shakes his head.
"Didn't I tell you I wouldn't hurt you, sweetie?" He turns me around and then wraps something around my neck. For a wild moment, I think he's strangling me, but I can still breathe. He lets go and I feel something fitted snugly around my neck.
"Go look in the mirror." I walk to the bathroom and look at the mirror over the sink and feel a wild rage burning underneath my skin. A collar. The bastard put a fucking collar on me. A fucking pink dog collar, complete with a name tag and everything. And what does the name tag say? 'Darling'. I clench my hands into fists and try to calm myself. Getting mad at him will not help. If I get mad at him, he will get mad at me, and I will regret opening my big, fat mouth. I take a steadying breath and brush away the angry tears rolling down my cheeks. I walk calmly back to the living room. He smiles at me. I look back at him passively.
"Get it? Because you're my little pet." He looks extremely pleased with himself. All I feel is burning anger.
"Oh, don't tell me you're mad at me now. It was just a joke, love. Are you ready?"
"Yes," I say quietly. Jim nods happily.
"SEB," he shouts loudly, making me flinch. Seb comes in and raises an eyebrow at me, probably because of the fucking dog collar wrapped around my neck. I glare back at him and any comments he might've been about to make are left unsaid.
"Yeah, boss?"
"We're going grocery shopping. Come on."
"You never go grocery shopping."
"Adalia's bored. Apparently making shoes from our enemies is out of the question, so we're going grocery shopping."
"How do you go from making shoes from people to grocery shopping?"
"Nothing better to do."
"Really? Nothing at all?"
"Adalia learned how to play the piano, speak fluent German, and play poker quiet well all in one day. She also read the last of the books in the library, marathoned Doctor Who, and cleaned the entire mansion. I really can't think of anything else. Also, it's her birthday and she deserves something at least semi-normal on her birthday, don't you agree?" I bite my lip. I was seriously hoping he wouldn't find out it was my birthday. I don't want to celebrate it with him.
"Happy birthday, Ad. My present to you is that I'm taking off that ridiculous dog collar Jim is forcing you to wear and I'm going to throw it out. C'mere." I happily start to skip over to Seb, but Jim grabs my arm and leans in very close to me.
"Leave. It. On." I freeze and my eyes go wide. He notices and pats my cheek.
"No need to look terrified. Goodness, how many times are you going to make me tell you that? I just want you to leave it on." I glance over at Seb, who looks back at me sympathetically.
"Jim, she can take it off. It's not right what you're doing to her, last thing she needs is a physical reminder of it."
"Seb, shut up. If I want her to wear it, she'll wear it. Simple as that. D'you know why? Because I OWN YOU," he shouts, totally calm until he screams that last part at me. I flinch and cringe away, but he still doesn't loosen his grip on my arm. I try to wriggle away and he slaps me.
"Dammit, Adalia, you need to learn to be more obedient. If I want you to do something, you do it without a second thought. If I tell you not to do something, you don't even think about doing it. If I'm trying to get you to stay still, you don't try to get your arm out of my grip. Because I don't like disobedient pets. I could have you put down in an instant. Do you understand?" I nod fearfully, looking down at the floor. He roughly grabs my jaw and yanks my head up so I'm forced to look at him.
"If I'm talking to you, you look at me. If I ask you a question, you use your words like a big girl. I said, do you understand?" I open my mouth and try to answer him, but he's cutting off my air flow. I gasp for air, trying to draw in enough breath to say yes. He smirks cruelly at me.
"You're not answering," he tells me in a sing-song voice. I try to pry his hand off of my throat, but he's holding my throat too tightly and I was never as strong as him anyways. My vision goes black around the edges and he releases me. I gasp in a mouthfuls of air until I can talk again.
"Yes," I croak out. He smiles.
"Getting to be obedient, I see. Good girl. As a reward, Daddy's going to take that nasty old collar off of you." He looks at me like he's expecting me to say something. It hits me.
"Th-thank you."
"It's no problem, darling." He takes it off and tosses it to Seb.
"What d'you want me to do with this?"
"Throw it out, burn it, turn it into a weapon, chuck it at that old lady who's always knitting, I don't really care. Just get rid of it." Seb nods and tosses it over his shoulder. It hits a painting that Seb informed me was priceless and Jim had gotten as his thirtieth birthday present from Seb. I rub my throat, knowing it'll be sore and bruised for a while. Jim sees this and pretends to pout.
"Poor you, nearly getting strangled to death on your birthday. You should apologize to me for not being obedient." I don't want to say sorry. I didn't do anything wrong.
"S-Sorry." He frowns and backs me up against the wall.
"No, no, no. You have to say sorry, Daddy." I just stare at him, wide-eyed. He brings a hand up to my cheek and strokes it adoringly. I shiver and force myself not to push him off of me. That would be disastrous.
"Go on. Say it. For me." I shake my head and his hand is suddenly on my throat, not squeezing, but the threat is still there.
"Say it." I look at him for a long time before I make a decision.
"Sorry, Jim." I spit out his name defiantly. He squeezes his hand around my throat, and, other than the involuntary gasping, I show no signs of fear. I try to laugh at him, but I don't have enough air left, so I settle for smiling smugly.
"Thought... you didn't... get your... hands... dirty," I manage to gasp out. He puts a hand on my cheek as he slowly squeezes the life out of me.
"There's an exception to everything." When Seb realizes Jim seriously isn't going to stop strangling me anytime soon, he lunges at Jim and manages to pry his hands off of me. I collapse to the ground, still smiling smugly as I gasp for air. Jim is fuming and Seb is trying to calm him down. I rub my burning throat as I realize I just narrowly escaped death. And then I realize I wish he'd killed me. I try not to let this show on my face as Jim walks over and spits on me.
"You can forget about going out. You're going to stay here all day. And guess what? You can spend it with me now. That's your punishment for not being obedient. Let's go, stand up." When I don't stand up as quickly as he'd like, he kicks me in the ribs, which gets rid of any breath that might've been left in my lungs. I collapse again, coughing and trying to get my breath. Jim picks me up and then throws me across the room. I hit my head on the wall and everything goes fuzzy. I can still hear, but it sounds distant and far away. I grab my aching head and try to push myself to my feet. Seb helps me up and then Jim strolls over to me, a sinister smile overtaking his features.
"If you say it, I won't make you spend the rest of the day with me," he sing songs. I shudder.
"I'm not saying it." He shrugs and puts his hand on my shoulder, leading me back to the living room. He sits down on the couch and pulls me down to sit next to him. I tense up when he makes me curl up next to him, wrapping his arm around me and making me put my head on his chest.
"Jim, please stop touching me, you're making me uncomfortable," I manage to whisper, though my voice is raspy and it hurts to speak.
"No," he says simply and I know that arguing is pointless. He switches the TV back on and scrolls through the channels.
"What do you want to watch, darling? Hmm, what's your favorite Disney movie?"
"Beauty and the Beast," I reply instantly, then cringe. Not exactly what I want to be watching here and now. Beauty and the Beast, the story of a girl who gets kidnapped and falls in love with her kidnapper. Jim notices the way my face turns to one of disgust and his mouth curls into a malicious smile.
"Oh? Isn't that the one where the beautiful little bookworm falls in love with the monster who kidnapped her? Are you suggesting something about your feelings towards me?"
"No."
"Really? Because that's what it sounds like. You, a gorgeous little bookworm, and me, a monster. I kidnapped you. Are you in love with me, darling?"
"I hate you with a burning passion," I reply, though it hurts a lot.
"Alright, alright. How about Frozen? Would you like to watch Frozen? We're watching Frozen." He switches the movie on and I try to forget where I am and who's holding me, but he makes it harder by massaging my throat the whole time.
"Sing a song for me," he demands, putting the movie on pause. I turn to look at him with shock, confusion, and fear. This is something I can't do, and he knows it. He looks at me expectantly.
"Go on, sing for me."
"I can't," I manage to rasp out.
"Why not?"
"I can barely talk."
"But I want to hear you sing, darling." I take a deep breath and think this over. I know I won't be able to talk my way out of this.
"What do you want me to sing?"
"Dunno. You pick." Trembling from fear of what will happen if I get this wrong, I open my mouth and draw in a shaky breath.
"So wake me up when it's all over,
When I'm-" My throat starts burning and I erupt into a coughing fit. Jim pats my head.
"Good girl. So obedient. All I have to do is nearly kill you, and you're willing to do what I want. Don't die on me, I'm not done with you yet." I manage to stop coughing and he turns the movie back on, resuming rubbing my throat. I grit my teeth and let him, though this is definitely not what I wanted when I came out here to tell him I was bored.
A/N: In case anyone who might be reading this was wondering, the sentence Jim said to Adalia in German translates to 'You look stunning in sweatpants'.
