Chapter Twelve
"Get up." I hear and feel something wet fall on me. I pray it is water.
I roll over and see the man who took me. I was praying that was a dream but looking around the room and the scary man, I know this is real. I've been taken by some psycho who wants to torture me because I look like someone named Linda.
"Get the dried blood off you and take a shower." He snarls.
I don't move.
"Get going unless you want me to do it for you." He snaps and kicks me in the stomach.
"Ow." I whisper and go to the bathroom.
There is a mirror in here I look at it and want to cringe when I see my reflection. My face is cut and I can see bruises around my neck. I don't need to lift up my shirt to know I have bruises there as well.
I look at my hair. I always wanted red hair. I will never say that again. It doesn't look horrible on me but that's not why I dislike it. It's because some psycho did this to me.
With the cuts and bruises on my face and the hair change it would be harder to recognize me.
Finnick would though.
"Take shower now or I will be helping you!" I hear him shout.
I do as I'm told. I don't really shower, I just get myself wet.
When I get out of the shower I see a towel and an outfit waiting for me.
I presume this is what he wants me to wear.
It's jeans and a red sweater. I wonder where he got them. I try and push that thought from my mind.
"You look lovely Annie." He says when I step out. "You should put some makeup on to cover that." He says and motions to my face. "I have a scarf for your neck."
I nod. It hurts slightly to talk.
"Good girl." He says after I've put the makeup on.
He hands me the scarf.
"Where are we going?" I ask him softly.
"No where. I just though you should look nice." He smiles creepily at me. "Don't you like it?"
"Of course." I say quickly.
"I thought. Now I want you to talk to me about your social life, your friends for example."
"I don't have many." I say softly.
"Well I know you went to Aspen on winter break."
"How do you know that?" I ask scared.
"I've been keeping tabs." He says.
"How long have you been… following me?" I ask worried.
"My sweet girl, I have never been following you." He smiles. "You went with a boy to Aspen, your boyfriend?"
"Yes." I say softly.
"What's his name?"
"Finnick." I say confused and the man laughs.
"I thought not. You don't know how well you've done Annie."
I look at him confused.
"If you were like the last girl-"
"Last girl?" I ask confused.
"The girl before you." He smirks. "God what was her name?" He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. I left her in front of your apartment." He says.
"You killed that couple who lived across from me. Why did you kill them?"
"They didn't have information that interested me and their cash flow was dead for awhile so I killed them. It would be a shame if they didn't owe me so much. They were fond of heroin."
None of this is making sense.
"I needed your attention so I left the bodies near your apartment." He sighs deeply. "But then you got scared and went to live with Finnick. You weren't supposed to do that." He says and slaps me. "You were supposed to stay put or have Finnick stay with you."
"Why do you care?" I whisper.
"Because you remind me of Linda. With the red hair you look like her as well. I thought you would be perfect to replicate her. Besides, if I hurt you it hurts her."
"Why does it hurt her and who is Linda?" I ask. He hits me again.
"This." He says and shoves the picture with the redhead and toddler in my hand.
I hold it up.
The woman is smiling at the camera while her toddler is giggling and looking up at his Mom.
"Look at the back." He says and I look at the back of the photo.
Linda and Finnick age 2 it reads.
Now I remember why this picture is familiar it's in Finnick's mothers house. It's on the photo wall where she has many pictures of family and friends.
This woman doesn't look like Finnick's Mom though. His Mom has golden hair now but I can see a small resemblance.
I look back up at the man, Janko, and I notice he has the same green eyes Finnick does.
"Did you know he got that name because his parents couldn't agree on the name Finn or Nicholas aka Nick."
"How do you know that?" I ask confused. I don't even know if that is true.
"You know why Annie." He smiles. He's right I do know. Ever since I saw Finnick's name of the back of the photo I knew who this man was.
"You're his father." I whisper.
"Correct." He says with a creepy smile. "And this is hurting Finnick so it will hurt Linda."
My chin starts trembling.
"You're not going to kill me are you?" I whisper.
"Haven't decided yet but I will be talking to Finnick one way or another."
"Just go to his apartment."
"No that won't happen now. I'm sure the police have been notified that you are missing by now. They are probably looking for suspects and if I showed up it would look suspicious. Especially since I have a record of stalking and kidnapping." He breathes in and out deeply. "I just got so angry at Linda that I tried to hurt her. She took my son away from me and wouldn't let me see him! That's when she got a restraining order on her and Finnick. Got a restraining order for a child." He rolls his eyes. "Finnick was a child and easy to convince though so I borrowed him for a few hours."
"You kidnapped-"
"I had every intention of giving him back but Linda didn't understand neither did the police. Linda said I was unstable and knew I gotten arrested a few times but I just needed to be with him again." He says.
"Why were you arrested?" I ask.
"The girl said it was obsessive stalking but really I was just trying to get to know her. She also said I was aggressive in our relationship and some drug charges but I got off on technicalities "
"Then why take me? You could've just seen Finnick and not-"
"Because you look like Linda and I want to make you hurt." He says and pushes me down and kicks me in the ribs.
I shout in pain. I don't understand why he had to take me. Why, just to work out his frustrations on the person he hates most?
I start crying when he keeps hitting and kicking me. I can feel blood again. He stops and places me on the bed before I black out.