Chapter Three
The sun had already come up before she finally opened her eyes, but Jaime had no way to know that. The small, damp room had no windows. At first, she thought she was dreaming, still safe in her bed with Steve standing guard downstairs. It took several moments for her to realize that her reality was now much different, and infinitely more dangerous.
"Good morning, Jaime." Michael - her mind screamed the name in bright, blood-red letters. She heard him before she saw him because her whole body felt so heavy and weighted down that she couldn't even move her head. She wasn't tied up or restrained, but she was completely unable to move.
Michael crouched down where Jaime lay crumpled on a blanket on the floor. He leaned closer - she could feel his breath on her face - and smiled at her.
"So glad you could make it." Jaime shivered at the glitter in his eyes and the hidden malice in his voice. "Oh - I should probably tell you Steve can't hear us. I'm not stupid, Jaime. I helped design that nifty little implant he was listening through, and now I've un-designed it. Yep - it's gone. This time, he won't be riding in on a white horse to save you."
Michael reached out and ran his fingers down her face and across her lips. "This time we're alone, Baby; no interruptions." He stood up and began pacing restlessly.
"It didn't have to be like this, Jaime. You should've come with me last time - we could've been so happy together. But you...you ruined it. You chose Mister-Ken-Doll-on-Steroids." His voice was as quiet as the snarl of a tiger about to devour its prey. "That was a mistake, Jaime. But I love you so much that I'm going to forgive you. it's in the past. He's in your past. I'm your present and your future - you'll see that for yourself in time. And you know what? I love you enough to know that to help you see the truth, I'm gonna have to hurt you. No pain, no gain, right? I love you enough to do whatever it takes for us to be together."
Jaime still couldn't move, couldn't speak, and had no choice but to listen in mute horror to the ravings of a lunatic.
"I gave this a lot of thought, Baby." Michael laughed bitterly. "Had a whole lot of time and nothing else to do. My first idea was the old classic: die together, and we're linked forever. But I wanted to be with you, to enjoy watching our love grow and blossom. Drugs? Maybe to start, but not permanent enough. So...I've spent the last two days perfecting my latest invention, just for you."
Michael moved out of Jaime's line of vision and returned pushing and evil-looking, box-like contraption with dozens of wires leading out of it at all angles. "This," he said with a flourish, "Is my portable, non-patented, untested but fully operational...shock therapy machine!" He knelt next to Jaime. "See, once I blot out all the garbage Oscar and Steve have put in that pretty little head, I can make you think anything I choose; reprogram your circuits, so to speak."
Jaime closed her eyes and pictured Steve's face, trying desperately to remove herself from what was happening. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes but couldn't even raise a hand to wipe them away.
"Of course," Michael said with a menacing grin, "I won't know if the voltage is too strong until we actually try it out. Lucky you - you get to be the guinea pig. But you're used to that, right?" He said, going for the words he knew would hit a nerve and cause her maximum pain. "You've been Rudy's little lab rat for years now."
He picked up the first wire and a tube of medical adhesive. "May as well get started." Suddenly, Michael's eyes opened wide, almost bugging out of his head, and he dropped to the ground next to Jaime's blanket, instantly unconscious. Standing in the now-open doorway, directly behind Michael and still holding a tranquilizer gun at the ready, was...Sam Argus.
"Are you alright?" he asked urgently. Jaime couldn't answer or even smile to show her relief and gratitude, but she hoped her eyes said what she couldn't. "I'm just going to move him out of the way; I'll be right back." Sam grabbed Michael's feet, not caring if he hurt him at this point, dragged him to the far corner of the room and returned to Jaime's side, kneeling next to her on the blanket. He took a syringe from his pocket and showed it to Jaime.
"I know a needle's the last thing you want to see right now, but this one will help, not hurt you. I know what he gave you by what was missing from our drug room, and this is the antidote. Will you be ok with my giving you a shot?" he asked kindly. Jaime couldn't answer, but her eyes conveyed the answer, and Sam stuck the needle into her left arm as gently as he could, rubbing the injection spot afterward. "There," he said, smiling as he looked into her eyes. "It'll take a little while, be sort of gradual, but you should at least be able to talk soon."
Jaime managed a small smile at him, and Sam took her hand to try and soothe away some of the terror he knew she'd just been through. "Your friends are on their way here, in a Medivac. You'll be good as new before you know it." He brushed the tears from her face. "And I will personally make sure he never gets the chance to be near you, ever again. I thought about using a real gun instead of a tranquilizer - would've been justified - and I do have one with me. But shooting him would've let him off too easily. I wanted him to pay for a very long time for doing this to such an innocent - and beautiful - young woman."
"Thank you," she managed to tell him. Wow - he has the kindest, brightest green eyes I've ever seen, she thought. So comforting. As the feeling began to return to her arms, Jaime wrapped them around Sam in an expression of gratitude and a request for comfort. She was amazed that, even at this moment, after something so horrific, she felt...something. A tiny spark, but a spark, nonetheless. Now this was electricity she could definitely deal with!
END
