Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Somewhere in the wooded foothills of the Appalacians, United States

Journal

Is it just me or am I actually being given more freedom? Stan no longer locks the door at night, meaning I can go visit Mrs. Meyes, Mr. Bronsky, and Cameron at night (well, what I take to be night, since I highly doubt he'd become nocturnal just to throw me off) and take walks throughout the house as well. I've discovered everything I possibly can, as it's night now, apparently, and have learned that there are no windows in this entire house, or that every room with windows is one of the locked doors. Probably the latter. I don't think it's possible to have a house without windows. There's a draft in one section of the house, meaning the front door has to be over there, but all doors that I can find over there are locked. Oh well.

I found a map to Quantico, Virginia in the kitchen last night. Does that mean what I think it does? Is Stan actually going to kill the FBI agents there? He had better not. I'm counting on them to get me out of this mess.

Why is my computer on? There, now it's not. I'm sorry. It's just that I know I turned it off the last time I used it (seven hours ago), meaning...Stan has to be going through my stuff now. Well, more freedom calls for more security now, Stan? If you're reading this Stan, I hope you know that if you harm a single hair on the agents from the BAU that came to Bethel to try to catch you, I will escape, hurt myself, or take drastic measures and actually kill myself.

Anyways, the other day he returned my iPod Touch after assuring me there was no way for me to contact anyone on it. I found out there was no WiFi in the house. Smart move, Stan, even though I can't contact anyone living besides you! However the music is reassuring, and my apps make the endless night go by a bit quicker, but so does my cat. Philip's sleeping now. He never leaves my side when I'm in here. Stan added cat climbers in the closet - did I mention that the closet could be a room of its own its so huge? - and I put the litterbox in there, too, so I wouldn't smell it as much as where it was orignially (next to my bed. Yuck!). I take it someone comes in here and cleans it whenever I'm not in here, meaning there are more people here than just Stan, Mr. Bronsky, Cameron, Mrs. Meyes, and myself. If so, where are they? Not that I really am dying for companionship other than the three people here that don't hurt me.

The other day Stan actually hit me. Sure, he appologized like nuts afterwards and gave me quite a bit of free time and whatever I wanted for food for the day, but it still shocked me. Did his love run out finally? Did he realize that I'm much too young for him, since he's four times my age? I mean seriously!

It's too bad I actually like some of these clothes he got me. He knows me much too well. The only problem with them? It's winter. I'd wear them in summer.

Amy

Stan sat across from Amy at the table, a plate of spaghetti and meatsause in front of him. Amy ate rather slowly, he had learned, as if savoring every bite, not expecting another meal like it to come. He continued eating, hoping she'd say something sooner or later, as the silence was rather uncomfortble for him. He still was unaccustomed to eating meals besides lunch in silence, even though he'd been doing so for about a week.

Finally the silence was utterly unbearable. "I hope you know there is no trickery here, my love," he said.

Amy looked up in shock. "I'm sorry?"

He smiled, pushing his empty plate forward so he could lean on the table. "You seem to feel...unsafe here. Why do you think so?"

"Why shouldn't I? You did not hesitate to kill just about everyone I knew, why would you hesitate to kill me if the need came around?" Amy asked.

"You have no idea how sorry I am for that. But it was for the best. They would have restrained you. How many times must I explain that?"

Amy shook her head. "No, it wasn't for the best. If you wanted me happy, you would have left me alone and stayed just my dance instructor. Wasn't that student-teacher relationship enough?"

She had him. Stan looked at her in frustration. "No. No, it wasn't," he said, and let her eat the remainder of her meal in the suddenly-welcome silence.

Friday, January 27th, 2012
Somewhere in the wooded foothills of the Appalacians, United States

Amy opened the door to the basement although she took it to be early in the morning.

After a moment of silence, a voice ventured up. "Is that you, Amy?"

"Yes, yes it is, Mrs. Meyes," she said, turning on the light as she closed the door and walked down the stairs.

Her former teachers and Cameron sat on the cold cement floor, meager items around them. Amy shivered as she looked around for what seemed to be the millionth time. She already had memorized the bland room, as that was where the dance lessons took place, but every time she came down there it seemed different, as if someone else were waiting down there for her, possibly to start dance early.

"Why don't you get some rest? It has to be early in the morning at this point," Mr. Bronsky said, but Amy shook her head.

"I never do. You all know that by now," Amy said.

Cameron yawned. "Just the thought of staying up makes me tired."

Amy looked down, trying to stop the rush of color flooding to her cheeks. "I've gotten used to it. It's actually not that hard once you get the hang of it."

Mrs. Meyes stood and put her arm around Amy's shoulder. "Would you care to join us for a small card game before you have to go?"

Amy looked up at her and smiled sadly. Mrs. Meyes was the only one who completely understood what was truly going on. "Sure."

The two sat, and soon the game began. The four of them had bonded more over the short periods of time they had spent together in the basement than over the entire school year and more. Soon the game was over (Amy was just too good at these games) and they urged her to leave before Stan woke, even though he wouldn't be up for a few hours.

Amy's sparsely decorated room greeted her, as did Philip's meow from her bed. She closed the door quietly, then walked quickly over to her cat, and the two spent the remainder of the morning until Stan came in to get her for breakfast cuddling on her bed.

Author's Note:

This will get more interesting as the month of February starts and ends, I can assure you that much. Right now I'm trying to find out how one particular event is going to go down.