Ken stepped into Jaden's house and kicked the door closed. He locked it before walking to the bedroom and throwing Jaden onto the bed. He searched the room for some rope and tied Jaden's hands and feet to the bed, making sure she couldn't escape whenever she woke up. He tugged on the restraints tightly, ensuring that they were indeed tight enough. Satisfied with his work, he softly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He had a plan in mind, but first, he had a wizard to visit.

Jaden woke up the next morning with aching hands and feet. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet and she already knew that she was tied up. She could feel the rope biting into her skin, her arms positioned at an angle that wouldn't happen from sleeping. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Ken and Merlin standing at the foot of the bed. Her instincts screamed at her to sit up on the bed, before she quickly remembered that she was tied up. She pulled on the ropes a few times to see if she could break free, but she had no such luck. She looked over at Ken with a hard stare and then rested her gaze on Merlin, silently pleading the wizard to let her go.

She was disappointed when the wizard shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, I can't let you go. This is for your own sake." He told her regrettably.

Ken gave Jaden a fake, worried frown. "See Jaden, this is to stop you from trying to kill yourself." Ken said to her.

"But…" Jaden stopped the rebuke she was going to say, knowing that it would have fallen on deaf ears, anyway. There was no way she could argue herself out of this one, not without telling Merlin the truth as to what was going on. She couldn't blame the wizard for wanting to help her and if he thought this was the best way to stop her from getting hurt, then she couldn't be mad at him. If anything, she was thankful that at least there was somebody out there who cared about her. She wondered if Merlin was the one who found and brought her home. The last thing she remembered before falling unconscious was flying over the ocean as a crow. She must have fallen onto the sand if he managed to find her, otherwise she would have drowned. She blinked her gratitude at him, wanting him to know that she appreciated him for what he did.

Instead of being mad at the kindly wizard, Jaden directed her growing anger towards Ken. After all, this was all his fault.

Ken smiled at her obvious anger and sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached a hand over and stroked her long, blonde hair, that was matted from neglect. "Don't worry, I'm sure you won't be tied up for long. Just until you're healed." His voice held an undertone of sarcasm, knowing that this was the last thing she'd want.

Jaden detected this but chose not to acknowledge it. "So, a couple of months? Great…"

Merlin and Ken continued to talk as Jaden rested her head back against the pillows, although she wasn't listening to a word they were saying. The only thing that was racing through her mind right now was her trying to figure out how she was going to survive this ordeal. She was weak, vulnerable and tied up. She had no means of escape and she was too weak to cast any magic that could set her free. She kept coming back to the same answer; she would have to ride it out and just hope and pray that she'll be strong enough to survive.

Five long weeks had passed and Jaden was finally freed from her bonds. Ken reluctantly untied Jaden from the bed and demanded that she go take a shower. In the five weeks that had passed, Ken hadn't even untied Jaden to let her go to the toilet, making the decision to make her wallow in her own urine and faeces, afraid that any sense of freedom would have her trying to escape. To avoid having to share the same bed with her, Ken had slept on the sofa, the thought of letting Jaden have the human decency to use the toilet to avoid this issue, not crossing his mind. Jaden had obeyed his order, wanting to wash off the stink that was clinging to her before she had to cook Mickey his breakfast. This would be the first time in five weeks that Mickey would be allowed to stay in the house, Ken having sent him away every single day since Jaden got tied up.

Jaden leaned against the wall in the shower, letting the water wash over her back. Despite the fact that she had spent the last five weeks tied up, she had recovered well from her injuries. She had even managed to force herself to heal her broken legs using magic. As much as she didn't want to, she had finally decided to play nice and let Ken have his way, not bothering to put up a fight anymore. She knew there was only so much Ken could take of her shit before he ended the deal prematurely and went back to harassing Malibu. It was fair to say she was now completely at his mercy. He had won. He had officially broken her. And there was nothing Jaden could do about it.

She needed to find a way to get back at Ken without him ever knowing it was her who done it. She hadn't come up with a plan yet, though she supposed the perfect time would have been when she was tied up for five weeks. It wasn't like she had anything else to do other than silently scheme his demise. But with the way that Ken loved to push her, she was sure she'd think of something soon enough. It wasn't just about the plan, it was also the timing; waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

With a sigh, Jaden stepped out of the shower and dried herself off with a nearby towel. She quickly got dressed and walked out of the bathroom. Without saying a word to either Ken or Mickey, she walked straight to the kitchen to make their breakfast.

As per usual, she didn't bother to make herself any breakfast as she gaslit into telling herself that she wasn't all that hungry, so she only made enough food for the two people in question. Dishing out the plates, Jaden gave Mickey and Ken their breakfasts, before sitting herself down on the sofa next to Ken.

When Ken wrapped his arm around Jaden's shoulders, the mage rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, screaming at herself in her mind to keep the peaceful act. Though she hated to admit it, he was a comfortable pillow, even if she hated every minute of it.

The three sat in silence until Ken and Mickey were finished with their breakfast. Ken placed his plate onto the coffee table and then pulled Jaden onto his lap, giving her a soft kiss; one that could be mistaken as the type of kiss two lovers would share between each other.

Putting on a brave show, Jaden eagerly kissed him back, but not before dully noting that she was finding herself unable to resist him, not that she could with Mickey in the room anyway.

It wasn't long until Mickey stood up and walked out of the house, feeling a little uncomfortable by the whole exchange.

The second the mouse had left, Ken immediately stripped Jaden of her clothes and kissed her hard on the lips.

Jaden returned the kiss just as passionately, wrapping her arms around Ken's neck in an attempt to pull him in closer. All the while, shame washed over Jaden's body. What in the Maker was she doing? She was supposed to hate Ken, and yet here she was, finding it difficult to say no to him. She could feel herself being pulled into his trap with each passing day, but what could she do? Let him go back to Malibu? Like fuck was she going to let that happen.

After a while, Jaden finally managed to pull herself away. "Ken, I have work to do. Five weeks' worth of work to be exact. Not to mention I had promised to help Ursula." She told him sternly, refusing to back down, as much as Ken would try to pull her away anyway. She hated to think how much work she had to do. Five weeks was a long time. She wouldn't be surprised if the village was overrun by Night Thorns and the villagers were trapped inside their homes because of them.

Ken sighed and much to Jaden's surprise, nodded his agreement. "Fine, but remember I'm coming with you." He said, a hint of a threat to his voice.

Without saying anything, Jaden kissed his head and crawled off of Ken's lap to get dressed. As much as she wanted to argue her case with him, she knew she couldn't risk it. She had pushed her luck too much already. She was lucky he was letting her do any work.

As they were both heading out of the door, Jaden held out her hand for Ken to take, acting out like the obedient little robot that she was. Ken took her hand and squeezed onto it tightly, her chances of escaping him slim to none.

The unlikely couple spent the best part of the day gathering all the materials needed to make the magical scroll and ink kit for Ursula. Jaden gave the boring purple flower collecting to Ken, not trusting him to work at the craft station to make the glass needed. Having been tied to a bed for five weeks, the trek to the beach to collect the sand needed to make the glass exhausted Jaden. Though she was going at a slow walking pace, the mage felt like she had run a marathon. Something that should have taken her no more than an hour, took the entire day, and that was also with Ken's help.

As Jaden was finishing the final touches to the scroll kit in the front garden of her house, Ken came up and stood not that far from her. "So, is there a reason why the crafting station is out here and not inside your house?" He asked her, though not kindly. "Because I don't really want to stay out here any longer. It's freezing." He complained.

Jaden smirked. Ken really was acting like a baby. "There is a reason," Not that I'm telling you the reason why. Jaden thought smugly. "But you don't have to stay out here, you know. You can go back inside. I'm not stopping you." She added, hoping and praying to the Maker that he'd take the offer.

However, she was not so lucky. Ken wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck softly. "I'm not letting you out of my sight, Jaden." He whispered lowly.

Jaden felt her body stiffening at his embrace. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. "Figures...but I am trying to work, so maybe you could back off just a little?"

Ken shook his head. "Nope. You're just going to have to work whilst you're distracted." He murmured, slipping his hand down her pants and lightly stroking her clit.

The mage let out an involuntary sigh of bliss. "Fuck, Ken...really? Right here? Good thing I don't have that many neighbours..."

Ken continued his strokes whilst he spoke. "You can't tell me you don't enjoy this. The thought of getting caught turns you on." He whispered into her ear, giving it a gentle bite. "Yeah, I know you're fantasies better than you think."

Jaden went to reply, however, before she could answer him, the couple heard a pair of footsteps coming from behind them. Ken ignored them and pushed a finger inside of Jaden's cunt, causing Jaden to moan loudly as he pumped at her g-spot.

"Hey, Ken. Hey, Jay." They both heard Malibu say. Jaden had to bite her lip to stop the moan from escaping her lips as Ken shoved another finger inside of her.

Ken turned his head and saw Brooklyn and Malibu, who was holding a bunch of pizza boxes in her hand, standing behind them. Ken gave Malibu one of his best, genuine smiles, legitimately pleased to see her. "Hey, Barbie." He said, still pumping his fingers inside of Jaden's cunt, his dick hardening at the way the mage was trying her best to keep quiet. If it wasn't for the fact that both the Barbie's were loitering behind them, he would have been whispering encouragements in her ear to let it all out, to let the valley know that she was enjoying it.

Malibu blinked nonchalantly, attempting to act like she had no clue on what Ken was doing to Jaden. She tried to ignore the sick feeling that was piling up in her stomach at having to witness something that felt so private that she felt like she was being invasive. "Brooklyn and I figured we'd check up on Jaden since it's been a few days since we last saw her." Malibu said awkwardly.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Brooklyn watched the scene unfold as Jaden very obviously couldn't take it anymore, as her moans shrilled through the air, getting louder as Ken's strokes became harder and faster. Brooklyn knew that Jaden was addicted to sex, but surely she still wouldn't want to put Malibu or Brooklyn herself for that matter, through this embarrassment? Judging from all the crafting materials laid out on the table, it seemed she was in the middle of some important work that Ken rudely interrupted.

Not breaking his stride, Ken gave Malibu another smile. "Well, as you can see, she's fine." He told Malibu, pulling his fingers out the second Jaden came all over his fingers, resisting the urge to lick them in front of the two Barbie's.

Jaden leaned against the crafting station, catching her breath whilst burying her head in her arms in shame. "Well now, this is just embarrassing…" She muttered under her breath, blinking back the tears forming in her eyes, screaming at herself mentally not to cry. She flinched when she felt Ken rub her back in what would appear to be a comforting manner, but to her was condescending as all hell, which was only confirmed when she picked up on his soft chuckle, low enough only for her to hear.

After a few minutes, Jaden straightened herself up and turned to face Malibu and Brooklyn, casting her eyes to the ground to avoid their evident, disappointed gazes. "Yeah, Ken's right. I'm fine. Though, I do have a lot of work to do and Ken's been…distracting me…" For lack of a better word, she supposed.

Thinking quickly on the spot, Brooklyn thought up a plan, desperate to try and get Jaden away from Ken. "Well, how about Malibu and I take Ken off your hands for a few hours? We can have pizza and maybe watch some TV whilst you do what you need to do." Brooklyn suggested, trying to catch Jaden's gaze to silently encourage her to take the offer.

Jaden thought about this for a moment, but felt a bit uneasy about leaving Ken with Malibu. After all, the whole point of this deal was to keep him away from her. Surely he wouldn't do anything to her while Brooklyn was with them, right?

However, Brooklyn was giving her the gift of a lifetime. A small break from Ken. Even in her mind it sounded too good to be true. But she really needed space from him right now, any longer with him and she might just snap his neck. She finally drew her eyes away from the ground and lifted them up to meet Brooklyn's warm gaze. She knew that Brooklyn had her suspicions about Ken. She also knew how dangerous he was. So for Brooklyn to risk her own safety for Jaden? It made the mage feel eternally grateful.

"That's a good idea." Jaden nodded, watching Malibu and Ken head into Jaden's house. Brooklyn, however, stayed behind. Jaden resisted the urge not to flinch when Brooklyn gently placed her hand on Jaden's shoulder.

"You sure you're fine?" Brooklyn asked, needing to double check before following Malibu and Ken into the house.

Jaden shrugged. "Aside from being embarrassed, I'm fine. But seriously, thank you. Ken doesn't seem to understand that I actually have a job to do. Just keep an eye on him, will you? And stay safe yourself." Jaden added, regarding Brooklyn warmly.

Brooklyn nodded. "Of course. I don't exactly trust him, as you know. He may look intimidating, but he doesn't scare me. I'm not sure how Malibu can still trust him after all this. And don't get me started on your relationship with him."

The mage chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't. You aren't the only one to tell me this is a bad idea."

"It really is, Jay." Brooklyn said seriously, then kissed her head. "We'll save you some pizza." She said sweetly.

Jaden shook her head. "You don't have to."

Brooklyn looked Jaden up and down, taking in her skinny appearance. "Jaden, when was the last time you had something to eat?" She spoke with concern.

Wracking her brain for an answer, Jaden stuttered both in her mind and verbally. "Uh, a few days ago. I think. And even then it wasn't much, I was tied to the bed for Maker knows how long." She muttered under her breath.

Completely shocked, Brooklyn widened her eyes and put a hand to her mouth. "Hold on, you were? Well that explains why Ken wouldn't let us into the bedroom when we visited." Brooklyn pulled Jaden into a tight hug.

Frowning, Jaden hugged her back. "You didn't know? I figured Merlin would have told everyone." Jaden said with confusion.

Brooklyn shook her head. "No. He only told us that you were locked in your house, resting."

"Huh…I shouldn't have told you that…shit…" Great, now Ken's going to punish me for that. Jaden thought with dread.

"Jaden, what's going on?" Brooklyn asked the mage imploringly.

Jaden shook her head and gently pushed Brooklyn off. "I'm sorry, but I've already said too much. You should head inside before Ken starts to notice. I'm sure Malibu is also waiting for you." Jaden said, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Brooklyn sighed. "One of these days, Jay, you're going to tell me." Brooklyn said wincing at herself, she didn't mean to make it sound like a threat, but she didn't know what else to say. So, without another word, she headed into the house.

Jaden turned back to the crafting station and got back to the work that Ken interrupted her from. Luckily, she was nearly done. When she was finally finished ten minutes later, she took the short walk to get Ursula's house at the beach. She walked inside without knocking, seeing Ursula in her small pool of water, clearly waiting for her arrival. Jaden dumped the magical scroll and ink kit onto the ground by the water then took a few steps back.

Ursula grinned and clapped her hands together in glee. "Excellent! I can finally start making contracts again! You've certainly turned out to be quite the little helper. Now it's my turn. Here's a gift…these are rare fish I found while you were out roaming the land on those little feet. Consider this my end of the bargain. And come back soon…I may need you again." Ursula said, handing Jaden a shrimp and a bream.

Jaden sighed as she accepted the fish from Ursula. All this trouble for fish? She supposed it could have been worse, she could use these for cooking. The mage gave her thanks and walked out of the house.

She walked over to the steps leading back to the meadow and sat down, drinking her whiskey. She didn't really want to go back home and deal with Ken again. If only there was some way to get back at him. She couldn't simply shapeshift into an animal and attack him, not without him finding out it was her who attacked him. No, she couldn't use her magic, it was too dangerous. Taking one last swig of her whiskey, she stood up and headed towards the Dreamhouse, hoping she might get an idea there.

As she walked through the house, she immediately heard the loud music coming from the living room. She peaked into the doorway, seeing Malibu's sisters having a small party with some of Malibu's girlfriends. She decided to leave them be and headed upstairs to her room, the rest of the house deathly silent.

She quietly shut her bedroom door closed, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She started to search through her room for anything she could use against Ken, though she wasn't really sure what she was looking for. She straightened up when she heard a knock on the door. Not even bothering to look up and see who it was, she continued searching as she spoke. "What do you want?" Her voice came out a little cold, even for her own liking and she cursed herself for that. It would only make her look suspicious.

Rafa, leaning against the doorframe, frowned as he watched Jaden. It was her first time in five weeks being outside and she was already throwing herself into work, acting like nothing had happened. He took in her rugged looking appearance. She had drastically lost weight again. She had really let herself go. He then sighed. "You know, everyone's worried about you. These suicide attempts are getting worse. You were locked in your house for weeks." He said with deep concern.

Jaden shrugged. "Yeah, and that was hell. But I'm fine, really. You can stop worrying about me." She still didn't stop what she was doing. She was a woman on a mission.

Rafa continued. "None of us are going to stop worrying about you, Jaden. But you really should talk to someone. You might find it helpful." Rafa suggested, though he knew deep down that he was wasting his time.

"I don't really talk much about my problems, Rafa. I'd rather just deal with them on my own." Jaden's reply was clipped and stern. She had heard this lecture a thousand times throughout her life already. It was getting tiring.

Shaking his head, Rafa suppressed a sigh, not wanting to look frustrated. "That doesn't seem to be working for you. I'm not saying you have to talk to me, but at least talk to someone. You really need help."

"I'm not that bad, am I?" Jaden narrowed her eyes, though Rafa couldn't see it.

"Jaden, you've lost weight, you're trying to kill yourself every chance you get, and you have a serious drinking problem." Rafa said seriously.

Jaden scoffed. "What? I don't have a drinking problem."

Rafa shook his head. "All alcoholics say that. I don't think any of us have ever seen you drink anything other than whiskey. I'm surprised you have any left." He scolded her, sounding more like a parent to her than a concerned friend.

Jaden shrugged. "That's because the flask never runs out." She said simply, excusing her destructive behaviour.

Holding back his temper, Rafa mumbled under his breath, "And you say you don't have a drinking problem."

Jaden's reply was immediate. "I really don't, but alright."

Rafa blew out a breath. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

Jaden sighed. "So, are you done? Or is there more to this lecture?" She asked tiredly, wanting this to be over already.

He nodded. "I'm done." He said plainly, knowing it was pointless trying to get through to her. With his piece said, Rafa turned around and walked out of the room, forgetting to shut it behind him.

Once he was gone, Jaden continued to search through her room at a more frantic pace for another five minutes until she came across a black balaclava and a black hoodie. She supposed this will just have to do. She grabbed a bag and stuffed them into it. Her work here was done.

However, before she could leave the room, a black haired, older man and a blonde older woman walked into the room. The man was holding a hockey stick in his hand, looking very intimidating. The woman turned around and locked the door behind her.

With her heart leaping into her throat, Jaden started to tremble slightly, her hands sweaty with fear. There was nowhere else for her to run.
She was trapped.