Messed Up

Justin grabbed Laura and lifted her as if she were no heavier than a rag doll. She screamed and kicked but couldn’t stop him from carrying her into the half-furnished bedroom and throwing her hard onto the bed.

“What are you doing?” she managed to gasp once the air finally returned to her lungs.

“Do you think I’m going to let you push me away, after everything I’ve done for you?”

“What?”

“You could at least show a little gratitude for getting you out of that messed-up relationship and getting you into this beautiful apartment.”

It took Laura a few moments to process what she’d heard, then the pieces fell into place like a mosaic, forming a picture. She drew in a sharp breath.

“You… you set this up. Right?”

A grim smile spread across his face.

“I’m good, aren’t I? I could see you weren’t happy with that guy. That’s why I watched you day and night and learned what you really need.”

“You’re crazy!”

“You’re upset,” he observed with an icy, twisted logic. “That’s normal.”

“Justin…”

“You just need time to see it properly.”

Fragments of memory found their way into her consciousness, blurry but unmistakable when she looked back. A blond man across the street, or walking parallel to her in the supermarket, standing by the mailboxes in the hallway.

She covered her mouth as she remembered the service technician with the baseball cap pulled low over his brow, who supposedly had to check the outlets throughout the apartment.

Unfazed, he continued: “When I found out that this apartment right next to mine was becoming available, I knew it was a wink of fate, and I made sure you got it. We’re meant for each other. You can see that too, can’t you?”

She shook her head.

“Let me go. I won’t tell anyone.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I know you won’t.”

He pulled a bunch of cable ties out of his pocket.

Laura lay wide awake in the dark. Everything hurt. Her tears had dried up; she sniffed occasionally.

The man was breathing calmly and evenly. Peaceful even. As if nothing had happened. As if everything were fine.

She didn’t move. Didn’t dare check to see if he was really asleep.

The zip ties cut deeply into her wrists and ankles. Before he finally stopped abusing her, he had made sure she couldn’t escape.

She stared silently at the dark ceiling, replaying everything—every coincidence, every small moment she had dismissed.

All the small things. The weird feelings. The unlikely fortunate circumstances. The ease with which everything fell into place.

She should have known that it wasn’t so easy. Her chest tightened as the realization settled, heavy and irreversible.

It hadn’t been chance. It hadn’t been lucky.

It had all been arranged.

Carefully. Patiently.

For her.

She was the victim.

And now it was too late.

She had thought she was freeing herself, but now she was all the more trapped.