~3~

"Nobody says, 'hey men should not drink' it's all about women must dress uniquely, women must walk abnormally, women must drink differently. Why are we not able to hold men accountable for this behavior?" John Stewart.

~~~

Lucie didn't know how long she has been unconscious or how many times Mike had woken her up to satisfy his desires. How long exactly has it been? Have her parents came looking for her? Has Dann came looking—Sitting up, she noticed that her left foot had a chain attached to a wall behind the bed.

'He is not planning on letting me go. Am I his prisoner here?' Lucie wondered as she sobbed quietly.

Without a doubt, she was a prisoner: The room she resided in looked no less than a luxurious jail cell out of the 'Prison Break' series. Even if people did come looking for Lucie, it would have been tough to find her. That part of the mansion was entirely disengaged from the main house and hidden from the residence plan.

'I could escape, but—' Lucie glanced around—

"Don't even think about," Mike said, suddenly showing up, with a woman following behind. "How are you today?"

'Where's the entry?' Lucie ignored him. She looked around the room once more, trying to figure out how Mike and that lady abruptly emerged without her noticing.

"I asked you how you were doing," Mike said, nipping on Lucie's chin.

'He dares to ask me how I am doing. How does it look like I am doing?'

"Shower that irksome lady and put some makeup on her. Make her look representable. You look lifeless," Mike said, frowning as though he was sickened by her appearance.

"Whose fault is it that I look this way?" Lucie hollered, charging at him.

"Honey, save your energy for later," Mike smiled as he pulled her into him and whispered, "You know I don't let go once I get you under me. Advice, save that energy for tonight."

Lucie felt revolted and appalled. "How many more times until you let me leave?"

"I don't know until I am fully satisfied," he shrugged.

"No one came looking for me?"

"Will it make you feel better if I say yes?"

"Yes, I'd know that someone out there remembers and cares about me."

"The question is: Who are you expecting?"

"My mother—"

"No one came looking for—"

"How long have I been here?" Lucie asked, saddened that no one came searching for her, even her boyfriend nor her best friend. "No one reported me missing?"

"I—" Mike's phone rang. "What's up?" He gripped the phone in his hand as he glanced back at Lucie. "What do you mean the police are here? Why are they here?" He shouted. "Take care of them right now—Why am I paying you? Let them search the house. I'll be there."

"Everything's okay, sir?" The unknown lady asked.

"Your boyfriend came looking for you. Are you happy?"

"Dann is here?" Lucie smiled. 'He is here for me.'

"Take care of her! I will be back," Mike ordered the woman, leaving the room.

~~~

"Isn't this absurd? Why would your girlfriend be here?" Mike asked Dann, who looked as if he needed to sleep for at least three months to recuperate as he looked lost and devastated.

"Your house is the last place that Lucie has been."

"What's more, what does that have to do with me? They already checked the camera footage from that day, Lucie left," he lied. Since you are so convinced that she is here, have them search the house. I permit it."

"I know she is here," Lucie heard Dann said. "I know it."

~~~

"Dann!" She yelled. "Dann, I am here."

"He can't hear you."

"What!"

"He can't hear you. No matter how loud you scream, your boyfriend won't be able to catch the sound," the woman said apathetically. "It's right in front of their eyes."

"Be quiet, please!"

"I don't get you. You don't look like someone who got—"

"Like I got raped?" Lucie laughed, "Miss, should I be wailing and shouting it out? Even if I scream until my lungs give out, who will hear me? No one! Not you, not them. Nobody. What's the point?"

"He loves you—"

"What's your name?"

"San."

"Miss San, "If you don't know anything, shut your mouth," Lucie said quietly. "A man who loves me? Delusional? How's anchoring me like this show, love? Does your boyfriend do this to you? Do you want him to love you like this? I will graciously give you my place."

"You don't understand—"San continued.

"I only have one thing to say. I am not into masochism."

"You are ungrateful—"

"San, I'd like to die in peace. I am fighting a sadist. I don't want to add a masochist to my list. One look at you, I can tell that you're in love with your boss. I am not your love rival," Lucie said, shutting eyes.

If San could depict Mike's actions as 'love' then she was psychologically ailing and needed to seek help from a psychiatrist; no women in their right minds would endure this situation unless—

Lucie was—confused? It was not that she wasn't—disrupted or terrified that she was in confinement, but she didn't know or wasn't sure what she was feeling. Confusion? Resentment? Betrayal? Agony?

However, one thing that was obvious to her was the hatred that she felt towards Mike.

Her mother? Lucie thought Nai wouldn't do so even if the world deserted her and sought her missing daughter. In the end, only Dann cared about her.

'What is that feeling?' Lucie gripped her chest as she fought back the tears. 'What have I done wrong? I did nothing. Why should I die? I can't die. Even if the world goes against me, blames me for everything. I will fight. One day. I must get out alive.'

"How long have I been here?"

"Two months," San responded.

Two months? 'Dan came looking for me today, which means that he did get enough evidence to get a search warrant.'

What they didn't know is that Mike had already mapped out everything with the judge in advance, as far as granting the detective a court order only so they could terminate the case afterward.

"People who spend a lot of quality time together usually end up loving each other," San haphazardly said. "I hope you don't. I didn't mean to say that you are ungrateful about him locking you up here. Cherish the fact that you are still alive. Some women don't make it out alive." You're right; I did love him, just like the rest of them. You are the exception. No matter what, don't fall in love with him."

'What did she mean by a lot of time? Some women?

~~~

"You can go back—wow, you look stunning, Lu," Mike commented upon his return. "If only you'd smile."

"Don't call me like this!"

"You can leave, San."

"Yes," she said, strolling towards the exit, however, with murderous eyes, as she looked back at Mike.

It can't be.

~~~

"You'll eventually come to love me," Mike told Lucie.

"Even in the abyss, I won't love you!"

"That's why I love you," he planted a kiss on her lips, but he received no reactions from her. "Kiss me!"

Lucie glared at him, "Why should I? I have no desire..."

A sharp pain hit her as Mike dove his teeth into her nape, blood running down her arm onto her cloth. She did not fight or scream as she previously did. 'Fighting and resisting a sadist will only make them fervent.'

"One day, I will kill you," Lucie promised.

"You can try," Mike mumbled.

'Don't disregard a woman's pledge,' she said to herself, 'They can blame me, but I won't forget to make you pay.'

~~~

"You guys were together for a long time. You don't feel sad at all?" Mike asked Dann, who was happily counting the payment he has received.

"Sad?" Dann laughed. "Don't joke about this. I didn't even like her in the first place. I approached her for you. Remember that! I dated a woman I don't even like for three years because of your damn obsession with her. Well, she was pretty with a great body. It's a shame I didn't bang—"

"Get out! You son of a bitch. I am a bastard. I know it. I am not just a bastard. I love what I do. I take pleasure in the things I do. You?" Mike laughed.

"What's wrong with you? You and I are the same. So—"

"No, you and I aren't the same. I kill people—I do all sort of things. I don't pretend. People can't see how much of a psychopath I am because they're too busy admiring outer appearance, but it's right there in front of them to see. But you? You are a sorry ass motherfucker who can't even be a bad bastard correctly."

"What?"

"I told you to approach her, but you dated her for three years, even made Lucie fell in love with you, and what, you didn't even like her? Are you a smart bastard, or are you just pathetic?"

He's right! I am pathetic. No, I loved her. How could I hand over the woman I love so easily to another man? Yeah, I am a loser.