"You need to go see her," Anders speaks up again. "She got upset because she missed you."
"Yeah," I mutter. "I will."
Still, I don't move away from the window where I'm standing, staring out into the darkness.
"Anders," I say. "Do you think she'll get better?"
He thinks it over before finally saying, "If your well-wishes alone could make her better, she already would be. But like I said - I think she needs professional help. And then maybe there will be some hope... But we can't give her that here."
The headlights of the cab I called flash outside, and Anders gets up to leave. I shake his uninjured hand and wish him luck at the ER. I wish I could come with him, but I have something else that needs to be done first.
I need to go see her.
I climb the stairs slowly, taking my time to ponder what I'm going to tell her. I'm running out of ideas on how to make this easier for her. Some days, she's almost back to her old self. She's sarcastic, witty and sweet - the girl I fell in love with when I saw her for the very first time. But other days, she's overtaken by the anger, pure rage seeping through every pore as she claws me with her long fingernails. I wish she could balance it all out. I wish I could help her. I wish there was a magic pill she could take to fix everything that's happened. But there isn't. All we have is now. This moment, trapped in time forever, with her closed behind that door wailing for me every second of every day.
None of this is her fault.
And the man who ruined her will pay for what he did. The plan has been set into motion. The price is still waiting to be paid.
I come to a stop in front of her door, laying a palm on the cold wood. I can't hear anything from inside, but I know as soon as I open the door, the screaming will begin. Taking another deep breath, I unlock the many locks on the door and walk into the lion's den.
She's not on me in seconds, and it takes me by surprise to find her crumpled in a corner. She's wearing another one of her beautiful dresses, a fuchsia color this time, with her makeup and hair perfectly done. But she just sits there like a broken doll, a painting, a sculpture. She's so far gone I don't know if anything can bring her back to me.
I kneel next to her, taking her small hand in mine. She's shivering, her eyes staring into nothing. I watch as a tear slips down my cheek and hate myself for becoming my love's worst nightmare. I've let her down. I'm no better than the rest of the people who put her in this spot, the people who fucking ruined her life. I'm goddamn scum. She'll never forgive me for this, for these years of captivity. And she shouldn't.
"What happened?" I whisper into her ear. "Why did you hurt Anders?"
She doesn't respond, just buries her head in the crook of my arm. I cradle her against me, sitting down on the bare floor and holding her close to me. Her skin is covered in angry welts and bruises again. After years of being on the receiving end, she's started doing it to herself, hurting that pretty body that I'm responsible for.
We've tried everything.
We've restrained her.
Threatened her.
Tried to give her attention to take her mind off hurting herself.
Nothing has worked so far, and with every new bruise that blooms on her porcelain skin, I hate myself more for doing this to her.
I settle down next to her, going back to the one thing that always works.
"Do you want to hear a story?" I ask her, and she nods eagerly, instantly awoken from her reverie, back with me in present time.
"About a princess?" she asks hopefully.
"A beautiful princess," I nod with an affectionate smile.
"Tell me," she begs, settling against me with her eyes glued to mine.
So eager, so beautiful.
So goddamn broken.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess," I begin. "She had everything in the world she could possibly wish for. She had loving parents, a handsome boy who loved her, and she lived in a beautiful kingdom with loyal subjects."
Her eyes flutter open and closed as she listens intently.
"One day, a very bad man arrived in the kingdom," I go on softly. "He wanted to hurt the princess. He wanted to hurt her for his own gain. But the handsome boy protected her. He made sure nobody could get to her. He locked her in the highest tower of all the land, where nobody would find her. He hid the key, but he visited the beautiful princess every day."