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It felt like I was waiting forever before Jimmy’s breaths finally became rhythmic. I knew then that he was asleep. I let my fingers curl around the key under my pillow. I couldn’t believe that I was about to get out of here.

I waited a couple more minutes before I tried getting out of bed. If he was still awake I didn’t want to keep having to make up excuses for why I kept on getting out of bed.

Five minutes I think is a safe amount of time. I stared at the alarm clock and the bright red numbers felt like they were burning holes into my retinas. I impatiently waited as time slowly ticked away.

When five minutes finally passed, I prepared myself to get up. I was going to have to do it in a way that wasn’t going to wake him. If I went too slowly, the bed would creek and make noises. If I went too quickly it would wake him up for sure. I had to find a pace in between the two.

I went to get up, but there was a weight holding me down. Jimmy’s arm was across my stomach and like usual he was curling me in towards him.

Fuck. I bit down on my lip. Did I just say that out loud? Jimmy’s breaths were still at a calm even pace. I either didn’t say it or he didn’t hear me.

My fingers slowly wrapped around his arm. I gently pulled it off me and slid foreword. I put his arm down on the piece of bed in between us and I lifted up the covers enough to let me slip out. The key was in a tight grip in my hand.

When my feet were planted on the ground, I turned around to look at Jimmy. He was still fast asleep and I felt my body tense up. If he caught me I would need a good excuse and my brain couldn’t come up with one right now.

I scanned the ground for clothes. I could only make out faint images in the darkness. I pulled on the sweat pants that Jimmy gave me earlier today, and the first shirt I found was Jimmy’s. I was going to have to run outside without any shoes, but I didn’t care. I’d rather have cuts on my feet than stay in this house.

I tiptoed over to the door and the floor was squeaking underneath my feet. My stomach kept tightening. What if Jimmy woke up?

My fingers tightened around the doorknob and the door creaked open. My teeth were in my lip so deeply I could start to taste blood. I crept through the doorway and closed it behind me.

I let out a deep breath and continued down the hallway. My feet wanted to take off running, but I didn’t let them. I tried to keep myself calm and quiet. The stairs came into view and a smile grew across my lips. I was out of here.

A door opened up behind me. My heart jumped. It was my imagination. It had to be. I couldn’t be caught already. I couldn’t turn around and check, my body was too frozen to.

Footsteps came closer to me and I realized that it really wasn’t my imagination anymore. Someone was really here. I hoped it wasn’t Charles. He was the one who hurt me the most and trying to run away would come with a big punishment.

I slowly turned on my heel. It wasn’t Charles, but instead Tommy. As he came closer to me I stepped back until I was pressed up against the wall. I put my hands behind my back and squeezed the key as hard as I could.

“What do you think you are doing?” Tommy asked me. It was dark in the house and shadows were casted across his face, but I could see him raise an eyebrow at me. I kept my back up against the wall and looked at my feet.

“It’s a good thing I had to go get a drink or you could have been trying to get out of here for a long time,” he told me. He put his hand on the wall beside my head and leaned his body in towards me. I kept my eyes down, I couldn’t stand to look at him right now.

“What’s in your hand?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I mumbled.

“Juliet, you wouldn’t be lying to me, would you?”

The key started to tear the skin in my hand. Tommy can’t know I have it. He’ll tell Jimmy and Jimmy will never be so careless with his key again. I’ll never get out.

“Show me what’s in your hand,” he ordered me.

“I don’t have anything,” I told him quietly.

“Really?”

I just shook my head. Tommy grabbed my hand and pulled it towards him. I wanted to keep my hands behind my back, but like everyone in this house, he was much stronger than me. I swung my hand without the key out and hit Tommy in the chest.

“Stop. Don’t,” I said. I was careful to be not too loud and wake up Jimmy or Charles.

I swung my hand back out at Tommy, but this time I slapped him across the face. With one quick motion, he grabbed my shoulders and slammed me into the wall. Pain spread along the back of my skull.

Tommy uncurled my fingers and pulled out the now bloody key. He still had one of his hands on my shoulder, pinning me onto the wall.

I could see Jimmy’s door open. We must have woken him up. He was rubbing his eyes with his hand and was surprised to walk out and see us. His hair was a mess and he had on pyjama bottoms he must have found on the floor.

“What’s going on here?” he asked us.

Tommy let the key dangle on the chain between his fingers. Jimmy’s eyes grew big and he snatched it out of Tommy’s hand.

“Your girl was planning on leaving,” Tommy told him.

Jimmy grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Tommy and right into his own room. He slammed the door shut behind us. I tumbled down onto the ground and pain shot through my knees and elbows as I landed on them.

He’s furious. I have to get onto his good side. That’s my only option if I don’t want to get hurt again.

“I’m so sorry,” I told him.

“What were you planning on doing, Juliet?” he asked me with a voice that was drenched in anger. I cowered on the ground as Jimmy’s body towered over me.

“I wasn’t planning on doing anything,” I told him. I let my voice grow shaky and sound like I was about to cry. Having Jimmy feel bad for me has worked before and it definitely needs to work now. I haven’t done something this bad before.

“Then why did you have my key?” he asked me.

Shit. I need an excuse and I need one fast. There is no good explanation though. Why would I be carrying his key around the house? Maybe I picked it up instead of something else, but what?

Jimmy was still staring down at me. There was no good excuse to use. I let the fake tears leave my eye and I let my body break into fake sobs.

“I…I don’t know. I’m so sorry, Jimmy,” I said in between my sobs.

“Why were you trying to leave? We’ve done so much for you. We are protecting you from what’s outside. This is where you belong. Why try to leave?” he scolded me.

“I just want my life back.”

“We are your life now. I’m your life. I’m the only one who is ever going to care about you. I’m the only one who is ever going to love you. Now get up.”

He reached down, grabbed my arm and hauled me up onto my feet. The fake tears continued to roll down my cheeks and Jimmy’s fingers tightened around my arm. I tried to force even more out of my eyes.

“Juliet, stop crying,” he ordered me.

I pushed my fingers into my eyes. He couldn’t see my tears anymore so I let a mixture of sobs and deep breaths leave my mouth.

“Juliet, I said stop crying,” he barked at me.

Before I could do anything I felt a sharp sting across my cheek. He must have slapped me. I stood there shocked because Jimmy had never hit me before.

“Are you going to keep crying?” he asked.

“No,” I said quickly. I didn’t even need to think about it. My heart began to race. If the sympathy card doesn’t work anymore how am I going to get on his good side? I was truly terrified now.

Jimmy loosened his grip around my arms and let his hands slide up around my neck.

“Good girl. Now, I can’t let you get away with this,” he told me.

His fingers tightened around my neck and breathing quickly got harder to do. I tried to pry his fingers off of my neck, but I couldn’t move them.

“Stop it,” he said. “I’m not going to kill you. Being nice doesn’t fix your behaviour, so I’m going to have to find something that does.”

He let go off my neck and I took in a deep breath of air. Jimmy pushed me and I fell back onto the bed. I went to get up but he swung his leg over me and pinned me down onto the bed. I pounded on his chest with my fists until I felt a terrible pain in my face that made me scream out. I realized that he had just punched me. He had my hands pinned down with one of his over my head. He pressed his lips against my neck.

He started sliding his free hand up my shirt and I started to scream.

“Shhhhh,” he whispered into my ear. “This is for your own good. It’s a lesson, honey.”

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When he was done I rolled over onto my side. My body was in so much pain. Every time I screamed Jimmy would hurt me even more. The tears sliding down my face this time were real.