(Part 3 of side story)

Goldie Locks sat in a black leather recliner with The Monster Within in her hands. She was reading it for the third time. The book was amazing and it was eerily similar to the predicament she had been in for four years. It was about a man who kidnapped girls and kept them imprisoned until he inevitably murdered them.

She wondered if he was planning on offing her. If she had known for sure she would have saved him from going to the trouble. She would have done it ages ago. But she had concluded that he wasn't capable of hurting her without being forced to. His mind was so warped that he actually believed she loved him. He couldn't hurt her unless he absolutely had to and she was going to make sure he never had to do so.

It had been ten days since Alvin had told her he would be releasing her. Six days after he told her he stopped by for another visit. He didn't have sex with her that time. He told her how things were at work, at home, and how he felt about her. Then he fed her chicken alfredo from an upscale restaurant that he frequented. He had told her what it was called but she couldn't recall the name.

She didn't pay much attention to what he said. She was too busy thinking about how she was going to enact revenge of him. She knew his first name, that he was married, what he did for a living, a car he used to drive, and his looks like the back of her hand. She would never forget the face that had haunted her for the last few years.

The three inch scar that lined his right cheek, disrupting his facial hair growth. His dark, large eyes, that appeared to be black. His nose that was perfectly symmetrical. His thick, dark brown hair that was always placed to perfection. His thin, pink lips that brought the urge for her to cry every time they touched her flawless pale skin.

She was going to destroy his excellent facial features if it was the last thing she did.

At 7:48 PM she heard the lock being turned and her heart began to race. He appeared before her looking better than usual. His expensive suit fit him like a mold. His leather briefcase was shining. He locked the doors behind him.

"How are you doing?" He smiled at her.

She said nothing. She kept her eyes on her book.

"Hmm," He insisted.

She didn't answer him. It was February fifth. It was her last day in Hell and she wasn't going to ruin her chances at freedom. If she opened her mouth she would not be able to contain her anger and he knew that. He was looking for a reason to keep her confined and she was not going to let that happen.

She couldn't.

"Things aren't going well at home. They're going awful. And things with you aren't going well either." He smiled a sad smile. "I'm going to miss you."

He talked, droned on for a while about how complications are arising at home. He talked about work reiterating the same things he had said to her for four years. The whole time she focused on her breathing. She was ready to come unhinged. The suspense was killing her.

Finally, he spoke the words she had been dying to hear, "Are you ready?"

She decided to let him know she wasn't completely brain dead. She shook her head yes.

He picked up his briefcase from the floor. "Now, to be sure you don't do anything rash I am going to handcuff us together. I am also going to blindfold you just until we get far enough away."

She nodded and he pulled a pair of heavy handcuffs out from his suitcase. He placed one cuff around his wrist and closed it. He then pulled out another tool, a familiar plain white bandana. He gently tied it around her eyes and her breathing intensified as a result of fear when she lost her sight.

The ending was near and it was finally settling into her mind. Things were crystal clear. They were clearer than they had ever been in her life. Her kidnapping could very well have been the beginning of the end. The end being her death. Or it could be a whole new beginning. Emerging from such a brutal trauma could be a rebirth. She didn't have to be the girl that she stared at in the mirror anymore. She could be whomever she wanted to for the girl she was no longer existed in the heartless eyes of the world.

It wasn't just about revenge anymore. It was about redemption. Her faith in the man grew at the moment. Whether he knew it or not he was giving her the ultimate gift. He had saved her from the hell she called her life.

But revenge was still her greatest motivator. It had already consumed her.

He then placed the other cuff around her wrist. The clinks as the ridges fit together repulsed her. Her dream of being free was finally set into motion but first she had to endure a metaphor that had come true for she was truly bound to her captor at that moment.

"Come," he whispered.

She was filled with too many emotions to comprehend as he unlocked the door that had been a barrier to the outside to her for far too long. He closed and locked the doors and led her down what she assumed was a hallway. Next they traveled up a flight of stairs and before she knew it she felt the wind on her face, blowing through her beautiful blonde hair.

She was in ecstasy. The air that filled her lungs felt pure, clean, unadulterated. She had never been a believer in God but she felt forgiven. She was exonerated from every sin she had ever committed and the wind blowing through her seemed to prove that.

"It's beautiful out here, Goldie." He told her in a sincere tone. "I wish you could see it."

He pulled her blindfold down just enough for her to catch a glimpse woods and the sky. She had forgotten who how beautiful the stars were. A full moon beamed down on them as their only source of light.

As if he were teasing her, he pushed the blindfold back up over her eyes and tightened it. He didn't move spastically for he was aware he may bruise the soft ivory skin of her wrist.

She trailed him until they reached the car.

"Now, since we are confined this may be a little difficult. I am going to climb in and you follow. I'll be careful I promise."

Once she sat down she felt the familiar cold leather penetrate her warm body. He still owned the corvette and she was sure of that.

When he started the car he realized how real it all was too. It really was the end. Goldie, his love, his doll was going to separate from him. What would he do without her? He was sick, not with remorse but fear. His thoughts were so intense that he didn't even understand them. He would no longer have her in his grasp. The rush he'd get from controlling her was no more after tonight.

They drove in silence. He had nothing more to say to her until it was time for goodbye. Going back to normal was going to be a bizarre adjustment but he couldn't bear the thought of looking into her hateful eyes anymore. She thought he saw nothing but bottomless pits of nothing but he didn't. He saw her anger, resentment, and abhorrence. The times he saw affection in her eyes had reduced drastically over the last year.

She was sick of playing the twisted game.

She rolled her window down so she could feel the wind on her face once more. She felt the tears of joy beginning to form in her eyes. She wanted to catch them and save them because the moment was so profound but the blindfold absorbed them like a sponge.

The urge to ask him a question she knew would have a complicated answer appeared out of nowhere. And once it did it wouldn't go away. She had to know. And though she had asked him many times she knew the answers he gave weren't remotely close to the truth. She hoped her speaking wouldn't change his decision but her curiosity was so important that it almost didn't matter. If she had to die trying so be it.

"Why?" Her voice sounded unfamiliar to her yet again. "Why did you do-"

"Don't," he interrupted.

"Alvin, that's all I ask for is the truth. Please. Why did you do this to me?"

When he finally relieved the five minutes of silence she had endured he spoke from the heart.

"I knew when I took you that night you weren't going to be hurt. I was careful with you. And I don't know how long I was going to keep you for until I saw how angry you were with me after you woke up from the stupor I had put you in. I knew then I wanted to keep you forever because you had an attraction to me also. You can't deny that.

"When I first laid eyes on you I was totally infatuated. Words cannot explain the feeling I felt. I was in awe of your beauty and shattered innocence. I had never seen anyone like you before. I had to have you. The desire to help you was stronger than anything I've ever felt. I had to get you out of that life because it was only going to destroy you.

"Hate me if you please. I enjoyed every moment I ever spent with you. And whether you admit it or not I know you enjoyed some of your time with me also. That was in the beginning. You're different now and I see being with me is not the best place for you anymore."

She sat next to him, blind, taking his words in. They meant something because they were said in honesty.

"Thank you," she replied.

The silence was peaceful as they drove for another hour. She was diligent about being observant as to clues that would help her find this man later on. Her newfound hope didn't get in the way of that.

He braked to a stop after they had turned left down a bumpy road a mile before. She heard him rustle for his suitcase in the backseat and pull something out. She didn't see the bottle of chloroform nor did she see the second bandana that was identical to the one around her eyes.

When he put her in the familiar position she knew what was coming and there was no point to fight it. When put the cloth over her mouth and nose she began to thrash about wildly. She held her breath and kicked like she was scared for her life. She punched him and whined through the cloth but she did not dare take a breath.

After thirty seconds she went limp.

"Goodbye, Goldie," He whispered.