"I wanna steal your soul and hide you in my treasure chest"

                                                         -Billie Eilish (Song: Hostage)

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Mr. Grayson's p.o.v

I know. I know that I probably look like the bad guy here, I know that in some way, shape or form, I essentially kidnapped her, I know that in retrospect I probably should have never drugged Nailea in the first place and I even know that I might have a slight superiority complex. Alright fine... I have a rather large superiority complex.

          It's not my fault that I'm like this. You know that, don't you? Hear me out for a second... I mean, I never met my birth mother, my father was a physically abusive drunk who wouldn't go a day without torturing me, I was consumed and stalked by an old lady that adopted me, my own brother didn't want me to be in his kids life, and the icing on the top? I was sent away into a loony bin against my own free will and trapped in there, completely isolated for almost four years. As though I even deserved to be in there.

          Doesn't that justify me in some way, shape or form? Don't I have the right to be angry? Haven't I earned the luxurythe simple sympathy to go a little mad sometimes? So yes, sure, I will be the first to admit that there are moments when I can be impulsive and insatiable. But, put yourself in my shoes for a split second. Wouldn't you go insane too?

          "What do you want?", Nailea spits, jolting me out of thought. I forgot that I walked down here a few seconds ago after making the finishing touches upstairs.

          What's upstairs, you might be wondering? Refuge. A new life...a new home for me and my dear sweet love. Okay, in hindsight I suppose I might have been a little bit excessive with it but no gesture is too grand when it comes to love. Most especially my love. No gesture is too grand for the woman that I love. Not for Nailea.

          "Miss Tembo...I'm sorry...alright? I'm not a monster. Im really not. Trust me, I get it. I understand that change can be a scary thing sometimes and I didn't give you enough time to process everything and that wasn't okay. I know that now. It's just... I love you too much to share you with anyone else. You need to understand that I'm trying", I plead.

          "Whether or not you think that you're trying", she mumbles, "...you're just a bad person

          "Don't be naïve Miss Tembo. There are no such thing as good people or bad people. We're all the same. It's just, not all of us are good at hiding our bad."

She suddenly has her arms cross across her chest and the fear in her eyes makes me weak.

          I breath. "I understand how aggressive I've been to keep you in here and... well, drug you. But everything is going to change now —I smile— everything is going to be different. Because...because it's ready for you...it's ready for us"

          "What are you talking about?"

          I get closer to her and she starts to back away slowly. That makes me angry. How dare she not trust me to be near her? I want so badly to react, but if I yell at her, she won't agree to go upstairs. I know that much.

          "Please don't come any closer", she whispers. "Unless you're going to give me a clear exit...I don't see any reason to go upstairs with you"

          I grab her by both her shoulders and she doesn't flinch...proving to me that there's still some twisted sort of intrigue. And quite honestly, I would be a fool not to pry on that.

          "I know that I hurt you", I say into her ear, "... I just want to make things bet-ter...but only if you'll let me. Please. You saved me let me do the same for you"

          She sighs and let's both her arms fall to her sides and I can tell that she's complaisant. It isn't really like she has much of a choice anyway. I take her hand in mine and we walk quietly upstairs. I bring her to the living room and she's visibly amused and confused.

         "Where are we?", she asks understandably, "what is this supposed to be?"

         "This is our new home", I smile at the sight of the penthouse in front of me. Is this too much? Did I jump the gun by buying a penthouse? The idea for this was re-ally very impulsive. Not one of my proudest moments at all.

         It was that very day after Miss Tembo broke into my house and I found her phone on the ground...just sitting there. All of a sudden, I get a knock at the door and guess who's there? Some old man, probably in his late fifties, who starts yelling at me for not taking out my trash the passed two weeks...

          "sir, I've been dealing with a pressing matter involving the love of my life so excuse me, you brain dead baboon, for not taking the time to walk up to my filthy trash can and dispose of my garbage which, by the way, your intestines will probably end up in later. Please, by all means do find it in your barely beating heart to forgive me", I tell him sarcastically. But only in my head because what I'm about to do is so much worse and I don't dare do him the injustice of listening to my witty comeback

         In reality I just smiled innocently and apologized for my inconvenience. That, of course, was two seconds before I grabbed him by the collar, pulled him into my home and stabbed him right through his wrinkled forehead. His eyes rolled back so far into his head I'm almost certain he saw his own saggy behind.

What a sight.

          The blood sprayed onto my face in a few seconds and started to drip slowly. Much slower than I had imagined it to. I watched him as he slowly fell to the floor graciously. His entire face was now covered by a thin layer of blood. I'm not sure if it was the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth or from his skull but it was pouring like a fountain. I stood in front of him and waited for his speedily blinking to stop and when it did, I started to pick up his body for disposal when a leaflet ad for a non-furnished, two-bedroom penthouse on the upper east side of town fell out of his jacket.

I mean, if that isn't a sign...well then, I just don't know what is

          "What do you mean by new home? I don't need a new home Mr. Grayson... I need to leave"

          "Just stop! Stop saying that. You are not going anywhere...this is your home now. It's our home and it's going to be perfect. Well, even more so"

A pause.

          "Here... theres another small, but meaningful surprise that I have left", I walk to the dining room where I pick up the large white box with the name Dolce & Gabbana elegantly placed on the top.

          "What is that?", she gulps nervously

         "We're going to have dinner tonight Miss Tembo. Just you and me...and I want you to wear this", I say as I hand her the box

          Id much rather stay downstairs, rotting to death slowly, she seethes

I ignore her comment because I know that shes only speaking out of anger.

        You must think that you have a choice Miss Tembo, I say calmly, wellyou do not

         "It's going to be a magical evening my love", I plant a soft kiss on her lips forcefully and unannounced. "...one that Im sure you'll never forget"

 __________

Late update. Short update. But nonetheless, an update!

Official countdown to the end has begun! Only three more chapters of the madness left! I'm excited. Are you? Urgh!!

Also, thank you so so much for 11k reads! It's honestly such a dream come true! And I'm grateful for ever single read! I love and appreciate you all!

Until the next...

-xo, Lakish'a