Stockholm

Sophie slowly came to her senses; her memory was hazy and she could not remember why see was here. As thoughts began to re-enter her head Sophie realised that her eyes were closed but despite her best efforts it seemed like they were glued shut. In fact her how body seemed to be frozen to the surface upon which she lay, nothing would move. Normally a discovery like this would have scared Sophie silly (as you would expect it to) but this was not the case; she stayed calm and relaxed almost as if her paralysis was just some minor inconvenience that would soon go away. Just as her mind was on the verge of wandering off on a tangent trying to get to the bottom of the whole not moving and not worrying situation it struck Sophie that someone else was with her. She could not she but she could definitely make out the sound of breathing on her right. However, before she had the opportunity to ponder her next action her company spoke:

"Sophie I'm glad to see you're up at last, I was starting to panic that I'd given you an overdose, how do you feel?"

"F...f...fine," Sophie replied, slightly thrown by the warmness in this voice. There was also the fact that this voice was nothing like what she was expecting. Trapped like she was, Sophie had pictured a dangerous rough looking man, getting off on the power trip he was experiencing by having a girl completely at his mercy like she was. However this voice was not like that at all; it was different; it was ... female. Although this was shock enough on its own it was not just the femininity of the voice which came as a surprise. The voice lacked forcefulness; there was concern and almost a sense worry encapsulated in her tone. These did not strike Sophie as the words of a kidnapper but the position she found herself in kind of suggested otherwise. Sophie realised she needed to know more about who this girl was. Was she just a guard? Maybe she was in hospital after an attack; this girl could just be a nurse on call. Sophie knew she needed to find out more:

W...W...Where am I? What's going on? Why can't I move?" she asked.

"It's nothing to worry about Soph, trust me. Where you are is not important, all that is important is that we have got this chance to talk in private. I thought you may be nervous about what I had to say so I gave you a couple of mind and body relaxants just to clear your mind a bit. I don't want you to worry; I'm only thinking of you."

There was a tranquillity in this girl's voice which made it hard for Sophie to question her motives. Even though it was now quite clear she was indeed a prisoner, Sophie did not feel she was in danger. Hearing this other girl speak Sophie was able to pick up a few things about her potential identity: It was a young voice, probably mid twenties; the accent was local like her own but softer. Sophie still couldn't quite get over how shy this girl seemed to be. In fact if you had heard them talk you could have mistaken her for a captee not a captor. One thing was for certain though. This was not a voice Sophie recognised so again she spoke out:

"But, who are you?"

"I do not expect you to remember me" The girl responded. Sophie thought she even detected a hint of sadness in her words as she continued: "We see each other everyday day and still you do not know me; but then why would you? You are the Vice-President of a major insurance company; I am just a woman in love with the unattainable. In love with a woman whom I know should be mine, who has always been mine and always will be."

This again caused confusion in Sophie's mind. If they meet everyday how can she not recognise the voice? Sophie's mind started racing through the possibilities. Where does she go? What does she do regularly? Maybe this girl works in Subway, or drives a bus. She could be a beggar on her route to work. She needed to put a face to the voice:

"You said we see each other everyday?"

"We do" the girl replied. "Of course you would not know but please, just try to think. When you take the bus to work, who is it that gives up their seat? Me. When you are running late for work, who is holding the door open for you as you rush past? Me. I am the girl who always gives up her place in line for you. I am the girl who is always watching out for you, always trying to protect you. Even when you go abroad I am there with you, looking after you. Every penny I earn I spend for you. You are the reason I exist and I am yours. If we were to spend just one day apart, our lives would cease to matter."

Sophie could not help but be slightly moved by the passion with which these words were uttered. A large part of her still of course hated this girl and was more than a little worried about what was about to happen to her. However there was something there, something hard to pinpoint which made this girl feel like a human and not some monster who went around abducting other women. There was a weakness in the way she opened herself up to Sophie in this way. At this point Sophie decided that the best thing for her to do was to keep this girl talking:

"Surely I would have noticed you"

"I keep out of your way" the girl replied. "Everyday I say that 'today is the day, today will be the day I finally tell you that we are destined to be together forever' but I can't. I am a nothing in this lifetime. Just like I am a nothing in every lifetime but you are always so majestic so much better than I. For this reason I make sure you do not see me, that you cannot know me until I am ready to make you understand our destiny."

Despite her better judgement Sophie felt a deep sense of sorrow for this girl; she seemed so close but yet so distant. Sophie could feel no malice or spite in her words, just grief and melancholy. However this did not change the fact that she was a prisoner and this girl was her captor. Sophie knew that there were all too many times when people have committed acts outside themselves, having done things nobody else felt they were capable of doing. Yes this girl felt frail and sincere but one false move could well send her psychotic. She had to keep questioning her:

"So if you love me so much why kidnap me? Why trap me here? I cannot move; you hold me here against my will. If you felt so strongly why did you not just summon up the courage to tell me instead of resorting to this? How could I possibly feel love for a person who would do such a thing?"

She heard a distressed sigh, for this girl was audibly hurt by what she had just said. "What would you have said if I told you? If a woman you did not know professed her love for you in the street what you would think? You would think she was crazy or delusional, you would have done all you could to get away as quickly as possible maybe even called the police. I defy you to tell me differently."

"But still, this is..."

"I don't want to tell you how I feel about you, I need you to understand. To truly understand how deep our connection goes."

"Then why trap me like this? Why can't I move or open my eyes?"

"There is no other way. I hate to see you like this I really do but I need you to stay here. Just for as long as I need to make you understand. I do not want you to see me until I am ready; I cannot bear the thought you may reject me. When I see you look into my eyes for the first time I want to see love in those eyes not fear or hate. I have no wish to hold such power over you but for this day. For this one moment in time it is vital in order to help you realise what we mean to each other but after today my hold over you will cease there shall be no lasting bind. I have no wish to control you, just to be loved by you.

However I do realise now that for you to truly understand us, I will need you to trust me. The bonds that hold you come solely from the power of my words; I can release you whenever I wish. I have no permanent hold over you; my power is drug induced. Once I release you, you will become a free woman again. I only tell you this so that you can accept my next offer without scepticism or suspicion."

"What offer? What are you planning to do?" Sophie asked sensing a window of opportunity.

"I am going to let you go ... if you want me to. When I hold your hand I will give you the power to move it. If you take your hand out of mine then I will accept that we can never be together. You will be free to go. However if you leave your hand in mine then I will know you are willing to listen to my heart, to give me a chance to help you understand how much we mean to each other. All I want is the chance; I know I can help you realise the love we share."

Sophie could feel that this girl was sincere but she was not going to remain a prisoner. She knew what she had to do and soon she would be free. A slight sense guilt began to eat away at her but she did all she could to suppress it. Yes it was going to be hard on this girl to suffer rejection like this but that did not change the fact she was a kidnapper. She had committed an act for which she should be incarcerated not pitied. As much as a part of her felt real compassion for this girl; that fact still remained unchanged and regardless of any other feelings she may have Sophie knew she had to take advantage of what could possibly be her one chance at freedom.

Sophie's thoughts were broken by the sounds of footsteps as the girl made her way towards her. As the sound stopped beside her Sophie could feel the girl's eyes looking down on her. It could have been her imagination but Sophie felt as if this girl was not looking at her, but into her. Her very soul felt like it was being watched, searched for information she didn't even know she held. Sophie could sense the girl kneel beside her as she took her hand.

Sophie was not prepared for how gently the girl had taken her hand. It felt so delicate, so vulnerable; not the grip of someone who believed themselves to be in a position of power. Sophie knew she wanted to let go but something was stopping her. Something was telling her to just think about it for a few seconds first. Maybe this girl needed to be listened to, maybe this was a cry for help and a rejection at this stage would destroy her. Sophie's trail of thought was broken by a water droplet splashing onto her hand and her heart just melted. Her mind was filled with the image of this girls kneeling beside her, praying that she stay. Like a husband at side of his sick wife as she lay fighting for her life this girl was by her side hoping that she will not lose her love. Sophie could sense that the love was real, she could feel it. Maybe it would be better to hear her out first? Even though the feeling was not mutual Sophie felt that she owed the girl that much. She tightened her grip on the girl's hand:

"Ok, I'll stay"

Sophie heard a brief sob beside her as her captor was briefly overcome with emotion. The girl was now holding Sophie hand with both of her own. She brought Sophie's hand up to her face and began to sob into it: "Thank you, thank you, thank you" she kept repeating amidst her tears of joy.

Sophie felt a warm feeling inside as she had created a moment of genuine happiness for this girl. Slowly the tears of her captor subsided and she began to talk again:

"You don't realise how much this means to me, to have a chance to help you understand, it's more than I had hoped for. I just beg that you listen to what I say with an open mind and an open heart. The love we should share is so strong it could keep the world from turning. You cannot understand how it feels to have a love like that and for it not to be reciprocated."

"I am here aren't I?" Sophie reassured her, "If I was not going to listen I would have left when you gave me the chance"

"I know, I... I... sorry I just can't believe you stayed, a part of me still cannot believe you are here; I am just waiting for something to go wrong. Of course I believe you, I know you. You would never lie to me. I just need to compose myself a second."

There was a brief silence of what was probably no more than ten seconds but the intensity in the air combined with the polar apprehensions of both captor and captee made it feel like lifetimes had past. Then in what began as barely above a whisper the girl began to speak.

"I was thirteen the first time I saw you. I remember it like it was yesterday. You were coming out of the shopping mall in your school uniform with two of your friends. You used to braid your hair back then; it was cute. I was on my way to visit see my mother who worked in the café on the second floor but when I saw you; it was like the world had stopped spinning. You were so beautiful and you had this glow which just lit up my soul I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. One of your braids kept falling out of place and you couldn't fix it in place, it was funny. You didn't see the funny side though. Maybe that's why you decided to start straightening your hair?

Anyway, that day I knew there was something between us but what could I do? I was still getting used to accepting that I liked girls so to find myself in love with a girl I'd never seen before was too much too take in. One thing I knew though was that I had to see you again. You used to go to the mall after school everyday always with the same two or three friends. I lose count the amount of times I wished I was one of those girls beside you. You did love shopping back then; you went to the same mall five times a week for at least the five years of school I knew you for."

Sophie couldn't believe how long this infatuation had been going on. "You've been watching me for fifteen years?"

"Yes, fifteen years, three months and eleven days. I've been there for you every day. I even moved to Boston for three years whilst you were at University. If something was to happen to you I don't know what I would do. We cannot live without each other."

Sophie couldn't help but feel a slight pleasure at the thought of having someone as devoted to them as this girl certainly was. She may almost have admitted she was started to feel a slight admiration at this girl's dedication to her. The thought started going through her head as to what she would have given for one of her boyfriends to have cared even half as much as this stranger did. Knowing she was treading on dangerous ground she composed herself. She needed to let this girl know she was listening:

"Why do you say we cannot live without each other?"

"Because our lives are like one, we are like one soul split into two bodies. We share the same birth and we shall share the same death. It is our eternal fate."

"We share the same birth?" asked Sophie, bemused.

"Yes, we were born within minutes of each other and shall die together also"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it has always been that way"

"I don't understand"

"When I was eighteen, I decided to see somebody to find out if I was crazy or not. I'd been fixated with you for nearly five years and needed to know if there could be a reason why. After visiting many different psychologists and getting more questions than answers I turned to alternative answers and that's when I met the psychic"

"Psychic?"

"Yes she told me she could see into my soul; she told me that what she saw was incomplete. We share a soul Sophie; it's a fact which means we can only be happy when we are together. For Millennia we have always been born together and always we have died together, in every life until now we have been united and if you deny us this chance to be one again in this lifetime it may destroy us. Not just in today, for our entire destiny."

Thoughts started stirring in Sophie's mind. It was true she had never found love, that she cannot remember a time when she was truly contented in life but this? This can't be true; can it? Could that emptiness Sophie had always felt inside her really be a hole in her soul? She found herself starting to believe that maybe this girl was correct. "No she can't be" Sophie said to herself. I need to know more:

"I don't understand, how can you know this?"

"The psychic showed me some of our past lives. The times when we were together and how happy we were. We always looked contented with our lives; even in times of despair our love has never faltered. We have been slaves together for an Egyptian Pharaoh, Roman wives left alone whilst our husbands fight for the empire, we've survived the Spanish Inquisition, extreme homophobia and even deportation from Africa to become slaves. Whatever the obstacle we have overcome it together and we have never been apart. We have died for each other more times that I can remember. We always die together so that our soul can move on to the next life complete. If you deny us now then I don't know what will become of us."

Sophie's head was a mass of confusion now; she knew in her head that this could not be true. Such a thing was impossible but her heart wanted to believe otherwise. It wanted to believe that she had a missing piece someone who would complete her. In twenty eight years she had found nobody to make her happy, just a string of mistakes and regrets. Maybe this girl really was the one. "No! Get a hold of yourself girl." She told herself. "This girl is a kidnapper, she is delusional. Don't let yourself get dragged in. you need to get out of here." She decided she had one last shot of getting out of this:

"I don't even know your name"

"It's Donna" the girl replied shyly.

"Donna, that's a sweet name." Sophie responded calmly.

"Donna, you need to let me go. Please just let me open my eyes, I cannot lie like this anymore."

"I see, so you... so you don't see our connection" Donna asked almost in tears.

"I didn't say that Donna, we do have a connection, I feel it. But I have to be able to move."

"I understand, I will let you go but please just give me two minutes"

"Of course" Sophie said trying to hide her relief.

Sophie felt Donna let go of her hand and listened as she moved back to a corner of the room. As Sophie heard the girl seat herself down behind her, Donna begin to speak.

"If you have to go please can you just leave, don't look back. I don't think I could live anymore if I have to look into your eyes and see there is no love there. When I say you are released you will just sit up and open your eyes. There will be an unlocked door in front of you. If we can never be then please just walk through it and don't look back. I promise that once you leave I will never se you again..."

After a few moments of heartbroken sobbing Donna finally brought herself to say the words Sophie was waiting to hear:

"You are released"

With that Sophie began to sit up, words could not have expressed the relief she felt in getting her mobility back. With a small feeling of triumph she opened her eyes. There was the door in front of her; she slowly rose to her feet. She could see the door; now all she had to do was walk through it.

Slowly but surely Sophie made her way to the door making sure not to look back, she had about three paces to go when something stopped her; there was music playing. It was not loud but it was distinct:

*"Every breath you take
Every move you make" *

Sophie knew she should keep going towards the door but her feet wouldn't move, she wanted to look back, look back at where the music was coming from. For all her effort she was rooted to the spot, the words emanating in her ears

Sophie was overpowered by the compulsion to look back, just once. She turned around and for the first time, she saw Donna. The tiny petite girl sitting in the corner of the room was just like Sophie had pictured from her voice. She was modestly dressed but yet radiated a certain beauty which was hard to define. Slowly Sophie readied herself to just look Donna in the eye.

*"Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you"*