Losing Jane Ch. 04

Chapter 4 - Road Trip

Jane awoke from her waking slumber, again finding herself in a time and place she didn't recognize. What day was it? What month, and what year?

"We're going on a trip. Come," said David's voice, coming from the second story of the cabin.

Jane was too lifeless to even question David's sentence. Instead of thinking where they were going, and why, Jane simply followed her master's orders mindlessly.

Upstairs, in the second-story bathroom, David pulled out a red sun-dress, and a matching set of red-laced underwear. He gave them to Jane, who just stared lifelessly into space, waiting for a command that would tell her what to do.

"What are you waiting for? Get dressed. And put some make-up on too."

David left Jane to her own devices, alone in the bathroom. Jane dressed mechanically, and then opened a make-up bag that David had left her. It had a minimal set of items, just foundation, mascara and lipstick. Jane felt odd, putting on the products. It seemed like a thousand years ago, that she had last dolled herself up.

Staring into the mirror, Jane could no longer recognize herself. Where had her face gone? Blonde hair, instead of brown, lash extensions, lip filler, red lipstick... all things that weren't "Jane" at all, but just David's fantasy girl. When had she even gotten those done? Jane tried to remember, but had seemingly blocked out the memory.

Jane checked the rest of her body, too. She had to make sure there were no permanent changes. Relieved, Jane noticed that there was nothing else - no tattoos, or piercings. Stepping back from the mirror, Jane froze in horror. How had she missed such a big detail? When had it happened? She couldn't even remember taking a pregnancy test. But still, a pregnancy bump was staring her in the face. Didn't David promise not to get her pregnant, without her permission? Whatever else Jane might have wanted, she would certainly not have agreed to this.

When Jane was finished, she waited in the bathroom for David to come fetch her. She didn't even step out of the bathroom on her own - so dead was her autonomy, and her sense of self. She needed him now, even for basic life necessities. If it were possible, Jane would stop breathing until David told her to take a breath.

"Ready?"

Jane only nodded, then looked down at the floor. She didn't want to do anything to anger him. Even the smallest sideways glance could make him angry.

David led Jane to his red convertible, which was parked in front of his cabin. David needed to guide Jane each step of the way: he commanded her to get in the car, buckle her seatbelt... Jane didn't do anything, without being explicitly told to.

"Fuck, can you imagine... It's been six months already. Fucking crazy, how time passes when you have fun," said David, as he started driving.

Head spinning, her insides tossing and turning, Jane felt like she was being tossed around in a tornado. Six months? It had been six months? Jane tried to shake herself awake, but when she stirred, she found nothing to awaken. There was nothing left of her personhood; no one to answer her call.

The red convertible soon parked at the entrance of a small store. David got out first, and opened the passenger's side door for Jane, before lifting her out. They walked, hand-in-hand, seemingly an ordinary couple. David led the way, and brought Jane into a cute little shop, with rabbits and flowers decorating the windows.

"Welcome to Bunny's Baby, my name is Fiona. What can I help you with?" smiled the shop attendant, eager to help.

"Hi. Me and my wife are expecting, and looking for a crib for our little one. Could you help us out?" asked David, speaking for the both of them, as he always did. Jane wasn't allowed to speak to strangers. Anyone besides David was a stranger.

Jane stared blankly into space, struggling to register the words being spoken around her. Babies? Why were they in a store for babies? She remembered something about a baby, but that wasn't possible. David had promised: they wouldn't have a baby, before she was ready.

"Of course," the store attendant beamed, as she guided the couple further into the store. "How far along are you? A boy, or a girl?" she asked, addressing the question to Jane. David answered, instead.

"A boy. Five months along."

"Oh, that's lovely!"

Nothing made any sense. It couldn't have been six months... Jane could only remember a few days, and then... nothing. It was like she hadn't existed for the past six months. She had no recollection of those days. A baby boy? Five months along? It was simply impossible. This all had to be a dream...

Jane stayed behind, and stared into empty space, as David and the store attendant continued on. They abandoned Jane, alone in the middle of the store.

"Jane!? What the fuck? What are you doing here?"

A stranger approached, seeming like a familiar face... Still, Jane could not place her. Jane hesitated, not knowing what to do. She wasn't allowed to talk to strangers. But this stranger didn't seem strange at all.

"What the actual fuck? You go missing for six months, everyone thinks you're dead... and you've actually just run off with some guy?" the stranger was angry. Jane didn't understand why.

Jane looked around, panicked. She wasn't sure what to do. Half of her mind told her to call out to David, and the other half told her not to. Thinking about the familiar stranger's words, Jane became even more confused. Missing? Who was missing?

"Jane, are you ok? You don't seem like yourself."

"I don't... I think..."

The woman looked around the store suspiciously. When she noticed David staring at them, she walked away from Jane, and pretended to be minding her own business. But when the woman saw David disappear behind a corner, she ran back to Jane and grabbed her arm.

"Come with me, Jane. I will get you home."

Jane's head was spinning. She didn't know what she should do... she had been following orders for so long that she had forgotten how to make her own decisions. But the stranger seemed safe. She smelled like a library... like happy memories and sleepovers.

Memories rushed back into Jane's head, like some wall was being lifted off her mind. Memories of the woman, and of other friends... of Jane's mom. And most importantly, memories of Jane - a person who she hardly knew anymore.

"Lara? Please take me home. Please take me to my mom!" Jane pleaded, letting the words flow out of her subconscious, without really understanding them herself.

Lara helped Jane run out of the store, and into a car. The car was the opposite of David's: blue, instead of red. A practical streetcar, rather than a flashy convertible. When both Lara and Jane were safely inside, Lara speeded off from the parking lot.

Jane started at the road behind them, anxiously looking for a red convertible chasing after them. When no such car could be seen, even when they were miles away from the store, Jane sighed out of relief. Could it really be that easy? Was she finally free?

"What happened to you? Did he... that guy at the store... kidnap you?"

Jane searched her brain for answers, but the details came out hazy. She remembered being out camping in the woods... and then her master found her, and took her home.

"I don't...I don't remember."

It felt like Jane's brain was coming out of a drugged-out stupor. Like she had been drunk for the past six months, and was only now suffering from the hangover. Slowly, but surely, Jane's past was resurfacing, bringing with them an emotional rollercoaster of bad and good memories.

"I just want to see my mom," Jane said, before she finally started crying. First just a few tears, and then a whole waterfall.

"I will take you to your mom," Lara promised, as she speeded down the highway, towards Middlefield, Connecticut. The drive would take almost 16 hours, making it a very unconventional road trip.

"You don't need to worry, he can't hurt you anymore," Lara consoled Jane.

That's when it hit Jane - David had promised to hurt her mom and everyone else important to her, if she ever tried to run away. Panicking, Jane felt her earlier resolve dissipate. She couldn't run away. David would always find her. He had promised her that.

"No, no, you need to take me back. Lara, you need to take me back," Jane pleaded, frantically. "He said... he said he would find me, and hurt me, and hurt you, and mom... Please Lara, take me back. Take me back before he gets angry!"

Jane's sentences were a incoherent mess, words strung together messily, surrounded by weeping and shouting. It was obvious to Lara that her friend wasn't in her right mind. Something had happened to Jane; something awful.

"Who hurt you, Jane? Tell me."

"Please take me back, Lara. Please. If you do it now, then David might not be too mad. He might not hit me, if you take me back now, he might not hit me."

"Jane, I'm taking you somewhere safe. You don't need to worry," Lara promised, but saw that Jane was still distressed.

"Jane, look at me. Do you remember that one night, when we were out partying with Tyler, and he tried to get you too drunk? When the clubs closed, you wanted to go to Tyler's, but I made you come back to our place. You were really mad, but in the morning, you thanked me. This is exactly like that."

Jane was settling down a bit, no longer crying as loudly.

"I have never done anything to hurt you, have I? And I've always done things to keep you safe, right?"

Memories of Lara rushed back to Jane's mind, as she listened to her explanation. It was all true, and Jane knew it. Lara was safe, Lara was good. She had looked out for her before. Held her hair when she was sick. Made sure she got home safe when she'd gotten too drunk.

"I'll call your mom, and tell her to go to the police. Just in case. OK?"

Lara pulled out her phone, and pressed in Jane's mom's number. Lisa Haywood picked out right away, answering anxiously.

"Lara? Is there something new, about Jane?"

Jane had wanted to wait for Lara to explain, but couldn't hold in her emotions. Her mother's voice on the other line made Jane collapse.

"Mom? Mom, it's me. Mom," Jane explained hysterically, speaking and sniveling at the same time.

"Jane? Thank god you're ok!" Lisa cried out on the other line.

That was all Jane could say, before she started crying too heavily to speak. Lara then took over, explaining the events of the day to the best of her ability. Most of the details were left out, as Jane could neither remember, nor gather enough composure to speak.

Lara drove her car to a police station, where Jane was expected to give a statement. But Jane couldn't find any details to give... She didn't know where she had been for the past six months; she only knew that David's cabin was somewhere around Lake Superior, but had no further information. She didn't know David's last name, or any other identifying details. Nothing helpful, at least.

The next stop was a hospital, where they gathered DNA evidence which could be linked to David. Samples were collected, but no matches were found in the federal database. So apparently David had never been arrested before, even though it was hard to believe. At least that was one detail that Jane knew about her kidnapper.

When all the statements had been gathered, and every little detail combed through, Jane and Lara were finally allowed to go. But not back to Middlefield, where Jane's mother lived. It wouldn't be safe to go back there. Instead, Jane's mom listed the house for sale right away, and sold it for far cheaper than what it was worth.

With the money they made from the sale, all three of them: Jane, her mom and Jane's unborn baby, moved to a little city in the Middle of Montana. Jane and her mom changed their surname as well, hoping to throw off David, if he ever came looking for them.

That was the last Jane ever heard or saw of David. Until three years later, when he would show up in her life once more.