Almost Easy

“Miss Marina?” Rachael asks, sitting by the bed she's strapped to.

Marina's mental breakdown was the first thing Rachael was told about when she entered her office this morning. It took seven orderlies and a sedative to stop her, and that still was almost not enough. They reported that she just started screaming in the middle of the night about a boy she needed to save. The attack was obviously triggered by a nightmare, but what exactly happened is something she needs to find out. Maybe Marina isn't as stable as she thought.

The young woman slowly opened her beautiful blue eyes, her eyelids fluttering. Rachael let her wake up, knowing her brain would be thick due to the sedatives. The look on her face was slowly coming around, like she was finally realizing where she was and what happened. They had to keep her under because every time she woke up, she'd fight. Marina would pull and tug at the leather restraints, crying and screaming about something no one could figure out. Now Rachael had to crack her brain open.

“Are you with me, Marina?” She asks, putting a hand on her small shoulder.

“Yeah... I'm here,” She croaks, rolling her head to the side.

Rachael stands up, going across the room to get her a glass of water. The pink plastic cup turns cold quickly, chilling the older woman's' hand as she brings it back to Marina. She offers it to the younger woman and she accepts, lifting her head slightly to drink it. Marina drinks it all, relaxing back into the pillow when she's done.

“That's better,” Rachael says, sitting back down in her chair. “I heard you gave everyone quite a scare earlier. Do you know why?”

“Because I... Because I tried to get out by controlling them. I didn't want to. I swear, I didn't want to.” Marina rambles, looking at the ceiling.

“What do you mean you controlled them?” She asks, crossing her legs.

Talk of controlling people always scared Rachael when it was attached to Marina's mouth. She didn't want to believe Marina when she said she could do it, but another part of her fought on. There was no denying that Marina could be right, she does control people, but it was all so hard to understand. That topic lies in the dark, no one ever talks about it so it's believed that it doesn't exist.

“I told them to stop, and they all froze. Every single one of them. I wanted to get out, to save Jimmy. He's in trouble I-” Marina stops speaking, her voice choked off as she starts crying.

“How do you know he's in trouble?” Rachael asks gently, unable to deny the fear that starts inside of her.

“My dream... It was so real. Vivid. The Boss got me, he was freezing me to death, beating me. Then he pulls Jimmy into the room and tells me he's going to kill him. That it would only be fair since I killed two of his,” She whispers that last part, her voice fading out as more tears slide down her face.

Rachael stands up and grabs a tissue, wiping the tears off of Marina's face. It troubles her that Marina would have such realistic dream. She's not sure which part is more disturbing-the one where that would actually happen to the girl, or the fact that she knows her boss so thoroughly that those dreamed up actions scared her to death. Either way, the whole thing was entirely too messed up.

“It was only a dream, sweetheart,” She soothes, sitting back down in her chair.

“But... His words were so real, he was so real. His mask...” Marina shivers, closing her eyes tightly. “His mask was so detailed that it fooled me into thinking he was actually there.”

“His mask?” Rachael asks, scrunching her eyebrows together slightly.

“Yeah, he wears one to hide his identity. It's metal as far as I can tell, with spikes coming off of it. It just looks like nightmare then his voice... I liked him better when he blindfolded me.” She confesses, sighing deeply.

“Blindfolded you?” Rachael asks slowly, raising an eyebrow.

Marina blushes instantly, tilting her head down a little. It's obvious what she meant and Rachael herself starts to feel embarrassed. That was not something she was expecting.

“He... This one time, about a year into his position as boss, he called me into his office. He told me that I was absolutely stunning, that he'd do anything to take me home. I, of course, said no. He wouldn't have any of that though, and told me I had a choice. Either I let him have me, willingly, or he took all of my freedoms away and he'd force it out of me. So I went with him.

“He let me see where we were going from the back of his limo, allowed me to watch the trees pass as we went deep into the country outside of town. We pulled up to this large, beautiful vacation home and he told me that this is where we'd meet every time if I wanted him ever again. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just let him take me inside. That's when things started to get kind of weird.

“We went upstairs into a large bedroom with a king sized bed, and it seemed normal enough. The Boss let me sit on the bed, get a feel for our surroundings before he ordered me to strip. I did right in front of him and I felt so dirty, but I liked it. Then he came up behind me and secured a black, silk cloth around my eyes. He told me it was so when he took ohf his long sleeve and mask, I still wouldn't know who he was. I went with it though, because something about the thought of being blind in that really got me going.

“That night, we had the best sex ever. It was kinky and dirty, something I had never experienced before. I made a decision then and there to continue our sexual encounters, and in return he'd give me a friend to talk to. At first, I didn't want to tell him anything, but then it got easy. I'd tell him anything I saw fit without hesitation, he even let me cry over the first man I ever killed. He knew how bad that job was hurting me, but I think he liked it. He liked watching me suffer. And, to be honest, I liked that he enjoyed it.” Marina finally finishes, a look of longing and regret on her face.

At a loss of words was an understatement about how Rachael felt after hearing that. She had heard so many awful stories about relationships, how women and men got ruined by them, but this? Rachael had never heard of a young woman performing sexual acts with her obviously insane boss under a threat then willingly going back for more. Marina had sold her soul to this man, it was no wonder why he was so hard on her when she messed up.

Not a word was said for a long time. Rachael had a hard time collecting her thoughts about it. She didn't know what to think, let alone what to tell the poor woman. Marina was obviously lost and scared at the time so she acted rashly, becoming dependent on the man who was ruining her whole life. For the second time today, Rachael was really questioning what state of mind Marina was in.

“Please say something,” Marina whispers, looking like she's about to cry again.

“I think,” Rachael starts, swallowing the guilt down hard, “That I should re-evaluate you. Until then, I'm going to have to put you back on lock down. I'm sorry Marina, but I don't think your mental state is strong enough to allow you to have your freedoms here.”

“I understand,” She whispers, “Not everyone can fathom the way I think. I knew it was a matter of time before you got so confused by my thought process that you cut me off. Drug me up, make me a zombie, lock me in a cage, do whatever you want-But just know that I'm not insane. And I sure as hell am not a pathological liar.”