Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Stockholm Syndrome
Almost immediately after the door had shut behind Gerard, it opened again, revealing, yet, another man. Average height, average build, like most of his predecessors, except that, even in the darkness of the cellar, Paulina could see that this man was very fair, with blond hair and light blue eyes. He also seemed to hold himself a bit differently, but Paulina could never be certain. His hands were in his pockets, and he was hunched slightly as he descended the stairs towards his charge.
“Come on,” he said quietly, nudging Paulina lightly with the tip of his shoe. “You can’t just sit here forever.” He hesitated before holding out his hand, inviting Paulina to take it and stand, which she did. Maybe it was because his chill presence put her at ease, or maybe it was because she felt she’d already had the worst, but Paulina felt a bit less tightly-wound with this man.
“Not much difference between this bit of hard floor, and the bit of hard floor by the wall,” she told the man, following him through the darkness, anyway.
“There’s an armchair down here, among other things. Didn’t you look around at all?”
Paulina hesitated before answering. “I didn’t think I was allowed to.”
The man looked at her for a moment before dropping her hand, which Paulina didn’t realize he’d still been holding. “It’s not disobeying if you were never told not to.”
“Yeah, well, the men here don’t exactly have set rules, do they?” she said, then gasped as she realized she’d asked a question.
The man sighed, looking away momentarily. Paulina could have sworn she heard him murmur, “I’m sorry,” but that damn dripping water seemed louder than ever at the moment, and she couldn’t be sure that she’d heard anything at all. The man placed his hand on her back before sliding it up her neck and into her hair, which he wound tightly in his fist and yanked sharply backward, whipping Paulina’s head back on her neck, a distinct crack resonating through the darkness.
“Ah!” Paulina had certainly not been expecting that. As soon as she had regained her bearings, however, the man removed his hand from her hair and stuck it back in his pocket.
“You’re not supposed to ask questions,” he told her quietly. “Stay here for a second.” He disappeared into the darkness, leaving Paulina standing alone, listening to his footsteps, falling in time with the dripping water source. A scraping, sliding sound echoed through the room, and the blond man returned to view, dragging a large, old-looking armchair and setting it against the wall. “There,” he said, gesturing at it.
Paulina slowly moved forward to sit in it, lowering herself gingerly on the cushion. She leaned back and pulled her knees into her chest, almost-smiling at the man that was helping her, as opposed to hurting her, like the others.
“I wouldn’t sit like that,” the man said, blushing slightly and looking away. “I don’t know if you noticed, but…you’re not wearing underwear.”
Paulina put her legs down, choosing to cross one knee over the other, instead. “Thank you,” she murmured. She allowed herself to smile, something she didn’t normally do, even when she wasn’t being held captive with the threat of death at every new face she met.
“I’m going to let you ask me some questions,” the blond said, then noticed Paulina stiffen. “Completely free of punishment,” he assured her. “Think of it as…a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free-Card.”
Paulina nodded, sitting back as she thought. Finally, “What’s your name?”
“Robert,” he answered quickly, as though he’d been anticipating the first query. “Most people call me Bob. You can use whichever you wish.”
Paulina nodded. Robert fit, but Bob seemed so…out of place for this gentle, easy-going man. “Okay, Robert,” she said, simultaneously informing him of what she would be addressing him as. “What am I doing here?”
Robert sighed and looked down, digging his hands even further down in his pockets. “It’s…difficult to explain. I think that it was explained best to you when you first got here. This is an experiment. I think it’s best that you figure out what for as it progresses.”
“Alright…” Paulina said, not wanting to push her luck at getting a few repercussion-free questions in. “Who are you all?”
“We’re friends,” Robert told her. “We…we have similar interests, and similar philosophies on life. We met in college. Frank, the first guy you met, is kind of like…the head experimenter, although we all consider ourselves to be more like…business-partners, in a way. One day, we all began discussing love, and what it is, and why it happens. And then we started hypothesizing: Could love prevail through any situation? If two people were right for each other, would their feelings for each other come through, no matter what? So, I guess you’d call us…amateur sociologists.”
Paulina nodded, but she was unsure where she came into this equation. Did the explanation have anything at all to do with her situation, or was he just trying to mess with her mind? She decided not to let this bother her just now, and considered another question. She wasn’t sure exactly how many she got; she was just going to keep going until he stopped her. “Why are they hurting me?”
“It’s for the experiment,” Robert told her, and said nothing more about it.
“Why am I dressed like this?”
“It’s part of the experiment. Anything else?”
Paulina thought. What else did she want to know? She doubted he’d answer if she asked where she was, or if she’d ever be let free, but there was something she needed to know… “Do you plan on killing me?” She gulped, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer.
“I can’t tell you that,” Robert said. For some reason, this calmed Paulina. At least she wasn’t looking forward to death for certain.
“Okay…” she said, thinking once more. She looked at Robert, locking onto his light blue eyes and gazing into them gently. “Do you even want to do this?”
“I think that’s enough questions,” Robert said after a long pause. “Now, let me ask you some questions.”
“Alright,” Paulina said, wondering what he could possibly want to know.
“Your name is Paulina?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“That depends on how long I’ve been here.”
“How so?” Robert asked, looking down at her curiously.
“Well, the day I was taken, I was seventeen. But I was to turn eighteen three days later.”
“Then you’re eighteen,” Bob told her, nodding. Paulina also nodded. She wished she’d thought to ask how long she’d been here already. “Yesterday,” he added. “You were eighteen yesterday.”
“Thank you,” Paulina said, smiling again. Either this man was a mind-reader, or he was just a little bit more human than the rest. So she had been there for four days…It certainly hadn’t felt like four whole days, but then again, it wasn’t like there were any clocks in her dungeon. And, she reminded herself, she had been drugged and knocked-out for who-knew how long.
“Alright. Do you have any friends?”
“…No. I did…once. Not anymore, though.”
“How is your family-life?”
“Fine.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No, I’m an only child.”
“What do your parents do?”
“My mother is a neurosurgeon, and my father is an attorney.”
“I see. So your family has money?”
“Yes.” Paulina wondered if that was why she was really there. It wasn’t completely unheard of to kidnap for ransom money, and Paulina’s parents sure had the money to pay for her.
“Okay. There are a couple of questions…I don’t want to ask them, but I have to. For the--”
“Experiment,” Paulina finished for him.
Robert nodded. “You have to answer them. If you refuse to answer, I have to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”
“Alright. First: have you ever had a boyfriend?”
“…No.”
“Have you ever had sex?”
“No!” Paulina answered a little more emphatically than she meant to; she hadn’t been expecting that.
“Okay, okay, I had to ask. What are you like?”
Paulina wondered what that meant, and she also wondered how she was supposed to ask without asking a questions. “Meaning…”
“Your personality. Your mannerisms. What are you like?”
“Well…Typically, I’m very quiet. I’m not very outgoing, I’m not really a people-person. I keep to myself, and most of the time, people leave me alone. When I do interact with other people, it tends to land me in shitty situations…like lighting a stranger’s cigarette and ending up getting kidnapped,” she added pointedly.
“Just be grateful they used chloroform. The original plan was to get you in the back of the head with a heavy rock. “
“Thank God for chloroform, then,” Paulina said.
“Thank me for it, it was my idea.”
“Thank you.” Paulina was saying that a lot to Robert, it seemed.
“Okay…Would you say you had low self-esteem?”
“…I guess so…”
Robert nodded. “Right…well, that’s all the questions for right now. You’ll see me again soon, I imagine--”
“Wait!” Paulina’s mind raced as she contemplated how to ask one more question. But if she asked to ask another question, she’d be beaten…”I need to ask one more question.”
“Go ahead. I let it slide this time.”
“How many more of you are there?”
“There’s only one you haven’t met yet.”
Paulina nodded. “Okay. Thank you…thank you very much.”
Robert turned to go, but once he reached the stairs, he turned around to face Paulina once more. “I wouldn’t tell anyone else that I was nice to you. If they knew, I…I wouldn’t be able to keep being so nice.” Having said what was on his mind, Robert continued up the stairs and out the door, disappearing into what might as well have been a different world altogether, as far as Paulina was concerned.
So...I decided to do a really quick upload this time, since I made you guys wait a bit too long last time. So yeah. And before you say anything, I know. Bob Bryar is no longer officially in My Chemical Romance. Believe me, I know. But, I decided to use Bob for three reasons:
1. It's my story and I like Bob, so deal with it.
2. I needed five captors for the story, not four.
3. Bob will always be a member of MCR in my opinion, regardless of whether or not he still plays with them.
So yeah. There it is. Go comment/subscribe, por favor. Okay. OverAndOutxx
“Come on,” he said quietly, nudging Paulina lightly with the tip of his shoe. “You can’t just sit here forever.” He hesitated before holding out his hand, inviting Paulina to take it and stand, which she did. Maybe it was because his chill presence put her at ease, or maybe it was because she felt she’d already had the worst, but Paulina felt a bit less tightly-wound with this man.
“Not much difference between this bit of hard floor, and the bit of hard floor by the wall,” she told the man, following him through the darkness, anyway.
“There’s an armchair down here, among other things. Didn’t you look around at all?”
Paulina hesitated before answering. “I didn’t think I was allowed to.”
The man looked at her for a moment before dropping her hand, which Paulina didn’t realize he’d still been holding. “It’s not disobeying if you were never told not to.”
“Yeah, well, the men here don’t exactly have set rules, do they?” she said, then gasped as she realized she’d asked a question.
The man sighed, looking away momentarily. Paulina could have sworn she heard him murmur, “I’m sorry,” but that damn dripping water seemed louder than ever at the moment, and she couldn’t be sure that she’d heard anything at all. The man placed his hand on her back before sliding it up her neck and into her hair, which he wound tightly in his fist and yanked sharply backward, whipping Paulina’s head back on her neck, a distinct crack resonating through the darkness.
“Ah!” Paulina had certainly not been expecting that. As soon as she had regained her bearings, however, the man removed his hand from her hair and stuck it back in his pocket.
“You’re not supposed to ask questions,” he told her quietly. “Stay here for a second.” He disappeared into the darkness, leaving Paulina standing alone, listening to his footsteps, falling in time with the dripping water source. A scraping, sliding sound echoed through the room, and the blond man returned to view, dragging a large, old-looking armchair and setting it against the wall. “There,” he said, gesturing at it.
Paulina slowly moved forward to sit in it, lowering herself gingerly on the cushion. She leaned back and pulled her knees into her chest, almost-smiling at the man that was helping her, as opposed to hurting her, like the others.
“I wouldn’t sit like that,” the man said, blushing slightly and looking away. “I don’t know if you noticed, but…you’re not wearing underwear.”
Paulina put her legs down, choosing to cross one knee over the other, instead. “Thank you,” she murmured. She allowed herself to smile, something she didn’t normally do, even when she wasn’t being held captive with the threat of death at every new face she met.
“I’m going to let you ask me some questions,” the blond said, then noticed Paulina stiffen. “Completely free of punishment,” he assured her. “Think of it as…a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free-Card.”
Paulina nodded, sitting back as she thought. Finally, “What’s your name?”
“Robert,” he answered quickly, as though he’d been anticipating the first query. “Most people call me Bob. You can use whichever you wish.”
Paulina nodded. Robert fit, but Bob seemed so…out of place for this gentle, easy-going man. “Okay, Robert,” she said, simultaneously informing him of what she would be addressing him as. “What am I doing here?”
Robert sighed and looked down, digging his hands even further down in his pockets. “It’s…difficult to explain. I think that it was explained best to you when you first got here. This is an experiment. I think it’s best that you figure out what for as it progresses.”
“Alright…” Paulina said, not wanting to push her luck at getting a few repercussion-free questions in. “Who are you all?”
“We’re friends,” Robert told her. “We…we have similar interests, and similar philosophies on life. We met in college. Frank, the first guy you met, is kind of like…the head experimenter, although we all consider ourselves to be more like…business-partners, in a way. One day, we all began discussing love, and what it is, and why it happens. And then we started hypothesizing: Could love prevail through any situation? If two people were right for each other, would their feelings for each other come through, no matter what? So, I guess you’d call us…amateur sociologists.”
Paulina nodded, but she was unsure where she came into this equation. Did the explanation have anything at all to do with her situation, or was he just trying to mess with her mind? She decided not to let this bother her just now, and considered another question. She wasn’t sure exactly how many she got; she was just going to keep going until he stopped her. “Why are they hurting me?”
“It’s for the experiment,” Robert told her, and said nothing more about it.
“Why am I dressed like this?”
“It’s part of the experiment. Anything else?”
Paulina thought. What else did she want to know? She doubted he’d answer if she asked where she was, or if she’d ever be let free, but there was something she needed to know… “Do you plan on killing me?” She gulped, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer.
“I can’t tell you that,” Robert said. For some reason, this calmed Paulina. At least she wasn’t looking forward to death for certain.
“Okay…” she said, thinking once more. She looked at Robert, locking onto his light blue eyes and gazing into them gently. “Do you even want to do this?”
“I think that’s enough questions,” Robert said after a long pause. “Now, let me ask you some questions.”
“Alright,” Paulina said, wondering what he could possibly want to know.
“Your name is Paulina?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“That depends on how long I’ve been here.”
“How so?” Robert asked, looking down at her curiously.
“Well, the day I was taken, I was seventeen. But I was to turn eighteen three days later.”
“Then you’re eighteen,” Bob told her, nodding. Paulina also nodded. She wished she’d thought to ask how long she’d been here already. “Yesterday,” he added. “You were eighteen yesterday.”
“Thank you,” Paulina said, smiling again. Either this man was a mind-reader, or he was just a little bit more human than the rest. So she had been there for four days…It certainly hadn’t felt like four whole days, but then again, it wasn’t like there were any clocks in her dungeon. And, she reminded herself, she had been drugged and knocked-out for who-knew how long.
“Alright. Do you have any friends?”
“…No. I did…once. Not anymore, though.”
“How is your family-life?”
“Fine.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No, I’m an only child.”
“What do your parents do?”
“My mother is a neurosurgeon, and my father is an attorney.”
“I see. So your family has money?”
“Yes.” Paulina wondered if that was why she was really there. It wasn’t completely unheard of to kidnap for ransom money, and Paulina’s parents sure had the money to pay for her.
“Okay. There are a couple of questions…I don’t want to ask them, but I have to. For the--”
“Experiment,” Paulina finished for him.
Robert nodded. “You have to answer them. If you refuse to answer, I have to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”
“Alright. First: have you ever had a boyfriend?”
“…No.”
“Have you ever had sex?”
“No!” Paulina answered a little more emphatically than she meant to; she hadn’t been expecting that.
“Okay, okay, I had to ask. What are you like?”
Paulina wondered what that meant, and she also wondered how she was supposed to ask without asking a questions. “Meaning…”
“Your personality. Your mannerisms. What are you like?”
“Well…Typically, I’m very quiet. I’m not very outgoing, I’m not really a people-person. I keep to myself, and most of the time, people leave me alone. When I do interact with other people, it tends to land me in shitty situations…like lighting a stranger’s cigarette and ending up getting kidnapped,” she added pointedly.
“Just be grateful they used chloroform. The original plan was to get you in the back of the head with a heavy rock. “
“Thank God for chloroform, then,” Paulina said.
“Thank me for it, it was my idea.”
“Thank you.” Paulina was saying that a lot to Robert, it seemed.
“Okay…Would you say you had low self-esteem?”
“…I guess so…”
Robert nodded. “Right…well, that’s all the questions for right now. You’ll see me again soon, I imagine--”
“Wait!” Paulina’s mind raced as she contemplated how to ask one more question. But if she asked to ask another question, she’d be beaten…”I need to ask one more question.”
“Go ahead. I let it slide this time.”
“How many more of you are there?”
“There’s only one you haven’t met yet.”
Paulina nodded. “Okay. Thank you…thank you very much.”
Robert turned to go, but once he reached the stairs, he turned around to face Paulina once more. “I wouldn’t tell anyone else that I was nice to you. If they knew, I…I wouldn’t be able to keep being so nice.” Having said what was on his mind, Robert continued up the stairs and out the door, disappearing into what might as well have been a different world altogether, as far as Paulina was concerned.
So...I decided to do a really quick upload this time, since I made you guys wait a bit too long last time. So yeah. And before you say anything, I know. Bob Bryar is no longer officially in My Chemical Romance. Believe me, I know. But, I decided to use Bob for three reasons:
1. It's my story and I like Bob, so deal with it.
2. I needed five captors for the story, not four.
3. Bob will always be a member of MCR in my opinion, regardless of whether or not he still plays with them.
So yeah. There it is. Go comment/subscribe, por favor. Okay. OverAndOutxx
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