FicWad

(Frank’s POV)



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I woke up not too long after falling asleep. The sunlight filtering in through the kitchen window hit my face, waking me. My entire body ached from the position I’d slept in, and I was still tired but there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. I listened for a few seconds but heard nothing from the basement.

Hopefully Kendall had fallen asleep.

I decided to tackle the bathroom problem first and acquired the toolbox my dad had left me before heading there. I planned to take the doorknob off so that Kendall wouldn’t have an option of privacy even there. She would have to earn her privacy from now on. It was the only way to ensure her safety while bonding with her.

As I worked on detaching the doorknob I thought of what I would do with Kendall. None of my dad’s ideas seemed worth trying. I didn’t want to ruin my relationship with Kendall. I wanted to build a happy one with her, and make her feel comfortable. It was hard to balance kindness with necessary stern-ness though. I had to be in charge, because if I wasn’t then things would fall apart and we’d just be another of the world’s statistics. It reminded me of all the divorce statistics my father had shown me, and the horror stories I’d heard.

Kendall and I wouldn’t be like that.

My dad was hard on my mom from the beginning and she learned to fear him, and from there they built their relationship and then had me. I was fully aware of how she felt about it, and it wasn’t love. She was with him because she had to be- and now she was dead inside, and it was so obvious. She was defeated and stuck. It hurt to watch their relationship. She loved him, but not in the way that I wanted Kendall to love me.

Once I was finished with the doorknob I continued on in to the bathroom and started cleaning up. I got rid of the broken apart razor, and took the package of razors. Kendall would need to be supervised while using them, and though I knew she would hate that… I had no choice. She’d given me no choice.

By the time I finished putting a lock on the drawer that held the knives it was 5 o’clock. I was tired and Kendall had been locked downstairs all day. I knew she was probably hungry and most likely needed to use the bathroom but… I wasn’t sure if it was right to let her back upstairs so soon. Maybe for a while. I decided to try it out, partly because I missed her… and partly because I was worried about her being downstairs all by herself.

I took the steak I’d been de-thawing in the fridge out and started heating the pan as I grabbed the rest of dinner. I would feed her, and allow her to shower and use the bathroom… and then she’d have to go back downstairs until she learned her lesson. It was hard, even for me. I didn’t like her being down there. I thought it was cruel, but sometimes you had to be hard on women. That was something my father had taught me early in life.

Once dinner was done I made two plates. We each had steak, corn, salad, and mashed potatoes. It was a nice filling dinner and I was starving. Kendall had to be as well.

I opened the door to the basement and listened but heard nothing. Then I turned the light on, and waited again. It only took a few seconds before Kendall spoke. Her voice cracked, and I internally berated myself for not bringing her something to drink before now. “Frank?” She sounded scared.

I started walking down the stairs. It took every ounce of strength that I had not to sprint down the stairs at her frightened voice. I had to make her wait though, and I had to be tough. It wasn’t like she did something small the other night. She had tried to kill herself! That couldn’t happen again.

When I saw Kendall my heart sunk.

She looked exhausted and had obviously been crying. Her mascara was smeared from the tears, and her wrists were bleeding from her pulling against the chains. They weren’t tight but she must have been pulling and trying to get free, because her skin had scratched against the metal causing the wounds. Most of the blood was dried, but some was new.

“Are you going to be good?” I hated asking the question, and it sounded stupid even to me as it slipped from my lips.

“Yes.” Kendall was quick to answer.

I unlocked her right wrist first, and as it fell free I kept a gentle hold on it and massaged it slowly, being careful not to massage where the metal had rubbed her skin raw. I let go and reached for the other wrist, giving it the same treatment. When I was finished I leaned down to unlock her legs. “Don’t kick me or I will leave you down here for a little longer. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Kendall squeaked out. It didn’t sound normal coming from her.

I quickly realized that her ankles had rubbed against the metal too, and though they weren’t bloody they were bruising. I gently massaged each ankle for Kendall, hoping to make them feel a bit better. I didn’t spend as much time as I had on her wrists though, since it seemed to hurt her more when I touched her ankles. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t like the bruises, and I definitely didn’t like the blood.

“Can you stand?” I asked, as I stood up and glanced down at her. It had only been overnight, and for most of the day but she looked so tired… and so frightened. It was as if I’d left her down here for so much longer.

“I- I don’t know.” Kendall admitted as she tried. She held on to one of the chains, though hesitated to. It was like she didn’t even want to touch them. Her knees shook and she stumbled forward a little, landing in my arms. I was more than okay with that.

“I’ll carry you.” I offered. Her legs and arms were stiff from being tied in one position. It had been long enough to make walking a little difficult at first, and I didn’t want her first try to involve stairs. I wasn’t trying to kill her.

Kendall didn’t say anything as I pulled her in to my arms and shifted her body so that I was carrying her bridal style. It was nice, and she wasn’t all that heavy. Walking up the stairs was a little difficult though. I held on to the rail and was very careful. I wasn’t so worried about myself falling, but I didn’t want to drop Kendall. She was already injured.

When we got upstairs I gently placed Kendall on her feet and let go. She leaned against the wall as I shut the light off and followed her out in to the kitchen. She didn’t waste any time as she rushed away from me, on shaky legs. I was so afraid that she would fall but I really couldn’t race after her and carry her everywhere. I was sure that she’d get sick of that quickly. I heard the bathroom door shut and wondered how upset she was over the doorknob being gone.

Hopefully she’d understand.

Kendall returned just as quickly as she’d left, which surprised me. I kind of figured she’d want to be away from me for as long as possible. I thought I’d have to go find her and bring her back to eat dinner. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.” Kendall answered nervously.

I gestured to the dinner table. “What would you like to drink? We have tropical punch kool-aid, dr. pepper, water, or milk.”

“Water please.” Kendall answered.

I nodded, “Probably a wise choice.” I got water for both of us as she sat down. I sat next to her, and waited for her to start eating.

It actually didn’t take long.

Kendall didn’t say anything as she ate. I thought over anything that I could say, for small talk. I found myself a little nervous though. Kendall was a very bright girl. She would easily see through my attempts at small talk, and could quite possibility shut down on the spot if she didn’t want to talk.

“So, how do you like the food?” I awkwardly asked. It was a fair question. I needed to know what to make her, and what she didn’t like.

Kendall shrugged.

“Do you cook?”

“Only if you want your food burnt.” Kendall answered, blushing. “I- my dad was teaching me to cook but… so far I’ve just caused a lot of kitchen accidents.”

“I could teach you a few things.” I offered.

Kendall didn’t say anything.

“I read in one of your blogs that one of your favorite sweet foods was cinnamon rolls. Is that still true?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” I smiled. “I have cinnamon rolls. I’ll make some after dinner.”

“Thank you.” She was being polite but it was obviously forced, and I knew it was just because she was afraid of being put back in the basement. That was, sadly enough, a good thing though. At least it gave me a certain amount of control over her.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” I asked, finishing off my plate. She was already done, but she looked so tired. “Or did you want to get to bed?”

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

“Well if you’re too tired to watch a movie with me then I’ll probably watch some television after I do the dishes.” I responded, yawning. “And I didn’t sleep too well last night so I’m going to head to bed soon too.”

“I’d like to watch a movie.” Kendall answered, weakly.

I was pleasantly surprised, “Great! What kind? Why don’t you go check out the movie collection we have to choose from? It’s in the living room.”

Kendall gazed down at her empty plate. “Could you maybe, come with me?”

Another surprise. “Okay, I could do that. Sure, I’ll just do the dishes later.” I grabbed our plates and placed them gently in to the sink. Kendall kept hold of her bottle of water, but it was almost gone. I grabbed mine and gestured towards the living room so that she could go ahead of me.

It didn’t take her long to pick out a movie. I didn’t even look at it before slipping it in to the DVD player. Kendall was standing beside me, awkwardly waiting… for what? I wasn’t so sure.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back, okay?” Kendall was still standing. “Why don’t you grab a blanket from our bedroom and get comfortable?”

She seemed lost for a second and then nodded, and together we walked down the hallway. Outside of the bathroom she stopped, as I walked inside. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked.

“Does the basement have mice?”

What an odd question. “No.”

She just nodded and continued down the hallway.





As I exited the bathroom I found Kendall standing next to the wall, waiting for me. I glanced at her but didn’t say anything as we went to the living room together. She was holding on to the blanket tightly, and as I sat next to her on the couch she surprisingly moved closer- inside of further away. “Can we keep the light on?”

“Uh, sure.” Something was wrong. I paused the movie. “Kendall, what is wrong?” I couldn’t dance around the issue. It wouldn’t do either of us any good.

“What?” Kendall froze in place, staring straight ahead.

“What’s wrong? You’re being… different.” It wasn’t the different that I was aiming for. She was acting like a frightened bunny. Did being downstairs scare her that badly? “I need to know what’s wrong so that I can fix it.”

“Fix it?” Kendall whispered the words.

“Yes, if you tell me then I will try to fix it. That’s what I’m here for, to make things better.” I hesitantly placed my hand on her thigh, which wasn’t covered by the blanket. She didn’t react.

“I can’t.” Kendall was still speaking so softly.

I sighed heavily. I had a feeling that I knew what the problem was. She didn’t like the basement, but why? I needed her to tell me. “Okay, if you can’t then I guess this still isn’t working. Come on.” I stood up abruptly, and her eyes flew to me. They widened and I could clearly see the fear.

“Where?”

“Downstairs.” I answered flatly. “If you won’t even try to make this relationship work then I guess last night wasn’t clear enough. I can’t fight you every step of the way, and I’m tired. So I’m going to bed and you’re going back to your… current room until you earn the right to sleep with me.”

Kendall stayed in place but the words tumbled from her lips unceremoniously, “I’m afraid of the dark.”

“What?” That surprised me. I thought only little kids were afraid of the dark…

“Usually it’s not so bad, but I’ve never been in complete darkness before. Usually there is always the light from outside… Or I’m asleep before it goes pitch dark but last night- last night completely terrified me… and you, you just left me there.” Tears quickly filled Kendall’s eyes and I knew she wasn’t lying. She was legitimately frightened of the dark.

I sat back down, frowning. I felt as if I were aiming for douchebag of the year award, and I would win. “I’m sorry.” I finally forced myself to apologize. My father was wrong. Sometimes men were wrong, and sometimes we needed to apologize. I was sorry.

Kendall wiped her tears away, and sniffled.

“You need to tell me things like this.” I softly commented, trying not to make it sound like I was attacking her. “There will be consequences when you’re bad but I don’t want to scar you permanently, so I won’t use your fears against you- and I won’t leave you in a situation that you can’t handle.”

Kendall glanced at me, “You… you won’t make me go back down there?”

“Not unless I absolutely have to.” I promised, “The circumstances would have to be dire. I do care for you Kendall.” I took her hand in mine, realizing that it was trembling. She was still so frightened of going back down there. Poor thing. “That’s why I chose you. You have to understand it was a big choice to make, and you were the only one for me. I knew it immediately.”

Kendall’s eyes had widened, “What do you mean?”

I took a deep breath, remembering how my father had warned me to give her a shortened version of the truth. I wasn’t going to do that though. I was going to tell Kendall the whole truth. She deserved that much from me.

She waited as I braced myself for her reaction.