Page 35 of Spark

“I’m sorry. Did you say Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow, silly. Did you forget?”

I felt my heart fall into my stomach. “I, uh, I guess I did.” My brothers’ birthdays had already passed, and I hadn’t even noticed it. They were only two years apart from each other. With October now gone and past, Aaron was officially seventeen and Brennan was fifteen. I suddenly felt my heart breaking all over again because, in Darren’s eye, I would never see them again. I would never again see my own fucking family.

“Hey, are you okay, Jaden?”

I sniffed back the sorrow that threatened to take me over. I couldn’t believe it was already the end of November.

“What are you still doing here then? Shouldn’t you be going home to see your family?”

She shrugged, a sad smile curving across her face. “I don’t really have anyone to visit. My parents died in a car accident, too. A long time ago.”

“Oh,” I said, looking down at the floor, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. It happened when I was five. I barely remember them.”

I nodded. Maybe that made it better somehow. She didn’t really know who she was missing.

“Still, you must have someone you should be visiting on holidays,” I said. “You shouldn’t have to stay here with me.”

Holly shrugged. “My parents didn’t have brothers or sisters, and I’m an only child. Grandparents are gone, too.”

“Jesus, Holly,” I said shocked. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s why I stay busy. I’m only twenty-two, and I’m already a certified personal trainer and physical therapist, who’s well on her way to becoming a doctor debt free,” she said with a wink.

I shook my head, unable to hide the smirk forming on my lips. “I love your optimism, Holly.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “You should try it sometime.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

Holly considered me for a moment, something lingering on her mind, and I could tell she was afraid to speak it.

“What?” I asked.

“You know, Jaden. I know we’re not supposed to discuss it, but sometimes talking about traumatic experiences can—”

“Don’t,” I said sharply and turned away from her to remove my gloves and wraps. This was not a topic to dwell on, especially when that topic was a lie.

“Jaden,” she started softly, “I know this is tough for you, but—”

I got up real close to her face, enough so that my mouth was right at her ear. “If there is one thing you should be aware of around here, it’s that there are consequences for broken rules. Please don’t break them.”

Holly stood very still for a moment before she finally released a quick breath and nodded. I didn’t like it, but she needed the warning. Better it come from me than Darren.

“Come on, let’s go swimming. I think I need to float in the pool for a while,” I said.

Holly nodded, a fake smile appearing on her lips as she followed me out of the gym.

For the rest of the day, all I could think about was time. I had already been on the island for two months and hadn’t even realized it. Darren had officially stolen five months of my life—five months I would never get back. But it was only still the beginning of my captivity. I would have to expect to unwillingly give a few years of my life to my plan of destruction. I had so much more to accomplish first. I couldn’t just kill Darren. Not without signaling my own death wish. I had to bring his resources down first. And I had no fucking clue how I was going to do that. Suddenly, I felt depressed again.

Tomorrow, I should sit at a table with my family, about to eat my body weight in turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Instead, I didn’t even know what I would be doing for dinner tomorrow. If I’d be eating alone in my suite or at the dinner table with Darren. Again with the reminder that my life was not mine to control. It was Darren’s, and as I floated along in my inflatable chair in Darren’s pool, staring up at the sunny sky, I felt all the hope drain out of me again. Reality was always there to slap the shit out of me, or maybe it was just Darren when I finally pushed him over the edge. My monster among them all.

When dinner finally came, I felt like I was on autopilot, too concerned with the passing seconds that would never stop. The same seconds that pulled me further and further away from my family. I could feel Darren’s eyes on me, watching me with that concerned, angry look on his face. He’d asked me how my first day of training with Scott went. I’d barely answered, shrugging it off with a fine and that I would master his duck tomorrow. Normally, I would have asked him why he suddenly decided to have him train me, but again, autopilot.

“You’re awfully quiet this evening,” Darren pointed out.

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