✩ SIT DOWN BESIDE ME ﹒ ʲᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ ᶜʳᵃⁿᵉ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

─ chapter iv ; a dream

soft and weightless, it was dark, as if y/n was in some sort of void. one that enveloped her in a kind of comfort that only the unreality of a dream could offer.

the space around her shifted into focus, the pitch black void giving way to the vague, soft curves of blanketing and pillows in gray darkness.

she stretched out her arms to feel the dream, turning her head to look at her undefined hand as her fingers curled around the soft blanket.

a lovely fantasy, y/n's subconscious mocking her with this faux comfort. the reality she'd be coming into when she awoke would stand in stark contrast to this. if only she could hold onto this for a little longer—

but her eyes were open. the dream was not blinked away, it remained. these sheets were an unfamiliar nightmare, all too real. y/n was wide awake all of the sudden.

thinking back in a tizzy, she did not even remember going to bed. she could hardly grasp onto what the last thing she could remember from the night before was. shelving books, closing up the store, getting into the car?

no matter how many times her eyes darted around the room, she couldn't place anything as recognizable. this was somewhere she'd absolutely never been before.

the only light coming into the room was dull, utterly gray and clawing it's way in past blackout curtains. there was light outside, but it seemed to be too early for the sun to have fully risen yet.

every racing thought outweighed the sluggish tiredness which tried to keep her tucked into the bed. y/n was determined to find answers. she swung herself upright, and as her chest panged and swelled, she aches for the craggy carpet of her apartment. but when her feet touched the floor, it was smooth, cold hardwood.

of course it would be locked, but y/n's first thought was to try the door. the doorknob was an unfamiliar, flat handle which she pulled downward on. pulled and pulled and pulled. frantically shook the doorknob, and it never gave way.

dead silent in the house, the jiggling of the locked door immediately triggered jonathan to stand up from the couch, where he'd been waiting for sleep to finally release her.

she was awake now, time for her to come to understand that where she was wasn't her home. jonathan was more than aware that she would be confused. his plan had gone perfectly thus far. he'd accounted for everything possible to account for. y/n's emotions couldn't be accounted for, however. she was locked in his house, where jonathan had her all to himself, however that didn't mean she would appreciate it. not yet.

he didn't know what her initial reaction would be. beating on the door in an attempt to get someone's attention, relentless sobbing; certainly she'd be distraught. jonathan had almost expected to hear her yelling his name, though he knew that wasn't possible - she had no idea who it was that had brought her here yet.

standing in front of the door, he found that to his surprise, it was none of the things he'd considered. as hard as he strained to hear, not a single peep came from the other side of the door.

the lock wouldn't budge, and y/n had already found that escaping through the window was out of the question (it was stuck shut, she had no idea how or why it wouldn't open, but it wouldn't).

what had gone on in the space between where last night's memories cut off and when she'd woken up? where, where is she?

no way to get out, there was nothing to do. in her mind the image of physically tearing the room apart with every ounce of strength she had screamed at her. an impossible thought. nothing else to do, she sat on the floor by the bed facing the door.

y/n refused to lay back on that bed, it's comfort had been a pretense. she'd been laid there by whoever had kidnapped her.

kidnapped.

y/n couldn't believe it. all the times she'd heard that word in the news, in conversations, in movies, she couldn't believe that she'd been kidnapped.

two shadows interrupted the sharp line of light under the white door. someone was standing just outside the door. y/n hoped for the floor to swallow her whole before the person - likely her kidnapper - could enter, and see her.

she neither moved nor spoke. perhaps if she stayed still, didn't make a sound, she wouldn't be here anymore. but the thundering storm of her heartbeat diminished that thought. she was here. here, here, here. wherever here was.

he softly rapped his knuckle against the wood, produced a knock gentle enough to avoid waking y/n in case somehow he'd misheard the sound of the lock jiggling and she was in fact still asleep.

silent.

it couldn't hurt to check. the key to her room slipped into the lock, jonathan turned it until it clicked. tentatively he pushed open the door, noticing that it was still dark until the light coming from the hallway spilled across the walls, the floor—

and her.

she looked small where she sat, beautifully, pitifully. he could read the upset on her face and in the way she sat, crumpled on the floor. how easy it'd be to hold her, touch her. but calculated distance was necessary, at least for now.

with the light coming in from behind him, he was like a shadow, one looming tall above y/n from her position on the floor. yet the silhouette was distinct.

"good morning, y/n."

head tilted up, mouth open just enough for the words on the tip of her tongue to attempt an escape, she stared. the words wouldn't come.

with no semblance of impatience, he waited for her to speak.

"dr. crane?" she'd expected her words to come with a stutter, but they'd come out uninhibited and flat.

he nodded, "yes, that's right." voice just as calm as it had ever been when y/n had heard him speak back at the asylum.

every step he'd taken, each part of this that he'd carefully planned, the culmination was staring up at him through glassy, breath-taking eyes.

not everything had been answered, but y/n knew in the very least that this had been crane's doing. an old coworker who was at the worst annoying had brought her here. kidnapped her.

how wasn't this a dream?