Writers Note

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A few things I want to explain/ address here in more detail.
I felt like adding it :)
**obviously spoilers if you haven't finished ... **

1) She's 14 and Zach is 17 when they meet. Yes, she's that young. However I probably didn't explain well that she's supposed to look much older than 14. She's also much more well mannered than your typical young teenager. She's quiet and reserved , yet however she is rather naive. This was also a reason why Zach was hesitant to touch her further because she's young, he knew he had to wait for her to mature more.

2) Going off #1, Yes Rohan lets Zach and Elizabeth stay in the same room and bed. There are a few reasons for this, main reason is he trusts both of them. He knows Elizabeth is saving herself, he knows this because she becomes very active in their church. He also trusts Zach because he notices as well that Zach changes for the better of himself ever since meeting Elizabeth and he knows he would respect her. The other reason is that, he's not really a parent, he's her uncle but he also wants to be her friend. He wants her to realize she can trust in him as well for her to make her own decisions. He didn't force Zach to sleep in the same room, he did offer that as a possibility and Zach even says that if she's uncomfortable with it that he'll take another room. Rohan wants her to open up, he wants her to be free to be who she wants to be, what kind of person, to have a choice because he knows before she came to live with him she didn't have one. He knew that she would be responsible and careful with her decisions anyway, because of her faith and because he trusts them both, but he still wanted to give her a choice. I hope that sort of makes sense, yes a normal parent would probably not allow that , but that's also the thing he isn't a parent and he isn't thinking it that way. (But also in my own experience I have known some parents who are ok with it as long as their kids use protection, but this wasn't that scenario) last reason is , when I write I tend to sometimes write things that cross the line between what could really happen in reality and what makes more sense in a dream, this scenario is in between that line.

3) Elizabeth does develop Stockholm syndrome but she does so after a couple of months. It's not immediate. What she feels more so is anger, guilt and confusion within herself for allowing James to seduce her and for herself to be easily seduced and manipulated, she's angry at herself for failing to escape and for failing to cause him harm. When she tried to (with the pot) she's confused because he shows a different side of himself that's caring and gentle, when this side of James emerges she can't help but feel sorry for him, she pities him and that anger and guilt get put on the back burner. Yes it is stockholder syndrome because she ends up caring for him, more so because she feels that if she doesn't keep playing along that more bad and harmful things will happen to her so she gives up and decides to live for the sake of living which she believes is better than ending up dead and buried. Plus she has a reason to stay alive as long as possible, she knows she can do this by keeping James happy, yet it would be a lie if she claimed that she never felt happy around him. She's also a young and very naive teenager that was hardly acknowledged by her father and treated poorly by him, when James blames her for things it's almost like it justifies the blame her father had dumped on her so it's more easier for her to accept her fate. She's a very troubled girl, and when she feels pleasure by James it's overwhelming she doesn't understand why her body is reacting that way despite her fearfulness. She welcomes that pleasure as a means to escape her fear of James, so long as he is loving her in that way she's free from harm free from her fear.
A. - going off from this, I tried to make james' charms obvious. He is supposed to be very handsome. Yes he slims down and becomes unhealthy but before that and after he has Elizabeth, he recuperates. But hes supposed to look very charming, he is tall, with blond hair and clear brown eyes. His smile, when he does smiles is supposed to be hypnotizing which is why Juliet is always struck by him when he's smiled around her. His teeth are sparkling , his lips are pink and luscious looking. He has a scent that when he walks by its picked up, his own scent , like pheromones is arousing. He's supposed to be this gorgeously handsome yet distant person. Like a beautiful painting that you can look at but you can't get too close. He is very distant with a lot of people, which is why Albert feels so special because he's the closest to him. Even Juliet is distanced, he pushed away his family and barely had friends, I never mentioned any of them because they're not important to him. With a man like this , he's mysterious and intimidating because it's not always clear what he's thinking. He is a very good liar, he's calm soothing words and tone bring peacefulness which is why Elizabeth often gets confused on his true nature.

4) I never thought Anne would get so much hate lol she bottled up her emotions for Zach, he had never looked her way and it's obvious when he asks her what grade she's in and she's slightly offended because they've been going to the same school for years and he doesn't remember. When Elizabeth goes missing Anne really is upset because they became very close best friends. However, Zach relies too much on Anne always seeking her out and being alone with her. During their grief for Elizabeth (and Juliet) Zach embraces Anne several times, holding her in a way she never thought he would touch her. Those bottled emotions resurface and ultimately she tells him how she feels for him through a kiss. The first one was a simple kiss on the lips and she never thought that it would go anywhere than that, which is why she avoids Zach afterwards, yet he's the one that peruses her, attempting to talk to her privately. Anne has given up hope that Elizabeth will come back, all she focus' on is her feelings for Zach which has surfaced and she can't bottle them any longer. They agree on a purely physical relationship yet for Anne it's so much more but Zach is overcome with guilt afterwards. He's a guy who's always been a bit of a player so when he becomes serious about Elizabeth, he's unable to play the field. He takes this opportunity to do what he couldn't do with Elizabeth and that's all that he sees it as. He's very upset when she becomes pregnant because he never wanted ties with her in fact he tried to severe them but ultimately he'll always be a part of Anne's life. Once Elizabeth returns, as a way to atone for her shame, Anne agrees not to reveal who her child's father is to Elizabeth. She knows that she partially seduced Zach while he was vulnerable and got hurt by it, yet she puts it aside and moves on with her life, her baby and Tyler. (I'm not excusing Anne or Zach's actions. They were wrong, I'm just providing some insight into their minds as characters and why they might have done the things that they've done.)

4) James does not fully understand his sexuality and sexual orientation. He's not attracted to Alberts physicality however he does crave the sexual urges from him. Yes at first he is disgusted because the thought of becoming intimate with another man scares him, he's scared for what to expect and he's also scared because he knows that it equals damnation. (Yeah I know that lusting after a minor is worse, but he's not in his right state of mind to think of that, James truly believes that he's righteous in nearly everything that he does, he's narcissistic for this) He believes that only he is worthy of Elizabeth and that only he can touch her and with his touch that she won't suffer from the "evils" of the world that his "touch" can protect her and keep her pure. It's really just an excuse in his head that he conjured up to convince his own conscience to kidnap her. Once he has Elizabeth in the house, he realizes he doesn't need Albert. But he also realizes that Albert poses a threat, after Albert realizes that James doesn't have true feelings for him he has a darkness in his heart, he questions what he has done and knows perfectly well that he is doomed for hell. He wants to get rid of Elizabeth, he hates her because she's the cause of james' change. He knows well that it's not Elizabeth's fault, she didn't do it purposely but still he hates her for it and can't get over that fact, that James would always chose her over him. James realizes that Albert is a threat and therefore gets rid of him.

5) There's some really odd things that happen in this story, somethings that are done or said that probably wouldn't make sense in reality; I wrote it purposely like this. I have a habit of writing things that seem as though it could only happen in a dream, like James standing in front of Albert in the shower unclothed and unbothered by it. Or like Victor being weird (most of the time) and getting with the receptionist in his car while talking to her causally about the case....Little things like these oddities found in this story I did purposefully. It's just my style of writing.

Thanks for taking the time to read this book, I know it's a lot of craziness in 69 Chapters.
I wanted to write this for so long and I'm happy with how it came out. I'd like to write something similar or perhaps even a sequel but I don't know if I will or not.

Thanks anyways for your votes and comments !

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