The Celebrity Copycat - A Heartthrob Tale

Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Jackson brought Mikayla back to the small room after she finished eating. The remainder of their lunch had a stiff silence. He practically ran back to the small room and chained her up. He left the room and surprisingly left the door open. He came back with a large stack of books and put them next to her bed, then he grabbed the book and magazine in the corner and gave her those.

"Enjoy your reading," said Jackson, before leaving her alone again.

Mikayla felt empty. Nothing in the moment made sense anymore. The only thing to do was read the books he left her. That and maybe hope for a miracle.

She looked at the stack of books. One by one she moved them aside. Each and every one was about a kidnapping that was solved. Every one except the last book in the pile. She hesitated to touch it. It was so old.

But the faded cover called out to her. She picked it up and instantly the smell hit her. It was an indescribable scent that she always loved. 

Back when she lived in New Jersey Mikayla and her mother would go into Manhattan once a month and visit this cool used book store. It wasn't as old or as well known as the Strand, but it was charming in its own right. The visits had two purposes. The first was that Mikayla's mother would make extra money by selling old books, mostly one's she found at garage sales. And second, they would then use all the extra money they made to buy books they actually wanted.

Mikayla's mom wasn't poor, but the hobby paid for itself and gave them something fun to do on a month when money was a bit tighter. It was a fond childhood memory.

The two would scour the shelves looking for unique stories. Maybe the books were out of print or maybe it was just cheaper than buying them new. After each trip Mikayla would lock herself away and devour the books. Whether it was a novel or a biography or even just a text book. Then after every book she'd tell her mother what she read and every month the tales got more elaborate until Mikayla was acting out what she read, providing voices to the characters.

She'd pretend to be famous starlets like Clara Bow or Mary Pickford. She'd reenact one of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton's silent film stunts. She'd narrate fake documentaries on pineapples.

Her love of books became a love for acting. As she got older the book store owner would pull some things out for her that he thought she'd like. In particular Marilyn Monroe's autobiography was life changing for her.

Soon the extra money from selling books was being split. They'd only buy one book each and the rest of the money went to acting lessons for Mikayla. The lessons paid off. She got cast in her first commercial at age 12 and then six months after that she appeared in a bit part in an off Broadway play.

She never hit it big but she'd have a steady stream of commercials and the occasional play in New York up until she went to college. She went to UCLA for acting on a full scholarship. And her parts were still small, but it didn't matter how small they were because it was always a step in the right direction.

The old book in front of her flooded her mind with memories of her mother. What if she never saw her mom again? For the first time she felt tears welling in her eyes.

Mikayla took a ragged breathe and pushed back her feelings. That was defeatest talk. She was a fighter. Not a failure. And every moment she spent not learning about why she was hear was a moment wasted.

She sucked up her feelings and opened the old book. She flipped the page and found the title, which had long faded from the front cover. "A Good Wive's Guide to a Happy Marriage."

When was this published?

She flipped the page again and found a publication date. 1947. Post World War II. Mikayla could make a good guess that it was written for wives who were having trouble leaving the work force after the end of the war. 

She flipped through the pages skimming for anything interesting. The word obey kept coming up as well as the phrase your husband knows best. Mikayla felt as visceral shiver. She put the old book to the side and went back to some of the other ones. She hadn't gotten around to reading the notes in Nori's book yet. But considering she'd already read the book twice it would be the easiest to follow along with.

Time passed slowly as she read. Her heart was racing in her chest, not sure at what she'd find. Jackson apparently had almost no comments on Nori's past. The only things he wrote in that section was, "Distance is just as good as estrangement and no family."

Well, she already knew he liked that her family lived far away. He chastised Theo for befriending Nori. His notes ranged from mentions that it made Theo a suspect to the realization that Stockholm Syndrome, if it existed, could only form in a person that didn't know their captor. Mikayla had read a psychology book once that touched on Stockholm. She didn't believe it was a real condition. But she was by no means an expert. It was best not to dwell on any one thing and instead focus on the whole picture.

She flipped ahead to a section of the book where Nori made a lot of speculations that while she couldn't prove were decently likely. Jackson had one comment on the whole chapter. "Drugs should be used sparingly. It just puts a barrier of trust up between you and your captive."

Well at least she knew he wouldn't keep her drugged up all the time. She skipped ahead to the next comment. Nori was describing Theo's brutal punishments and Jackson had pages upon pages of comments about every single punishment. Mikayla couldn't even follow his train of thought. "Remaining calm is crucial. But punishments are important to show her who's in charge."

She felt disgusted. She flipped through page after disgusting page and she had no better idea of what Jackson Danvers's deal was. He was clearly not mentally stable and had a lot of plans. But he was all over the map on those plans.

As she flipped through to the final page a note on the inside of the back cover stood out to her. "When searching for a victim find a girl who's weak. She needs to be small. She needs to be weak willed. Look for wall flowers or girls who don't socialize at parties or girls who have one person that they stick to like glue. These kind of women will be more pliant to your desires. See if she fits your parameters and isolate her."

How dare he make assumptions about her. So maybe she was only hanging out with Rachel. But she wasn't weak. She wasn't pliant. She was just trying to avoid Anthony at that stupid party. And she may have been small but that meant nothing. Mikayla was so angry. She'd show Jackson Danvers that she was strong.

She went to the next book. It followed a kidnapping case she'd never heard of. She read the opening of the book and she quickly noticed that Jackson barely had any notes inside. The girl was kidnapped while hitchhiking and held captive for seven years. The book detailed the horrific torture she face and her eventual acceptance into her captor's family. She even held a job and gave the family money. She was treated as a second wife to this man. The only reason she escaped was that the wife turned on the husband and admitted all the lies that she'd been told. She then left.

She was so trusted by this man and his family and so afraid to leave that she just didn't. Jackson had a lot of positive comments about this case. He liked the idea of isolation punishment which seemed to be the preferred method that this girl suffered through. And then she saw his final thoughts on the book. "Don't trust family to keep your secret. Trust yourself."

As Mikayla grabbed the next book she heard the distinct heavy foot steps coming down the hall.