The insistent tapping of a pen on the wooden desk in front of me was annoying. I wanted to rip that pen out of her perfectly manicured hand as she tapped and read my file.
"Rosalie Wrightborn?"
"Yes." I quickly replied, the leggings and turtleneck sweater pressing into my skin as I stared at my newest therapist. Mom and Joshua had gotten me a new one since I promised I would try to get better.
The tapping began again and it took everything in me to not punch her.
"You're how old now?"
"I'm seventeen."
"And when did Nathaniel take you?"
"September twenty nineth of two thousand twenty four."
"How old were you?"
"I was thirteen. My birthday was only about five months before he took me."
She hummed as she began to write. I hated therapists.
"Why don't we start with your family life?"
"You know my situation. I live with my mother and stepfather, father is not in the picture. I have a stepbrother who's about two years older."
"How about you tell me about your relationship with your father?"
I paused.
"My father was abusive towards my mother, he's in prison. I have seen him only a few times."
She began writing again.
"How about school? I know you started at a new one recently."
I winced.
"It sucks, and sometimes I wonder if staying with Nathaniel would have been better."
"But he had you in a tiny room in the dark. You're claustrophobic. What was there that happened there that makes you want to go back?"
I smiled at her, losing myself to my thoughts.
"I won't lie to you, a lot of what he did was messed up. Actually, most of it was. It was the moments where he let me out and gave me simple freedoms that makes me miss that stupid house."
She looked confused, but wrote that down.
"Did you love him?"
I laughed a bit before answering.
"I loved what he could be if I was considered 'good'. I loved how I could have space when he left. Did I love him? Maybe. Did I love the situation he put us in? Absolutely not."
"It says on your file you may have Stockholm Syndrome. You do know what that is, right?"
"Of course I do, but that's because back then, I was still trained like a puppy. I was still worried that Nathaniel would burst through the door and take me back and punish me for allowing them to take me from the house. I'm different now."
She clicked her tongue and wrote more down.
"Why don't you tell me what really happened to you?"
I smiled at her.
"Buckle up, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
"You have an hour, Miss Collins."
"That's plenty of time."