A month had passed and things had seemingly gotten back to normal. As Justin predicted, he was able to easily persuade Zenia to move in permanently. After Grace had returned from her stay at Zenia's mother's house, she was delighted to see that Justin had made her a temporary room that she quickly began to make her own. Seeing Grace comfortable there made Zenia soften to the idea of living with Justin. Everything had seemed right and for once, she felt safe. 


There had been no traces of Michael in the last month. This had greatly eased everyone's fears and Zenia was coming around to the idea of returning to her workplace. 


Grace had returned to school, starting the first grade at a new school closer to Justin's home. Justin had been more busy lately with the production of Trolls 2. He had fallen into the role of the family man and was embracing it. 


It was early Monday morning that Zenia was up getting Grace ready for school. Justin was getting ready to head to the studio to work on Trolls production. He had offered to take Grace to school since he was leaving around the same time. 


Justin took a sip of the coffee he had just brewed as he watched Zenia and Grace descend down the long staircase, “Good. Morning, ladies, “ he greeted them, kissing Zenia on the forehead, then hugging Grace. 


“Morning, Justin!” Grace beamed. She was so excited that he was taking her to school that morning. 


“Good morning, Gracie. I brewed some coffee, Z.” Justin stated, pointing in the direction of the coffee maker. 


“Thanks, babe. I need it.”


“You’ve been tired a lot lately. Are you sure you’re okay with me leaving today? I can take Grace to school and come back,” He offered.


“I’m fine, Justin. I just haven’t been sleeping well. I’ll probably just take a nap when you guys leave."


Justin eyed her curiously, still uncertain about leaving her. He was starting to worry about her lately. She was often tired, a little jumpy, and wasn’t herself lately. He had just equated it to the situation that happened a month prior. He wanted to suggest that she talk with someone, but didn’t want to seem pushy. So, he tried his best to just be a supportive boyfriend. They had not talked much about the whole debacle since it happened. Zenia doing her best to block it out. 


The trio chatted a bit more in the kitchen before Justin glanced at his watch and announced it was time to leave. “You ready, Grace?”


“YES!” She exclaimed, giddily grabbing her backpack.


Zenia kissed them both goodbye and watched them both load into the car and drive away. 


She finished her coffee and sat in the kitchen scrolling on her phone, groaning when she noticed that her friend was calling. Nora's name flashed across the screen and Zenia contemplated ignoring it. She loved her friends but had become distant since everything. She didn't want to talk about it and she knew that her friends meant well, but they always brought it up. On the last ring, she decided to answer. 


"Hello?"


“Good Morning, Z,” Nora answered, cheerily. 


“Morning, Nora.”


“You sound tired. Are you okay?” She asked, concerned. 


“I haven’t been sleeping well since everything.”


“Well, why are you up this early? Why don’t you go back to sleep?” Nora suggested. Truthfully, she was worried about her friend and knew this reclusive behavior was not like her. 


“I was helping Gracie get ready for school. Justin took her. I guess a nap doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” She agreed, making her way back up to the bedroom she now shared with Justin. 


She laid down on the bed, still chatting with Nora, catching up on their busy lives. She thought she faintly heard something downstairs, but figured it was just the TV playing in the background and continued to talk with Nora. 


“Nora, I’m getting sleepy so I guess I will nap for a bit.” She announced, snuggling underneath the comforter, her eyes getting heavier by the second. 


“Sure. Get some rest, Z. Talk to you later.” 


“Bye,” Zenia said into the phone before hanging up, her eyes nearly closed at this point. 


She heard the door to the bedroom open in her sleepy haze. 


“J? Are you back already?” She asked, her voice muffled by the pillow. She didn’t hear a response and began drifting further. 


“No. It’s not Justin.” A deep voice answered, causing Zenia to gasp and sit up immediately. Her heart began to race as she adjusted her eyes on the person before her.


His once short buzzed hair was now a messy brown mop on his head. His green eyes were tired and red. His face haggard as if he had aged years since the last time she saw him. She thought for a minute that she was dreaming. There was no way that Michael was standing in the bedroom with her right now. She had fallen asleep and this was all just a bad dream. But the more she blinked and adjusted her eyes, the more she realized just how real this whole situation was. 


“Michael?” She asked warily. “What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”


He grinned and it made goosebumps appear on her arms, It was a grin that made her blood run cold. It scared her. 


“I came to see my daughter, Zenia. Why else would I be here?” He answered nonchalantly. 


“She’s-shes not here.” She stuttered and reached for her phone. She needed to call Justin.


“Don’t even think about calling anyone. You and I need to talk.”


She dropped the phone, her eyes never leaving his, afraid of what he might do if she looked away for even a second. 


“Talk about what?”


“Did you like the little surprise I left you at your apartment?” He said cockily.


Zenia became angry. A little surprise? He had ruined her whole home. Rage took over as she stood up and pushed him. “Surprise?? You ruined everything I worked hard for."


Michael grabbed her wrists harshly, pushing her down to the floor. Zenia cowered as he stood above her, quickly gaining control of her. 


“How does that feel? You ruined a relationship I could have had with my daughter.”


“You never had one, Michael!” She screamed at him. 


“Yeah, well you’re going to fix that.” He said grabbing her and forcing her body off of the ground.


“Let go of me!” She yelled, trying to free from his grasp. 



She felt a sting as his hand connected with her cheek. Tears immediately sprung to her eyes as she looked at him in shock. 


“Shut up! Listen to me. You’re going to go pack a bag for you and Grace, we are going to pick her up from school and we’re going to take a little trip. Don’t even think about doing anything stupid or there will be a lot more of what just happened.” He yelled, causing Zenia to jump. 


She quickly contemplated what he said, considering just pushing him and running for her life, but where would she go? Justin’s house was in the hills. She would have to run for quite some time before she got to safety and by that point he would have caught up to her. She could yell and scream but nobody would hear her. Doing what he told her seemed to be the only option at the moment. Maybe once they got to the school she could alert someone there that she was in danger. She quickly grabbed a bag and stuffed it with clothing. Michael following her around the home as she did so, carefully watching her every move. 


When the bag was packed, she grabbed her phone and put it inside the bag as well. Michael quickly ripped the phone out of the bag, turning it off and placing it in his own pocket. “You won’t be needing that.”


Zenia gulped. If she didn’t have her phone, how would she be able to contact Justin or her mother? 


Michael grabbed her hand and led her out of a window on the far side of the house that was clear of cameras. He dragged her along several yards into the wooded area until they reached his car. Zenia was in disbelief. He had planned this. He had scoped out Justin’s home and knew exactly how to get in without being spotted. It was scary to think that he had put so much thought into this.


They got into the car and headed in the direction of Grace’s school.


—


They arrived at Grace’s school about 20 minutes later. Zenia reached for the door handle and was yanked back by Michael. 


“Listen up. We’re going to go in here and get her and leave TOGETHER. No funny shit or you're both going to pay for that later. Do you understand?”


“Michael. Please don’t do this,” Zenia pleaded with him as a last ditch effort to get him to change his mind. She wouldn't say a word to anyone if he just let her go right now. 


“Just shut up! And do what I told you,” He ordered roughly. 


They both exited the vehicle and made their way into the school. Zenia signing Grace out for the day, making sure not to look at anyone differently or raise any alarm.


Grace came running out of her classroom with her backpack in tow. Her face immediately confused about why she was leaving early and who this man was with her mother.


“Mama? Who’s this?” Grace asked skeptically. Grace’s teacher looked at Zenia and Michael questionably. Zenia plastered on her biggest smile, hoping to convince the teacher that everything was okay. If she was being honest, she was trying to convince herself too.


“This is mommy's friend, Michael. He thought it would be a great idea to pick you up early today,” Zenia said, the lie coming out so fluidly that it scared her. 


Grace looked at the man again and back to her mother and shrugged. She smiled and waved at her teacher before walking out of the school with them. 


Once back in the car, the horrible feeling in the pit of Zenia’s stomach began to feel worse as they drove further and further away from the school. 


“Where are we going?” Grace asked, from the backseat. She was still a little uneasy about this new friend of her mother’s. She wondered why she had never seen him before today. 


Michael turned around and grinned at her, “We’re taking a little trip.”


“Is Justin coming too?” She asked, innocently.


Zenia held on as the car came to a complete stop on a semi busy street. She gasped as she was flung forward, thankful for her seatbelt that was safely secured. She looked back at Grace who was safe, but with a scared look in her eyes, clutching her little pink backpack. Cars honked as they went around them. 


“No. Justin is not coming with us.” Michael said coldly, his eyes fixated in front of him. 


Graces eyes began to fill with silent tears. She quickly realized there was something wrong with this new person in her life.


Zenia knew this was all a big mistake coming with Michael. She had wished she had fought harder, but was afraid of the consequences if she had not complied. Now she feared she had placed not only herself but her daughter in danger and she didn’t know how they were going to get out of this.