{Slow fade in}

[Whisper] Good morning, dearest.

<Immediate signs of struggle; fabric rustle, body movement on bed>

S-stop...struggling!

<Speaker wins the fight, pins listener to bed; still struggling>

Your taser is already gone. I moved it when I got here. 

I just need to talk with you.

Shut up, d-darling. This isn't the time to argue.

Quit looking at the door. I blocked it off when I got in here. You'll stay right here until I get some answers out of you. I thought ahead this time. Hope you don't mind the role reversal, doc-tor.

You should have known this would happen. That I'd be here. That I'd find you. That I'd chase you down to the ends of the earth, no matter where you go.

I'll admit, staying in the same city? Unexpected move. Using my name to make bogus hotel reservations? Even more unexpected. Honestly. Using my own name against me like that is a low blow when it should be your name. [Extremely bitter] Our name.

You lost your spark a week ago. You didn't even last a month away from me~! Slipped up and used the credit card over cash. Force of habit, maybe? I tracked it to this hotel, and since you ever so carelessly thought I'd never search under my own last name, never considered I'd use it to get access in here with the concierge. You being asleep was just luck, at that point. 

You hid for awhile, sure...but I still found you anyway, doc-tor~

[Giggle; nefariously/creepily]

[Deep guttural gasp; listener knees the speaker in order to scramble away]

<sound of being knee'd/kicked, fabric, and stumbling away>

[Out of breath] Urrrgh. That. That really hurt, honey...

[Pained] Ow...

<speaker moves to look at listener>

No. No. No-no-no.

Get the hell away from that window.

You and I both know you're on the fourth floor of the hotel. You'll die from this height.

How dare you say "it's worth it". 

I still have the taser. I could reach you from here before you could even get your hand close enough to unlatch it. 

"Just get out"? Not a chance. The door is barricaded. Neither of us are leaving until I hold you in my arms and we walk out together.

You have a better idea? Like what?

<Glass shattering; listener has jumped through the window>

<Thumping of body upon concrete...four stories down>

[Shriek] DARLING, NO!

Oh my god, oh my god...

<Fabric of scrambling off the bed>

I'll get you. I'll get you dear.

[Hysterical] I can fix this! We can fix this! Things will be okay!

<Wardrobe collapsing; door is unbarricaded>

I'm coming doctor, I'll save you! I'll rescue you! 

<footsteps running away>

{Fade out; pause; time passes}

{Fade in}

You twitched. I saw it. 

Oh thank the gods you're still alive.

You're not moving...but your breathing is faster. You're awake, doctor. I can't be fooled that easily.

Your heart rate has quickened. You're...afraid. I understand.

You've been out for a very long time.

{Pause}

Ugh. Fine. Play your stupid silence game. You won't win it.

We're in our new home, by the way. Far from the world and prying eyes. Further from where we used to live.

So you can say or do whatever you want, here. Your only captive audience is me.

{Pause}

You're an idiot. Are you aware of that? An idiot among idiots.

We had everything, darling. A perfect life, with your perfect wife, and career that would have made us millions, you famous, and the world's environment so much cleaner. And you went and threw it all away.

But I remained...optimistic. Maybe a teaching role wasn't that bad. Our cozy home life could be quieter. More intimate. You get to influence the world through its students instead. I could maintain your research progress on your behalf while you grade essays. Life still had a plan. You threw that plan away, love.

Ruining our future like that, just to spite me. And yet...I still love you all the same.

The game is over. No more tricks. No more schemes. No more...anything, really. 

That month you disappeared after our date was eventful. Did you enjoy ruining my life? Posting that video at Iscariot to YouTube was rude. Sending it to the lab's HR department was destructive. Hunting down my friends and family to show them, too, was personal. Have you no class? No shame? Probably not.

They fired me pretty much instantly. Scrubbed my name from the records. Stripped my contributions from any of the studies. No severance. No exit interview. Barely managed to get my desk materials back.

My family has disowned me. Left my mother in tears and my sister threatening to kill me if I ever came back. Do you take joy in hurting me like this? Is this some kind of sadism thing?

I've been NOTHING but nice to you over the years. Decades, now. Friendly chats in the break room. Sharing beers during happy hours. Meeting on weekends to share cat photos with Yasmeen and Oscar.

Who organized your get well package when you had your appendix removed? Who stopped by to make sure you were okay when your childhood cat Karma died?

{Pause}

Huh?? You going to answer, or just sit there silent and rot?

Who gave up EVERYTHING they had to make you happy? I went out of my way to do this the right way for years. I kept my distance! I said the right things! I even went to therapy because I knew you'd need me more controlled than I was long ago. Do you have ANY idea how hard that was? To watch the person you love, basically idolize be within your reach for years and not being able to take it? I only had the self restraint enough to do it because I knew I was doing it for YOU.

They tried to stick me with you early on. Did you know that? Dr. Walker thought we were cute and tried to push it. I spoke against it, knowing you would despise it and possibly quit the research team. You wanted space. I ensured you maintained that space.

What did even matter. You broke away anyway.

You abandoned me. Your coworkers. Your friends. Surely you realize, doctor, that I'm not the only person who had cared about you? Who looked out for your wellbeing and success? Who LIKED having you around?

[Sigh]

You make bad decisions. You always have. It's honestly almost impressive how consistent you are with it. A diet of black coffee and stale toast, eighteen-hour workdays, running all of the other lab members off because of your freakish, obsessive behavior towards completing your compound.

The irony of someone with such obsession hating someone else following theirs. There's a level of beauty to it.

{Pause}

I've been busy while you've been asleep. You spent three weeks or so in the hospital. It's a good thing that I forced through the marriage documents before anyone caught on. A forged signature and lied-about dates go pretty far. Common law suggests we were already quite close...with you booking hotels in my name, after all. So thanks for helping me out, dear, in becoming your wife.

Ring is on your finger, by the way. Don't even think about taking it off.

The hospital ignored my arrest warrants, I guess. Maybe they don't check when it comes to guests. It's the first time since you decided to ruin my life that I could talk to humanity without fear of being arrested. It was almost...nice. 

It wasn't until your arrest warrants were published that things got...complicated, to say the least. I had to steal you out of the hospital—not an easy task, mind you—and bring you to our home while still in very bad condition. You're getting better sure, but probably only from the waist up.

Yes.

Your arrest warrants. For those students you killed, silly! What a shame their old professor snapped and did such an awful thing. Nationwide news, really. So brutal, to take out fourteen people like that.

{Pause}

A magician never reveals her secrets~...

You took my independence away from me. Because we went on a date. One time.

Taking yours seemed fairly reasonable in my shoes. Flat ones, no less.

We're stuck here now. Whether you like it or not, the world wants us ripped apart and scattered like ashes. But that's okay, doctor, it's okay. We will get through it together, for what's left of our lives. 

How does it feel to truly hate me? To have the fire of malice truly burn away at your heart?

You're not some ghost in the world, floating by like an idea that can come and go. You're human. Disgustingly so. I spent so long believing in your strengths that I could not comprehend that you might have weaknesses.

The battle is over, darling. I have won. There's simply no use fighting anymore. You don't even have the means to try. I am your wife. We have a home together. The world won't get their hands on us anymore.

{Pause}

You have serious nerve to begin crying now. I tried so hard to do this right. [Furiously defeated] I tried SO HARD. Nothing ever worked, from being subtle to being direct. I gave you chances to do the right thing and you never once did. This is your fault.

And you know what's the most frustrating part about all of it? I still love you. Somewhere a bit deeper down than before, sure, but I do. 

Please. Release your tension. Today is the start of the rest of your new life...with me. You'll have to come to enjoy it soon enough. I'm going to come and hold you now. With any luck, I'll never have to let go again...

End.