Joe’s caging of you was not unexpected— really. You weren’t necessarily surprised when he decided to take you by the arms and cut you off from the rest of the world. The rest of your friends (because the ones that were remaining somehow managed to survive him) were now unable to see you, and so was your family. You were just… gone.

You had done so well. You had been so good for him in a way that he didn’t expect. Of course, he was slightly suspicious of you at first— but who wouldn’t be? Anyone would try and get out of such a situation if they were cursed into it. He had decided to trust you.

A similar situation happened in the past with Guinevere Beck. It was a name that Joe didn’t necessarily like to hear, as it only brought back those bad memories that he wanted to expel from his mind so he could focus on you.

Because you deserved his attention.

Every last drop of it for the past few weeks had been given to you. He had fed you— bathed you— let you sleep on the comfiest of mattresses that he could find. He thought his kindness was doing you well.

But, no.

You just had to betray his trust, didn’t you? That one time where he had let his guard down and you had managed to stab him with one of the typewriter needles that you had with you— as he had gifted you a typewriter for being so good for him.

You quickly whisked the keys out of his pocket and ran out, managing to lock him in after dealing him that injury that could be fatal. Of course, it wouldn’t actually kill him, because he was a lot better than that, but it still managed to stun him long enough to let you run away.

But what you didn’t know was that there was a spare key hidden inside the cage. You could’ve spent your time looking for it, but no. You decided to stab him instead.

And he was so frustrated.