The Exception

Chapter 1

~Unconditional~

She watched as he tugged and pulled at the ropes holding him to the chair. Sweat collected in his dark brown hair and slid down onto his face as he rushed to undo the knots. Nothing seemed to work. He called for help but the cloth muffled his screams. The ropes wrapped around his arms and legs bit into his skin, tightening as he struggled against them to release himself. He pushed his feet into the ground, leaning back to push the chair legs into the air. The effort was futile but his will was unrelenting. He pushed his feet harder into the ground, attempting, for the second time, to free himself.

"You don't want to break your neck, do you?" she said as she walked out from behind a large crate.

They were in a big, abandoned, warehouse. The steel walls, which were loosing their shape, were covered with rust and ivy. The walls also had a variety in dents, ranging in size. "Nick's Storage Center" was painted on the outside of the building in red paint, which had faded away over the years. Moss had grown over the letters, which made them almost impossible to read.

The man jumped and looked behind him. His stomach tightened as a wave of panic fell over him. His heart raced as he thought about what was going to happen to him. He squinted into the dark to find the source of the voice, but the shadows were too dark for him to see through them. Although he couldn't see anything, he heard muffled footsteps coming from the shadows. He tried even harder to undo his bounding, racing to untie the knots, his heart beating out of his chest. When that didn't work, he started to thrash wildly in his chair, trying to find any way of escape. When he heard her footsteps getting closer he tensed up, knowing there wasn't enough time to undo his bounding. He squinted through the darkness to see who his kidnapper was. When she stepped into the light, his stomach tightened, feeling like he was going to throw up. He gasped, his eyes widened.

The only light in the warehouse came from a small window near the ceiling. The light shined through the window, on to the cement floor, which made a silvery glow. There wasn't enough light coming from the window to light up the whole room, so only objects directly under the window could be seen.

The woman walked towards him and undid the cloth covering his mouth.

He tried to scoot his chair away from her but she stopped it with her foot.

"You..." he said, trying to gain some courage. "You monster!" His stomach lurched in fear as he thought about what the woman could do.

She walked closer to him and laughed as he tried even harder to undo the ropes.

"Please, don't do this!" He begged.

She looked at him, but didn't say anything. She walked up to the front of the warehouse, so he could see her without having to turn around. She looked at him and laughed at how nervous he looked. She shifted her focus from the man to her dark blue watch wrapped around her wrist.

The watch was a navy blue, but there were a lot of places were the paint had been chipped. There were also a few places where the watch itself had been scratched. The hands on the clock were frozen on "5:16". It looked like it hadn't worked for at least a year, something someone would have thrown away. The "second hand" of the clock had fallen off and slid around on the inside of clock when she moved her arm. The watch also had a small button on the left side. She looked at the man again and then reached over to push the button.

"Is that how you do it?" the man asked, his voice shaking, as he quivered in fear.

"What?" she asked and looked at him, "Oh, yeah." She smiled and laughed, once again.

"Please don't! My wife and kids are at home! I'm a good man with a great job and a steady income! Please! I'll do anything!" he begged, a tear streaming down his face.