The House at the Edge of the Cliff

Only Two Options

It was so quiet in here. In this whole house! It was making me stand at the edge of insanity at this point! My tears had stopped flowing a while ago, leaving the sides of my face feeling dry and crusty in its wake.

I was still on my back since Gunner had not come back to untie me. No matter how hard I tried, I could not wiggle free or loosen the knots.

The only thing I could not complain about I guess was the sheets were soft, so it was not digging into the skin of my wrists very much.

There was no way to tell how much time had passed. Time seemed to be only a thought inside these walls. It was always almost pitch black. Only certain areas had wisps of light in them.

So I could have been tied up in this room for hours, or mere minutes. Who knew other than the quiet man lurking through the hallways.

In another fit of rage, I started to thrash around again. Kicking my legs out and making the bed bounce and squeak underneath me.

I tried to wriggle my wrists around, but it was to no avail. The sheets that kept me in place were expertly knotted. The knots might not even be able to loosen up. I might just have to be cut from it.

To keep myself from yelling out I grit my teeth together so painfully that it felt like they might shatter. The hot tears were rolling down my face again, causing the already tender skin on my face to feel itchy.

I just wanted to go home. I wanted to see my parents again. I wanted to see Stella's and Jamie's families again too. To have grill nights and sleepovers again.

I was so scared for all of us. I had no idea if I would ever see any of them again. Our families or my friends. I did not even know if I would be alive tomorrow.

It was such an insidious feeling. So scared for your life and having no idea what was going to happen to you and the ones you love.

The feeling of knowing that you might die. To die alone in a scary place, with a scary man. That my friends may go through the same thing or already have.

Defeated, I let my body relax again. I knew I could not get myself out of these knots. I could not chew through them either, the fabric was too thick.

The only thing I could do was nothing, was wait. Wait until he came back and decided what next to do with me. I just wanted to lose my cool again and start thrashing around. Waiting when you were terrified, especially when you were tied down, made someone really just wanna panic.

I would rather he had actually hit me and knocked me out over than this. Maybe this is what he wanted me to feel though. He wanted me to panic, and to make me feel helpless. That way I would just be even more afraid of him. At least that's what I could see him doing.

Panic was beginning to settle in, I needed to get myself calm. I closed my eyes, scrunched them tight every few seconds at the itchy feeling from my tears.

Making an effort to breathe in through my nose instead of my mouth, I took it deep breaths that I held in for a few seconds before slowly letting out.

That's what I continued to do. I did not know for how long, I was not paying attention to how much time may have passed. I focussed only on keeping my eyes closed and my breathing strong and steady.

It was the only thing that was keeping me from having another fit. The only thing straying me from doing something that might attract Gunner back.

I would do anything, even if it killed me, to keep him from coming back right now. This time was different than all the other times I was trapped. All the other times I was just placed in an empty room. Now I was tied up and completely helpless. Even though before now I still was not doing a very good job of defending myself.