Leave No Trace

Chapter 16

Allison

Her eyes blinked open, feeling as though she was blinking glass. But there was still darkness. Though she blinked, she could see nothing.

Contacts are supposed to help me see, not blind me! She thought, irritated. She was in pain. There was blood dripping down her front, from the cut on her neck. She was covered in cuts and bruises from Alex's repeated attempts to try and extract Mira's name from her. Her throat was hoarse, as she kept screaming upon waking from nightmares. Her muscles were sore from being in the same position for hours on end, and it ached when she moved because of being tazed. Her nose hurt, and it hurt to breathe from where he'd kicked her in the ribs. But she was also mentally exhausted, torn between fear of dying and the longing to die. To end her suffering.

And she still couldn't see. She moved her head a bit, but then heard fabric rustling. A blindfold. She tensed, feeling the presence of another person in the room.

"Hello?" She called out, more stupid than brave. "Who's there?"

"Hello." The voice was soft, and she almost recognized it, but she couldn't match it to a face. The sound of swift footsteps moving towards her. "Hello darling."

She was definitely tense now. She didn't know this man, but his tone, and his use of the word darling sent her skin crawling. It was so familiar, and she still didn't know who he was. He chuckled, and suddenly, there was a hand on her face, making her start.

"My darling." He murmured. "You are so beautiful."

She was grimy, covered in blood and bruises, and likely smelled terrible. But she said nothing, because whoever this creep was, he certainly had a purpose.

She felt a hand at her waist, possessively touching her hip. She wanted to beat the hand away. But what he did next was worse. He slid his hand up her shirt, and she gasped in anger. How dare this stranger touch me like this?

The hand moved further up, creating goose bumps when it brushed against skin. His hand grazed her (bruised or broken) ribs, and she cried out in pain.

He chuckled. Sadistic, enjoys others' pain was what it caused her to think once her mind had cleared. She was still in a haze of pain however.

And then his hand came to rest on her chest, playing with the edges of her bra, and she had to stop herself from reacting. She tensed, perfectly still.

Then the hand moved away, untying the knots that bound her hands to the wall. She knew that she should be frightened, and so she was. Rescue isn't coming. She thought. It's never coming, is it? I will forever be trapped in this room. I will die before that happens.

The blindfold wasn't removed as she was yanked to her feet. Her muscles protested, and she cried out in pain at the roughness of the stranger. But he was chuckling to himself yet again. He put his hand on her lower back, guiding her, although his hand slowly slipped down to rest on her butt. Since her hands weren't tied, she jerked her elbow back, and as she was expecting, she hit something soft.

A slight groan emanated from the man. She didn't have time to think about it, she whirled around and kicked. She struck him somewhere, and heard the sounds of him hitting the ground. A cry of pain, a keening noise came from him, when someone struck her in the back. She turned again, striking with her fist, what felt like the side of a head. She heard a swish of something swinging through the air, and then pain exploded in her hand. She couldn't register what had happened. And then a kick to the stomach sent her sprawling backwards onto the floor.