His Mercy

9. Playing nice

I never understood how important time is to me. My life was always on schedule, when I wake up, what time school starts, when I had practise or hanging out with friends. My mom always called after work to check on me. Making sure I was okay. All I want now is to hear her voice. her basic question that I got so bored of "are you alright?" .

The answer now is no.

I miss her. 

What does this man want? Why am I here? Is he going to kill me? Is he asking for ransom? God I hope he doesn't-

The door opened. 

"I heard crying" 

"I-I'm sorry.." I sniffled. I wasn't even aware I was crying. The thought of him doing something to me sent a chill down my spine. 

"It-it won't h-happen again.."

"What's wrong?" he walked in and closed the door. 

"I-I'm fine, really" I quickly said. Not a chance in hell I'll open up to this psycho. "Really, you can go" I tried to smile. 

"I'm not leaving you in a state like this" he grabbed the stool and sat down. 

"Tell me whats bothering you" he suddenly sounded so sincere. 

"I-I can't.."

"Why not?"

I looked at him, his eyes were so dark. The mask hugged his face well. He now had a hoodie on. Made him look younger. 

He knows what is wrong, I want to know why I am here. But he made it very clear that he'd hurt me if I ask again. 

I hugged my body and looked down. Why won't he just leave me alone?

"Talk to me"

"No" I shuddered.

He sighed. Suddenly he grabbed the chain around my foot "I'll take it off if you open up"

Interesting. I bit my lip and nodded. Getting that chain off sounded too good. In a swift motion he got the chain off so I could pull my leg to my chest. 

I was sure he'd sit down on the stool again but instead he sat down next to me. I moved a bit so his body didn't touch mine. 

"Talk.." he gestured. 

This was too weird, suddenly he was acting so nice. "I just..well.." I don't like this.

"It's okay" he said and his fingers stroked my thigh. 

"I hate it here.." I admitted. But he already knew that. 

"I want out.." I continued "and I know you won't tell me why I'm here, please don't punish me for asking this, but.. will you ever let me out?"

His fingers stopped. I heard his sigh again, the urge to rip off his mask was getting to me. How does this man look? 

"Yes" he said. I turned to him.

"What?"

"You heard me" I could hear his smile "you will not be in this room forever"

Okay that's a relief. But when will he let me out?

"You're wondering when aren't you?"

I looked down and turned away "yea.."

"Tell you what" he grabbed my chin so I was looking at him "if you behave well for the next month, I'll let you out of the room"

"Next month?!?" I pulled away from him "That's so not fair!"

"Behave for the next month and I'll let you out of the room" he said again, unfazed by my outburst. 

"F-fine..." I grumbled "but I want more"

"What will that be?"

"Take off your mask"

He laughed, but stopped when he realised I wasn't joking. I hate being held by a mystery person. Knowing what he looked like might make this easier. Less scary..

He stood up. "Anything else?"

Knowing the time wouldn't hurt. "Maybe a clock, if that's not too much to ask"

"You want me to reveal my face but are shy to ask for a clock?" he chuckled. 

I hugged my knees a bit tighter. "Please.."

 "Alright.." he sighed. My eyes were glued to the ground. This was a bad idea, I shouldn't have provoked him. He'll just kill me like he said. 

I heard him move around the room, he's thinking it through. Then something dropped by my feet. His mask..

A part of me didn't want to look up, but of course the temptation was unbelievable. 

He stood there, his back turned to me. His hair was honey brown, a bit rough but looked freshly cut. His hood hid his neck so I couldn't see his skin tone. I stood up on one leg, supporting my weight on the wall. "Please..turn around"

He hesitated but eventually I could see his ear, his chin, his eye, nose..his whole face.

His expression was serious. He looked familiar but I could place him. "One month" he said and then opened the door. "No wait!" I moved towards him but lost my balance. My knees landed on the mattress "Stay a bit longer"

He smiled "I'll be right back"

Then he closed the door. I can't believe it, he showed his face. I grabbed the mask on the ground, will he put it back on? Or is this it? I brought it closer to my face, it smelled like him. And for some reason it made me smile. 

One month, I have to behave for a whole month. It's already been so long, does he expect me to be fine with being locked up for a month? Thats way too long and I'm already bored out of my mind. Before I could start another flow of tears, the door opened again.  He walked in slowly and I sat back down on the stool. In his hand was a small clock. 

"I just put in new batteries so this should last a long time" he smiled. I couldn't stop looking at his face. Where do I know him from? His eyes were sparkly, his chin was strong but his nose gave him the good guy look. For a second there I had to remind myself that he is a kidnapper. He pushed me down the stairs, chained me down, punched me, told me he will kill me..

Suddenly his face wasn't so nice anymore. 

He put the clock down next to the mattress. "How's the book going?"

"Fine"

"You know when you finish it, there is a part two"

"Don't you have any other books?"

He gave me a thin smile "Finish those and I'll let you choose the next one, but I'm sure after you've read the first two..you'll ask for number three"

"There is a number three?"

He didn't answer.

"It's almost dinner time, what would you want?" he asked.

"Uhm..pizza?"

"Sounds good" and then he smiled again.