ꜱᴛᴏᴄᴋʜᴏʟᴍ ꜱʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ

three

After he finished putting the bandaids on me, he went upstairs, he didn't say anything before he left. But he did leave the door open, which made me think he was coming back.

I had planned to beg him to untie me and give me food and water when he came back. I was planning the speech out in my mind, but every time I thought about his eyes and the way he looked at me, it gave me chills.

I heard him coming down the stairs and I cleared my throat as if to psych myself into talking to him. I turned to watch him coming down the stairs and to my shock, he was holding a glass of water and an off-white bowl.

"Don't complain, I have brought you food," He said in a monotone voice. He pulled over two of the crates and used one as a table for the food and the other for him to sit on.

He sat down in front of me after putting down the bowl and glass he was carrying. I watched him eagerly as he used the spoon resting in the bowl, to scoop up some soup. He held it out in front of my mouth.

It was kind of a creamy colour, a little bit more on the yellow side. I wasn't sure what it was but neither did I really care.

I put my mouth around the spoon and swallowed the soup as fast as I could. It didn't taste like much.

The man continued to get more soup and feed me until the bowl was almost empty.

I planned to 'suck up' to my kidnapper, maybe he wouldn't want to hurt me if we made nice, or he might even let me go.

"Thank you," I said swallowing the last mouth full of soup. He kind of looked at me plainly, I don't think he really cared if I was grateful or not. It was stressing me out, he didn't seem to care about much. How do you make friends with someone like that?

He held the glass of water to my lips. I chugged it down, the cold water soothing my sore throat. He titled the glass up for me, so I could get all of it. I lent into it and the water poured down the side of my face.

The water ran down my chin and landed on my chest. It was a bit embarrassing as I made eye contact with the man while it was happening.

When I have finished the water, he put the empty glass down on the crate.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I said to him.

"No, you don't," He said dismissing me. I wasn't too shocked by his response, but I did need to go, I wasn't trying to escape.

He got up and his phone rang. We both looked at his pocket before making eye contact. He stepped behind me and put his hand over my mouth.

"Yeah," The man said answering the phone, I could hear the man on the other end, call my kidnapper 'Levi'. "Tonight?" I wasn't sure what they were talking about, something about a job in the city.

This is my chance! I thought to myself. I bit down as hard as I could on Levi's hand and yelled out, "Help! He's kidnapped me, call the police."

Levi just rubbed his hand on his pants and said, "Yes, that's her, Walker's daughter... No, the bastard hasn't paid yet." My heart dropped as he walked upstairs.

---

It was about ten minutes later, that Levi came back, he was wearing all black and carrying a duffle bag.

"Do you still need to use the bathroom?" He said in an annoyed voice.

I looked at him with bright eyes and nodded. He unzipped his bag just enough for him to put his hand inside without me being able to see in.

He pulled out a knife and walked behind me. He used the knife to cut the zip tie. I wiggled my arms and wrist around with my newfound freedom. They were so sore, I had large red lines around my wrists, where the zips had been cutting into me for over 24 hours.

He untied my ankles.

Before I had the chance to stand up on my own, he gripped my upper arm and pulled me out of my seat. "This way," Levi said, pulling me towards the stairs, I had trouble feeling my legs after sitting down for so long.

I felt like I was going to fall over, Levi pulled me onto the stairs and I felt myself falling forwards, shit, I put my hands out and close my eyes.

I felt my head pat against the soft fabric of Levi's black shirt. My legs buckle under me and Levi grips my waist and back. His hands tightly wrapped around my body, holding me up. My hands unconsciously gripped onto his chest for support.

His body was warm against mine, he smelt like sandalwood, clean like he just had a shower and a little bit like tobacco.

"You ok? Can you walk now?"

I tried my best to pull myself off him without letting myself fall over. "Um, I'm okay."

He kept his hand tight on me as we walked upstairs. He took me to a small door, "Here's the bathroom, I will give you five minutes then come out."

"Okay."

He pushes the door open for me and closes it behind me. The door handle was round and a kind of bronze colour. There was a lock on the handle, that I twisted slowly and it clicked softly. My muscles tensed as it made a noise.

The bathroom was small, it was obvious it was not the main bathroom, not a shower or bath, just a toilet and a small sink.

I opened the cabinets under the sink to find them empty, nothing but an unopened tissue box. I looked around the rest of the room hoping to find a razor or some kind of small weapon.

I stand on the toilet to get a look out of the small window above the toilet. The sunlight was bright in my eyes, it looked around 6 pm. I squint as I look at the large dull field outside. There was nothing outside except for a few trees, and dead grass.

The window was too small for me to fit through plus it didn't open.

I just gave up and used the toilet and washed my hands and face in the sink. Levi knocked on the door and I got out. He took me back down to the basement.

Levi picked up his bag and left without saying a word. The door locked with a loud clicking sound.

I was stuck in this room yet again.