Stained

Break

***
I woke up in a cellar with bandages covering my leg, and all restraints gone.
I immediately started searching the room for an exit. There was only one door and, as I walked to it, it opened.
Unknown stepped in, a new sweater, his hood up and head down.
"What do you want?" I snapped.
"Fiesty, I like it." He lifted his head a bit and flashed a white smile.
"What do you want?" I asked, with more attitude.
"I just want to play." He closed and locked the door behind him. Then, he dangled a key in front of him.
"If you get the key, you can leave and I won't follow." He placed it in his pocket.
"And, if I don't?"
"We'll find out, won't we?"
I was still pondering when he pounced at me. I barely dodged as he somersaulted along the floor.
I felt a breeze on my stomach and glanced down to see a huge hole in my shirt.
"You cut me!"
"Correction," he said as he got up and started circling me again "I cut your shirt." He pointed at my shirt with a knife that I guessed he used to cut me.
I didn't even see the knife. If he's that fast, I don't stand a chance. He's also toying with me.
"You're toying with me." I meant it to come out as a statement, but my voice cracked and it sounded like a question.
"You could say that."
"You're sick."
"You think this is bad? Wait'll you really see me."
"I intend to get out before too long." I snapped.
"Oh, I love your attitude."
I scowled at him and dropped into a crouch.
"I may be a girl, but don't underestimate me."
He rose his hands in fake surrender.
"Oh, please, don't hurt me!"
I snarled and ran at him. I faked left, he went right, and I clipped him in the jaw. He stumbled back, rubbing his shadowed jaw.
"Football?"
"And others."
"Good. I like girls with muscle."
I scowled again.
Better not show him everything you know just yet.
I resolved to just showing him skills from football. A few tackles, followed by jumping off him before he could flip me over. I figured that out after the first time I tackled him. He flipped me over and pinned me. When I squirmed under him, he pulled the knife out and traced a small design on my cheek.
I got up and touched my cheek where the skin was indented a bit.
"You almost cut me."
"I know." He laughed again.
"I'm not fond of this game."
"But I am."
"I know. Which is not a good thing."
He chucked the knife. It whizzed past my face as I dodged it. I stared after it and when I turned, he was already upon me.
The breath was knocked out of my lungs as I hit the ground. While he was getting adjusted, I grabbed his hands, placed my feet on his stomach and pushed up, flipping him over me.
I jumped up after that and faced him. He was already up.
"That's not from football."
I didn't reply and chewed my lip. I searched for the place where the keys were, then remembered they were in his pocket.
"Shit." I muttered.
How do I get them out of his pocket?
I could try to pickpocket them.
He'd never let it be that easy.
It's worth a try.
I ran at him, faking right. He saw it coming and wrapped an arm around my waist. I countered him by reaching into his pocket, grabbing the key, then spinning out of his grip.
"Ballerina, too? That's why you're so willowy. Sneaky, pulling the keys out and spinning away."
"Alright," I panted "I played your stupid game and got the key, now I'm free to go?"
"Shit. Yeah, I guess."
"You're still messing with me."
"Just a little." He pulled out a different key. He nodded towards the one I was holding.
"Try it."
I put the key in and tried to turn it. It didn't budge.
"Goddamn you." I whispered.
He shrugged. "I couldn't make it that easy, could I?"
I didn't reply. I just stared at him. He stepped towards me. I jumped to the left.
"You're just going to avoid me?"
I stayed silent.
He sighed and faked left, and when I went right, he stomped into my path. He stepped forward, I stepped back, until he backed me into a corner.
He pulled out the knife and held it to my throat. I sucked in a breath when he pushed it in and cut the skin, letting the blood flow and soak the collar of my shirt.
I snarled and pushed the knife away. It clattered to the ground. His hood followed the knife then turned back to me.
"I'm not your personal toy."
He snickered and leaned in.
"Oh, but you are. I kidnapped you, I killed your dog as well as your boyfriend. Your parents might as well be dead now, too. What do you have left?"
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. I swallowed them.
"So you did touch him. I told you not to."
He laughed, a horrible, cold one. "As if I would listen to a child like you."
I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, and stared at the back wall.
He looked down at me. I raised my fist and punched him square in the nose as hard as I could manage.
He staggered back, reaching under his hood, and muttering swear words.
I stumbled over to him, clutching my neck, and grabbed the keys.
"Got them." I choked out, through my constricting throat. I struggled to keep from crying.
I scrambled to the door, frantically put the keys in and tried to unlock it, but my bloody fingers kept slipping.
As I finally turned the key, he slammed into me from behind.
I laughed. "It's gonna take more than that to take me down."
He pushed in my pressure point. I sucked in a breath, and fell to my knees.
"That was easy."
"Cheater." I hissed out.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you."
"Nothing." I choked out.
"I thought so. Get up."
He let go of me and I scrambled to get up. A little blood escaped from the cut in my neck and I covered it.
He glanced my way.
"Better not to mess with me. Or you might have a few more of those." He pointed at my neck.
I snarled. "I had the key, god–"
He stepped closer. I shut up. He stepped closer again. I stood my ground, even though he was close enough to harm me again.
"Still got some fight in you. Let's see how long it will take to break you."
He walked out.
***
When I was sure he was gone, I sat down and tended to my wound. I tore a strip if fabric off my shirt and wrapped it gingerly around my wound. I felt like one of those emo chicks with the chokers.
Damn him. What kind of psychotic asshole is he? My parents...Tim...
I shook my head. I couldn't think like that.
I searched around the room again. Nothing, not even a bed.
Then, I glanced at the door, and my eye caught something shiny.
The key!
I bolted up and ran over to it. I turned the key and smiled as I heard the click of the lock. I turned the knob and opened the door a tiny bit.
There was a hallway behind it. I peeked into the hallway, then opened the door more and looked behind it. He wasn't anywhere in sight.
In the hallway, there were four doors, plus a doorway to some stairs.
I checked all the doors. They were all empty rooms.
Then I headed down the stairs. The stairs were so creaky, every step was like a scream in the silence.
When I finally got to the bottom, it opened up to a large room. As in, like a church kind of thing, only not a church.
I gazed up at the tall ceiling, watching as the giant murals seemed to move, but actually didn't. Then I shook myself.
Get out.
I looked for a door with an exit sign of some sort. There were two to chose from, but neither had a sign. One was built into the side of the wall, the other was attached to a staircase.
The one in the wall looked promising, so I tried it first. Locked. I jogged over to the second one, hoping he didn't hear my sneakers tapping against the ground. Open.
As I suspected, it wasn't a door out, but a door in. It led down a flight if spiraling stairs.
I sighed, checked behind me, and stepped down the stairs.
When I got to the bottom, I ended up in some kind of lab. The dimly lit room looked like it was used for animal testing, because rats and other animals were skittering around in cages, and some dead ones were on tables, dissected.
I swallowed the rising bile in my throat and turned my back to them. I was heading up the stairs when the door opened and a person's form filled the door frame.
"Jess, if you're down here and you don't come out in two seconds, I'll cut you until you scream for my pleasure."
I stepped as silently and quickly as I could down the stairs and found a narrow corner I could squeeze into.
He came down the steps and stood at the bottom before sniffing the air.
He snickered. "You are down here. I can smell your perfume."
My eyes widened.
Dammit, dammit!
"Don't make this too easy on me, okay? I like hunting for my prey."
I covered my mouth to stop a sob.
He turned towards me. I was hidden well, although, if he walked past me, he'd definitly see me.
He stepped closer then snapped his head towards the sound of something clattering. One of the animals, most likely, but I took the chance to sneak out and get to the stairs.
I stepped onto the first one, and it screeched like holy hell.
His laugh echoed through the room.
"I said don't make it easy for me."
I screamed and ran up the steps. He followed, but I closed the door in his face, and bought a few seconds.
I ran back up the stairs towards my room, but instead, turned the opposite way. I heard the echoing footsteps behind me, and when I saw the dead end ahead, knew I was in trouble.
"Wrong turn, sweetheart." He mocked.
I reached the wall and banged on it. Then, hands pulled me back and pushed me to the ground.
Tears slipped from my eyes as he took his knife out and wasted no time in cutting my arm.
I winced as the knife slid across my skin, leaving trails of blood in it's wake.
He kept cutting and cutting.
"Come on, scream."
I let out an ear-splitting scream as he cut a deep hole into my arm.
"There it is!" He laughed and pushed the knife in a little farther.
"Stop, stop!" I cried.
He ripped the knife out.
I gripped the fresh wound.
He wiped the knife on my shirt, leaving another blood stain.
"I told you. Listen, and this won't happen. I will break you, and you'll obey my every command."
I nodded.
"That's better."
He got off me and hauled me up, gripping the arm he cut up. I yelped and tried to push his hand off, but he held fast.
He led me to the door I had tried earlier to get out of. Turns out, it was just another hallway filled with more doors.
He opened one and pulled me in after him. An awful scent attacked my nostrils. I soon saw what it was. Inside, was a body. More like a skeleton with a few chucks of rotting flesh hanging off and several hundred maggots squirming around it.
I could barely keep the barf from coming out. I glanced one more time at the corpse and noticed one of it's eyes was still there, but had a family of spiders living in it.
I turned away.
"God who is that?"
"My last victim."
"And you just left them here?"
"I did."
"Why would you show that to me?"
"To get that reaction. It was perfect."
I stared up at him, then yanked my arm back, and walked out. He followed me, and when we got out, grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the wall.
He reached and lifted my shirt up.
"Hey!" I yelled and pushed it down.
He placed a hand against my neck and pushed in, cutting off a little air, then continued lifting my shirt.
When he got to the bottom of my bra, he put my shirt under his elbow, then pulled something out of his pocket and started tracing something on my stomach.
I tried to see over his arm, but couldn't. When he was done, he traced it with his finger, which was gloved, smudging it a bit.
He let my shirt fall and walked off. I looked at it then jogged until I was behind him.
"What is this?"
"My mark."
"Mark?"
"Yeah. Now, if anyone finds you when you run off, they'll return you to me. You're mine, after all."
"I am not!"
"That mark proves otherwise."
"The mark–" I pulled up my shirt, licked my finger, and tried to rub it away. "–isn't coming off." I finished finally.
"Well, duh."
"Why not?"
"Why would I put a mark that could wash off on you?"
"Because–"
"I wouldn't."
I walked behind him, confused as hell, until we got back to my room. I was going to walk into it when he grabbed me and pushed me the other way.
"What?–"
"I don't trust you in there."
"What, because I escaped?"
"Sure. Let's say that."
I followed him as he winded through the hallway, to another door that led to another hallway. Then he went to the end of that hallway, chose a door and pushed me in.
I tripped and caught myself, then looked at the massive room. I thought my other room was huge, but no. This room was at least three times the size of that one.
"What is this room for?" I asked.
"This will be your training room."
"Training?"
He saw the look of confusion on my face and laughed.
"Not combat training. Like...." He struggled to find a word. "Dog training." He finished.
I stared at him. "Like sit, stay, roll over?"
"Something like that."
I was still staring at him when he pulled out several throwing knifes.
"I'll train you like this. If you don't obey, I get to throw a knife at you. I'll make sure its non-fatal."
"No way! That's combat training!"
He threw a knife at me. I dodged it.
"This is not a good idea."
"Probably not. But, I've gotta train you somehow."
"You couldn't have chose a different way?"
"Nope."
He started to give me orders and, when I didn't obey, he'd throw another knife at me.
He'd walk around and pick them up after he threw them.
I stopped, panting. "Wait, wait. I think we've been doing this long enough."
I bent down and breathed heavily. He had me running around for almost an hour with no stopping.
"We've only been at it about an hour."
"Only?!"
"No. You didn't obey me."
"Screw you."
"Here comes another knife!"
"Wait!–"
He chucked it. I didn't move in time, and it hit my shoulder. I gasped and held in a scream. He walked over and pulled the knife out, cleaning it on my shirt again.
I whacked the wall over and over again, yelling and spitting out swear words.
"Bad Jess. Bad."
I glared at him.
"What....the hell....was that for?" I hissed through clenched teeth.
"You disobeyed me."
"What the–"
"Don't backtalk."
I shut my mouth and struggled to get up. The pain radiating through my arm made my legs want to buckle.
He poked my shoulder and I fell over, onto my back.
"I never said you could leave."
"I don't care. I've been 'training' for an hour. My legs and arms ache."
"My head aches. But, I won't stop until you beg me to."
"I won't beg for anything from you."
"You will, in time. Get up. Or beg to get out."
I sighed and stood again, wincing at the pain in my arm.
"Good. You're getting better."
"How long are you going to do this?"
"Like I said, until you beg."
***