When the Clock Strikes Midnight

9:15 p.m

A/N: I had this chapter written out for a while but I totally didn't realize that I hadn't posted this. Sorry guys lol. But thank you guys for reading. 

I pull back from Elizabeth, searching her eyes with concern and confusion. She sniffles, wiping her tears away. I manage to paste a warm smile onto my face, not wanting to scare her away from me.

"What do you mean that he isn't your real dad sweetheart?" She sniffles again, settling on the ground across from me and wrapping her arms around her knees. She is wearing pink pajamas that are too small for her, so they don't cover a lot of her calves. I meet her eyes again, trying to convince her to tell me. She meets me eyes, a tear rolling down her face.

"Well, when I was littler, when I was 4 almost 5, my parents went away on a cruise and left me at home with a babysitter. But the babysitter didn't care. She would only come by the house to give me food or so that she could have a place to hang out with her boyfriend. So one day, I wandered outside to my backyard to play on my swingset. I was playing when that guy walked up. He told me that my parents had died on the cruise and that he was a nice businessman who was going to help me find a new home. I was really sad but I went with him anyway because I didn't know that he was lying. He brought me here and locked me in this room. I would still cry all the time, especially because he wouldn't visit. He would only bring me meals. But if I was crying when he came in, or I wouldn't call him dad, he wouldn't bring me food. I would go hungry until I started doing what he said again. Then he started telling me about the people in the basement. And I knew that you guys couldn't be bad people, because if the basement was for bad people, then he would be down there. I just started listening to him and doing what he said because I didn't want to get brought down to the basement." She starts crying again and I pull her into my arms, staring into the space in disbelief. She finally settles down and pulls back, rubbing her eyes.

"That's not even everything. One time he said that I was being really bad because I had thrown up on my sheets because I was sick. So he made me go to the basement and watch as he hurt someone. Another girl. Not any of you. But just another girl. And he said that if I looked away, the same thing would happen to me. I was really scared. And I still am. I never wanna go down there. Was he doing bad stuff to you down there?" I want to tell her no but she must already know that he did hurt me.

"Yes, he did hurt me down there. Along with my friends. He has also brought me and another girl up here sometimes to do some bad things. He only let me come in here because he thinks that I am different. But it's ok. I will protect you from him. I promise." She nods, crawling into my arms again. Suddenly I hear someone screaming and I tighten my arms around Elizabeth. She tightens but doesn't move, just stays curling up in my arms. The screams continue and Elizabeth and I stay on the ground, holding on to each other. Finally the screams stop and Elizabeth pulls away from me, sniffling slightly.

"Do you wanna watch a movie? We have about an hour before Micheal comes to check on us. He has a very specific schedule for when he is coming to check on us." I nod, standing up. I keep my mouth clamped shut, not wanting Elizabeth to hear me in pain. We make it to the bed and I lay down, my body completely shutting down from exhaustion. Elizabeth grabs the remote and comes and lays in my arms. She turns the TV on and turns towards me.

"What do you wanna watch?" I smile, looking down at her.

"You can pick what we watch. I haven't watched any movies in a while." She nods, clicking onto Disney and scrolling through. She reaches a movie called "Bedtime Stories" and clicks on it, settling into my arms. The movie starts and we watch, Elizabeth giggling occasionally. I slowly start to drift off to sleep, my body needing to re energize.

............

I hear loud footsteps and I open my eyes, looking around in confusion. My memories come back to me and I instantly tighten my arm around Elizabeth. I look down at her, seeing that she is sleeping in my arms. I gently but quickly lay her onto the bed and I get off, going and sitting in a corner on a beanbag so that Micheal doesn't find her near me. The door opens and Micheal walks in, humming softly. He looks at the bed and sees Elizabeth asleep then looks over at me. He smiles, closing the door softly and walking over to me. He drags a beanbag over and sits down, facing me.

"So, how have you and Elizabeth been getting along? Been talking about anything important?" I smile, meeting his eyes.

"Nope. She just asked what bad thing I had done to get put down in the basement then she went to go and watch a movie. I stayed over here and watched the movie. She fell asleep a few minutes into the movie but I kept it going so that I could finish watching it." Micheal nods, looking over at Elizabeth.

"She really is my miracle child. I love her so much. But anyways, back to you. Did you hear all of the screaming earlier?" I nod, looking down. Micheal reaches out and grabs my chin, yanking it up so that I am looking at him.

"I had such fun. I finished what I had started with Veronica then tortured Theo a little bit while the drugs were still wearing off. It was great fun. Now, I know that you wanted to talk about the others not having to be in the basement?" I nod, making his hand lose its grip on my chin.

"I know that you like me a lot more than them, but I am fiercely protective of them. And I want to make sure that they are ok. So I had an idea. You can put everyone into pairs and put them in different rooms. And then you can bring them to the basement to torture them if you must. But I don't want them to be tortured. They don't deserve it. None of us deserve it." Micheals eyes darken and he clenches his jaw, grabbing my chin again.

"If it wasn't for the fact that my daughter was in here right now I'd rape you again. But she is. So you are safe for now. But you know that you guys deserve this. All of you did an awful thing that affected the lives of everyone around her. So you deserve this. Now I have a different idea with the others. Two of them can come up here and stay in a different room for a day while the others stay downstairs and get tortured. And it will be a cycle. Now, how does that sound?" He lets go of my chin and I rub it, trying to get the pain to go away.

"That sounds fine. It sounds like a great idea. Now can you please go? I don't want you to wake up Elizabeth." Micheal puts his hands around my throat, starting to squeeze. I gasp, wanting to stay quiet so that I don't wake up Elizabeth but needing air.

"IF ELIZABETH WAKES UP THAT'S HER OWN DAMN FAULT! NOW STOP IT! YOU AREN'T ANY BETTER THAN THE OTHERS! SO YOU BETTER START WATCHING YOU MOUTH!" Elizabeth wakes up with a jolt and looks over at us, gasping in fear. I start choking, not being able to get any air. Elizabeth runs over and starts banging on Micheal's arms, trying to get him to let go. Micheal finally does and turns to Elizabeth, smiling.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that honey. She was just doing something bad so I had to punish her. Now go back to bed. I will see you in the morning." He plants a kiss on her forehead and she reluctantly walks back to her bed, looking back at me with concern. Micheal turns back to me, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Now look what you did. You woke up my daughter. You better be expecting punishment tomorrow. But I will follow through on my plan. You can pick the first two to go to the safe room. Who are you choosing?" My mind blanks, not wanting to pick who gets to be free from torture but not wanting to have to keep the others getting tortured.

"You have 3 seconds, or else you will be the one getting tortured the rest of the time that you guys are here. 3, 2 ....."

"I pick Veronica and Theo! Veronica and Theo!" Micheal smiles, standing up.

"Ok. That's fine. I will get that set up tomorrow. Now sleep well. I will see the both of you tomorrow." Micheal walks out, locking the door. As soon as the door locks Elizabeth jumps out of bed, running towards me. She kneels down in front of me, looking at me with fear.

"Are you ok? Why was he choking you? What happened?" I put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her hair behind her shoulder.

"It was nothing sweetheart. Let's go back to sleep, ok?" She nods, standing up and walking back towards the bed. I do the same, stumbling over to her bed and barely landing on it. She scoots over and I lay down, putting my arm around her. She snuggles into my arm, starting to fall back asleep. I look up at the ceiling, tears starting to come to my eyes.

How am I ever supposed to survive this? Or the rest of them? And then this poor little girl. I can't stand this anymore. I need to get out of here. I need to save this little girl and the others.