Love In The Dark

Such A Cute Family Reunion

"Liv? Liv can you hear me?" Amanda reached out as close as she could to where Liv's body had been dropped before all the light had gone back to darkness. Tears filled her eyes and she could feel the metal cutting into her skin.

"Amanda? Amanda is that you?" Everything around her was hazy and dark. She forced herself to sit up but everything around her was bitch black and the was a dizziness that filled her head. She forced herself to meet Amanda's voice. She reached around in the dark until she felt Amanda's hand. She all but threw herself into Amanda's embrace. They cried in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. Liv couldn't help but let her mind wander to all the places she didn't want it to. She reached for her face and brought it closer to her own.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She felt the tears that were welling in her eyes spill over. "Amanda, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." She couldn't help but let out the cries that escaped.

"It's not your fault, my love. You can't blame yourself for this. He would have found a way to hurt someone you cared about regardless of where we were. You're not at fault my love." Amanda wrapped her free arm around Liv's frame and held her tighter.

She whispered quietly into her ear as if saying it out loud made it real. "I was afraid that I was never going to see you again." Liv squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"I never would have stopped looking for you." Liv positions herself next to Amanda leaning her own back against the radiator that Amanda still remained cuffed to. They sit in silence before Amanda asks the question that has been burning in the back of her mind since she got here.

"Does anyone even know where we are?"

"It doesn't matter because we're going to get out of here either way. Don't think like that. There's two of us and one of him." Amanda shakes her head nervously ignoring the fact that Liv can't see her in the pitch black.

"No Liv. We can't go against him. I'm cuffed to this radiator and you're not in any position to fight him like this. He's got a gun Liv. What's to stop him from killing us right now if he wanted to?"

"His game. He wanted us both here. He knew taking you would lead me right where he wanted me. Us being here is the start of whatever he's got planned. I was with him for four days and he was completely unphased by how much time had gone by. We'd die down here of starvation before he killed us. He doesn't want me dead or I'd have been dead by now." Amanda thought long and hard about what Liv was saying. For once she couldn't read Liv's expression, and it wasn't from the lack of light. She couldn't tell if she was scared too and if she was just putting up a front or if she truly believed they had any amount of leverage. After a few more moments of silence Liv shuffled around in the darkness.

"LIv? What are you doing?" She can hear Liv walking around but it takes another minute before she answers. "I'm seeing if there's anything down here that can actually help us."

"Liv, I looked around this whole room when it wasn't pitch black, there's literally nothing down here." Amanda hears the folding chair hit the ground.

"Shit, what is this?" Liv reaches down in the dark and picks the chair up off the ground feeling what it is before leaning it back against the wall. "I guess we could always see if he remembers what a metal bar to the face feels like." She knows it wouldn't do enough and that it's an inappropriate time to joke but all she has right now is dark humor and enough energy to figure out a way to get them out of here.

"Liv wait, look in the tote. There's a bin over by the chair." She knew he wouldn't have left anything down here that could actually hurt him but she knew it was also worth looking. Even if there was nothing that could hurt him, there might be something that could be beneficial to them. She stumbles in the dark feeling around for the bin. Her foot hits the bottom of the bin and she kneels down prying the lid off. She feels around inside. She takes things out one by one sitting them on the floor by her knees. Her eyes light up as she pulls out the next thing. She knows exactly what it is before she even finishes pulling it out. She grips the hard plastic handle and slides the switch. A round beam of light illuminates the wall in front of her. She spins around shining the light in a full circle around the room. Amanda squints as the light hits her eyes and her face lights up like a kid on Christmas morning.

"I never thought I'd be so excited over a flash light! What else is there?!" Liv aims the light back into the tote.

"There's some cans of food, a blanket, some bottles of water and one spare battery."

"Does that mean he really isn't coming back?" Amanda's face drops. "Liv, I don't want to die down here." She piles all the stuff back into the small tote except for the blanket and the flashlight and clicks the lid back into place. She walks back over to Amanda wrapping the blanket around her. She rests her hands on each side of Amanda's cheeks looking directly into her eyes.

"Listen to me, neither one of us is going to die down here. Do you hear me?" Tears fill Amanda's eyes and she nods her head up and down in understanding even though deep down she doesn't believe it at all. Liv sits back down next to her and Amanda pulls the blanket off of her and lays it over their laps. Liv switches the flashlight off sitting it on top of the blanket between them.

"We should save the battery as much as we can." She closes any distance between them leaning back into Liv as Liv wraps her arm around her. Liv tries to ignore the throbbing ache in her head and pulls Amanda as close as she can. They both jump as they hear the lock on the other side of the door. Liv turns towards the stairs positioning herself in front of Amanda. He walks down the stairs and the light from the top of the stairs dimly illuminates the room. He reaches the bottom of the stairs with the same devious smirk he always makes.

"Well, isn't this just such a cute family reunion. I see you've found the supplies I've generously left for you." He laughs, "You'll need them, but I'd use them sparingly if I were you. Your attitude and appreciation towards me will determine how inclined I'll feel to provide you with more. I've got business to take care of making sure you didn't leave behind any breadcrumbs for your friends at the NYPD to follow."

Liv glares at him. "You can't just keep us down here and expect no one to look for us."

"Oh, that's exactly what I'm gonna do and I'm expecting them to look, they just won't find you." He backs up towards the stairs and closes the door behind him.