Restrained

Leo

I've been in this cell for months, and Ivy hasn't come back. I'm worried she may be hurt, or dead. I shouldn't be thinking like this. Ivy promised she would come back, so I need to trust her on that.

I'm filthy and sweating with no clue where I am. Why am I even here? This old man takes me from my house and the next thing I know my life is getting threatened with a knife to my throat. What did Ivy even do? Did she really piss these people off that much? Well, a mouth like hers, I wouldn't be too surprised.

I hear footsteps coming from the stairs and I jump up to the cell bars trying to see, hoping it's Ivy. To my disappointment, I see another old man.

I watch as he passes the other empty cells where the others have died of diseases and old age, and stops in front of me, peering at me.

"So, you're Leo I assume?" He asks in a chilling cold voice.

"Depends. Who's asking?" I glare, refusing for another old man to walk over me.

"Me." He smiles. "Ivy's father."

I look at him in shock and confusion as he lets his words sink in.

"But you left her. Why come back now?"

Her father takes out a blade and turns it in his fingers, toying with it.

"Because I need her to do something for me, and for that to happen I need you to help me out. I know I haven't really been there for her, but I'm trying to make amends. I try to talk to her, but she shuts me out. I need you to try to convince her to let me talk to her. Even if it's only for a minute."

"And why would I do that?" I ask, struggling to sound confident.

"I'll kill you if you don't." He smiles, looking up from playing with his knife.

"Seriously?! Why does this keep happening?" I shout, throwing my hands up in frustration.

"Let me guess." He laughs. "Raz has done the same too? What a way to play dirty my friend. He's more clever than I thought."

"I guess that's the guy you're talking about. What's up with all that?"

"You're not the least bit frightened are you?" He asks.

"Of what?"

"Your life getting threatened."

"Oh. That. No, I think I'm used to it by now." I sigh.

Her father laughs, smiling at me.

"I'm starting to like you already." He says. I wonder if that's a good thing. "So what's your answer?"

"Well I guess I don't have a choice here."

"You always have a choice. Right now, it's only if you wish to keep your life or not."

"I would love to keep my life if that's okay with you."

"Best choice." He says.

Putting his blade away, grabbing keys from his pocket, and unlocks the cell doors. He walks away, motioning me to follow behind him, and I do, not knowing what else to do.

"Since you decide to help, I'll let you in on a little something." He sighs.

"Yeah? And what's that?" I ask, following him down the halls.

He pauses and turns around to look at me straight on.

"Ivy is with another man." He says.

"Who?" I laugh, not believing him for one second.

"Raz's son, Maz. They've been traveling alone around together for a couple months now. What would you think would have happened? They shared a bed together if I remember correctly.You've been rooting in a cell while she's forgetting about you, running off with another man." He says, continuing walking.

"You're lying!" I protest, following him with eagerness.

"Why would I lie? Honestly, I don't really care. Just thought I would let you know."

I stare at the back of his head as I follow him. Doubt fills my head as I start to feel that he's telling the truth. Why would he care? He didn't have to tell me, yet he did. Would Ivy really do this to us? How could she? How could she hurt me like this while I'm waiting for her in the cells to save me, to save us both. She better come back and explain herself.

I follow her father into what looks like the throne room. I see the same man who took me from my home in the corner of the room, surrounded by guards.

"Ivy and my son will return." he says.

Ivy's father sits on the throne, looking down at the man, who I will guess is Raz.

"No, they won't. Your son is dead. Ivy will return, but for me. But that's just too bad for you, isn't it Raz?" Ivys' father smiles.

I look between them, sensing the tension in the room, having absolutely no clue what's going on. Right now, I feel like I would be better off back in the cell, entertaining myself with my imagination.

"You shouldn't underestimate my son John." Raz says.

John? So that's Ivy's father's name. I wonder why he didn't tell me back in the cells instead of saying he was Ivy's father.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Since Maz is dead Ivy can't have the throne because she has to marry him first. Thus you can't keep me from it. If you think for one second that I wouldn't get past my own daughter, then you're surely mistaken. Once see she's Leo here, all she will want to do is to go home and live her life again, and I can grant her that. Give up Raz."

Maz is the guy Ivys with? Raz is the son of Maz? This gets confusing by the second. Let's not even pass up how her father threatened her life for a throne. Ivy did say her father was crazy. I never thought this would be the way to meet my girlfriend's father.

"You won't get away with this John." Raz says.

"Oh my dearest friend. I would say I already have." John smiles, crossing his arms.