Five.

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TW: Abuse

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I lost count of how many days I had been stuck in the dark room I was placed in.

I do not know where I currently am, who had taken me that night, or any information for that matter since I had been knocked unconscious and awoke in this room.

All I remember is that it had been the night that everyone had been traveling back to their homes for winter break, and Elle had already left to go back home since her flight was a few hours before mine. Majority of the students had also left by the time I was packing my belongings, and I had just finished saying my goodbyes with Cillian at his dorm.

I remember that I had just watched Cillian go off in the taxi he had called for the airport, since he was going to Ireland and I was going back to California. At least that's where I was supposed to go before everything happened.

I was walking back to my dorm to grab my luggage bag, but I was only able to make it through the main door before someone snuck up from behind me and hit my head with an object. After I felt the rush of blood creep out and start dripping to the floor, all I was able to see was the person's shoes before my vision went dark.

What I pondered over day after day was the person's shoes. I feel like I had seen them before, but then again there could be multiple people with the same pair of shoes, leading me to a dead end on figuring out who it could be.

Even though this was not a room I would want to be in, it wasn't the worst room I've seen compared to movies. Granted, there was no decor or windows, but whoever it was that had taken me had the decency of leaving a pile of clothes for me to wear. I also would wake up to small meals being placed in the room, although I was never able to find where the door was since it was concealed to look like it was just four walls with no exit- either that or I was blind since the room was always so dark, the only source of light was a plastic tealight.

I had so many thoughts come to mind each day that passed. What day is it? Did my parents notice that I didn't make it back home? What would Cillian and my friends think? My heart ached thinking about Cillian. He must probably think that I am mad at him or I don't want to talk to him. The person had taken my phone, so I had no method of reaching out for help.

I had many moments in which I wanted to cry all day and night, and while I did have some moneys in which I let myself cry for a Monet, I did not let myself cry more than needed because I needed to save all of my anger and my energy so that I can use it for either fighting or for my escape.

I do believe that I am in a basement, since there are moments when I hear soft footsteps above me and a door closing- which is good to know for future purposes. I did not know when I was going to plan for my escape, but I knew that I had to come up with a plan soon otherwise I would soon start to go crazy.

The only door I was able to find throughout my time here was the bathroom. It was also a hidden door, and I had initially thought it was for the main door.

Everyday was the same routine.

I was growing tired of being stuck here, and annoyed that nobody had even bothered to at least try to search for me since I had basically disappeared. I wonder if anybody had even bothered to get the police involved and had a search party looking out for me.

I only knew that I had been here for around a month because I started to feel myself cramping up, which only meant that the time of the month had arrived, therefore giving me a rough estimate of how long I was trapped down here.

I heard footsteps above me and I held my breath to try to listen to any other possible noise, only to hear them open the door and close it again, as the footsteps slowly diminished as they escaped into the outside world.

I used this as my opportunity to feel every wall to see if there was any sign of a crack that could help me escape. I felt around each wall and corner like I have for all of the days I have been here, until I realized I was looking in the wrong areas.

I had come to the realization that I had neglected looking above me, as well as for the walls in the bathroom. The only problem with looking above my height was what object could I use to reach. I didn't have any type of ladder or any object to hoist myself up, so I had to just jump and use my hand to feel every inch of the wall my hand could reach up to.

I was just about to give up when I jumped and I felt part of the wall move. I jumped once again and felt the wall push a bit when I touched it, so I used all of my strength to jump once again and push that area once again and I heard a click right in front of me.

I used both hands to pull the concrete wall, uncovering the door that had been right under my nose the entire time. I mentally slapped myself for not thinking of this sooner.

I went through the door and found a staircase that led up to wherever the person had been walking all of these days. I slowly made my way up, the staircase gently creaking, making my heart race and my breathing hitch with every step that I took.

I finally reached the door, and I gently turned the knob, only to find that it was locked. But, the knob had a little slit for the key, so I used my nail that had thankfully grown out throughout my time here and I gently turned it until I heard the door unlock.

I opened the door and was blinded by the sunlight that was poking through the nearby window. The house was quiet, and I wasn't going to bother searching for the entire house because I did not know when the person would show up again, so I slowly opened the door enough for me to slip through and tried to look for the door.

I knew the door was nearby since it was all I heard from downstairs, so I walked around the corner until I found the door. I slowly unlocked the door to the front, only to be faced with Joel standing outside, fumbling to take out the key to enter.

Joel looked confused, then quickly shifted into anger as I tried to scream out for help to whoever was out in the neighborhood. I had tried to run past him, but he quickly grabbed me as I continued to scream out for help, and he then placed a hand over my mouth and took me back inside the house.

Once inside, he locked the door and continued to carry me until we got to the entrance to the basement. I was hitting him and squirming around trying to let myself out of his grasp.

"Let me go!" I continued to squirm as he gave out a dry laugh and said, "You want me to let you go? Fine. I'll let you go."

He quickly opened the door to the basement fully and pushed me down the staircase, tumbling until I reached the bottom of the steps. I flinched with pain as I began to feel every inch of my body go numb and I began to feel something wet from my hair. I slowly brought my hand up to my head to feel the substance, and I pulled my hand back to my vision to see that I was bleeding once again. I also began to see small beads of blood begin to arise to the skin surrounding my knees and my elbows, and I began to see blurriness fill my vision.

Joel went down the stairs and grabbed me by both arms as he dragged me back into the small room. I winced in agony as the concrete ragged across my skin.

"Why are you trying to run away? Is the food and the clothes not sufficient for you? Are you not satisfied?"

I scoffed. "Are you serious? You kidnap me and hold me hostage like thi and you want me to think that I'm living my best life down here? You're fucking crazy."

Joel laughed maniacally and walked around the room, pondering what to say.

"Is it because I'm not Cillian? I assure you, I can be much better than that asshole of a man you're so infatuated over. I can show you right now." Joel began to make his way over to me as I tried to crawl away from him, but my injuries were preventing me from being able to use any strength, apart from my vision still becoming dark.

Joel grabbed me and began to take my clothes off, as I squirmed to make him stop, but it angered him even more. Tears began to pool around my eyes as they silently fell down my face and onto the floor.

I felt a sharp pain on my cheek as Joel slapped me and continued to take his pants off.

"Stop crying you weak bitch. I'm going to show you what you've been missing out on since you've been all head over heels for that stupid man." Joel shoved my head down to the ground, causing my vision to fully go black and knock me unconscious.

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