Taken

"There were days within the first month where..."

(WARNING: Mentions rape and suicide. Skip this chapter if easily triggered.)

All I wanted to do was die. I was stuck, alone, in this dark room with no contact with the outside world. On those days... when Seth would untie me and let me wander around, I'd try and find something, anything, to end it all... I'd find loose nails in the walls, and try to use all the strength I had left in me to pull them from the walls. I didn't know what exactly I would do with them, but I knew they had to be useful... for something. I'd try to hang myself, and it worked on a few occasions, but not the way I'd hoped. I'd always be too tall for it to work, and I'd just end up with rope burns around my neck. Seth gave me clothes in a pile by the foot of the stairs to change in to. I always asked for baggy sweaters and long sleeved shirts... I'd hide under the blanket on my bed to cover up the scars whenever Seth came down to check on me or to feed me. He never suspected a thing. From what Seth saw...I gave up struggling. But deep down... knowing how distraught my parents were.... how guilty Mia must have felt for not driving me home when I asked...I never stopped struggling...I wanted out. And I wanted out quick. I could not handle the fact that this was my new reality.

It was another one of those days. Seth was entertaining family upstairs. I couldn't scream. Couldn't cry out for help. If I did, I'd be in so much trouble. He'd hit me... maybe if I got out he'd come after me or my family again. I still thought of Seth as a criminal. A vermin of some kind. He wasn't people. He didn't deserve to walk freely upstairs and go outside while I was stuck here in this basement with no way out.

I was pacing back and forth, my hood from the black and purple hoodie Seth gave me, up over my head. I hadn't bothered to shower for a few days, not because I didn't care about my hygiene, but because I was too busy trying to find my way out of here to even bother. My hair was greasy, and I was sweating like a pig, but at this point, why should I have cared? No one other than that scum was gonna see me like this. Ever.

I was too terrified to try and make an escape. I wondered what he would do to my family... my mom...my dad... any of my little cousins, the eldest only ten years old. I couldn't go through with escaping. But maybe if I could send some sort of message to the outside without being caught.... someone would know where I was...and maybe try to save me. I heard a woman's laughter coming from upstairs. I recalled Seth having a sister about my age. I think her name was Riley. I crawled up to the top of the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible, which is hard to do considering the staircase is so old every couple of steps it would make a creaking noise. I pressed my ear up to the door and listened in on the conversation.

"It's so good to see you again, Seth. Mother and father sure do miss you." Riley said and I bit my lip. Nothing important...just talking about family. "It's a shame about that Ruby girl. Didn't you know her?"

"I went to school with her around the same time you were shipped off to that private school in New York." Seth said, sighing. He sounded so... innocent. I didn't detect any sort of nervousness in his voice. He sounded so calm. I almost wanted to bang on the door in anger, throw a fit, make myself known, but when I lifted my fist to the door, I had a flash of my parents faces, my little cousins, and I slowly lowered it. I couldn't risk them getting hurt. I just couldn't.

"From what I saw on the local News last night she really was a beautiful girl.... I feel bad for her family too. The police said now they're looking for a dead body. They gave up hope that she's still alive. Her parents are still searching for her though. They have the whole apartment building pitching in. Her uncle came all the way from San Diego to help out." I backed away from the door and rushed back down the stairs, sitting on my bed. Uncle Dave really came all the way down here? I started to cry again, silently. I had gotten better with making no noise as I cry, I had a lot of practice over the past month. They were still looking for me alive. They actually had a sliver of hope that I was still okay...

Riley's voice soon faded out, and I heard the two of them walk down the hallway and the front door open and close. He'd come down here soon to check on me. I wish I knew the time. I was starving. Maybe it was lunch time....

The door creaked open and I looked up, watching Seth slowly walk down the stairs. He looked so proud of himself as he walked down. I looked down at my feet and he caresses my face, making me look in to his eyes.

"Finally...after all these years..you're finally mine..."

"But I-" He shushed me, placing his finger gently on my plump lips.

"Shh my precious Ruby..." He slowly pulled my sweater over my head, tossing it to the side. "I've been waiting for too long to have you to myself..." He held my hands above my head, using his spare hand to pull down my jeans. I kicked and screamed, tried so hard to get away. But he was too strong. Soon I was lying there, naked. I wasn't prepared for what would happen next..,.