Five and A Half Hours

Chapter 1

Moonlight. The only kind of light he'd seen in hours. The rain poured, creating a large quagmire. It had been thudding on the roof heavily for a while now. He couldn't stamp a specific length on it. Time had ceased to exist in the dark quiescence. The rain had become so heavy it had begun seeping into his surroundings. It was rhythmic in its sound. Drip. Drip. Drip. It was enough to drive you crazy. For hours loud cracks of lightning and thunder filled his ears. Before they were muffled, now they were much clearer, sharper. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He was ready, wasn't he?

The splintering of wood stopped his train of thought. Finally, the lid had come off. Air flooded his lungs, the rain soaked him. He could breathe. He felt alive for the first time in hours. He gulped the air. Grasping the side of the box, he sat up; his 'liberators' nowhere to be seen. The wind hit him like a whip. He had swallowed so much air he became nauseous. The burning sensation in his abdomen rose quickly and vehemently; seconds later he was violently retching while the contents of his stomach spewed out of him. Surprisingly, he felt much better.

He looked down at his hands. His swollen, splintered, bloody hands. A searing pain shot through his body. Could he even move? Trying to get up felt hopeless, but he had to. Cautiously, he leveraged himself up. Soon he was crouching, and then kneeling, and eventually he stood. Hunched over, but he stood. Everything felt so surreal; being drenched in the rain, the thunder and the lightning deafening and blinding him.

He thought his 'liberators' gone, yet only to receive the affirmation they were not. He heard voices in the distance; he only had a few seconds. As soon as his foot hit the floor, he fell. He grasped at anything within his reach; all he found was the mud beneath him. Desperately, he tried to push himself up. The squelching of the mud had covered up the voices. Now they were closer, much closer. He tried to listen to them, but the wind carried their words away. One of the voices disappeared, the other however, got closer. The hammering of his heartbeat drowned out all noise, until he saw the shadow. He looked up at the figure before him. They shared a gaze until the silence was broken. "I know you".