Dying Slowly

Prologue *edited*

He grabbed us all one by one, I was one of the last few to be taken and I was number fifteen. I believe. He never told us his name, or why we were there, he just kept us locked in that house, a house that was not large enough for even a family of four. He only came by once a day, at five o clock to bring food and he would not linger, as if we disgusted him.

When it came to sleeping at night most of the girls fought over the bed or the chairs to sleep on but I chose not to, because I honestly did not care if I slept on the floor. The way that I saw it was the chances of me living were slim so why fight over materialistic things. The girls with me were supermodels, perfect in every way; most were tall, slim and tan. They were graceful and elegant. My appearance lacked everything they had, my mossy brown hair just too straight, my eyes so dark that you couldn't tell the difference between my iris and pupil and my skin was so pale that you could see the veins sneaking through my body. Why did he pick me? I was nothing like these other girls. If anything I was the opposite of the grace and beauty. I knew that, it had been engraved into my mind almost my entire existence.

Thinking back to the day he took me, only thing that I could remember about it was the two words he spoke to me. "You'll do." That was all he said. I have been here for two weeks and I was ready to return to my isolation at home, although I more than positive that was not going to happen.

The large grandfather clock in the center room began to chime and every girl froze. On cue, as soon as the fifth chimed finished, he walked in. He was tall, much taller than I was and taller than most everyone I had met, with icy blue eyes and dark flowing hair. He had sharp cheek bones, a perfectly curved chin and a Roman sculpture's wet dream for a nose. He was frightening handsome. He appeared as he had every other day, his hair combed back from his perfect face and a freshly ironed suit caressing his body; the only difference was that today it he lacked food.

"I usually bring you food at this time, but today is different," He started, his eyes scanning over us. "All of you will be leaving the house today," The faces each girl made were of pure joy, until he continued his statement. "And will be looking for your way home. All of you, out!" He had a gun on his hip, which he had on full display for us. No one argued or even spoke up as we moved out into the freezing weather. We should have rebelled, stood up and taken action against him. But, no girl was willing to step forward and take the initiative.

The moment that the last girl stepped through the threshold and into the freezing world outside, he slammed the door behind her; locking himself in the warm house and us in the frozen tundra.

The girls all stood there for a moment, processing what had happened and what they were going to do; and then they ran. I considered running, but as the snow fell, I thought against it. It seemed to be the smarter choice to stay near the house, to stay near the warmth and to stay with the known. There was only one other girl who chose to stay. Toni was her name I believe.

I huddled under an awning type thing, which had firewood underneath it to feed the fireplace. I gathered the smaller cuts of wood into a small pile, and then attempted to start a fire by striking two pieces of stones-which I found after digging through the snow-together. I quickly realized that I was not capable of such a survivalist task so I decided to search for something else to start the fire. After searching the entire awning, found a small box of matches. Since the wood had been kept under a tarp it was dry and lit quickly. I thought the whole thing much too coincidental but I was not about to complain seeing as the heat was going to be the only thing that would keep me alive momentarily. Once I huddle against the warmth, I looked for the other girl, Toni. She was standing, shivering, a few feet from the fire, and she was watching the fire's every flicker of flame.

Against my normally detached nature I decided to be friendly. "Do you want to sit here?" I asked, pointing to an empty spot next to the blazing fire. She responded with a glare.

"I don't need your help!" She snapped before stomping away and finding what could be barely considered as shelter against a small tree. She huddled with her back against it and her arms wrapped around her legs.

The snow started to fall with heavy snowflakes, which began to layer the ground. I huddled close to the fire for warmth. I don't remember allowing myself to sleep, I don't even recall myself growing tired, but what I did remember was seeing Toni shivering in the cold, her lips a pale blue. I remember thinking that she would not keep her distance from the fire long, her instincts to keep her alive would not allow it.I woke up instantly to the sound of snow crunching near me. Someone threw something soft and warm over my frozen form, causing me to snap open my eyes and see him standing over me. I looked across to where Toni had been and all I saw was a frigid corpse, eyes wide open, staring back at me.

How long had I been asleep?

"Get up." He ordered in a deep, cold tone. I obeyed, moving slowly, my bones stiff and my muscles numb. He waited as I sluggishly brought myself up and I hugged the blanket tight against my body. Once I was standing, he walked towards his car, and I followed him like the good prisoner I was. It was not as if I had a list of options lain out in front of me. I had two choices: follow him away from the cold, or stay here and freeze to death just as Toni had. He opened my door as if he were a gentlemen and I slid into the warm car. The heat was on full blast, and scorching heat burned against my frigid skin.

"Why didn't you run?" He asked as he sat in the driver side. I looked at him confused. Why did he ask me, wasn't the choice common sense? "The chance to be free was given to you, yet you stayed, why?" He explained, looking at me with those iced over eyes.

"The choice of freedom was never given to me; the choice to run into the unknown was given to me. It is safer to stay in the known, no?" I responded, the warmth seeping into my bones and melting my body.

"I was not willing to take a pointless risk. I heard no noise around, saw no lights near and could not smell or see any smoke, a common smell in the winter, implying that there was populated area near the house, so I if I were to go searching, I would most likely die from hypothermia than find my so-called freedom. I had found matches and wood and I am obviously still alive, so I feel as if I made the smartest decision."

"They're all dead." He said bluntly, most likely gaging for my reaction. I knew exactly who he was talking about, so I didn't have to ask.

"Then I did make the right decision." I said just as candidly.

"It doesn't bother you that all of those girls are dead, that most of them died horrible, painful, tortuous deaths?" He queried.

"I barely knew them and what I did know of them does not make me miss them. So, no it does not bother me. They chose to run into the snow and Toni chose not to come near fire."

"That sounds rather cold." He responded

"I am not the cold one here." I reminded him. Why I was being so brash with him, I did not know. My instincts should have made me fear him. In a way, I suppose I did fear him, but not in a life-threatening way, more so that he intimated me. He reminded me of when my boss would sit in on a client meeting, I knew that my life was not in any danger but my body still reacted a certain way.

"That remains to be only your assumption. You only think I am cold, because you do not know my purpose for this, you do not know my reasoning." He defended himself.

"I know you captured twenty-some odd girls and locked them away in a house for two weeks, before callously releasing them in the middle of winter. That seems rather cold hearted to me." I countered.

"But as I have stated, you do not know my reasoning." He retorted.

"Then what is your reasoning?" I asked

"You will find out soon enough." He stated vaguely.

He began to back the car away from the house. I stared at the front door, seeing it wide open. How long had I wanted that door to be open, how long had I wanted to be free of the retched house. But, I honestly didn't believe that I was going anywhere safer. The only difference was that I was going alone with the devil.