Set Me Free

"I just needed to get out of here first"

"When you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through."

We play cards for a while, him winning the majority of the games. Finally on the last game we had to agreed to play, I win.

I already knew what my question would be.

"How did you get involved in all of this? You don't act like the others, I can't figure out how someone like you got involved in such a vile world."

He doesn't answer me for a while, just shuffles the cards between his hands as he stares at them. I almost want to take back my question, ask another one like what his favourite restaurant was, anything to stop him looking so distant. But I had asked it now, and there was no going back.

"My father," he finally sighs, "he's the man behind the organisation, the man calling all the shots. You met him earlier, he was the one in the suit doing all of the talking," he looks at me then to gauge my reaction. I try to keep my face blank, neutral. I don't know what to do with this information, that his father was the mastermind behind my kidnapping. I knew that if it came down to it, his loyalty would lie with family, not with some girl he didn't even know. If it came down to it, he couldn't protect me like he said he would.

"This is the family business," he continues, "one that I'm fully expected to run one day." This isn't something I could imagine. The guy sitting before me, attempting to make me feel at ease as I was sitting on the cold prison floor, did not strike me as the kind of guy that could run a crime organisation. That could kidnap innocent girls as bargaining chips.

"What are you going to do?" I ask him.

He doesn't say anything, just continues to shuffle the cards. He snaps them together suddenly, as if he had just woken himself out of the daze he had fallen in.

"Hey, you only get to ask one question," he smirks, slipping back into the easy going facade he had been portraying all night. But now I knew better, now I knew how much of a prisoner he really was.

The door flies open then and Daniel's father awaits us at the thresh hold, his eyes as dead and vacant as they were before. If he was surprised to see his son sitting on the floor with me, cards in hand, he didn't show it. Then again, this man had shown no emotion since I've been here, I was beginning to think it was just the way he was.

"Dinner," he says before walking out and leaving a single slice of bread and a glass of water.

I hadn't eaten in hours and my stomach growled in pleasure at the measly portion I had been offered.

I dived towards the plate like a lion leaps on a gazelle. I inhale my breakfast in two bites, but my stomach still cries out for more. One slice of bread wasn't going to do much to stop the hunger pains I was feeling.

"I'll try to sneak you some more food later," Daniel tells me as he stands, "something tells me you won't live off one slice of bread." He was referring to the large growl my stomach had made as soon as I finished my 'meal', clearly signalling to him that I was eager for more.

I was grateful for his offer, but worried about the implications this might have on him. I assumed his father wouldn't be happy about him fraternising with the prisoner.

"No, I'm fine really. Don't worry about it, I don't want them to catch you helping me. I don't think they would take too kindly to it."

He stares at me for a moment, really looking at me. I feel uncomfortable under his scrutiny, as if he could see right through me with his crystal blue eyes. I look away after a moment, wanting to clear my head after the intensity of this one look, a look that could peer into my soul.

"I will sneak you some food later," he finally says before opening the door and leaving me alone. The room suddenly felt empty without his presence.

I wanted him to leave hours ago, to leave me with my thoughts and fears. Now that he was gone, I felt more alone than ever.

My thoughts wonder to my father and whether or not he has seen the video yet, the video of his only child beaten and terrified. My left eye still throbs, reminding me of the bruise that has surely formed there.

I hope he looked at it, really took it all in and saw what he had put me through. I hope it was all worth it, the money, the temporary high that he indulged. I hope it was all worth the pain I was in now.

But most of all, I hope that he realises what his actions have cost him.

They've cost him his daughter.

After this, I don't think I could ever forgive the man that had raised me, our relationship would never be what it once was.

As far as I was concerned, I no longer had a father. I was better off without him, someone who put their own pleasure before the wellbeing of his own flesh and blood was not someone I needed in my life.

I was on my own from here on out, and sooner rather than later I had to figure out a strategy for survival. I believed Daniel when he said he would try to protect me, but I couldn't rely on his promise. He was too invested in the cause and sooner or later he had to pick a side.

I knew he wouldn't choose me.

I was nothing to him, I had no relation or connection to this man. His father however clearly had a hold over him and I knew that when it came down to it, it was his father's side he would choose.

I was dispensable, merely a pawn in their sick game. They didn't care about what I had waiting for me in the real world, about the hopes and dreams that I had for the future. As far as they were concerned, I wasn't anything more than their ticket to revenge.

I knew that if it came to it, they would kill me and not even bat an eyelid.

I had never been in a life or death situation before, a situation where I knew that in an instant I could be dead. It made me think about the regrets I had and the life I had lead.

I regret ever getting involved with Matthew, the only guy I had ever loved. I regret causing his girlfriend the pain that I did, for making her suffer the insecurities and betrayal she must have felt. I regret not jumping at every opportunity that was offered to me, for not living my very short life to the fullest.

Looking back at it, I've been quite boring in my experiences.

But I was determined to make up for that, to live the life I had always wanted.

I just needed to get out of here first.