Set Me Free

'... and they were doing it soon.'

"There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment."

Daniel's POV

He had kissed her.

Daniel knew it was stupid and reckless and implosive, but he couldn't help himself. As soon as she had placed her lips onto his cheek, he felt it, knew in his gut that he wanted more. He wanted to know what it would be like to kiss her, to feel the connection between them.

It was more than he could have imagined. There was a spark there, like electricity was flowing between them. He knew then and there that he was in deep and the thought scared him. He had spent his life distancing himself from connections, shutting himself off from humanity. As a prisoner, there wasn't many opportunities to meet people and that was the way he liked it. At least he had convinced himself it was. However, being there with Elizabeth, her wrapped safely in the protection of his embrace, he felt whole, needed, loved. He hadn't felt this way in nearly six years and the feeling was foreign to him. The last person he had let in was his mother and he lost her, he wasn't going to let that happen with Elizabeth.

Some time later, he had to leave her room to see his father. He didn't know what he would say, or even if he would say anything to him, but he needed to see him. He wanted to know if there was any hope of them freeing her of their own devices even if they never received the ransom. He needed to know whether she could ever be free.

His father stood in the kitchen, back facing Daniel as he stared out of the window. There was nothing to look at, Daniel knew this as he had spent many evenings staring out, thinking of the world he knew before the warehouse. He hadn't been outside the confines of the warehouse in six years and Daniel was forgetting what it felt like to be outside amongst people, to live his life in freedom. He tried to cling onto as many memories as he could, however they were slipping. If released, Daniel was unsure how he would function out there amongst society.

If his father had heard him enter the room, he didn't acknowledge him but continued to stare at the courtyard.

"Father," he begins. He always addressed his father formally, they didn't have the kind of relaxed relationship expected between a father and son. For some reason, calling him dad would feel too personal, a higher title than what was deserved. Paul may be his father, the man who helped bring him life, but he was no dad.

Paul doesn't acknowledge this either and yet continues to stare. Daniel can't help but find this frustrating. He was used to being ignored as if his existence didn't matter, but now Daniel needed to be heard and he wasn't about to be ignored.

"Father, I need to speak to you."

Paul finally turns around. Daniel is met with the same dead eyes that he has known his whole life. They're eyes are identical in nearly every way, from shape to colour. However, Daniel had never seen any form of emotion grace the ones of his father's face whereas Daniel had always been told that his were too revealing. It was one of the reasons he always lost at poker.

Paul doesn't speak, just looks at Daniel as if he was seeing through him, as if he really didn't exist. This always made a ball of hurt form in the pit of Daniel's stomach. He hated feeling like he was a ghost, invisible to those around him. He could disappear and no one would even notice. That was his plan before he had met Elizabeth.

"What are your plans with Elizabeth?" He asks bluntly. There was no point beating around the bush when it came to his father. He may not show any emotion on his face, but he was a master at reading other people's. He would know exactly how Daniel was feeling before he had even asked a question, it was better to get it out in the open as soon as possible.

"To keep her as ransom," his father answers simply. Daniel already knew this and couldn't help feeling that his father was being deliberately coy with him.

"And if it doesn't work, if her father cannot present the ransom?"

"Then we kill her." He doesn't hesitate, doesn't blink an eye. He says this as if he is talking about whether there is rain forecasted, or about the local news. He doesn't say this as if he has just revealed the murder of an innocent woman.

"You know this by now Daniel, why are you acting so surprised to hear the answer. This is how all of the bargaining chips here are treated, why should she be any different?"

Daniel wants to scream at him, hit a wall or better yet his father's face. He wants to tell him it's because he thinks he loves her. That she makes him feel special and wanted and like a real god damn human being. He wants to scream at him about the woman she is, about all the little things he knows about her and how she is special, she is different.

Daniel doesn't say any of this. He doesn't lash out, or scream and shout. He merely nods, turns around and leaves the kitchen. He feared that if he looked at his father for another second that he may do something he lived to regret.

At least now he knew. Elizabeth was in danger, and he had to protect her. The ransom was high against her and he knew that there was little hope her father could supply what was needed to set her free. This meant it was all up to him. He had a plan, a risky one, but a plan none the less. Now he just had to make it fit for two.

Before it was easier, it was only him in his escape plan. He knew that if he left that no one would really notice, well not until the washing up started to pile. Now, Elizabeth was involved and she was on everyone's radar. She was a vital part in their plan and without her, it would collapse around them. They would certainly notice if she was missing.

He had to make it fool proof, nothing could go wrong. He knew that if it did and they were caught, neither of them would make it out alive. He couldn't risk that, couldn't risk them killing her because of his own stupidity.

It was all resting on him, but he knew he could do it. One way or another they were getting out of here, and they were doing it soon.