Set Me Free

"...I'm glad you could join us."

"People often believed they were safer in the light, thinking monsters only came out at night. But safety – like light – is a façade."

Daniel didn't come back for a while.

He said he needed to sort some things out, that he needed to see his father. I didn't want to know what was going on, I didn't want to know whether my death was looming. For now, I wanted to believe that I had a chance of making it out of this, I didn't want that hope being crushed.

Surprisingly, despite my capture and the possibility of death, all I could really think about was Daniel.

I wasn't expecting him to kiss me. I knew there was something between us, the way he held me in his arms during my panic attack was intimate. I knew that there was a connection. I never expected him to kiss me.

I didn't expect to kiss him back.

This was hardly the place where romance blossomed, I never expected that in my darkest moment would I find a shed of light. But here he was, making me laugh, keeping me safe and kissing me the way I had never been kissed before. It was passionate and dangerous and the stuff of romance novels. I had never felt anything like this before and the feeling was unsettling. Like I said, this was no place for romance.

The odds of both of us making it through this were slim. If by some miracle we did, I wasn't sure how it would work out there in the real world. In here it was different, it was us against them, Daniel and I fighting for freedom. Out there, we were two people who had suffered through a traumatic experience, two people who had only known each other in danger.

I couldn't think about that now, I couldn't picture of a future when I barely knew if I had a present. All those details could be figured out later, for now I had to think about getting out of here.

Suddenly my door swung open. I knew immediately that it wasn't Daniel, Daniel always knocked.

Standing there was my original kidnapper, an evil glint in his eyes as he looked over me. I hadn't seen him since he punched me and my eye throbbed as a grim reminder. It was healing, but slowly. I could only just about open it now.

"Well, hello sweetheart. Long time, no see," he mocks, walking further into my room. I shrunk back against the wall. I didn't like him being in here, not in my cell. Funnily enough, this little room had become my home, my own space in the chaos. I felt safer here, like I was protected by these four walls. Having him here made me feel scared all over again.

"It seems that you have somewhere to be."

He walks over and grabs me by the arm, pulling me to my feet. He pulls so hard that I scream in pain, it feels like he's pulled my arm from its socket.

"Sorry love, I've been told I'm not very gentle," he apologises insincerely.

We walk from my room and down many different corridors. I already know where I'm being led to.

We arrive at the little room where I was first introduced to everyone. The room where I was beaten. When we enter, the whole of the team is here, everyone except Daniel.

Daniel's father looks at me as we enter, his eyes as always giving nothing away. He must have been trained to give so little of himself away, no one can hide their emotions that effectively without coaching.

"Please Elizabeth, take a seat," Daniel's father instructs. Before I can willingly follow the order, I've been pushed forcefully into the seat in the middle of the room. I hit it with such force that for a moment, I fear the chair might buckle beneath me. My captor was right, he's not very gentle.

"Now, go get Daniel," Daniel's father instructs. This baffles me, why are they ordering for Daniel?

"We need to have a little talk, just to go over some rules," I'm told. I was never aware there were rules, well besides the obvious of 'not trying to escape'.

Before I can think further, the man who I have barely seen since being here has his face pushed so close to mine that I can smell the cigarette smoke on his breathe. It's a smell that reminds me of my father.

This man has deep brown eyes, the colour of mud. They smile sinisterly at me as he looks me up and down. He gaze makes me feel uncomfortable, self conscious. He looks at me as if I'm his next meal and he can't wait to dive him.

Then his look turns from lust, to crazy. His eyes go wild, darting across my face as he takes in each feature. Before I can register anything else, his fist slams into the side of my nose.

I taste the blood once again. It pours from my nose directly into my mouth. My eyes stream as the attack forces tears to fall.

The pain in unbearable, it's indescribable, it's raw. It's feels like my nose is broken, like it's no longer sitting on my face correctly.

And then he hits again.

This time, he hits me on my black eye. The pain is worse, so much worse than before. I lose all breath from my body my eye continues to throb all over again.

The man then grabs my wrist, pulls my arms high and ties them on two hooks on the wall above my head. They hang there lifelessly. I have no energy to keep them supported. If anything, they're the only thing keeping me from hitting the floor face first.

It's then that the man presents a knife.

"Easy Max, let's leave some of the show for our guest of honour," Daniel's father instructs my torturer.

I barely hear what they're saying anymore.

If this is it, the way I am to die, I just pray they do it quickly. Death would be my escape from this torture and I'm ashamed to say that I would welcome it right now. If they have plans for me, plans to use that knife and any other tools of torture,  I would rather they just kill me now and put me out of my misery. I know it's selfish as I'm thinking it, that I need to fight for all those people I love on the outside, but I'm tired of this. Right now, I would like to go peacefully.

I hear the door open and manage to find the strength to look up at the door. Daniel stands there with my captor, looking at me as if he was in pain. I want to tell him I'm okay, that I'm fine, anything to take that pain from his eyes, but I can't. My mouth will no longer listen to my instructions, it's frozen shut.

"Hello son, I'm glad you could join us."