Set Me Free

'I was going to die.'

"It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life."

"What is all this?" Daniel asks his father, his eyes never leaving mine. I want to pull my eyes away, to not let him see me like this, beaten and broken. I can't seem to tear away my gaze. He has my eyes locked into his, as if they are the only thing giving me hope at this moment in time. If I keep looking at him, block out everyone else here in this room, maybe things will be okay.

"We just wanted to have a little chat," Daniel's father respond. I almost scoff at his statement, this was anything but a little chat. This was a threat.

Max walks to me again, the knife in his hand glinting off the lights in the room. My eyes leave Daniel's to look at the weapon approaching, the weapon I am sure is to be used on me.

Max comes to stand next to me, stroking the knife up my arm as he does so. The feel of the cold metal makes me flinch as I think of all the things he could do to me with it. The scars he could leave, the pain he could inflict. He moves it further up my body, over my collar bones, across my neck. I wince in pain as the knife makes a tiny incision at the base of my throat and I feel the blood slowly start to trickle from it.

He's going to slit my throat.

That would be a horrendous way to go. Like an animal to slaughter, I would be left to bleed out as I awaited my death. Out of all the ways they could kill me, that would definitely be one of the most demeaning ways to go.

I see Daniel wince out of the corner of my eye as I'm cut, I know his father has seen this too.

"We just wanted to go over some rules, just to make sure everyone understands," Daniel's father tells us, "please Daniel, take a seat." Unlike me, Daniel is allowed to make his own way to the chair waiting for him opposite my own, and sits down slowly until we are eye to eye.

I plead with him to help me, to save me. I don't know what he can do in this situation, what he is capable of doing, all I know is that I need him to do it now. I don't know how much more of this I can take. His eyes show nothing but pain as he looks into mine, however his isn't physical. He's emotionally in pain.

"What rules father?" he asks, once again never taking his gaze from my own.

"Oh, I believe you know," Daniel's father says, being deliberately coy with us.

"I can assure you father, I don't." This time he looks away. Daniel and his father stare at each other for a moment, identical eyes locked. The only difference is there is emotion behind Daniel's look, his father's is emotionless as always.  It's unsettling that he is also this way with his son. It can be understandable that he must keep up a facade with his employees, but to do this with his son is puzzling. It makes me believe that he can't show emotion, that his eyes will not allow him to, even when looking into the eyes of his own flesh and blood.

"For years, we have kept our captives here amongst you. Never before have I seen you become so attached to one before as to ask questions about their release. You've never made it a priority to protect them. You've even gone as far as to be kind enough to clean the room where they were eventually terminated," I can't help but once again flinch as he says the word terminated. He doesn't say killed or murdered, he doesn't call it the room where they died. He has taken all dignity from his captors, even in death they are still spoke about like a computer virus that can be deleted, "I just wanted to know why you have suddenly become so interested in the well being of this particular prisoner?"

Daniel doesn't respond for a moment, just continues to stare at his father.

"Because I love her," the statement makes me gasp. I have never once thought about the possibility of him loving me. I thought he liked me, cared enough to protect me, never would I have said that he loved me. We barely knew each other, and what we do know was learnt under the worst of circumstances. I don't believe he could love me in such a short space of time.