Kill or Be Killed: A Story of Unnecessary Space

Taken

When I woke my head throbbed viciously, no doubt from me previously caressing the sidewalk with my skull. That thought made me chuckle momentarily, but I stopped laughing instantly when I felt an ache in my gut. I tried reaching to grab my stomach and realized soon after that my arms were tied behind my back, my legs and stomach both tied as well. To a wooden chair.
The complete darkness of the room shrouded my eyes and I attempted to cry out, but my mouth was gagged. All there was in that scream was a muffled "HMMPHH!"

I continued to scream and yell while rubbing my wrists together furiously until I felt my energy depleting.

"HMMPHHH! HMMMPPPHH MPH!"

But I was wasting my time. I became too tired and grew too helpless to struggle. I soon fell asleep once again.

~~~~~~~~~

"Tamara. Go. Don't look back," his soft, weak voice punctures my heart. How could I simply leave him? He's the last person my father has. Breathing heavily and holding back a sob, I  look down at his feeble hands, then at the ocean below his dangling feet.

He gasps out, "Please Tamara. I love you. Sacrifice is the foundation of this family. Go!" 

"I can't leave you!"  I let the tears fall this time, no longer trying to conceal my obviously weak ways. "I know I have to, but I can't!"

"I love you, darling."

"I love you, Pepere," I hardly bother to wipe away my tears as his thin fingers slip beneath my grip, "Goodbye."

~~~~~~~~~

This time, as I woke up, I was pleased to find that I was no longer gagged, but a blindfold was now tied around my eyes. Through the cloth, though, I could sense a light. A warmth like a candle. Scented too. Scented like fresh linen. I breathed it in and coughed. My gut was still in pain from when I had been hit in the stomach during the capture. The noise of someone sitting down in a chair caused me to flinch.

"Who's there?" I blurted with a scared voice, "Where am I and who is there?"

"We'll get to that, darling," spoke a surprisingly masculine voice, "It would do you best to just wait here and allow me to introduce myself."

"No."

Introduce yourself? No way. Why should I cooperate with my kidnapper?

I could feel myself become angrier than ever despite him only speaking a few sentences to me. The condescending tone of voice that he had used hadn't helped my temper, and neither did my complete and utter confusion. My hands and ankles were still bound with an itchy, thick rope that rubbed my skin raw and disabled me from slapping the man in the face.

"Oh, why would you say that?" The man faked his guilt,"I don't want to be forced to hurt that pretty little face of yours, darling."

"Stop calling me darling," I spoke with more confidence than usual. My grandfather was the only man allowed to call me that. Before..... never mind. The thought was too difficult to endure at that time.

The man's voice changed suddenly from patronizing and full of fake kindness to intense and furious. "I'll call you whatever I like, darling, and I'll do whatever I like, darling, as long as you don't DIE, darling, I am my own BOSS, darling, I-"

He stopped talking and breathed heavily.

"My name is Jack. You are to call me Jack. Understood?"

Common sense told me that I shouldn't wind him up even more, so I kept my mouth shut and nodded.

"Great. Absolutely wonderful. I want you to know that no matter what, you are to listen to me. If you don't, someone will have to hurt you. Simple as that. Obey, understood?"

Again I nodded. All of my being was telling me to go complete maniac and tear through everything, but the chances of me winning that fight were too low, and the chances of me getting punched in the face were too high. I kept my emotions and actions buried.

"Perfect," I heard him mumble under his breath with a slightly exasperated tone. He got up from his chair and walked over to me. His musty breath fanned my nose. I turned my face away from his, but he grabbed my cheek with a calloused, clammy hand and forced me to move my head back toward his. He ripped the blindfold off of my head and made me stare into his angry eyes. They were dark brown, almost black, and bloodshot. He held a tool in his other hand that looked like a metal stamp. He smirked evilly as he pressed the red-hot looking tool into my skin behind my right ear .