THE EYE (on hold due to editing)

ROPES

     The first thing that I felt as I woke up was a terrible migraine and a lot of pain in my arms. The second thing that I felt as I woke up was the feeling of rope against my skin.

     I was tied to a chair. I had my ankles tied together and my wrists tied to the back of the chair, making my shoulders ache. My arms were also tied to my torso. There was no way I could move or even try to escape and the rope was burning my skin. Plus, I was plunged into darkness, I did not know where I was nor what was surrounding me. 

     It was a terrible idea to try to fight the darkness. 

     I stayed silent and tried not to move.

     The lights suddenly turned on, hurting my eyes. It did not take me too long to get used to the weak lightening of the room. I felt like a knife stabbed me in the heart.

     Aidan was right in front of me, also tied to a chair - he was still asleep. 

"Aidan!" I tried to wake him up. "Aidan!" His clothes were dusty and dirty. His skin seemed to be greasy. It made me wonder - for how long have we been here? "Aidan!" I tried one more time.

     His eyes snapped open. He took a look around the room, he looked panicked. He opened his mouth several times, trying to say something, but no sound came out of his lips. He looked at the ceiling, at the ground, at his body and finally - at me.

"Nolah- What happened?" He seemed to be begging. "Where are we?"

"I don't know-" I whispered, shaking my head and biting my lower lip.

"What happened to your shoulder?" He asked.

     My shoulder? 

     I did not even think about checking my body - other than my hands. I had a huge blood stain on my shirt, right above my shoulder - yet I did not feel any pain.

"And your forehead." He added, getting even more worried. 

     I tried to check my forehead, but the burn around my wrists reminded me that I could not move them. 

"What is it?" I asked. "What's wrong with my forehead?"

"You have a band-aid." 

     With my chin, I tried to take the sleeve of my shirt off. There was a bandage. They - he - healed me, he cleaned my wounds, the same wounds that he infected me. It made me realise something:

"He doesn't want us to die." I breathed. "He's keeping us alive."

"He?" Aidan asked. 

"While you and Ambrose were upstairs, I stayed downstairs a little bit. The power went off and-"

"And a guy threatened you with a knife on your neck, but you never had the chance to see his face." He finished before me.

"I know- It sounds crazy, but it's-"

"No, it's not crazy!" He cut me off. "I- I- The crazy thing is that it happened to me. I remember you and Ambrose getting upstairs while I tried to see what was going on behind the sheets. I just thought that maybe it was all in my head."

"Wait? What? No! I clearly saw you run upstairs with Ambrose and then-"

"Theo!" We both said at the same time.

"Theo-" I repeated. "That's his name, right?"

"Indeed, it is." A man got inside the room. 

     It's him!