Population: 1245...And then Some

Chapter Seventeen

I took a deep breathe to calm myself down but I instantly regretted it, the intense smell of blood, sweat and gunpowder invading my senses. I opened my mouth to call for help but my throat felt like sandpaper each time I swallowed. My limbs felt weak and useless, my whole body felt drained of energy. My eyelids were stuck together and were heavy and gross, my head felt like I was on a spinning ride going 100 miles per hour. The worst part was that I was tied up by my hands and feet to what felt like a hard wooden chair.

My eyes finally fluttered open. I winced at the bright light staring at me above and blinked a couple of times to adjust. I looked down at my clothes and they were all tattered, dirty and ripped. I narrowed my eyes when I saw drops of blood on my shirt. That's not mine, I think? I checked for cuts. I couldn't feel any or see any at the moment. Okay, I guess that's a good sign. It could be worse.

I looked outside through a window and saw that it was sunrise... How long have I been here for? I heard distant heavy footsteps coming from behind me and a pair of wheels, like a trolley. My breaths came out shaky and scared. I closed my eyes and kept my head down. Maybe he'll think I'm asleep.

"I know you're awake, so you might as well stop pretending." I heard a growly voice from in front of me. I slowly looked up to see my kidnapper, and it was none other than Hunter. I looked to his left and found a trolley with a variety of knifes.

My greatest fear was happening: My nightmares were coming to life.

He must have noticed my instant panic because he burst into laughter.

"Don't worry Kathryn... That's only for when I'm really bored. Which happens often." I looked at him dead in the eyes and glared. I don't care what he does to me, I don't care if he hurts me, as long as he doesn't hurt Keith.

"Why?" My question came out raspy and quiet, my throat was too dry for me to talk.

"Why, what?" Hunter asked playing dumb.

"Why did you kidnap me?" I whispered.

"Because I was bored." He said it like it was the most obvious answer in the entire world. Hunter rolled his eyes. He walked to the trolley and I felt myself quiver in fear.

"Drink." Hunter shoved a water bottle in my face. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I coughed out, which made me cough multiple times.

"If you are going to be any fun, I'd need you to talk, so drink this water." He was quickly running out of patience as he held the bottle to my mouth. Eyeing him suspiciously I leaned forward and was about to taste the water on my dry tongue. Hunter swiftly pulled the bottle away from me and gave a horrible glare. He dumped the water on my head and threw the bottle hard against the wall.

"Did you honestly think I would be that nice?" His chest erupted with laughter.

I felt the water slowly drip down from my hair and down my face. I felt anger go through me. That water could've been in my stomach. Instead it was on my head. I swallowed and my throat felt worse, if that was even possible. I looked up and found Hunter still laughing. Before I could even stop myself, my anger was getting out of hand and I said something that I shouldn't even have whispered.

"You MONSTER GO DIE IN FREAKING HELL" I screamed, which resulted in causing me so much pain in my throat that I tried so hard not to cry. But the pain was worth it.

Hunter stopped laughing and stared at me. He had a look that I've never seen before, a look of pure and absolute anger and hatred. He slowly walked to me, not letting go of the eye contact that we made.

I started breathing heavily of all the anger deep down, while Hunter seemed calm as ever. The only thing that gave away his emotions was his eyes. He put his hands on the back of my chair; he inched closer to me, his nose barely touching mine. I glared at him. I gathered up as much spit in my mouth as I possibly could with a dry mouth and spat on his face. Hunter inched away and wiped his face off.

"You think you're so tough, huh?" He said dryly

"Yea, I do actually," I replied haughtily, refusing to stand down to this creature. I may only be sixteen, and I may not be that tough, but I wouldn't let that get in the way. I wouldn't let that show. Instead I'd only show the tough side, showing weakness will only give him satisfaction. Weakness will make him think he's winning.

Hunter chuckled silently; he went over to his trolley and picked up a knife. A considerably small knife compared to the others.

"Let's see how tough you are after this." Hunter walked to me with dark eyes. He pressed the knife on my face, and cut a small little line on my right cheek.

"Is that all you got?"

:) :) :)

A tough girl isn't she? Hunter thought. He gave a little smile. He turned back around and set the Knife back in its position and stared at his reflection through the shining silver of the knives.

He knew he chose the right person for this. If he picked any other girl or guy they would've begged for him to let them go. Any other person would've started crying for him to stop hurting them even though he just gave them a little cut. Any other person wouldn't have spat in his face or talked back like Kathryn.

Kathryn's smart, she's brave, she's strong, she's fun.

Hunter turned on his heel and once again faced Kathryn's tied up form.

"I'll be back later. Have fun." Hunter grabbed the trolley and exited the room in the many rooms of the abandoned building.

"Yea, that's what I THOUGHT." Hunter heard Kathryn call from the hallway.

He chuckled to himself. She definitely isn't boring, Hunter thought. He went back to his place, and put the trolley next to his table. He grabbed the polisher and wiped the drying blood from his knife.

He cleaned it off while whistling. He finished cleaning it and once again put it back in place. He sat on his chair and put his feet up on his desk. He folded his hands on his lap and closed his eyes, listening to the peaceful chattering and shooting coming from outside. He sat there with a smile on his face as he imagined all the delicious tortures he could do to Kathryn...

:) :) :)

'I hate him' was the only thought that endlessly played on repeat in my head. I sat there tied to a stupid chair and tried thinking of ways to escape. I started rubbing my hands together to maybe slide the rope off, but the rope was way too thick and way too tight on my wrists. If I had a piece of glass or a sharp edge I could cut the rope! I looked down at my clothes and sighed.

I didn't have any sharp objects on my clothes or in my pockets, not that I could reach it anyways. I looked out the window; The sun was shining through and was casting a beautiful glow in the room. Well at least I had the heat of the sun to keep me company. I gave a defeated sigh.

"I'm never getting out of here," I mumbled. I felt a single tear escape and go down my cheek and onto the floor...