Runaway

Chapter 8

The next day, I wake up when the door opens and Vincent walks in. Just like yesterday, he pulls the table over and pulls up his chair. Only this time, he turns the camera on before he starts speaking.

"Good morning daughter. Sleep well?" He asks me. I don't respond, only stare at him with a cold glare. He smiles and continues speaking. "I did. Well after I finished reading everything in your file that is. Want to know what I thought about what I found?"

"Not particularly but I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway because you don't seem to know how or when to shut up." I say with venom seeping through my words. He puts his hand over his heart like he's been hurt.

"Ouch. Anyway, I thought your life was quite normal after the fire. Your mother remarried when you were six. Had a little girl when you were eight. Your life was perfect. And then New York was attacked. Your parents were in the library when it was destroyed. They were two of the few that died in that building. How sad. You were all alone with your sister. You had no family left and no one to take care of you so you both went into foster care. You went to stay with a lovely young couple. You were only there  for two weeks when you and your sister ran. Tell me, how did you manage to stay away from the police for a year?"

"I was smart. Kept my head down. Didn't draw attention to myself. Did a few things I'm not proud of but got over it. Then one day, I chose to pickpocket the wrong person. But that's how I met my real family. You see, you're not my family. Sure, we may be related by blood, but as far as I'm concerned, my father died in that library the day Loki attacked New York. You were never my father. And you have never been and never will be my family." I tell him. The next thing I know, my cheek is burning from where he slapped me.

"We are family! I am your father and you are my daughter! Stop referring to those monsters as your family before I do something I'll regret." Vincent shouts. I just shake my head and smile.

"No. We are not family. And they are not monsters. You are the real monster. And you want to know why I say they are my family and not you?" I ask him. He nods slightly, telling me to continue. "Because family isn't just who you're related to by blood. Family is the people who you fight for and who fight for you. You never fought for me and I will never fight for you. But those people that you just called monsters, I guarantee they are finding a way to save me right now. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to end this conversation and get the torture over with. After all, you may not want to waste any more time. They will get me soon."

With that, Vincent stands up and approaches his table. He's about to pick up a knife when he stops and turns around and walks back over to me.

"Actually, I think I'll wait to use the knives. I can use those after lunch." He says just before he pulls his arm back and lands a punch to my cheek, no doubt giving me a black eye. "It's going to be hard to distribute the damage across your body if you're tied to the chair." He says before untying the ropes holding me to the chair. I take this chance and run as fast as I can to the door but am stopped when Vincent grabs me by the hair.

"You shouldn't have done that." He growls into my ear. "You wouldn't have made it far anyway. There are guards outside that door that would have shot you down the second you walked out."

Not wanting to take anymore chances, Vincent holds onto me as he throws a chain over a pipe hanging from the ceiling. He then wraps the chains around my wrists, leaving me hanging in the air with my toes barely brushing against the floor. 

For the next few hours, Vincent hits me repeatedly and never got a scream out of me. The closest he came was just before he finished for lunch. He decided his fists weren't doing enough damage so he picked up the crow bar I had hit his men with yesterday. He swung the crowbar and hit me hard in the ribs three times. I'm certain he broke at least one from the intensity of the hits. Before he left, he untied me causing me to fall to the floor in a heap.