A Miracle From Hell

Chapter 7

The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body.---Publilius  Syrus

365 days, 15 hours, 32 minutes and 44 seconds. 

It had been a year. A whole year since he last saw his team. A tear slipped down his cheek and he let it go. 

He brought to mind again their faces, their voices. God, he missed them so much. 

365 days, 15 hours, 33 minutes, and 12 seconds.

He had to stop counting, he had tried to stop counting, but it was soothing to him in a way to be in control of one small thing, when he was so out of control of so many things. 

He leaned his head back against the bars and sighed. His whole world was shrinking into this cage. It was becoming harder for him to believe that he ever once lived outside these bars, that he had breathed in fresh air and enjoyed the hot sun. He knew it was out there but, it was hard to believe some days. 

He hadn't seen his captor in a few days, both a blessing and curse. A blessing because it was a relief from the daily abuse he suffered and a curse because he was starting to long for any sort of human contact, even his captor. 

He heard the floor creak above him, and he guessed that he would be making a appearance. He crawled back to the corner of the cage and lay on the floor, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

The steps creaked under the weight of his captor, and a blinding light filled the room. Reid's eyes watered and he instantly covered them.  This was different. He heard the familiar voice echo down the stairs. "Hello agents of the BAU! Happy one- year anniversary!" His heart stopped and his mind raced with the possible outcomes. Then he was aware of the camera in his face. Instinctively, he looked up, and then realizing that his team was watching on the other side, looked back down, ashamed.  Ashamed of being here, ashamed of being a burden again.

"Now listen agents, the good doctor only has five days left to live...." His voice cut out as the realization of what he said sank in. 

5 days. 120 hours. 7200 minutes. 432,000 seconds. He had that much time left to live.  He pulled in air, his mind already counting down the seconds. He had to stop counting, he would drive himself insane. They would find him, they always found him. 

"Five, days." He hadn't meant to say that aloud, his own voice scared him. 

His captor smiled widely at him. "That's right, five days and this will all be over, for better or for worse." 

Reid swallowed. "Listen to me-" All that got him was an enraged man flying at his face.  Reid closed his eyes, he knew he wasn't suppose to talk to him, but his time line had made his situation a lot more perilous. He absorbed the punches, wincing as they split open his lip and landed on his nose. 

His captor finished and brushed himself off, surveying his handiwork. "I don't listen to scum like you. Understand?"

Reid nodded, eyes averted, knowing full well that making eye contact would result only in more pain for him. 

"Good." He gave his head a pat and let his hands run through Reid's long hair. "You are expendable in this game I'm playing. I hope your team realizes this." 

Reid closed his eyes, letting his mind take him to a safe place. It was the only coping mechanism he had left. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was looking into the face of his tormentor. 

"Where do you go?" He mused, a hand propped up on his chin. "Where ever you went, you go there longer and longer every time." 

He stood up, and walked towards the door. "I'll be back, Dr. Reid, don't worry." 

Reid touched his face and winced. Every day he tried his best to move as much as possible. The cage wasn't tall enough for his tall frame, but he still shuffled around it a few times before collapsing back down, panting for air. 

He needed to get out of this hell hole. He could feel his body gradually start to give up on him, and his mind was freaking out, fighting against it. His mind was going into overload trying to protect him from the hellish reality he was in. 

And that scared him the most. 

He knew what the mind could do under incredible pressure, and he was terrified what his would do.  

He breathed deeply and let out a long shaky breath, focusing his mind to concentrate on the crack in the ceiling. All the statistics in the world couldn't save him now, the only thing that would was a clear head. 

The floor creaked again, and he felt himself start to shake. Stop it, he scolded himself. But he couldn't. It wasn't his tormentor however, it was Henry Chaser. 

Reid was confused. He had seen Chaser only a few times since his capture, it had really been months since the last visit, so why was he down here with him?

Chaser walked over to him, a water bottle in one hand. "Hey," he whispered softly. "Listen, I heard about the whole five days thing and the um---" he waved his hand around vaguely. "Anyway I just wanted to bring you some water, and ya know..." He rolled the bottle towards Reid. 

Reid grabbed at it, the desperate need for water outweighing the voice of concern in his head. "Thank you." He guzzled it back, splashing it on the cuts on his face. "Henry," He looked pleadingly at Chaser, "please, you have to help me get out of here. Is there a phone, or anything that you can call for help on?"

Chaser looked away, focused on his jagged fingernails. "Henry, look at me!" Reid whispered urgently, this was the only ray of hope he had in a long time, and he felt it dying right in front of him. "Please can't you leave and call this in?" 

Chaser looked at him. "I'm sorry, I can't do that, I, he, said, that I would die, and I don't want to die."

Reid's eyesight flickered and with disgust he nudged the bottle away. "Henry, p-please, he's going, going to-to..." His eyes rolled back and his head dropped back onto the floor. 

Chaser sighed and rubbed his head. He was duty bound to see this through but he hated to see young doctor in pain. With a deep sigh tinged with regret he trudged upstairs.