Haven & Disarray

Darkness engulfed me for what felt like an eternity, with the occasional dim bulb being lit after they brought me food or changed the bucket that was now my toilet.

I hadn't bathed in what? Three? Four days? A week?

Maybe, even more.

In this scary dungeon that they had imprisoned me, I succumbed to the voices in my head that hadn't been with me in months. They whispered things that made me want to crawl out of my skin and bleed myself dry until I atoned for my sins.

This couldn't possibly be Gale's doing.

Or maybe it was indeed his final act of vengeance. Maybe he had let me build up hope so he could utterly destroy it along with my soul.

I cried myself to sleep a hundred times on the thin hard bed that was in the cell, hugging myself for warmth.

This kind of living was worse than a dog. At least dogs had the freedom to run around the house and bask in the sun. Exactly like how Gale had kept me around.

But here, I was being treated like a plague meant to be hidden from the masses and die out alone.

All these thoughts made me want to end things and take away my pain. But they never presented me with any useful to put an end to it.

And after what felt like a week, I ceased being suicidal and just craved to go out and feel the heat of the sun even if it'd be the last time. I became hopeless and helpless, slowly turning into a shell as the darkness traumatized me more.

Whenever I closed my eyes, I still saw those piercing blue eyes in the mirror that I saw before blacking out. They haunted me. Tormented me until I could take it no more.

"I wanna see him! Tell him to come!" I screamed at the top of my lungs when the man who brought me food was leaving.

With my ankles shackled, I couldn't run after him. Not like I'd even overpower the burly male even if I did flee.

Once more, he ignored me and locked the cell.

"Ten minutes. Lights off," he said his usual mantra in his heavily accented voice. Even though I had heard it a hundred times, I still couldn't place the accent or his appearance.

All I could see in his green eyes was this fatigued fog that seemed to slowly suck the life out of him. Almost as if he had done this countless times before and had grown tired.

"Why? Why me?" I sobbed falling on my knees on the rough ground, my feet bare and cold.

Bitter and hot tears streamed down my face as my will slowly crumbled. "I can't take it any longer, please." I felt deep pity for how weak and meek my own voice sounded. Never had I felt and looked so lost at that moment as my life flashed before my eyes.

I was yet to take my revenge on Lori, my family, and even Gale. They all deserved a piece of torment that they gave me in equal measure. But here I was, kidnapped, mentally tormented, and without another living soul to speak to.

I was certain that Gale wouldn't even bother looking for me if he wasn't behind this abduction. Even if he did find me, he probably would pay them to keep me locked up forever. My family on the other hand, they'd stay quiet about it and hide from the public of such a thing so as not to bring any shame upon them.

The realization that I had nobody who truly cared for me, was my breaking point.

*************************************

Something was stroking my temple and then down to my cheek as if telling me to come back to the living.

I stirred, forcing my eyes open to catch the white fox mask looking down at me. The same mask of my kidnaper. I instantly gasped frightened and recoiled from his touch as my body crawled back and away from him.

"Why won't you just kill me? End this!"

He tapped his smart watch and then said, "That is an easy way out." That voice... It was, my voice.

I slapped my mouth, holding in the urge to throw up at how perfectly whatever technology he was using had copied my voice. It was...disgusting.

He tapped again. "Hello Maya?" This time, it was, Nikolai's voice. That could only mean that he had gotten to him as well.

"Where, where is he?" I asked, feeling horrible by my helplessness.

"Who?" The stranger asked still in Nikolai's voice.

"Nikolai!" I yelled sobbing. "What have you done to him? Why are you doing this to me?"

He tapped his watch a few times and suddenly, the mask on his face seemed to gain life as it slowly disintegrated, like the nano-tech device we studied about at high school, until it blended with his face. Or made a face for him.

A face I was too familiar with... Nikolai's.

He smiled. "Long time no see, Maya."

I shook my head violently, refusing to believe that it had been Nikolai all along. "You're not Nikolai. Stop pretending to be him!" I yelled pulling my knees to my chest as more tears came out of my eyes.

"You're right. I'm not Nikolai. Take a guess, Maya. I believe you're a smart girl."

He wasn't Nikolai either? Then, then who was he?

I forced my gaze away as my tired brain began functioning like it should have. He wasn't Nikolai, he had such advanced technology that cost billions, he could easily abduct someone from the palace without a worry, blue eyes, blonde hair...

As it all came together, I felt like an anchor had been dropped in the depths of my stomach.

I had gone to the palace seeking refuge, little did I know that I was walking right into a trap carefully laid out for me, by...the crown Prince.

"You... Oh my gawd." I covered my mouth, my eyes widening as horror threw my mind off balance. "Why? I have never crossed you."

He smiled at me. A wicked and vicious smile.

And with a few more taps on his watch, the mask peeled itself from his face and went back to its fox appearance before he took it right off. "Why?" Abel repeated wearing a subtle grin. "Isn't it obvious? I give punishments and rewards proportionally, Maya. You should know exactly why you're here."

My tears dried up.

"Why now? It's been over a ye-"

"There is no, 'why now', Maya. I do things as I please. I don't need a reason." Abel replied with a twisted expression that ruined the majestic image I had of him from our first meeting.

He was the last person on this Earth that I would have suspected of my current predicament. He had seemed to be calm, collected, and noble at the ball. But looking at him now, I felt like I was staring into the eyes of a sick psycho.

It didn't help that they had replaced the dull bulb with a bright one, illuminating his features.

"Don't glare at me like that Maya. Mistakes need to be corrected by punishing people. How would you learn without proper punishment?"

I tore my teary eyes from him as the last wave of despair devoured me. There would be no escape. No one to turn to. No one to rescue me. He was the crown prince, the to-be Emperor. He'd be the most powerful man on earth with his family controlling the kings like puppets. No one could dare offend this man to save an insignificant person like myself.

So this was the feeling of utter helplessness?

Well, it felt really terrible. I just wanted to die and join Cindy in the afterlife.

*** Aaaaand, welcome to book 2 of the CHAOS series. Another rollercoaster 🙌🙌