Prisoner

The lights are bright. Way too bright. You open your eyes slowly and your head is pounding.

“There she is. Hey, sleeping beauty.”

You blink against the light until your eyes focus and there are three guys sitting in front of you. Your hands are chained above your head and they have tape over your mouth. Your head starts to pound as the cloud of sleep begins to lift and you’re shoved back into reality, your reality.

You can’t even remember how long it’s been. You don’t know the days of the week or how many months it’s been. You’ve been tortured and used daily and it could’ve been avoided. You could’ve stayed with Cael and you’d be at home right now.

Cael, your dangerous ex boyfriend attacked you and drugged you when you were walking home after having drinks with your best friend. You’re sure that someone noticed you didn’t make it home but no one ever came.

Someone opens the door and walks in and his eyes meet yours. You don’t recognize him, you would’ve remembered. He pauses and stares at you, long enough to make you uncomfortable then sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Really? Who is this?”

“Cael’s girlfriend.”

“The one that broke up with him?”

“That’s her.”

“Jesus Christ guys. We sell drugs and weapons, we’re not murderers.”

“Who said anything about murder? We’re not going to kill her.”

“Well, what do you think will happen when you let her go?”

“Who said I’m letting her go?”

You snap your head back to the doorway at the sound of Cael’s voice. You start to shake and tears fill your eyes.

“Besides, if she ever leaves, she’ll be so broken that she’ll probably take the easy way out.”

“Why are you doing this? You didn’t even love her.”

“Because she’s mine. She’s mine and she tried to leave. Now she can’t leave until I’ve had enough.”

“Cael let her go. She didn’t do anything to you.”

“Kylan, you’re my brother and I love you but shut the fuck up. This isn’t your business, it’s mine. Everyone out.”

“Cael..”

“Now!”

Kylan looks at you again and looks like he wants to say something else but sighs and leaves. The other three walk out and Cael closes and locks the door.

“Alone at last.”

“Cael please. I just wanted to move on with my life. I wasn’t going to tell anyone about your business, I just didn’t want to get involved.”

“You weren’t going to tell anyone? I know how close you are with Tate, you expect me to believe you didn’t tell him?”

“I didn’t tell him. I lied to him. He thinks you cheated on me, at least he did until I disappeared.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Cael let me go. I’m not going to say anything.”

“Oh, I know you won’t.”

He smiles darkly and walks up close to you. He puts his hand on your face and makes you look at him.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

“Geh und fick dich.”

He laughs and hits you and you groan.

“Versuchen Sie es nochmal. Yeah, I speak German too.”

You taste blood in your mouth and you spit it in his face. He calmly wipes it off and takes something out of his pocket. He opens his pocket knife and holds the blade to your face.

“I wouldn’t do that again. I asked you a question my pet.”

“You’re sick.”

“Wrong answer.”

He drags the blade across your face and you grit your teeth to keep from screaming.

“I’m going to go get cleaned up for you and we’ll try again when I come back. Think of me.. I’ll definitely think about you.”

He kisses you and leaves the room and you start to cry. You strain against the chains but it’s no use, they’re too tight. You don’t care if you break your hand, you’re going to pull it through. You can’t spend another day here, you won’t make it. The door opens again and you freeze up and wait for pain but, nothing happens. You look up expecting to see Cael but, it’s his brother. Kylan? He closes the door quietly and walks up to you.

“You’re going to break your hand.”

“Help me. Please?”

He pulls a key out of his pocket and smiles.

“That’s why I’m here. We have to hurry. Cael is in the shower.”

“What about his friends?”

“He told them to leave. I knew Cael was getting worse, that’s why I came. I got caught up with something and couldn’t come sooner. I didn’t think he’d do something like this. I’m so sorry.”

“What is he going to do when he finds out I’m gone?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know him anymore.”

He opens the locks and gets you free. He tells you to wait and opens the door a crack. He motions for you to follow him and he holds your hand to pull you along. You go up the stairs and into Cael’s kitchen and Kylan whispers to you.

“Open the door and go outside. There’s a black mustang parked out there and the doors are open. Get in, get down, and wait for me, ok?”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t but, I’m all you have.”

That’s true. You do what he says and go outside and get in his car. It smells like he does. You crouch down under the dashboard in front of the passenger seat and wait. Kylan gets in and starts the car then drives off.

“You can get up now.”

You get up on the seat and touch your cheek. The blood is dry and it stopped bleeding. Kylan looks at you apologetically.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You saved me.”

“No I haven’t. Not yet.”

“Where are we going?”

“He knows where you live and where you hang out. I’m taking you to my house until I figure something else out.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I’m dropping you off and then going back. I’m going to make it seem like you broke out before Cael finishes up. He still takes long showers right?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know he even had a brother.”

“He doesn’t tell anyone anything about his life. Our parents died when we were young and he took care of me. It took a toll on him and he started using drugs, then selling them. He went downhill fast from there.”

He pulls in front of his house and gets out of his car. He opens your door and offers you his hand. You take it and you walk to his porch. He unlocks and opens his front door. He has a beautiful house.

“I don’t know if I have clothes that’ll fit you but you’re welcome to shower and find clothes and get something to eat and drink. I’ll be back when I can. Just in case, when you hear me come in I want you to hide in my bedroom closet. If it’s really me, I’ll come find you ok?”

“Ok.”

“Alright. Now, hit me.”

You look at him in shock.

“What?”

“Hit me. As hard as you can.”

“No!”

“He needs to think you got out and I tried to stop you. I’m going to tell him you hit me with the chain and took off.”

“I.. I can’t.”

“Yes you can. I’m telling you to. It’s ok, really. Cael may be your ex but he’s my brother. He’s always had a temper, I can take a hit.”

You sigh and get ready to hit him but you can’t do it.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head and huffs.

“You’re pathetic. I should’ve left you there for Cael to torture and ravage you until you inevitably kill yourself.”

You look down. You don’t know why but, that hurts coming from him and it pisses you off. You look back up and hit him as hard as you can. He stumbles back and you wince and rub your hand. You’ve gotten in fights before but you’ve forgotten how it makes your hand feel, especially since it’s been so long.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“Did you mean that?”

“Of course not. My brother is the monster, not me. I wanted to piss you off and clearly, it worked. I would’ve kept going if that wasn’t enough. I got to go. Don’t answer the door or leave, ok?”

You nod and he smiles and he squeezes your hand. He turns around to leave and you grab his arm.

“Wait. Why are you helping me?”

“Because you’re innocent.”

He smiles again and leaves, locking the door behind him. You take a deep breath and decide to take a shower to relax then you’ll look around. You cautiously walk towards his room and open his closet. He’s given you no reason not to trust him other than being related to Cael but, this is crazy. You want to go home. You wish you had your phone and you wonder where it is.

You gasp and stop looking for clothes. A phone. Does he have a phone? You start frantically searching his house but find no phone. Of course he doesn’t have a land line. Disappointed, you walk back to his closet and settle on a shirt that will be huge on you. It’ll hang to your knees so you wont need pants. You go into his bathroom and turn the light on and stop. Holy shit, he has the Taj Mahal of bathrooms. A beautiful sink and cabinets with marble countertops and a large mirror. Two private stalls containing urinals and another with a toilet, all painted glossy black. The shower floor and walls are smooth like glass but have rocks under the smooth surface. It’s a rain shower and you smile, you’ve never used a rain shower before but you’ve always wanted to. You figure out how to work the faucet then strip down and get in. You made the water a little too hot but it feels nice. All things considered, you’re safer now than you were an hour ago and you can relax for now. The water feels great on your skin and you close your eyes to focus on it. After a while, you start to wash your hair and body then sit on the floor and wrap your arms around your legs and rest your face on your knees. You try to think about you’re going to do. When can you go home, will it even be safe to? Your heart aches and you cry silent tears. Exhaustion takes a hold of you and before you even know it you fall asleep on the floor of his shower, that’s still running.