Mary

"Where Am I?" I asked myself before opening my eyes to peer into utter darkness. I couldn't see, I could hardly breath, a musty smell filled my nose. I tried to move but found I was tied and laying on what felt like a thin old blanket of some sort, I tried to pull myself free but it was a useless attempt. I laid there, crying and wondering what was going to happen next.

I heard foot steps above my head after what felt like hours, I was going to scream for help but thought twice about it "The person who tied me could be up there waiting for me to make a sound." I held my breath listening to the creaks in the floor boards. They seemed to be fainting away, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then a light cut through the darkness, blinding me. "Mary, Mary? Are you awake sweetheart?" A mans voice spoke, softly, almost making me forget I was tied up. My eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I looked around, I was in a dusty, unfinished basement. The windows had been blocked off by boards, I looked towards the place the voice was coming from, it was towards the stairs, across the room. I could only make out the shape of the man, I couldn't see his face, I couldn't identify his voice. "Awe Mary, your awake!" He said with happiness, I didn't speak, I couldn't speak, I was to scared to make any sound. He stepped slowly down the stairs towards me. My heart was beating a mile a second, I couldn't take my eyes off this faceless man. I finally opened my mouth, my voice came out in a hearse whisper, I was scared, terrified, but I said it, I said "My name is not Mary."

The faceless man kneeled over me in slience staring at my face, the light not touching him, he was covered in shadow. I tried not to look at him directly but couldn't help it, he seemed to be in deep thought. Then he started laughing, an insane laugh, "Oh sweatheart, you've always been such a kidder!" He said between chuckles, I began to sob, I couldn't help it. "Whats wrong honey?" He said with sincerity in his voice "Is it because your tied? I'm sorry I had to do that to you, I didn't want you to runaway again." "Again?" I thought "What did he mean by again?" He continued "we don't like making daddy mad, do we?" I nodded, not fully understanding this onesided converstation. "How did I get here?" I asked without thinking, to my surprise he gave a straight answer. "I took you." He said as he ran his fingers though my hair, I flinched but he didn't seem to notice, my skin crawled when his hand ran down my arm. "I'll untie you when I can trust you again." He said in a serious tone, "Until then you'll stay down here." I closed my eyes, trying not shake from fear. I felt his hand on my leg rubbing higher and higher. "Oh god, no, please no." I silently begged. "Until then..." His voice drifted off. He stood up and started for the stairs, I laid there, silently sobbing, I heard the creak of the stairs, then complete darkness surounded me again.

The next day (at least I thought it was the next day) I woke up feeling dehytrated and hungry. My lips felt cracked, my stomach was cramping, "I'm going to die down here." I thought to myself. I tugged on the ropes holding me down, they were tight around my wrist, and grew tighter the more I pulled. I gave up defeated, I laid there listening to what sounded like the television above my head. The faceless man was watching Criminal Minds. "Oh haha!" I thought sarcastically. I screamed out of fustration "If you wanted me here, why are you letting me die down in this fucking shithole!!" "Oh shit, I said that out loud." I held my breath and heard the television click off. the boards above my head creak, the door above the stairs opened, no light broke though this time. "It must be night." The faceless man called down to me. "Mary, do you need something?" "I need to earn his trust, be polite, don't act scared." I told myself. "Yes hun, can you get me a class of water?" I asked in the sweetest voice I could manage, doing my best not to let my voice break. He was silent, He closed the door and walked across the house. After about ten minutes the door above the stairs opened again, he came down it with a tray, flicked a switch on, the basment filled with a dim light, he walked across the room and sat the tray next to me on the concrete floor. I saw his face for the first time, he looked to be in his early thirties, brown hair, blue eyes, his face was round, he was a big guy. He was wearing blue jeans, with holes and bleach stains, his shirt was dirty and looked to have grease stains on the front. "Thank you." I said in a whisper, he looked tired, almost worried. "I'm sorry about forgetting you." He said. "It's okay, I know your a busy guy." I responded. I looked at the tray that was set up next to my head. "I can't really eat tied down." I said to him, trying to sound humorous. He looked at my tied hands above my head, then at my face. "Can I trust you?" He asked me. "Yes of course." I answered. He took a second to think it over, it felt like forever when he finally began to undo the knots. I sat up and looked at what was on the tray. "I made your favorite, Peanut butter and honey sandwhich, with a glass of sweet tea and a glass of ice water." He said sitting on the other side of the tray. "It looks delicous." I said "Thank you again." I grabbed the glass of water and downed it in three gulps, then started on the sandwhich. I forgot he was sitting there until he spoke. "Do you remember me?" He asked me in a sad voice. I swallowed my last bite before answering. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." I answered honestly, he nodded and stood up taking the tray with him. He climbed the stairs, leaving the door open and me untied.

I sat there thinking. "Could this be a trick? Should I run? Should I stay? Ugh! I don't know what to fucking do!!" I slowly stood up, my knees felt weak, my back was stiff and sore. I started walking carefully towards the stairs, I tried not to let the boards creak beneath my feet as I climbed the stairs, I peered through the door and was greeted with a hall. It was dark, I could make out four doors, two on each side. I tried the first door, slowly opening it. I peered inside, there was only a bed, it was neatly made. No windows, no phone. I opened the second door, it was filled with empty boxes, again no windows, no phone. I opened the third door, my breath was caught in my throat. I walked in and peered around the room, the walls were filled with pictures, hundreds of pictures, pictures of women, different kinds of women, some with similar features, some that looked completly different, all but one had a red X scribbled acrossed it, that one was a picture of Me, I stumbled back in shock, fear, and anger. I turned to leave when I saw he was standing there, standing behind me. "I looked for so long." He began "to find you Mary, those other women tricked me into thinking they were you, but I wasn't fooled. So I got rid of them, all of them." I stood there, looking behind him, trying to figure out if I could escape. He took a step closer and brushed my cheek with his hand. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, looking into my eyes, his eyes were cold, and he felt cold. "I'm thinking about how the fuck I'm going to get away from you." "W-what did you do to get rid of them?" I responded with a question. He didn't answer, he grabbed my hand and with every fiber of my being I didn't pull it away. He guided me to the fourth and final door and opened it, it was another hall, but shorter with only two doors. He opened the first and guided me in, it led into what must have been a garage at one time. "Did you build the halls and rooms?" I asked him, he flicked on a switch and I was standing in the middle of the room, the air smelled foul, and dusty. He walked across the room, and pulled open a black curtain I didn't notice before. I didn't know whether to faint or puke, or both. I saw a walk in closet filled with shelves and jars, jars of heads! He pulled me towards the door way of the closet, I couldn't help but go. I peered inside and saw all their faces, the smell was unbearable, tears filled my eyes as I looked at every face. They were bloated and decaying, obviously not perserved right, or at all. I looked towards the back of the closet and notice it wasn't a closet at all, it was another room. He guided me further in. "What the fuck is going on?" I was frozen, speechless and confused. He was watching at me, waiting for a response, I didn't have one. After a while I asked him "Why are you showing me this?" I turned to face him, he looked away shyly. "I wanted to show you where the naughty girls go, the ones who lie to me, the ones who try to escape." I felt faint, my stomach churned and I was going to be sick. I peered behind him and saw that there was a table covered with a sheet. I walked past him and pulled the sheet off. I fell to my knees and starting puking the sandwhich I had earlier. There was a decapitated body laying before me. She was nude and bloody, her body was covered in bruises and cuts. One of her breasts where missing, looked to be cut off with a knife, the area between her legs looked to be stabbed multiple times. Her body was still fresh. "When did she die?" I asked, still on my knees, next to my pool of puke. "Shes been gone since Tuesday." He said. "What day is it now?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears, I felt them running down my cheek. "It's Thursday." He answered. "I want you to know what happens when you make daddy mad, do you understand?" I nodded as he pulled me up and guided me out of the room, I knew I would never escape.

He led me across the hall to the second door and pulled me into it. I was in a living room, it looked normal, kind of retro fifties theme, the sofa was big and red, walls painted an egg shell white, the coffee and end tables looked like something my grandmother had, the television was new, a plasma, there was a swinging door accross the room I'm guessing it led into the kitchen, It wasn't small, just cozy and very clean. There wasn't any pictures hanging up, there was a big shelf full of books standing next to the television, I read some of the titles, mostly horror, thrillers and mysteries. "Do you like it?" He asked, I turned to look at him and nodded. "Go check out the kitchen." He said eagerly. I walked through the swinging door, he followed right behind, I looked around, just like the living room, the kitchen was kind of a fifties retro theme. The stove was like the sofa, big and red, the fridge was new, stainless steele, there was a dish washer, and the floor was back and white tiles, the wall was a lime green, and cubboards were panted black. I noticed there were no doors and windows leading to the outside world. "Wanna see our room?" He asked. "Our room?" I answered with another question. He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the swinging door, he led me to yet another hall, this one well lit. "How big is this house?" I asked myself. There was three doors. "The first door is the bathroom." He said. "The second one is our room." He seemed excited, like this was his favorite part, which made my stomach even more upset then before. "What about the last door?" I asked, he grew silent and didn't answer. The door to Our room was open and we stepped inside. In the middle of the room was a canopy bed, it had white curtains flowing down the bed posts like waterfalls, the comforter was also white with red roses and looked very fluffy, there were at least six pillows arranged from largest to smallest. I noticed two doors next to eachother across the room. "Where do those doors go?" I asked. "Those are the walk-in closets I made for us." He said."Go on, go take a look." I went over there and opened the first door and walked inside, it was amazing, there was a wall, a whole wall filled with shoes, all kinds of shoes, the racks were filled with dresses and only dresses. Across from the dresses was a dresser, I opened the top drawer and it was filled with bra's and panties, the second was filled with night gowns and the third was filled with what I could only describe as a "sex drawer." I shut that one fast. "The last woman didn't last as long as you did." He began "she tried to escape as soon as I untied her, she didn't make it to the stairs." I didn't say anything, I didn't want to, I felt bad for the way she died, for they way all those women died, but I couldn't do anything for them now, they were gone. "If you tell me your sizes I can pick up better clothes for you." He said, changing the subject. "Yeah, I can do that." I muttered, now looking down at my feet. "Don't be scared Mary, I won't hurt you. I love you." My face must have look shocked, because he said "You'll learn to love me again, why don't you get cleaned up? Everything you need should be here, I'll leave you alone." He walked out, and after a few minutes I heard the television click on. I didn't know what else to do but try to stay alive as long as I could. I opened the dresser and looked for my size bra, panties and night gown. I tried not to freak out, I was trying to act as normal as possible. I made my way down the hall towards the bathroom, I stopped and looked back at the last door, I tiptoed over there and tried the door knob, it was locked.

When I was in the bathroom, I tried to think about how I got here, who I was, what I was doing before I woke up in the basement. But I couldn't remember. My memory was foggy, I could remember small things, like my grandmothers furniture. "What else? Think dammit!" I got undressed and threw my clothes in the corner, I went to lock the door but there was no lock "Great." I got into the shower. I was into washing my hair and didn't hear the door open. "Mary?" His voice startled me. "Yeah?" I answered in a shaky voice. "Are you alright in there?" He asked, his voice was closer. I felt my knees buckled a little, but I grabbed the bar before I could fall. "Yeah I'm fine, just getting clean." I answered as normal as I possibly could, I was met with silence, "Oh good, he left." I said to myself. Then the shower curtain opened. He stood there naked in front of me, I screamed and covered my breasts, he put his hand over my mouth and hushed me. He stepped in and closed the curtain, He stood there and staring at me, I kept my eyes down, "Please, please no, not this." His hand rubbed my cheek, down my neck, I shuddered. "Move your arms." He demanded in a serious tone. "Please don't do this to me." I said begining to cry. "I said MOVE YOUR FUCKING ARMS!" He exploded and made me jump, I let my breasts free. "There, was that so hard?" He said in a soothing voice. I was still crying as his fingers played with my nipples. "Don't cry, you'll grow to like this more and more, the first time is always the hardest." He said now guiding my hand to him, I didn't fight it, but I hesitated."Please, I'll do anything but this." I said. "Good, I like it when you beg." He said, I felt him get hard in my hand, I tried to ignore what he was doing to me and what I was doing to him, I was trying to find my happy place. His hand left my breasts and found its way between my legs, I jumped a little when I felt his finger inside me, He was going hard, real hard, it hurt and made me cry more. After a few minutes, he reached behind me and turned the knobs off. I breathed a sigh of relief. "We're done." He got out first and handed me the towel hanging from the towel rack, I was shaking as I climbed out, I wrapped the towel around me, grabbed my clothes and proceeded to the bedroom. I closed the door behind me and got dressed, I heard him coming up the hall, and the bedroom door opened, he was dressed in the jeans he was wearing earlier. He walked over to the bed and sat down. He said. "All I ask is that you do everything I say, if you listen to me and my demands, your life here will be easier." I nodded in agreement, I stood there waiting for him to say something else, but he didn't. He stood up and walked over to me, he brushed my wet hair away from my face, I never noticed how much taller he was then me. He bent down and kissed me. I didn't pull away, I was to stunned, his lips were soft, warm and it felt confusing.

I couldn't sleep that night, I was laying awake in bed thinking, "thinking about what though? Escape? No. Thinking about earlier? Yes.. Well maybe.. Did you like it? "I don't know" I answered myself out loud. He wasn't in bed with me, he was watching televison in the living room. After awhile, I decided to get up and see if I could watch it with him. "What Am I doing? I should be afraid of him!" "But I'm not, at least I don't think I am." I whispered to myself. I made my way to the living room. He was sitting upright on the sofa, I could only see the back of his head. SpaceBalls was playing on the television, I walked around and saw he was sleeping. "Now, here's your chance RUN!!" The voice in my head screamed at me, but I ignored it. I shook him awake and he shot up ready for a fight. When he realized it was me, he said in a very sleepy tone. "What's wrong honey?" I couldn't believe what I was doing, was this stockhome syndrome? "Nothing, I just can't sleep." I answered.

That morning, I woke up to a empty house, I tried the door leading to the other halls, but it was bolted shut. There was no phone anywhere, no computer, nothing. I turned on the television for a bit, but nothing could take my mind of the problem, I felt like a bird in a cage. I took another shower and found a dress and a pair of shoes in my size. I rummaged around the kitchen to find something to make, "You could find a weapon in here." The voice in my head said to me. "No, out of all the women that have been here, I'm sure most tried that and died." "Good point." "I just need to mind my p's and qs to survive, got that?" The fridge was stocked full of all kinds of food, so were the cubboards, after about an hour, I settled on meatloaf.

When the meatloaf was almost ready, he walked through the swinging door. "Hi honey." He said "that smells good, what is it?" I was stirring a pot of carrots when he asked that. "meatloaf with carrots and mashed potatoes." I answered without looking at him. "It's almost ready." He kissed me on the cheek before leaving to the living room. As soon as he was out of sight, I shuddered. There was no dining table, but I made two plates up and served them on the coffee table, I noticed there was beer in the fridge and grabbed on for him, I poured myself a glass of iced tea. He ate like he hadn't ate in years, before I could finish my one serving, he already had three. After dinner was over I cleaned the kitchen, while he watched RoboCop on HBO. After I was finished with that, I went to ask him what else he wanted me to do. "I want you to say my name Mary." He said without any tone, his eyes fixed on the television. "I- I don't know your name, you n-never told me." I said. "Guess." He said, his eyes now on me. "Greg?" He shook his head. "David?" Wrong. "Matthew?" He stood up, and shook his head again. "I-I'm sorry I don't know your name." I said, I was afraid of what he might do to me next. "My name is Lawerence!" He cried out. "How could you not know that? We've been together for years!" I took a step back, and screamed. "I AM NOT MARY!!!!" He looked suprised at my outburst, then angry. He slapped me across the face so fast, I didn't have time to prepare for the blow. I went down, my cheek was stinging. He stood over me yelling, I didn't try to get up. I didn't want to, I blew it and I knew I shouldn't have done that. He grabbed me and pulled me down the hall and towards the bedroom, he threw me onto the bed. "What's my name?" He asked me. "L-L-Lawerence." I stuttered. "Good girl, your learning." He said and shut the door. I laid there crying into the pillow, crying from the pain, from the fear.

A couple hours later he came back, I was pretending to be asleep, my back facing him, I didn't stop crying but it slowed to small sobs. My cheek still stung, I'm sure there was a big bruise where he hit me. He shook me, I rolled over to face him, I was sure he came back to take me to the room in the garage. His Head Room. I didn't say anything to him, he didn't say anything to me. We sat there in silence for the longest time, until I asked him. "Is there anything you need Lawerence?" He didn't answer but instead handed me a small wrapped box. "I'm sorry for losing my temper earlier." He said. "I shouldn't expect you to remember everything right away, it takes time. I hope this makes up for it." I unwrapped the little heart shaped wraping paper, and opened the box, inside contained a heart shaped crystal necklace. "It's beautiful." I said. He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. I lached the chain, it felt heavy, but it was beautiful. "Can you do me a favor?" I asked him. "Yes, anything you want." I turned to him and met his eyes. "Why were you searching for Mary... I mean me?" He didn't react like I thought he would. I sat there waiting for an answer but he didn't say anything except "I love you" then walked out.

I laid there thinking, playing with the necklace. Wondering, just wondering if any of this will get better...