I woke in the dark and the cold of the next morning, staring into the blackness of this confinement’s ceiling, a sick and bitter taste crowding my mouth. The beast of hatred inside me was slowly wilting; replenished by a gasping, blinding pain that removed every inch of thought from my mind. I felt, for once, standing on the edge of absolute doom, the taunts of inevitable death permeating the cold prison where I lay. Nothing, not even a slight twitch, managed to escape my body as a door cracked open in my peripheral vision, and a horrid shadow slipped out within the backdrop of darkness.
He was approaching me; that boy which had tortured me in this dreary confinement. Villain, murderer, kidnapper… Terror throbbed white within my eyes, but that soon melted into submission as I glimpsed his looming figure, so cold, so mirthless, tower before me. At this moment, he was so powerful, so controlling, that within a jolt of his wrists he could crush the veins of my throat. I felt so desperate and impotent underneath the jarring light that seeped from his eyes, and the mysterious smile that had just caught the threads of light whispering from the exterior. The light that trembled upon his figure calmed me a little. There are still ways to escape, I was sure.
“Stand up,” the boy menaced suddenly, and all my comforts dissipated and bloomed again into seeds of imminent fear. He lunged, digging his cold fingers into my arms, attempting to hold me up, to which I only responded with a grit of resentment. I had no more strength to push him away, yet that blossom of hatred, which he had instilled within me, was growing once more.
“I said stand up.” He was shaking his head in bitter distaste now, flinging my body forwards and up until I was staggering under his clutch. He dragged me forward carelessly, until I felt my foot scrape the ground so hard that blood happened to trail from my crushed shoes. Suddenly, I just could not bear the pain and humiliation; I found my long-defeated voice and cried out, with breaths short and wheezing.
“Where are you taking me? Let me go!” If I wasn’t bleeding profusely, and on the verge of losing my voice, perhaps my cries would’ve been strengthened with all the hatred I could master. But anguish was pressing me from all sides, so my protest was barely a croak to his ears.
He cursed under his breath silently. “Let you go? No.” Then he proceeded to drag me forwards, until I was staggering behind him unsteadily, his presence a ghostly specter slipping through the darkness before me.
All my strength extinguished, and sunk into misty despair. Oh, how I pleaded to the world for this terror to stop, for all of this to be a horrid dream. Then I felt my body collapse and slump upon the boy who was, just a second ago, holding me with wild, vehement brutality. I felt his hard, solid body melt with mine, and his hot breath caressing the back of my neck, although only for a split moment. Then, as though thunder had struck him, he reared back impulsively, shoving me away from the warmth of his body.
“Fine, fine.” He growled beneath rushing breaths. “You can sit down.” His gaze, which had previously tore threateningly through me, was now glistening with an almost incomprehensible tenderness. Perhaps I had mistaken the intensity in his gaze. But his venomous smile had vanished, and a whisper of concern kindled his brooding face.
“It… hurts…” I murmured softly, and a groan escaped my lips. The fit of tremors had passed, and a fever was approaching; the pain that fought me was now clearer than ever. Yet I still felt my frail head being placed upon the wall softly, and warm fingers gripping my shoulders. I was too afflicted, drenched with wounds, for me to repulse his nearness now.
“Wait,” he instructed, “I’ll go fetch some blankets for you.” I felt a pang of relief, for my body now ventured in feverish cold, and desperately yearned for warmth. The blankets, as he soon wrapped around my freezing torso, were of a soothing, familiar smell, that momentarily eased me. Yet I couldn’t even comprehend why I had thought anything was placating at this frightening moment.
He stared at me.
For a prolonged moment, both of us seemed to have sunk under an ocean of silence, and neither of us shifted in our proximity. He was regarding me with an odd, sympathizing look, a look that appeared strangely distant, despite our closeness. He was the first to break the steely silence.
“What’s your name?” The question almost had a guilty prick; an anxious, uneasy edge that made me at once succumb to confusion. This was not the harsh, cruel voice that he used to manifest my terror. There was something else, something more to it. A hunter’s voice was now punctured with sentiment.
“Lily.” I answered without glancing up at him. I knew he was still staring at me.
“I’m Flynn.” He started quietly, then I heard a long, drawn-out sigh. He was suddenly so still, so gentle, that shock grazed my throat until I could barely reply. What should I say? Or do? Was there a hint of mercy within his eyes, or had I imagined it? I shook my head at the abrupt, unforgiving thought. Here before me, was a murderer, who was desperate to kill me, I reminded myself. So I said nothing.
“You know… if you need anything, just tell me. I won’t hurt you.”
I almost wanted to laugh at his words. He won’t hurt me? Yet he already did, and I had nothing but hate towards him. The ridicule mounted within me until I could barely suppress my mounting fury.
“Well, why don’t you just let me go, Flynn?” My heart quickened with anger. “I thought you saved me, but you tortured me instead. I just want to…” I released those words which I never would’ve thought I would say. “I want to… go home.”
I barely realized how tight I now grasped the fabric of the blanket, it was only until the pain blossomed within my nails that I loosened my grip.
For a second, he looked as if he was about to say something, but remained silent. His blazing hot gaze crept up my throat, then up my cheeks, and nose, and eyes, which was now moist with tears. He quickly averted his gaze, but not fast enough to conceal a flash of interest.
“--So?” I demanded fiercely, reaching forwards to pull at the collar now hanging limp at his neck. He startled, then with a jerk, seemed to disentangle himself from his motionless haze.
He stared at me for a moment, his expression conveying something torn with desperation and unease. He was still, his eyes hovering between me and the pressing gloom, averting the ire that crossed my face. He was afraid to move, I realized with a start, but why?
He swallowed nervously. His hands were balled into fists now, and pinioned upon the ground in a contorted position. Then I glared down at myself, to where his gaze seemed to flit and tremor restlessly. Humiliation seized me instantly, and I hurriedly lifted the blanket over my body, concealing the slight glint of bare flesh that was unveiled through my wet, torn top. Guiltily, he shifted his blistering gaze on the ground.
“I’ll go and open the main door.” with a flash, Flynn was on his feet and walking away into the distant stillness. I had forgotten how searing hot the temperature inside this attic was. Whether it was the humiliation, or the constant dread of entrapment, the heat seemed too scorching to bear. It crept up my pallid features, rendering them with a spread of warm, blossoming red. Heartbeats of panic and apprehension rang futilely in my ears. I was glad of the lengthening shadows that hid my face, so he couldn’t see the shame and discomfort that bled across it.
I gasped involuntarily as a blinding aura of light flooded the dark interiors suddenly. For a second, the kindling luminescence was so brilliant that the darkness was replaced by a heavenly glow; a ring of vibrant crimson. But the sightless shroud soon dissipated, and all was replaced by the scene of whirling dust and the empty vicinity which ensnared me. Flynn was crouched before me, his eyes searching me peculiarly; prying, investigating, devouring. I was, all of a sudden, entranced by his countenance. His gaze was sharp and formidable, yet his features were gentle and striking. I gulped down a surge of sensitivity.
The main door was now open, and a wave of crisp, enlightening air crept through the gap. I breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of the outside world which I had nearly forgotten. I could feel the scent of nature, of the chill wintry breeze, and the warm glow emitted by a merciful sun. It almost felt like… I was free, and all the misery and cold was swept away at this instant.
It was dawn, and the whispers of birdsong were already rippling through the break from the door. It was a palliating remedy; as the call of nature sank my body to rest. But not for long. Flynn surfaced from his crouched stance, and his footsteps resonated across the vacant hall. I realized all of a sudden that he was tall, very tall. His wild, dilapidated clothing was not enough to fit him, and beneath the slits of the ruined apparel were glimpses of firm, molded skin. I shivered involuntarily as he towered above me.
“I need you to help me.” He appeared indecisive, yet hastily shook his head and beckoned for me to follow him. He guided me forwards through the darkness, and we approached that ghastly room again. The room where the frightening corpse of a woman lay twisted on the rigid ground.
The grotesque imagery haunted the depths of my mind, and I lodged my teeth against the back of my lips, dreading for a fearful cry to slip out of my throat at any instant. Yet he was casual, composed and perhaps even delirious in the face of demise. Disgust churned and licked through my torso like wildfire, and every step seemed to drag with more effort than before.
“I need you,” he said with a smile, “to help me carry this corpse. And—” he stifled a laugh as he registered the terror upon my face. “We need to bury it, of course.”
The sickening reek had intruded the entire attic, and now it was worse than ever. As I watched in profound horror, he slipped on a pair of dark gloves and began lifting the decaying corpse, ever so slowly, out the opened door.
“No.” I clenched my hands feebly behind my back, as the slits of bloodied skin neared me inch by inch. The vexation pulsing his features made me drop my turbulent thoughts at once, and concede defeat to his peremptory demands. Slowly yet unsteadily, with the same pair of gloves tight around my hands, I proceeded to hoist the drooping legs as he led me out of the door of the attic.
The exterior world was so strange, so forlorn, yet reassuring at the same time. The area that bordered the isolated building was a sector of rampant fields, with untamed grass leaping and rushing towards a breaking sunrise. Barred wires gleamed coldly in the distance, as if voicing a reminder of this dreadful imprisonment. I let him lead me towards the edge of this dreary pasture, glancing around at the forbidding greenery and the ominous beauty of the subtle, diffused sky. For a moment I almost forgot that I was holding the remnants of a bloody corpse in my arms.
Then suddenly, he stopped.
“Lay the body on the ground. Quick.”
Startled by his sudden fierce demand, I halted, puzzled. There was a familiar ominous air to him, one blazing of hatred and fueled by destruction. He was silent, scrutinizing the distance intensely, as if a malevolent hunter surveying his prey. And then I understood why. Standing just beyond the reaches of the ominous barbed wires, was the vague frame of a disheveled woman, eyes bloodshot and horror-struck as she stared back at us.
She… she saw us. That was of no doubt.
But that wasn’t the only thing she had seen.
I glanced towards Flynn. Without a word, he was already striding briskly away from me, the color drained from his face and his lean frame tensed in anticipation, restless and uneasy. He was suddenly poised like an insidious hunter, hungry for blood. A bitter premonition gathered in my throat, strangling me inwardly. The earth beneath me seemed to tremble in forebode as he stalked towards his victim.
“Stop!” I cried, but he only continued to slip away from me, towards the shadow of that woman, recklessness tracing his every step. “What are you doing, Flynn?”
I heard a vague resonance of laughter, and he turned back towards me, an ominous smile illuminating his features.
“Oh, that,” he smiled reassuringly, obscuring the bitter cold edge in his voice. “Don’t worry. I’m going to kill her.”
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