Time to be Serious

A small moan escaped her lips as a jolt of pain rushed through her body and she steadily began grasping a sense of consciousness. She rolled to her side turning her head, an act her body scolded her for as pain sparked through every form of her senses and her body shuddered on the ground. Carefully, she opened her eyes, giving them time to focus through the pain and dim lighting of the room. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, the leaking pipes, the tattered old mattress on rough concrete floor; no windows or lamps, the only form of light was a flickering bulb suspended from a broken down light socket in a web covered ceiling. The walls were a dark muddy color, shining dully from its moist slicked surfaces. Arien looked down to see her legs tied separately to the front two legs of a chair which had been bolted to the floor. Her hands were tied behind her back, and them and her head rested against the cold hard ground. Her head was throbbing, but in spite of that she summoned her strength to thrust herself up into a sitting position. Squeezing her eyes shut, she swooned for a moment, and after the dizziness had settled, she re-opened her eyes once more and began her search. Her eyes dashed around the room,-a knife, -a broken bottle, -a screw; searching for anything that could be used to free herself from her confines. Then, ...there! Her mind began to race as she caught the glimpse of a shiny object gleaming out from behind a cracked door hidden behind the chair. Scooting as far as her legs would allow the craned her neck to get a better glimpse, and there she saw a beaten down girl peering around the corner of the door. Her breath caught in her throat, and her body froze in place just as the girl’s did. She sat there frozen on the spot until finally her brain broke through her fear with one word. Reflection! Her body seemed jump for joy as adrenaline rushed through her erasing her pain as her scramble to reach the mirror began.


The chair gave an uneasy creak as her feet pressed against it hoping to break the weakened wood. It seemed her strength was not enough to break the chair, so she hoped perhaps the screws were loose and with a little force could be pried from the floor. She lay back flat against the ground and slid down towards the chair forcing her knees under the seat of the chair. An uncomfortable position, but with her feet and hands tied she didn’t have much else to work with. With her hands pushing from underneath, she lifted her back off the ground and began trying to rock and lift with her knees. The chair wouldn’t budge. She rested her back only a moment, then with a grunt and clenching teeth she attacked the chair once more. She was so distracted with her current task she never even heard the gentle creaking of a door across the room and the light padded foot steps crossing the thresh hold until there was a tattered faded shoe on either side of her face. A small cry escaped her as her body dropped to the ground, and she found herself staring up at a painted smile, to two malicious dark eyes.



“Well, what do we have here?” His hands rested in the pockets of his purple striped pants. Yellow teeth peered through, as his smile widened and he crossed the length of the girls body, turning around and planting himself in the chair. “Hm?” He seemed to expect the trembling girl to answer, but all she could do was stare. It was like all forms of grammar and vocabulary had been forgotten. Much to the man’s dismay she recovered fast though, and began bucking and thrashing wildly trying to free herself from her ties.



“Now, now, now” He placed a foot on her chest halting her activities almost instantly. “That’s no way to behave, especially towards the person who saved your, ah, life!” She rolled his foot off of her chest and thrust herself upward, trying to give him the worst glare she could muster. A look which she assumed must of seemed ridiculous to him as all he did was chuckle and smile.



“Save my life?” She said her mouth forming a furious pout. “You call this saving my life?! In case you hadn’t noticed, there was nothing my life needing saving from, oh wait except maybe from a mad man like you!” She had never been one to be intimidated, but he was different. Everything about him made her feel small and helpless, but she refused to let him see her as such.



“No, no, no, no” He put a callused dirty hand to his mouth like child, pretending to be shocked. “You-you didn’t hear? My, my, my, my. The -ah- building you were living in was blown up!” A smile broke across his face as her mouth dropped open. “And I, being a gent-le-men, saved you!” He leaned in, only inches from her face. “I could have let you die.” Her mouth made a hard line as he leaned back and laughed at her attempt to fight back tears. Anger burst through her, and in retaliation she did the only thing she could do. She leaned forward, opened her mouth, and sunk her teeth into his thigh. A growl erupted from his red lips, and she dug her teeth in harder as he grabbed her hair and pulled. Her scream echoed through the room as the pain from her scalp was finally too much and she released her grip on his leg. He threw her head back, and stood abruptly from the chair, towering over her. His jaw hardening, he spoke to her through clenched teeth, and in an animalistic voice.



“You shouldn’t have done that.” His foot descending towards her head, once again her world went black.