Sometime during the past couple days I’d spiked a high fever that’d put me in and out of consciousness. A couple times when I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I thought I would never wake again. It would’ve been a small blessing really, but instead fate played a cruel joke on me. I woke in a different kind of cell. No crumbling block walls or freezing concrete slabs. This time I was surrounded by the warmth of heat and a small cot I was curled against with a blanket covering my body. Someone had moved me into a more comfortable area so that I would survive; so that I’d be nursed back to health only to be tortured until it was my turn to pull the trigger with that revolver shoved against my skull. It would’ve been easier for them to have let me die, then toss my body out into the desert for the vultures to devour, but no, Clover was a sick individual who fed off of the pain and agony of others. He hadn’t had his fill of me yet, so he did what he thought was best; he made sure I’d survive my illness so he’d have the chance to truly break me.

I lifted my head from the cot and took in my surroundings. The walls were a dingy white with nothing else in the room. An IV bag hung from a hook high on the wall, so high I couldn’t reach it if I tip toed while standing on the bed. Not that I’d tried. My entire body was drained of energy. It felt like an elephant had been sitting on me for days, just recently lifting off of me. What my diagnosis or treatment had been was lost on me, the only hint of memory I had was the feel of needles piercing my skin, and a bright light going from eyeball to eyeball. I still couldn’t understand fully why Clover would bother keeping me alive. I wasn’t a bargaining chip, only because he wasn’t one to bargain. He kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. Well, maybe he didn’t do all of those things himself, but he played a giant part in the scheme of it all.

Once I was upright I hung my feet over the side of the cot. They easily touched the floor beneath. A floor that felt warmer than the one in my previous cell, cleaner even. How could Clover have so many facilities within his reach? Was he that powerful of a man to easily live under everyone’s nose while he murdered innocent people? It was like living in a horror movie. One that was so sick and twisted it had to be fiction. If only the horror I was in was actually fiction.

The silence was deafening as I lifted to my feet, my body wobbling until I gained a firm stance. I let out a slow breath, yanked the IV from my hand, and slowly walked to the door, a caged window at face height, the rest white metal cool to the touch. It reminded me of a psych ward you’d see in movies. Only it was my reality. I banged my fist against it, hoping someone would hear me, also afraid of whom that someone might be.

A woman dressed in navy blue scrubs stepped into my line of vision and I began to pound even harder on the door. I watched as she caught sight of me and quickly came walking my way. She stopped once she was on the other side of the door and gave me a small smile. Her salt and pepper hair slicked back in a ponytail and her hazel green eyes were wrinkled on the sides, but something within them wasn’t right.

“Yes, dear?” Her raspy voice was barely audible through the thick window.

“Can you let me out of here?” I frantically asked.

“I can’t do that,” she shook her head.

I slapped my hands against the glass, “Where am I?”

“You’re in treatment. Everything will be okay.” She smiled again, but this time it stretched farther across her face, showing more of her age with wrinkles.

“Everything is not okay!” I yelled, “I was taken! Let me out of here so I can alert authorities of where I’ve been!”

“You’re gonna upset him.” She gave me a knowing look so I’d know exactly who she was speaking of.

“I don’t give a fuck who I upset! Now let me out of here!” I slapped my palms against the glass repeatedly, hoping like hell it would crack or burst into pieces, although I knew better.

“Tisk, tisk. You’re a girl with a very dirty mouth, Blair. I think we need a little sedative, don’t you?” I watched as the woman slapped her hand against the wall beside the door. A moment later heavy white smoke filled the room from the vents I hadn’t noticed at the top of the walls. She was diluting the air with some kind of sedative.

Heavy coughs escaped me as I hurried to my cot, covering my mouth and nose with the blanket in hopes that it would help, but it didn’t. My body felt heavy and my eyes kept trying to close as I heard the door stretch open. I attempted to kick my leg but it was far too heavy as the sedative rolled through the room and the petite nurse, wearing a mask so she didn’t inhale the smoke, stabbed my arm with a needle. My limbs felt like jelly as she lifted my legs back on to the bed and maneuvered my body into the laying position. I flinched as she stuck the IV back into my hand and the sound of heavy boots filled the room. The world around me was muffled, like I was under water and everyone else was above it. I rolled my head toward the nurse and attempted to ask her why she was doing this to me, but my words came out in a fit of unrecognizable mumbles.

“Shhh…” She smoothed the hair away from my face, “You’re going to be just fine.” Her smiling face soon faded, being replaced with his.

“I give you the chance to have nice things and this is how you act?” His muffled words bounced around in my head. I wanted so badly to head butt him and tackle the nurse on my way out of the room, but I couldn’t. My eyelids fluttered once more and the last words I comprehended were Clover’s. “Be sure to have the revolver ready, it’s time for someone to be taught a lesson.”

* * *

“Wake up, Blair,” Clover's voice was soft and low, tickling my ear with its warmth. My head jerked to the side and I hastily opened my eyes. The chill of the air rolled across my skin, I was completely and utterly naked.

I can’t move my hands.

I tried pulling my hands forward and groaned from the ache of the zip ties digging into my wrists. He’d tied me to one of the poles this time, instead of spreading me between the two. Clover stood there smiling at me as a revolver hung loosely in his hand. My breathing quickened and my pulse spiked as I realized what was happening. He was giving me my turn with fate because I’d caused such a fuss. Something inside him had been pushed to its limit with me, and as bad as it sounded I regretted it.

Clover stepped so close to me I could feel the warmth radiating from his body against my naked flesh. He wore a perfectly tailored navy suit with a charcoal under shirt unbuttoned just above his pecs. The man was beautifully broken. Most women would’ve fallen to their knees for a chance with him, but insanity had taken control of his mind, a sickness that wasn’t one to be cured. He lived for harming others, breathed for watching the life drain from their eyes, and lusted after the erotic feel of being the deciding factor of whether someone lived or died. He was a sick and twisted bastard who was officially claiming me as his next victim.

“Beautiful girl,” He ran his hand down the column of my throat, gently squeezing as he went, stopping just above my breasts with his fingers spread widely. “When I first laid eyes on you I knew you had to be mine. I hoped you would be different, that you would follow my rules and I could keep you around for a long period of time…if not forever. It took me a while to figure out why I was drawn to you. Now I know. You remind me so much of a love I lost years ago, Juliana. The same heavy dark hair,” He ran his hands through my loose hair, snagging a few tangles and causing my eyes to water, “the same curve inward of your waist with a drastic curve outward of your hips.” His hands continued to trail down my body, his fingers turned inward and gripped my hips tightly as his eyes searched mine. I kept my focus on his without wavering; if he was going to harm me, he was going to have to do it while staring me straight in the eyes.

He released the tight hold on my hips and slid his hands down my bare thighs. In one quick motion he pulled my legs around his hips and ground himself against my core. I refused to let out the sob that was rolling up my throat. I clenched my eyes shut and allowed the tears to silently escape me. His large, warm hands gripped my backside as his tongue ran up the side of my neck, his teeth grazing my earlobe before his lips smashed against my shut mouth. He kissed me passionately even though I wouldn’t kiss him back. When he finally stopped moving his hips against me and his grip loosened on my backside, he rested his forehead against mine and slowly opened his eyes. Those navy orbs pierced mine with such intensity I was honestly afraid for what was to come. He was either going to force himself on me or shoot me dead. I was hoping for the latter.

“Just kill me.” As soon as the shaky whispered words left my mouth Clover gritted his teeth and stepped back. My legs dropped back to the ground.

“If you insist.” He lifted the revolver to my head and positioned it directly between my eyes.

My body shook with fear as I stared right at him. I wasn’t going to allow him to pull that trigger without the look in my eyes haunting him for the rest of his life, if that was possible for someone like him. Clover’s eyes narrowed as his finger slowly began to pull the trigger back. He paused as his phone sprung to life. He lowered the gun and the breath I had been holding released from my lungs.

“Now is not the ti—” He held the butt of the gun against the side of his head. Something was aggravating him, which would most likely cause Clover to take said anger out on me. “I thought you took care of that little issue already? Well, it sounds like you didn’t do a good enough job, so get it done!” His voice echoed just before he threw his phone across the room. The sound of it crashing against something caused me to jump. “Why do I have such imbeciles working for me?” He growled.

“I—I’m not sure.” My stuttered words brought his attention back to me.

The look in his eyes was as if he’d forgotten what he was previously doing. Sadness washed over his face as he slid the revolver into the waist of his pants and pulled a pocket knife from his slacks. He walked around the pole and freed my hands with one swift pull of the knife against the zip ties. My body was weak as I fell forward, into his arms. Clover quickly scooped me up and carried me through a door that led into the room where the cell I’d been held in was located. The door was wide open so he walked straight in and lowered me onto one end of the concrete slab. A neatly folded pile of pale blue clothes sat on the opposite end. His lips gently pressed against my forehead as he his hands smoothed across my cheeks.

“Get dressed. I’ll have some food brought in momentarily.”

Without another word or glance in my direction, Clover left my cell and locked the door behind him. His mind was elsewhere, and I was thankful for that. Fate had been on my side in more ways than one. Next time I probably wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Blair?”

“Jamie!” I cried as I quickly slipped to the hole between the cells, which had somehow gotten bigger. Both of my eyes could see through it at the same time. “How is this…”

“A piece of my slab broke off so I chipped away at the hole until my shard broke into pieces.”

I smiled. Being able to see her better and speak to her again had my emotions overloading. The sobs I’d choked back in front of Clover ripped from my chest and my head rested against the hole as I cried. The feel of fingertips barely rubbing the top of my head made me cry even harder. I was on the verge of losing my mind if I didn’t get a grip on the reality that was before me. Jamie’s fingers disappeared and I lifted my head to look at her. She looked pretty good for being held captive. Her face was clean, and her hair was braided to the side, hanging loosely where there wasn’t a hair tie to hold it in place. But the pain in her eyes made my heart hurt.

“I can’t believe you’re still here.”

“I can’t believe you’re alive yourself.”

I slipped all but my thumb into the hole and she hooked her fingers around mine. We both squeezed each other’s and a heavy sigh passed my lips. “I’m glad you broke this hole open more.”

“So am I. You need to get dressed, though; your teeth are beginning to chatter.”

She was right, my teeth were chattering. I walked over to the pile of clothes and quickly dressed. They were a thicker material than anything else he’d given me, almost warm. I snuggled against myself and inhaled deeply. The clean scent of the laundry detergent they’d been washed in was soothing, I missed that little detail of life, and I hadn’t even realized it.

It hit me that every little instance of my life I’d been taking for granted. The feel of the sun against my skin, the smell of laundry detergent, waking up each morning, having someone to love me, and just simply being able to breathe, every bit of it wasn’t even an afterthought during each day. But since I’d lost all of those things, I was beginning to realize just how much we’re given in life that we don’t acknowledge on a daily, monthly, or even yearly basis.

“You okay?”

“Y—yeah.” I shook my head and took a seat on the floor again. My fingers ran around the roughness of the concrete chunks inside the hole. “What do you think they’ll do when they notice this?”

Jamie laid the side of her head against the wall. “Probably torture one, or the both of us.”

“Yeah.”

“I really thought you’d died from whatever illness you had. When they carried your limp body from your cell, I thought I’d never see you again. That you’d died and your body would be the next one they talked about on the news, minus the gunshot wound to the head. Then it made me wonder if they would give you one just to show who had you all this time. Morbid thought, I know, but I prayed all five nights that you were alive and okay. That maybe they’d taken you to a hospital and dropped you just outside the doors. I wish so much they’d actually done that. I’m thankful that you’re alive, but heartbroken that you’re still here. We’re never going to leave this place, are we?”

I wanted so badly to tell her yes, but I knew that most likely wasn’t true. The odds of both of us making it out alive were slim, if not nonexistent. Why he’d kept us both around was mind boggling. I knew the reason he held on to me, but not Jamie.

“You know, he told me why he keeps me around,” I said softly.

“He did?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?”

“That I remind him of his lost love, Juliana.”

“He said I reminded him of his sister,” Jamie’s voice was small.

I gasped, “Oh my God.”

“What?” Jamie stared at me through the hole.

“I think he’s rebuilding a family.”