Cage

For a few hours, we talked about how to do it until we’d made up our minds. We’re going to trick Graham into coming into the cell and then trap him inside while we run. It’s not a good plan, but it has to work. It’s the only plan we have.

To make it work, he has to come here, though, and there’s only one way to make him come. He can’t gas us both and put us both in that single wheelchair, so we have to be in the same room for this to work. He has to feel like there’s no other way.

There’s one thing Ella doesn’t know, though. He put something in my body a long time ago. If I ever misbehave, he’ll just push the button and electrify me. I’ve felt it once before when I tried to save a girl from his grasp. It was excruciating, and I don’t want to ever feel that again. So I’m going to make sure that once he’s here, he won’t be able to use it.

I’ll tackle him and snatch that thing out of his pocket, breaking it into a million pieces. I’m done listening to and following his words as if they’re law. I want more. I want the things she’s shown me. I want to see the world with my own eyes. Experience what she’s experienced. I want it all.

With her.

I nod as I try to visualize the plan in front of me. She’ll go with me into my cage and protect me from him by holding me. That way, he won’t use the device because he doesn’t want her hurt in the process.

If he actually tries to gas us both, it won’t work. I’ve already punched a hole into the ceiling above my cage and ripped out the wiring that causes the gas to flow inside. We even searched for a way for us to exit through there, but the tubes are so tiny, there’s no room.

So our plan is the only plan.

It’s not great, but it’s worth a shot.

I’d rather try than not try at all … and have her be unhappy for the rest of her life.

No, I’m not willing to sacrifice her happiness. Not for anything. Not even for my own needs.

So now, we’re lying on my bed in my cell, waiting for him to come.

It doesn’t take long.

I know he watches every now and then, and he hates it when things don’t go exactly as planned.

Within five minutes, he’s rammed the door open, making her jolt up and down in my arms, but I shush her to calm her down. Everything will work out. It has to. For her sake.

“What are you doing?” he screams. “I told you to go back to your cage immediately!” His face turns red as he approaches us. “Get back there, now!”

He’s pointing at Ella specifically, and the buzzing sounds of the doors opening echoes in the room. But I won’t let her go.

“No …” I growl back, holding her tight.

“What?” His nostrils flare, and his eyes widen. “Do as I say. Now!”

I ignore his demand and just glare at him, wrapping my arms more firmly around her body. I’m not letting him take her from me.

“She’s mine …” I growl.

He breathes from his mouth, grinding his teeth. I can tell he’s tempted to use the device, but her being in my arms stops him. He knows the electricity could hit her too, and neither of us wants that.

So he marches to the door, exactly as planned.

He enters the bedroom, and we quickly rise from the bed. I position myself behind my cell door. She stands on the other side. I nod at her, signaling I’m ready.

When he opens it, I jump him.

I quickly snatch the control from his hand and throw it away. It flies into the glass pane, shattering.

“Run!” I scream at Ella, and off she goes, bolting through the door.

Father and I struggle on the ground.

“Get off me!” he growls, smacking me in the face.

I punch back, but not as hard because I don’t want to hurt him badly. He’s still my father, and deep down, I still want him to love me. I don’t want to kill him.

I refuse to use all my strength on him. I just can’t.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ella making a run for it through the room and into the hallway. She’s at the door when Father overtakes me and rolls on top of me, beating the shit out of me.

He’s not holding back. His fists rein down harder on me than anything he’s ever done before.

“You think you can do this to me?” he spits in my face. “I’m your fucking father!”

I try to fight him off, but he’s outwitted me, using filthy tactics to stay on top, like poking my eyes and ramming his elbow into my stomach.

“I fucking made you!” he shrieks. “Fuck you!”

I can hear Ella’s screams from afar. “Cage! Get up! Fight him!”

Her voice gives me the power to overwhelm him with a punch to the gut, and I quickly turn the tides by sitting on top of him and pounding on him. Quickly glancing back at her, I shout, “Go!”

She shakes her head, visibly upset, her lips quivering. She’s still waiting at the door … waiting for me. But I don’t want her to be stuck here against her will. If she has to go without me to be free … then so be it.

“LEAVE!” I scream at her, her eyes filling with water at the sight of me.

It’s hard, but I know it’s for the best. She nods.

Then she pulls the door handle, but it won’t open.

He locked it from the inside.

“Cage … Shit! I need the code!” Ella yells as she’s banging and smacking the door, pulling it as hard as she can. “It won’t budge.”

“What’s the code?” I yell in his face.

At first, there’s nothing but silence, but then he begins to laugh maniacally. “You think I’m going to give that to you? Not a chance. I’d rather die in here than let either of you escape.”

He’s cruel. Beyond cruel. And I want none of it.

My limit is gone, and I punch him so hard, blood spurts from his mouth.

However, I’m not prepared for the surprise attack to my gut with something sharp … a knife. The pain is instant … gut-wrenching.

I grasp for it and try to pull it out, but he shoves me aside and tackles me to the floor, choking me.

“You motherfucker … think you can get away with that? Huh? How dare you betray me!”

Ella’s still trying to get the door open, smashing her fingers onto random buttons that don’t seem to work. “No, no, no!” she yells, droplets streaming down her face. “Open, goddammit!”

Before I realize it, Father’s pulled something else out of his pocket and rammed it into my skin. A needle filled with fluids.

“No!” Ella screams, watching in agony.

I hate that she has to see this. Hate that she has to watch him play dirty. That she has to witness me lose a fight.

I twist and turn, trying to get him off me, and I even shove my hand in his face, tugging and poking at everything, but it doesn’t work. I’m losing my energy, losing the control over my limbs, and soon, every inch of my body fails to respond.

I watch in misery as he gets up from me and rushes through the doors on his way to her. I’m completely powerless as I watch her struggle with him to the very last inch of her strength. He overpowers her too, ramming a needle into her body as well.

Not soon after, she collapses to the ground.

Water fills my eyes and rolls down my face as I slowly fade out of consciousness.

I’ve failed her. Our plan is ruined, and now I’ve doomed us both.