FOUR - SOPHIA
I stop screaming almost at once. He winces at the noise and I feel sorry for him. I am aware at once how ridiculous that is. I'm sorry for the...whatever that is locked in there. He is fumbling with his trousers.
I glance around me, taking it all in, trying to ignore the pounding headache behind my eyes. Where am I?
There is a cell in front of me. Inside it is a shadowy figure, looking out from under a mat of hair. He is terrifying even without an expression on his face. He is looking blankly at me. Does he even know I'm here?
I can't stop looking at him. His clothes are filthy, his hands blackened. He's more animal than man, I doubt he's even aware what day of the week it is. My first question is why is he locked in there?
I go to move but I can't. Ropes bind my wrists to a metal chair. My ankles are tied too. Why are my legs on show? Am I naked.
I am relieved to see I have my nightgown on. Then it comes back to me in a flash and I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. A man in my bedroom. The man I saw next door. He got me in his van. When it stopped and he unloaded me, I tried to headbutt him. He hit me and I blacked out.
I've been kidnapped.
Three words, a short sentence. But enough to fill me with horror, with stomach churning fear of where I am and what might happen to me.
I look down. The floor is stained. Is that blood? Is it my blood? No, it's older, dried. But that's not much of an improvement. It means other people have been in this chair before me. They've dripped blood on the floor right here. I'm not the first.
"Where am I?" I say out loud, the sound echoing around me.
The man in his cell continues to stare at me. I suddenly need the toilet very badly, adding to my discomfort.
I tug at my bonds and manage only to peel skin from my wrists. It stings and I eventually give up. I am trapped.
I look frantically about me. "Help!" I scream. The man winces, as if the noise hurts him. "Help!"
"Quiet," he says, his voice like gravel, the deep grunt of a caveman. I'm surprised to hear him speak. I didn't know he could.
I look at him, his eyes still fixed on mine. He is truly enormous. I can only hope he can't get out of his cell to get to me. I know what he'll do. Occasionally he looks down at my legs and smiles, like I'm a gazelle tied down for a lion to play with.
He presses himself to the bars, his hand outstretched.
The thick fingers reach out for me, I cower away even though there's no chance of him getting to me. I scramble back, shocked by the sheer bulk of his arm, it barely fits between the bars.
"You're my prize," he says and inside me, something snaps. Fear rockets through me. I don't want to be his prize. I don't want to know what that means. I don't want to be here. I want to be at home. I start to cry.
"Please let me go," I beg. "I just want to go home."
"You stay," he replies, his hand still clawing towards me.
My eyes move down and I can see a bulge in his trousers. He is hard. Not only that, he's huge. I can't let that anywhere near me. It would destroy me, break me in two.
"Up to him," he says, pointing behind me.
I whip my head around and my kidnapper appears, walking through the door I hadn't seen, a draught following him. I look through the door as it closes, seeing the corridor that lies beyond.
"Making friends already," the man beside me says. "That's good."
He moves in front of me, blocking me from the prisoner's view.
"I want to make some things abundantly clear, Sophia," he says, folding his arms across his chest.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot more about you than you'd think. But no more questions until I'm done. If you're good and listen carefully, I will allow one question at the end so make it count."
"Please let me go," I say. "I won't tell anyone what you look like, I just want to go home. Please."
"Shut up," he snaps, his face suddenly changing, anger colours his features but it vanishes as soon as it came. "I don't like getting cross. Be quiet and listen like a good girl.
"While you are here, you will behave. Do well and you will be rewarded. Do very well and you just might get to go home."
Behind him the prisoner growls. He whips his head around. "Quiet, Rock, it is not up to you." He turns back to me. "Misbehave and you will be punished. Some people who come here are punished a lot. Don't be like them. In a minute I'm going to untie one of your hands. You will then be free to remove your other bonds. You will not try to escape. You will not scream or shout. Understand?"
I nod, ready to run for the door the first chance I get.
"My name is Charles. You will speak only when spoken to. Understand?"
I nod again, watching as he starts to work on the knot above my left wrist.
He undoes the last knot and then unwraps the rope, holding it over his arm as he steps back. "You may now ask your question."
I watch him carefully, wondering if this is a trick. With my left arm free, I reach for my right wrist, working at the rope as fast as I can. Can I get to the door behind me before he can?
He reads my mind, crossing to the door and pulling it open. "No questions for you then."
The door slams shut and I am alone with, what did he call him?
"Rock," I say and the man in the cell nods slowly. "You're called Rock?"
He nods again.
I force myself to look away, focusing on untying my limbs. As soon as that's done, I run for the door. I try the handle but it doesn't move. I am trapped. Behind me, I can hear Rock reaching out for me again, straining against the bars.
I scrabble away to the furthest corner and sink to my haunches, my hands around my knees. "This isn't happening," I mutter, closing my eyes as the tears again start to fall. I am trapped.