Rey opens her eyes and tries to sit up but regrets it instantly. Immediately her head starts spinning so she lays back down again. She looks around in the room and if her head wasn't already spinning it would have. Where the heck is, she? It looks like she is in a castle of some kind, but she doesn't remember one being nearby. Well she and Finn had not had the time to discover the surroundings yet but... FINN! Her heart sinks... He isn't here; she is alone in this room, in this castle that was filled with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.
Think Rey, THINK she summons herself, gather your thoughts. Eventually she is successful because bit by bit the memories come back.
She had been feeling unwell even before she and Finn left after 'that night'. She had fooled herself in thinking her health was starting to improve after they stayed with the King but that wasn't true... Day by day she felt herself getting weaker and weaker. She figured that going on walks would improve her health, so she and Finn went on a walk and stumbled upon the King's presence.
They didn't mean to pry really. They were just curious as to who the King was talking to. It was a man which presence had intrigued them, entirely cloaked in black and with a mask on that would drive fear into the souls of even the strongest men. And then all the sudden, the man drove his sword into the King making him slowly crouch and fall to the ground. Rey remembers that she screamed, and the murderer looked up and saw them standing there.
After that the whole thing feels like some sort of a blur. She recalls running and running through the forest but all the while hearing a horse, ever increasing speed and picking up pace. He was getting closer and closer and the thought that he could be near terrified Rey. 'Quicker Rey', Finn yelled, himself at the verge of collapsing.
As Rey would later find out his only intentions were to return Rey safely back to the camp. He would have fought Kylo, but he was unarmed and didn't own a horse that looked like Beelzebub himself had created it. So, he figured it would be best to make a run for it, for Rey's sake but it was a decision he would regret.
'We're almost there Rey. Hold on, 'he had said. Rey feels like her heart will jump out of her chest any second but still she manages to run as fast as she can. Finn yells to her that he sees the perimeters of the camp and that he would go ahead, and she should follow him and stay close behind.
She follows orders but then she trips over the remains of a tree; most likely stricken after yesterday's thunderstorm. The pain shoots through her upper arms and legs and for a second is unable to move or think but she quickly comes to her senses when she; to her shock realizes that Finn isn't around that she is utterly and complete alone.
Then her heart stills when she hears it. The sound of a galloping horse. She turns her head to see where the sound is coming from and then he is there coming towards to her with lightning speed. She tries to get up and run but her legs won't let her and the sight of what is coming towards her stills her in her tracks. She stands there still as if someone had frozen the entirety of her limbs and it's all too much. The aftermath of the incident with Mr. Plutt, her feeling the only 'home' she had for years, her general sense of discomfort and illness. It is too much.
THE MOMENT HE GRABS HER; SHE FAINTS.
She takes a couple of minutes to regain herself but then quickly changes her attitude and focus. Escape; she must escape. She notices that she hasn't been cuffed most likely due the fact that she was ill. Rey looks around and sees that the windows have been enforced with steel. Besides she is sure even IF she can get out of the windows, one unlucky misstep on the ledge would kill her because she seems to be situated near the tower. She wants to device other ways of escaping her circumstance, but her thoughts are interrupted by someone trying to open a door, HER DOOR.
HE enters and instantly she is overcome with fear again... He stands there for a minute as if trying to size her up. And even though she can not see his eyes, he had his mask on again; for SOME reason she feels like like his eyes are trying to pierce through her soul. A few more minutes pass. Still no movement from him but then he walks over to the corner where a chair is. He grabs it and positions it across of her bed at a comfortable distance from her. Still to Rey it feels like he is awfully close. Rey waits for him to speak which he doesn't and for some reason beyond her she figures it if he doesn't talk, SHE will. Anything to break this tenseness of a situation.
'Where's my friend?' she asks him with a slight tremble in her voice... He doesn't answer immediately as if he is trying to gauge his words.
' Your friend, the traitor? You'll be glad to know that he is not here unfortunately. I presume he is ack at the camp with the rest of his like'.
Somehow his voice sends shivers through Rey's spine and she thinks it has to with that heinous mask of his that distorts it. He is silent for a while and but resumes speaking and his next words seem to come out of the blue.
'You still fear me,' he says and somehow, it's more of a question than a statement... Somehow it feels like as if this man genuinely wants to know what Rey is thinking about him and it strikes Rey as odd. She shallows the lump in her throat but right then and there she decides to defy him, he may kill her, but she will go down fighting.
'That's what happens when you're chased by a creature in a mask'. Although she can't see his reaction, she senses that her remark has some sort of effect on him and a few moments later he rises from the chair.
He reaches for his mask and Rey sees him pushing certain buttons. This mask has been made with care by a great locksmith; with an intricate design; for it takes a while for him to remove it. When he does remove it; it takes Rey a couple of seconds to rearrange her thought processes. This is not in any way what she had imagined him to look like; for she was sure he must be someone of considerable age and with a menacing face. Image and reality simply do not match up here for this is a young man; with raven dark hair and a striking presence. Rey is taken back by him but then quickly realizes that this is still a murderer.
He walks over to her and puts the mask on a bed side table. Rey's pulse quickens as he gazes down on her. 'Tell me about your friend then'. His voice is a lot less distorted now and the question he is stating comes out of his mouth almost tenderly. However, Rey understands what he is getting at; that this is the beginning of an interrogation. Yet she isn't keen on giving him any information.
'His name is Finn, I met him recently. He is... was a soldier. That's all I know'. Kylo looks at her and he notices that her attitude has changed from fear to defiance for she looks him directly in the eyes this time.
There is something about this girl he thinks to himself. She intrigues him and he doesn't exactly know why but he feels like he is drawn to her even though he has just met her. He quickly decides not to dwell on this but continue with the interrogation. This time he will be a bit sterner.
'This is not the time to play dumb. Don't tell me things I am aware of. I want to know what intelligence your FRIEND has shared with the enemy'. Rey doesn't answer the question and looks away from him but when she doesn't answer him, he grows impatient.
'It is best for your sake that you speak, especially since YOU ARE here, and your friend is not. I might be lenient with you and might let you leave but only if you decide to share'. Rey still doesn't answer him, and his annoyance becomes more apparent.
He loses his patience and in a move that comes across a lot more menacing than he intends to, he reaches for her face and turns her head before saying, 'You know I can take whatever I want'.
The effect of his words on her are instant. She flinches so badly that EVEN he takes a couple of steps back. She grabs the sheets and pulls them tightly. She looks terrified and he soon realizes the error of his ways.
He has scared her and given her a completely wrong impression. Because he would NEVER... He would never force himself on a girl for he was told many a times in his youth that IF he would take advantage of girls his mother would personally lock him up in Hillcrest Tower and make him live on bread and water for the rest of his days. And he absolutely detests the men that do these heinous things, if he got word that one of his man had showed misconduct in that way, he would see to it that they would be extradited immediately.
'I... I didn't m...' but the rest of this words remain in this throat and aren't spoken aloud. A few minutes pass between them before he decides he should resume the interrogation another day.
'Maybe we should continue this conversation another time'. He gets his mask, gives her one look that Rey is struggling to identify (is it compassion, doubt or regret?) and then exits the room.
Half an hour passes by before Rey has regained composure and then a thought crosses her mind like a thunderbolt. THE DOOR! He hadn't locked it on his way out! Rey was sure there were guards standing outside because she had heard them. But Rey doesn't pay them no mind at the mind because what is... that sound? Some sort of a whistle? Something approaching, closer and closer...
A minute later she hears a deafening blow and the screeches of soldiers. The castle is under attack!
That night she escapes.
