Ste had fallen asleep on the couch that night and woke up to the sound of Blessing's high heels tapping loudly on the floor of the room above. He reached for his phone to check the time and squinted his eyes as the screen lit up. It was already midday. He pulled himself up on his elbows as more sharp pains darted through his body and turned off the TV that had been left on all night. He called out for Sunil but was only answered by Dennis, who was rushing down the stairs. "He's not here, mate." he said as he scurried around the kitchen and the hallway to collect his wallet and his phone before he left for work. "Well, where is he then?" Ste asked in a groggy confusion. "I dunno! He probably went out early this morning or something." Dennis replied as he hurried out of the front door. He couldn't think of a single thing that Sunil would leave the house early in the morning for. He shrugged it off and decided to try to stand up again.
After limping to the kitchen and making himself a cup of tea, Ste carefully made his way upstairs, holding his torso and wincing in pain with each step. He peeped inside Sunil's room and it was, indeed, empty. He noticed that Sunil's wallet was placed on his bedside locker where it always was when he didn't need it. That ruled out any sort of shopping trip from the mystery. Perhaps he had gone to collect Danni or to visit someone in the village. Even still, Ste thought that it would be smart to bring your wallet even if you were just in the village. He decided to try and shower and settle down. Maybe Sunil would arrive home soon.
The hostages had not slept at all last night. The heat in the room with two new bodies was unbearable and the smell had worsened because they were all denied any opportunity to wash themselves. Being in that environment made them feel something similar to itchy. They felt like lab rats in a small box, clawing to get out. Nothing they could do could make it more comfortable other than lying to Patrick about needing to use the toilet in shifts so they could have a few minutes of decent legroom. The sound of the baby crying from the other rooms set Maxine into an uncomfortable panic every single time. Because Patrick was working, he had taken the baby to an unknown babysitter and brought the baby back home with him after work. Maxine had begged him to allow her to hold the baby but he completely ignored her. He did, however, open the door at one point and asked Maxine to leave the room for a moment. He left the door open so the rest of the group could hear. "Would you mind preparing dinner for me tonight?" he asked softly, stroking her hair. She and the hostages looked rather puzzled at his sudden request. "You w-want me… to make you… dinner?" she repeated. He smiled lovingly at her and began to untie her wrists. "I miss your homemade dinners. I will be watching you, of course. Wouldn't you like to show your love for your husband?" He watched her face grow more and more confused but Sienna knew exactly what her father was up to.
He walked her over to the kitchen and watched as she timidly began to take out some pots and pans. She thought about making a swing for Patrick's head but he was standing so close to her that she wouldn't be able to hit a decent swing. She also didn't think she'd have the physical strength to deliver a shot that would keep Patrick down long enough for her to escape. "What do you want me to make?" she asked as he breathed down her neck and continued to play with her hair. "Hmm, I quite fancy a stir fry." he replied casually. Sienna looked on in disgust. She nudged the others and whispered, "He's not doing this because he's hungry. He's teasing us. He's teasing Maxine with freedom and he's teasing us with the smell of food. He's sick!" Maxine began to collect ingredients from around the kitchen and tried not to think about Patrick standing right next to her no matter where she went. These next few minutes were going to be hell.
Ste had phoned Sunil multiple times throughout the day but no one picked up. He was more confused than worried but couldn't help thinking about how the same thing had happened with Danni. The chances that Sunil visited Danni yesterday and enjoyed it so much that he also decided to stay were minute and ridiculous. He continued to limp around the house looking for something to do but couldn't find anything that could take his mind off of it. Sunil seemed eager to take care of Ste the day before. Why would he just go missing with no explanation? Ste contemplated going to Sienna's flat purely to ask if Sunil had actually visited. He wasn't sure it was a good idea though considering his condition. He needed to rest but boredom was already making everything difficult.
Maxine continued to prepare Patrick's dinner reluctantly and tried desperately not to make eye contact with him. His towering presence behind her made her more and more nervous as she began to heat up the oil. She carefully chopped an assortment of vegetables as Patrick brushed his hand up and down her arm in the event that she tried to attack him with the knife. "You're making too many mistakes. I want them chopped smaller." Patrick suddenly hissed. Maxine squealed in fright as he tightened his grip around her arm. He began to guide her arm to chop the vegetables the way he wanted them. The smell of burning oil began to flood the kitchen. Patrick growled in anger and began shouting. "Look at what you've done! You stupid whore! You're going to burn this place down!" Maxine cowered away as the baby began to cry. "Sienna, shut him up!" he roared in the direction of the boiler room. Once Maxine had regained control of the situation, she began to fry the vegetables. The smell as she added spices and the noodles soon after was intoxicating. After living on bread for the past few days, Sienna and Danni's stomach's audibly cried out for food. Patrick was really in control.
"Pass me the remote, will ya?" Ste called from the couch. Dennis, who was in the kitchen, was making everyone dinner. "Why can't you get it yourself? I know you're in pain but you can't use it as an excuse to not even get the remote from the other couch!" he replied with little sympathy. Ste sighed and forced himself to his feet and fetched the remote himself. Blessing appeared out of nowhere, however, and quickly yanked the remote out of Ste's hand. "Sorry! My turn with the TV, babe!" she piped as she carelessly pushed past him. Although Ste had hogged the TV all day, he still felt that it was unfair and trooped into the kitchen instead in defeat. "Still no sign of Sunil or Danni, no?" Dennis asked as he took out some battered cod that he had made for everyone. Ste shook his head and took some plates out. "I've made them some just in case but it is odd that they haven't been in touch." Dennis said. "I'm going to go to Sienna's later and see what the story is." Ste mumbled as he scooped out some peas onto his plate. "Maybe they just don't fancy looking after you all day long!" Dennis joked. Ste laughed back but knew that was the most reasonable explanation suggested yet.
Patrick continued to watch Maxine from over her shoulders as she dished out Patrick's plate of food. "Why are you only plating up some for me?" he asked in what seemed to be genuine wonder. Maxine looked at him in bafflement. "Aren't you going to have some, too? You made it, after all." he smiled. Maxine looked at the rest of the group but they all couldn't take their eyes off of the steaming food. With hesitation, she served up some for herself and followed Patrick to the dining area. He lit some candles and took out a bottle of wine as Maxine took a seat. "Aren't they going to eat anything?" Maxine questioned as she picked up a knife and fork. Patrick looked over at the door and smiled. "You didn't make enough for them, did you?" he replied slyly. Maxine squeezed her knife and fork angrily in her hands and looked at him in disdain. "Well, tuck in then." he grinned as he began to eat. Maxine wasn't as hungry as the others so for her, it was more torturous that she was eating hot food and they weren't. A couple of moments later, Patrick lifted his glass of wine in the air to toast. "This is simply delicious, cheers." he said lovingly. She raised her glass and clinked it off of his without looking up from her plate.
The minutes that followed were absolutely insufferable as Danni, Sienna and Sunil listened to the forks scraping the plates. The smell was obviously still present and the baby was beginning to cry. Patrick gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore the baby's incessant screams but he eventually got up to tell Sienna to shut the baby up once again. "I'm trying! He's just hungry!" she argued. Maxine sat frozen in place as she realized that she had an opportunity to do something. She glanced around anxiously for something she could do but the panic made her mind go blank. Before she could do anything, Patrick had returned and took a seat before starting to eat again. Maxine felt ashamed of herself and regretted every wasted second. "Would you take my plate for me, Maxine? I'm finished eating." Patrick said after a moment. Maxine had not finished hers but knew that this was an order and refusing to do so would cause some considerable trouble. She stood up to take his plate but he stood up, also. He handed her the rest of the cutlery and walked her over to the sink. "Wash this all up, now." he said with a stern manner. As she slowly washed each dish, Patrick began to kiss her neck. This made Maxine feel incredibly ill and she had a feeling she could see her dinner again very soon. "I missed you, you know." he said into her ear soothingly. She cringed repeatedly as he continued to kiss her neck and now her ears. She was struggling to wash the remaining dishes and just wanted to push him away.
Unable to bear it any longer, she did shove him away and immediately regretted her decision. She closed her eyes and began to cry as she knew what was about to happen. She could hear Patrick's breathing becoming more aggressive. He grabbed a handful of Maxine's hair and tugged viciously. Maxine yelped in pain and Sienna begged him to let her go. He slapped her repeatedly in the face before kneeing her in the stomach. She dropped to the kitchen floor in agony. "Leave her alone!" Danni screamed. Patrick had an animalistic look in his eyes and looked down furiously at Maxine. She couldn't help it, but she began to vomit from the impact. She had vomited all over Patrick's shoes. He lifted her by the hair again and dragged her to the bathroom. "Clean yourself up! You're pathetic!" he bellowed. She whimpered as he made his way back to the kitchen. Maxine was left alone again. She had to do something; this was her chance. Her eyes scanned the room more calmly this time as she looked for something she could use as a weapon. The only thing that had any sort of weight was a long, wooden toilet roll stand. She picked it up and roughly measured its weight in her hands. If she delivered a strong enough blow to Patrick's head, she could take him out and have time to help the others. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom. She didn't know if she could do it but if she was seen holding a heavy object and didn't do something with it, she would be in more trouble.
Patrick was wiping his shoes in disgust by the sink with his back turned to everyone. She grasped the stand tightly and walked towards him slowly so she didn't make a sound. The baby, however, was still hungry and started to cry from the room once again. Patrick whirled around to tell Sienna to shut him up once more. He slammed the door on them and then spotted Maxine. She had no other choice so she ran towards him with the stand held over head ready to swing. He also ran forward and grabbed her arms before she had a chance to attack him. "No! Let me go!" she screamed as he wrestled her around the room. They struggled and stumbled around as Maxine tried to free herself. She still had hold of the stand so there was still hope if she could just distance herself. Patrick threw her aside and she knocked the dining table over. The candles that were still lit fell towards the couch and landed on Patrick's newspapers. They continued to wrestle around the kitchen and dining room area as the fire began to spread slowly around the room.
Maxine broke free and swung for Patrick's head but he managed to dodge it. He grabbed her in a headlock and tossed her to the floor. He looked across the room in horror as the entire dining room was now on fire. Maxine saw the opportunity and delivered one hard whack to the side of Patrick's head. He fell to the floor and didn't seem to be conscious. Maxine almost laughed in relief as she stood over his body. She threw the stand to the floor beside him and rushed to the boiler room as she realised how quickly the fire was spreading. The entire flat was now hot and smoke was becoming a real threat. She opened the door and immediately got down to her knees to start untying them.
"What happened?!" Sienna asked as Maxine started with her wrists. "Patrick is knocked out! We have to hurry! There's a fire!" she replied in panic. Patrick had tied the rope so tight that Maxine was struggling. The others tried to stand up but with the lack of room to move, they had to free at least one person in order for there to be some room to get themselves up. The fire had now spread to the living area and was heading towards the bedroom. The sound of the flames crackling from behind Maxine caused an understandable panic from them all. "Hurry Maxine!" they gasped as the flames had now burned their way to the front door. "I can't do it!" she screamed. From behind, Patrick grabbed Maxine and threw her backwards. She looked up in horror as her husband had already recovered. He lifted her from the ground and chucked her into the boiler room once more before smirking at them one more time and locking the door.