Sorry for the story saying it was updated but not posting the chapter. I have no idea why it did that, but I'm glad everything is working fine now. Since it was rather fun to do this with another story, I'm going to issue a challenge to you all as well. Since this chapter was posted, this story has an incredible 52 reviews. I challenge you to reach 62. If I get ten reviews from ten separate reviewers, I promise to post the next chapter by the next day. :) Ok, now let's get to the good stuff. This story is about to get a wholeeeee lot darker. Hope you're all still excited to read it!

Chapter 10

The first thing that tipped Ari off that she was not dreaming was the feeling of her totem in her pocket. She clenched her bishop tightly in her hand, letting its familiar exact weight calm her for a moment. The second was the splitting pain in her forehead that she felt the moment she was pulled from her unconscious state. It caused her to close her eyes tightly, and pulled a weak moan of pain from her throat.

Fear gripped her instantly when she opened her eyes. She could see absolutely nothing. It was completely black. Ari felt as if she had been thrust into some sinister void, as was afraid to speak for fear of what was hidden from her view. For a few moments she panicked that she had gone completely blind. The darkness pressed on all sides of her, and she tried to grip the concrete below her. The feeling of not knowing what was surrounding her was almost overwhelming. Cold metal dug into her ankle, and Ari blindly felt the manacle that shackled her to the floor. She pulled as hard as she could against the thick chain that held her right ankle, but quickly stopped with a yelp of pain. They had shackled her bad ankle. She could feel the blood pound through it with each beat of her pulse, and could feel the same pounding on her forehead.

The room was cold, but it felt small. She couldn't place how she knew it, but it felt as if she could judge the size of the room by how loudly she could hear her breathing, or how muted the sound of the chains rattling seemed. It was as if every sense in her body was on high alert to gather as much information as it could in her disabled state.

Ari's body shook in pain, and she almost wished she could slip into the mind numbing state of shock just to escape it for a while, but she knew she didn't have that luxury. She counted to five, then took all the fear that was curled in the pit of her stomach, locked it all in a box inside of her head, and attempted to bury it in the deepest corner of her mind. Then, Ari took a deep breath, and tried to formulate something that resembled a plan. However, she didn't stock too much faith in this, seeing as how her last plan went.

She lay on her stomach and stretched as far as she could on the chain, gritting her teeth as it tugged on her bad ankle. The tips of her fingers just grazed a wall to her right, nearly causing her to jerk back in surprise. As she lay flat on her stomach, it was then she saw the tiny crack in the far corner of the room. It didn't really let a beam of light in, but it seemed as if it was just a shade or two lighter than the rest of the room. She scooted as close as her shackled ankle allowed her, but there was no noise penetrating the room.

An overpowering feeling of despair came over her suddenly, and Ari let out a scream. "Help," She shrieked. "Somebody please help me!"

The sound of her voice, so raw and desperate, made her slap both of her palms over her mouth. She let out a small sob and bit into the tender skin of her palm to keep her from screaming herself hoarse.

Ari didn't know how long she sat like that. She just knew that her tears on her face and neck had dried and she had curled into the fetal position when the door to her cell opened. The light was blinding and she shied away from it, closing her eyes and curling into her arms and legs.

The sound of a bowl and a glass of water being placed by her face startled her, but Ari didn't look up.

"Eat."

The voice was familiar, and caused Ari to give a small jerk. The tip of a boot nudged her arm, and the voice issued the same command.

"Eat. Now."

Ari opened her eyes and immediately locked on a pair of blue ones. They were partly hidden by strands of light brown hair, and they glared unfeelingly down at her. It was the man who had threatened her in the lobby of the hotel. The same man who had attempted to gun her down inside her hotel room.

And now here he was. Trying to force her to do one more thing.

A bubble of rage formed in the pit of her stomach. There was absolutely nothing she would take from this man. Despite the fact that her stomach growled traitorously at the smell of the stew in front of her, nothing in the world would make her willingly accept anything he had to offer. If denying food and water was one small stand she could take, then that is what she would do.

"I will not ask you again." He said coldly.

"Oh, go to hell." Ari snapped, and rolled over on her side, turning her back on him. She half expected him to kick her right there, but he simply picked up the bowl and the glass and left.

This continued for, what had to have been, days. Ari felt as if she had already lost track of time.

Each time the man with the blue eyes would come in and offer her food and water, and each time she would refuse. She knew she could survive without food for a while, but the signs of dehydration were starting to take effect and she knew she would struggle without water for much longer.

Ari's entire mouth and throat felt as if she had swallowed cotton balls. She was constantly parched, as if she had a thirst that could not be quenched. Her head was pounding constantly, and she felt exhausted from the smallest movements. The darkness helped her curl up and sleep as much as she could.

No one came to take her out of her cell to relieve herself, so she was forced to move as far as possible in her shackle from where she normally lay to pee. However, Ari hadn't felt the need to pee in quite some time, and felt disorientated and light headed every time she made an effort to get up.

She no longer responded when the man with the blue eyes came by.

Ari could hear her heartbeat pound in her ears as the metal door slid open once more. The sound of his footsteps were somewhat muffled as she curled in on herself.

It was a new voice that made her eyes flutter open.

"Well, well, well. What a mess you can make of things in such a short period of time, Ariadne."

Ari peeked out from the safety of her arms, and her eyes met another familiar face. This time, however, it was of someone she had only seen in photographs.

The lightest of brown eyes stared down at her. They were not cold, like blue-eyes, but rather calculating. They held no feeling of warmth; instead they analyzed her like she was a specimen. He clucked his tongue as she stared at him in shock, unable to form the words she wanted to.

"Yes, well, this will not do." He stood up, and ran a hand through his dark hair. He stared down at her for a moment, his thumb and forefinger rubbing the stubble on his chin, and then said. "Move her upstairs."

Ari tried to move, but her joints groaned in pain. He turned, as if he was about to leave, but she managed to get her mouth to work enough to say, "Wiedoff."

As blue-eyes leaned over her, sliding a syringe underneath her skin and inserting a drug into her bloodstream, Wiedoff turned to look back at her with a faint smirk. He stood there, his light brown eyes locked with hers, until the drug took hold of her, making him the last thing she saw before she was sucked back into unconsciousness.