I rested my head on my knees, sitting alone in the dark, silent closet.

The door opened to reveal my father leaning against it, Eddie's arm on his shoulder. They looked at me with grins on their faces.

In a bone-chilling voice, Eddie said, "Let the games begin."


"Why are you doing this to me?" I asked quietly through clenched teeth.

My hands were tied together, hanging from a pipe on the ceiling, my toes just barely touching the ground.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed as the whip slashed across my shirtless back for the twenty-seventh time. "Please! Stop! Ahhhhhhh! Please! Please! I'm sorry!" I was crying. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

After several more swings, my father kicked me from behind.

I went forward, my hands sliding to the end of the pipe. I fell to the floor.

The men kicked and punched for a while, finding things to hit me with, while I was writhing on the floor in pain. One hit my lower stomach.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" My knee jerked forward, hitting Eddie's nose, which bled.

Furiously, Eddie flipped me onto my back, pinning my arm behind me, putting all of his weight on it.

I heard a pop. "Ahhhhh!"

He pulled me up by the broken arm, shoving me toward my father. "You can to do the main course. I don't wanna f*** that b****."

My father dragged me by my broken arm into another room--one that I hadn't been into before. He shut the door behind him, then locked it, turning back to me.

"Dad, please." I was sobbing uncontrollably. "Don't do this to me, Dad. Please."

He came toward me slowly.

I backed away, but ran into a bed, dropping onto it. I broke down. "How could you do this to your son?!"

He pulled me to my feet.

"Dad, please! Please! I'm sorry!"

He spoke quietly, gently. "Hey, hey. Look at me."

I did, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm gonna get you outta here."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. C'mon. Follow me." He headed toward the door.

"No."

He turned to me. "C'mon."

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Cody, do you wanna die?!"

I was quiet for a moment. "No."

"Then trust me."

I sighed. "But he'll hurt Melissa if I leave."

"No, he won't. I'll make sure of it."

"But how do you-"

"Will you stop questioning me, boy?!"

"Sorry, sir."

"C'mon. Let's go."

"Yes, sir." I followed him out the door and down the hall, running as fast as I could.

"Go! I'll catch up." He seemed to be having trouble running.

I hurried ahead, turning a corner. I came to a sudden halt.

"You weren't trying to escape, were you, b****?"

I gulped.

"Huh?!" Eddie chuckled angrily as I flinched from his monstrous voice.

I quickly turned around, running the way I'd come, only to hit my father.

He held me tightly, twisting me around to face Eddie. He pressed down on a pressure point on my shoulder.

"Ahh!" I fell to my knees.

Eddie came toward me, laughing.

I squirmed to get out of my father's grip.

He had a smile on his face.

Eddie squatted down in front of me, then slapped my face with the back of his hand. He stood, talking to my father. "How'd It get out?"

"He ran out the door after stabbing my side with this." He pulled a bloody knife from his pocket.

"What?!" I said. "No! I thought you were helping me!"

"How'd It get that?"

"I don't know."

Eddie grabbed it from him, then squatted down in front of me. "Where'd you get this?"

"I didn't do it," I said. "He's lying."

"Oh, yeah?" My father pulled up his shirt to reveal a fresh cut on his side.

I stared at it, then turned back to Eddie. "I didn't do it. I promise. I didn't…I didn't do it."

"Let's see how you like it." Eddie stabbed the knife into my stomach.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I tried to wriggle free from my father's grip, but couldn't.

Eddie twisted the knife around before pulling it out. He stood. "C'mon. I'll help you get him locked in." He walked past my father, who yanked me up, leading me into the room we had just been in. Eddie grabbed me, then shoved me onto the mattress. He pulled out four handcuffs from his pockets. He put one cuff around my wrist and the other around the bedpost. He did this to my other hand, then moved to my feet, spreading my legs apart. When each of my feet were locked to a bedpost, he crawled on top of me and gave me a long kiss.

I knew that I had to kiss back or I'd be punished. Tears fell from my eyes as our tongues wrestled.

Eddie moved his hand down my body, passing by bare chest, then grasped my lower stomach. He looked down at me. "Beg your father."

My eyes were clenched together, along with my teeth, as I tried to ignore the pain. "Please." I couldn't stop crying. "Please." I tried harder when Eddie squeezed tighter. "Please, Dad. F*** me. Please. Please."

Eddie let go, giving me one last kiss. He got off of me, then patted my father's shoulder. "It's ready for you."

"Can I have the key to the cuffs?"

"Why?"

"When I get him straightened up, I want him to do some of the work on me."

The men looked at me.

I was still sobbing.

Eddie smirked, pulling the key from his pocket. "Yeah. Here." He handed it to my father, then exited the room.

After a moment, I could control myself enough to speak. "I trusted you!"

"Cody, I had to say that or he'd kill us both." He opened the door to the bathroom, looking around. "There's a window in here. You can get out this way." He started unlocking the cuffs. When he was done, he went toward the bathroom again.

I looked at him, trying to figure out if he was lying.

"C'mon, Cody! Melissa's waiting."

"Melissa?"

"Yes. She's waiting for you."

"Where?" I was standing beside him now.

"Go about a mile through the forest. We should find her there."

I stared at my father.

"Go!"

I crawled out of the window, then turned back to the man. "Thank you, Dad."

"C'mon. We gotta leave before-" All of a sudden, he went quiet, his eyes wide.

"Dad? Dad, what's wrong?!"

He fell to the floor.

Eddie stood there, knife in hand.

I was breathing shakily. I turned and started running, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach.