--Okay, guys, i am so SORRY for those reviews i didnt answer! And i am SOOO sorry it took so long to post this! It won't b happening again in either case, I swear! To help make up for it, this one's longer than most! :D Thanks to everyone who reviewed and i didn't answer, they are much appreciated.--

21

When the Levee Breaks

Having time for my mind to wander in the silence around me wasn't a good thing. But that was the case right now. I was lying in the dark, listening to J.J.'s steady breathing as she dozed behind me. I didn't want to succumb to the memories gnawing at me, but I had to. I was so tired…I wasn't strong enough to make them go away.

I'd held on, fought, refused to call him Master. That's what he wanted. He wanted me to be obedient to him. To bow to his will and his whim. I wouldn't do it. Not when I still had fight in me. Not when I still had hope I would be saved. No, I wasn't that weak. Not yet.

But God, was I close. I was so scared, all the time. My whole body hurt so badly. I felt so disgusting, so dirty. It was a punishment for speaking when I wasn't supposed to, and saying no at the same time. I was covered in blood, sweat, tears and other secretions that weren't my own and made me sick to think about.

"You'll get clean when you learn to be a Good Boy," he had said after raping me for the hundredth time. God how I wished that number was exaggerated.

The door at the top of the stairs opened, the light spilling down source as to what time of day it was. Judging by the dim white glow it was dawn.

My heart pounded harder when I heard those heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs. Waiting for him was the worst part. Oh god…

I trembled, telling myself to stay strong, to fight. Morgan would want me to fight. He wouldn't want me to give in or give up. They were coming for me. They were coming for me…

He stood above me, a wicked smile in place that scared me worse than the handcuffs and roll of duct tape in his hands.

"I'm gonna break you, boy," he grinned. I swallowed some fear and tried to find some bravery.

"No…you won't," I said, finding it. I knew the backhand to my face was coming, which stifled my cry a little.

"You say that now," he undid the collar around my neck and started on the shackles. "But trust me, you will. You will by midnight tonight. Guarantee it." The shackles came off. I did the first desperate thing I could think of. I threw my fist out, surprised when I heard a satisfying crack as it struck his jaw. But before I could try and get anywhere he grabbed my hair, face red, eyes bulging, furious. I shook harder.

"YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THAT, BOY!" He bellowed, hitting me hard enough to knock me to the ground, my head bouncing off the concrete.

White pops of light danced in front of my eyes as metal wrings closed tightly around my wrists. I heard the duct tape rip, but I couldn't do anything about it. Several layers were wrapped around my eyes while I begged uselessly, trying to get away.

"Don't, don't, please!" My hair was grabbed again and I was hauled away.

I was lost in darkness. My fingers dug at the tape without success. The layers had been wrapped around my head; there was no getting them off without something to cut them with. I wriggled and squirmed repeatedly without any sort of gain.

"You knock that shit off," he snarled, tightening his vice in my hair and kicking my ribs before continuing to drag me up the stairs.

We went through the house and outside where I was tossed into the bed of his truck. We drove, and drove, and drove, Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good" playing in the background, making me shudder. What was he going to do to me? Where were we going? Oh god, what was he going to do to me?!

We finally stopped, that horrible song stopped playing and he got out. I was tossed unceremoniously to the ground, the air quickly disappearing from my lungs and leaving them aching and hitching. I coughed and gasped, trying to breathe. Oh, please, not my hair again…

Once again, I was being taken to a place I didn't know. Judging by the rocks and sticks and branches my body was continually scraped by we were in the woods. Deep in the woods. I tried to fight, but my efforts got me nowhere, screaming and begging included.

"Let me go, LET GO! Plehease…please…" All it got me were more kicks and slaps. After eons of this he stopped walking. I couldn't tell how far we'd gone. Tears of frustration had managed to make their way into my eyes and fall slowly.

"Alright boy," he hissed, his mouth next to my ear. "You find a road by midnight and I'll let you go. If you don't, you're mine…forever. Got it?" He let me go and walked away. I didn't dare move until I heard the truck start somewhere far away and fade to nothing.

Find a road…find a road…find a road. Find a road…blind without full use of my hands and arms, naked and weak. This was far from a fair game, but I had to try. I had to. It was hope, it was a shot. So I was going to take it. I pushed myself into a standing position, legs trembling from lack of use. I dug at the tape again, scraping my skin painfully, but it was no use.

"Damn it!" I spat despairingly. I leaned against a tree I had to feel for to find, trying to think of a way to do this that didn't end up with me walking in circles. There was only one way I could think of, just walk straight. It was then I realized I didn't remember the way he had drug me here. No… Oh no…

I did walk, after awhile. I couldn't just stand there. I wasn't going to give up. But the walking turned to jogging. And jogging turned to running. I had to get out. I had to. I wasn't going back there. Not back to that icy basement. Back to those horrible hands, that room…the room with any and every form of torture you could imagine. I just couldn't.

So I ran. I stumbled and fell, scraped my knees and hands. I was in a black prison, forced to listen and feel for anything that would tell me if I were anywhere close to someway out or not. Branches whipped at my face, rocks bruising and cutting my feet, my legs, my arms, God, everything.

I had to stop periodically just to breathe. The air was humid, and boiling. It was so hard to breathe, so hard to keep running. I was drenched in sweat that stung open wounds; my chest was on fire and ached horribly. My heart pounded, hard. It was hopeless, what I was doing was hopeless. How was I supposed to find anything when I couldn't even see?! I could barely walk. The cuffs dug into already raw skin, making them bleed and sting with sweat. What the hell was I supposed to do?!

I yanked at the tape, frustrated to the point of tears. I screamed in anger, making my forehead bleed as my nails dug into my face. No more. I couldn't do this anymore. I couldn't be blind anymore. Not after I'd been running for hours on end, desperate.

It finally moved. I could see. I could see. But the sun blinded me, hurting my eyes and making me fall to the ground, covering my face and crying out. I peeled them open slowly. I hadn't seen sunlight in months. I forgot how beautiful it was. But it was too painful to be pretty right now.

I staggered to my feet, looking around. My heart sank. It was already getting dark, and I was deeper in the woods than I had anticipated. No hope in sight. None…

"C'mon, kid," his voice was an echo in my head. "C'mon, you gotta keep goin'. You can't stop now…"

I ran on. I ran with the hope that I would see them all again. My friends. My family. My hope. I ran hard, tripping and falling and hurting myself, but I got up every time.

After awhile my legs went numb and so did my hands. The night air turned cold. My sweat turned to shivers. I hugged myself with constricted hands, trying not to cry. But I kept going, past exhaustion, so thirsty I would've done anything for just a drop of water. I coughed and wheezed for air, inhaling raggedly, begging silently for relief.

Then it started to rain. Thunder sounded violently above me, lightning stabbing the sky. The air got colder, the rain and the wind making me shiver harder and cry out of sheer exasperation. I couldn't take anymore. But I had to endure.

I ran on for what seemed for like forever until I wasn't even paying attention. Rain stung my face, drenching me to the bone, roots wrapped around my ankles, mud made me slip and fall. I was fighting nature, and frankly, it was kicking my ass.

Finally, I saw a break in the tree line. I saw headlights heading down what I assumed was a road. A road!

My heart leapt and I smiled for the first time in a long time. I ran faster, so close. I didn't stop to think what this person would think when they saw a beaten, cuffed, naked man running out of the woods, but it would certainly get their attention.

I collapsed onto the gravel, my knees finally giving way after all this time. I breathed heavily into the muddy ground, so exhausted I could have passed out then and there. But I didn't. I laughed. I'd won. I'd won! I'd beat him.

The headlights got brighter and the vehicle stopped behind me. I vaguely heard a car door open and close and someone get out. But I wasn't really paying attention. I was going to see my friends again. I was going home. I laughed again, despite the pain wracking every inch of my body.

"Don't get too happy, boy." My stomach turned to ice, my heart thundering louder than the clamors above me. No…NO!

He knelt down next to me, grinning horribly. He turned his wrist, showing me his watch. "It's twelve oh one."

The oxygen was sucked from my lungs. My heart stopped and any hope I had left was shattered.

"No," I moaned, sobbing. "No, please! Please…please, let me go! Let me go, I…I just want to g-go home…I just want to go home, please!" He laughed, he laughed in my face. He grabbed my sopping hair and dragged me to the truck. I sobbed and writhed so weakly it was almost funny. He threw me into the bed and drove.

I was back in the basement, being taken to The Room.

"You ready to be a Good Boy?" He growled, chaining my arms above my head. I hadn't stopped crying, and I couldn't now. I sobbed harder and shook my head when he brandished a whip.

"No, no, please! PLEASE! Nohoh…"

"You're not going to be good?" He smiled.

"Wait! Please, please, NOOOOO!"

It tore into my skin, burning, breaking my will.

"OKAY!! OKAY, I'LL BE GOOD! I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD!!"

"WHO AM I?" He screamed, striking me in time with the thunder outside. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't do it. I'd been pushed far enough. No more…no more…

I'm sorry, Morgan.

"Master!"

"WHAT?!" Another stroke.

"MASTER!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" Another.

"MAAASTTTTEEERRRRRRR!"

I opened my eyes, jolting from a short-lived doze.

"Shh, it's alright, kid."

"Morgan?" I trembled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. It's alright," He swore.

"M-Morgan, wh-where were you?"

--Ooh, the question we all saw coming... More soon!--