Chapter 2

I WILL FACE ANY HARDSHIP WITH STEADFAST RESOLVE TO EMERGE BETTER FOR THE EXPERIENCE

Malcolm wasn't sure how long Nathan had left them alone. It had to be at least a few hours. He had nodded off a few times, never truly falling asleep. Dani was quiet. He could just make out her shadowed outline if he stared long enough. The only noise that came from her direction was the occasional clinking of her chains as she shifted. Waiting was a torture in itself. It didn't help that every escape scenario Malcolm ran through in his head was either a failure or so unrealistic it was almost laughable. He leaned his head back against the clammy wall and stared at the support beams above him. There was a spider scurrying its way across one of the pieces of wood. Malcolm watched it absent-mindledly until his daze was broken by the sound of the locks being turned on the door.

Malcolm's entire body was alert as he sat up in an attempt to not look tired. Dani folded her legs up in front of her and rested her arms on top of them. Nathan entered the room in a similar outfit to what he had worn the last time they had seen him. A long-sleeved shirt, carpenter jeans, and work boots. In his hands he held two plates. He crossed the room to Dani first and sat the paper plate down in front of her. Then he brought Malcolm his. Next to be served was half a cup of water, also in a paper cup.

Paper. Smart. Malcolm thought. That blew a few of his escape theories out of the water.

Nathan headed back to the door, turned abruptly and said, "you have five minutes." He then shut it behind him, locking every latch.

Malcolm glanced down at his plate: a piece of white bread and what appeared to be a lumpy paste that may have once called itself oatmeal. Dani hadn't moved a muscle. Malcolm studied her for a minute trying to figure out the best way to proceed. They had to talk, to plan. "You should try and eat something, Dani."

"I'm not touching that," she said kicking her plate further away from her.

"At least drink the water. Dehydration isn't going to make our escape any easier," he replied.

"How do we know it isn't drugged?"

"It's not," Malcolm replied matter of factly, ripping off a piece of the bread and eating it.

Dani shifted slightly forward so he could see her face now, "And you know that how?"

"You want the truth?"

"Yes. I always want the truth, Bright."

Malcolm swallowed his bite. He thought about sugar-coating it, but given what lies before them what was the point? "He won't drug us because he wants us fully aware of what he plans to do to us."

"Oh," she paused, "I guess that makes sense." Dani sat there for a moment, unmoving. Then she reached forward for the water cup and began sipping.

"On the topic of unsavory things-" Malcolm took a drink from his own cup, and tried once more to find some humorous way to introduce the topic. There wasn't one. "We need to discuss what's about to happen, Dani."

"No we don't, Bright," again, she turned her head and refused to make eye contact with him.

"Yes we do," he stretched his neck and tilted his head sideways trying to find her eyes with his. A difficult task from twenty feet away. "We don't have much time until he comes back. We have to. Please."

The "please" turned Dani's head and she slowly looked at him.

Malcolm took this as an invitation to begin, "He's going to make you hurt me, Dani. We know the profile. We know his M.O. He gets off on not just the physical torture but the mental as well. I'm not sure what the method will be, but he will make you inflict the pain as a way to get to us both."

"I can't do that, Malcolm. I can't torture you," her voice was already beginning to shake.

"You'll have to. He's not going to give us an option. If you refuse he will kill you. And you're sure as hell not doing that," he tried to think of anything he could possibly say to help calm her fear. "Listen, I can take it, Dani. Truly. You know what I've been through in my life. Physical pain is nothing compared to that. I promise you. I will be fine. But I won't be fine if something happens to you because you refuse, okay? Okay?"

Her reply was a barely-audible, "Okay."

As if on cue, the locks on the door began clicking, Nathan returned to the room with a small trash can in one hand. He collected Malcolm's leftovers first then proceeded to Dani's. Naghan noted the kicked plate with interest, "What's wrong, sweetie? Don't like my cooking?" He chuckled as he leaned outside the door to deposit the trash can out of the room, then shut it behind him. "Alright," he stretched his arms open wide, clapped once, and rubbed his hands together, "let's get started. Shall we?"

Nathan reached into his pocket and withdrew a key. He approached Dani, who backed as far away as she could until the wall denied her. He reached out and brushed her hair out of her face and inhaled slowly. Then he leaned in mere inches from her, "Fear smells amazing on you, Dani. Arousing even." Nathan took another extended inhale and smiled. He reached down and grabbed the lock on her manacle, undid it and let the shackle drop. Dani, immediately threw a punch in his direction, which he was more than prepared for. He caught her wrist in his hand and began to bend it back uncomfortably. "You think you're my first, Sweetheart? Try that again and you'll both regret it."

Nathan threw her hand aside and proceeded to free the other. "We are going to take a little walk to the other side of the room now. You think you can handle that without doing something else that's incredibly stupid?"

Dani nodded.

"Good. Let's go." It took about six steps to cross the room. "On your knees, Malcolm." Reluctantly he picked himself up and complied. "You too," Nathan spat as he shoved Dani to her knees in front of Malcolm. Nathan knelt next to them, grabbed Malcolm's left arm, and began rolling up the sleeve of his button up.

"Do whatever you want to m e, just leave her out of it," Malcolm knew it was useless to plead with Nathan, this was his M.O. But for whatever reason he felt compelled to at least try and give Dani a few more seconds to prepare, "Please."

Nathan acted as though he hadn't heard a single thing Malcolm had said. Once he got the sleeve rolled high enough, he simply reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, battery-powered soldering iron. Smirking at the tool, he held it out to Dani. She took it from him and stared at it with a terrified expression and then slowly looked up at Malcolm. There were already tears welling up in her eyes. Nathan grabbed Malcolm's arm but Malcolm jerked it away.

"Get off me!" he sneered as he looked Nathan in the eyes and held his arm out toward Dani on his own.

Nathan's mouth slowly curved into a cheshire-cat grin as he held the eye contact with Malcolm. Then he slowly turned to Dani and reached down to turn on the tool she was white-knuckling in her hand. "Careful now. It's hot," he taunted as he again smiled from ear to ear at Malcolm.

Dani tried to stall, "I don't know how to use one of these." She loathed playing the stupid female, but sometimes it worked to her benefit. This was not one of those times.

"It's simple," Nathan pointed to the tip of the tool, "This is set to 400 degrees," he turned to Malcolm, "Farenheight, don't worry," and winked.

Yes because that makes all the difference, Malcolm thought barely containing his eye roll.

Nathan continued, "And you're going to press it against Malcolm's arm until I tell you to stop," again he turned to Malcolm, "over and over and over."

Malcolm silently stared down Nathan in defiance.

"I- I can't," Dani pleaded, "I won't." Her voice gained more conviction, "I won't do it."

Malcolm's eyes darted from Dani to Nathan and back again, terrified of how he would punish her for her insubordination.

"I figured you might say that," Nathan paused for the tiniest of seconds. Then in a flash, he pulled the gun that had been stuffed in his waistband behind his back, cocked it, and put it to the side of Malcolm's head, not hers.

"No. No. No. WAIT! WAIT! PLEASE!" Dani was frantic.

Malcolm tried to defuse the situation, "How about we all just take a breath here."

"SHUT UP!" Nathan spat as he redirected his attention to Dani. "Please what?" he tilted his head to the side. His eyes were wild.

"Please don't," Dani begged, "just put the gun down."

"Let me tell you how this is gonna go. Okay?" Nathan was eerily calm, "If I tell you to do something, you're gonna do it. If you refuse, I paint the wall a spectacular shade of Malcolm." Then in a rush of rage he screamed, "GOT IT?!"

"Yes. Yes. I got it."

"Now pick up the tool and do as I said."

Dani hadn't even noticed she'd dropped it. She reached down and picked it up. Her hands were shaking almost violently. Malcolm re extended his arm toward her.

"I'm sorry," Dani whispered, her eyes pleading for forgiveness in advance.

"It's okay," he forced a half grin to try and make it easier for her. "Dani, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine. I promise."

"You're a bad liar," Nathan mocked his gun still resting snuggly next to Malcolm's right temple. "Let's go!"

Dani gave Malcolm one last apologetic look. He nodded ever so slightly, giving her permission. Then she raised the tool and brought the tip of it down as lightly as she could to his forearm, barely touching the skin. Malcolm wasn't surprised when Nathan sighed audibly and used his free hand to slam down on the other end of the iron, forcing the scorching tip into his arm so hard that the force of the impact hurt him before the burning set in. Dani pulled her arm away unthinkingly and kneeled there frozen, waiting for a response from her friend.

Malcolm did not make a sound. He simply closed his eyes and tried to remember the breathing exercises he did in Yoga. It hurt. It hurt a lot. But it wasn't as bad as he had expected. Then again he knew full well this wasn't anywhere near over.

He reopened his eyes just as Nathan's angry voice began berating Dani. "Did I tell you to stop?!" He used the gun to point at her, not threatening, but as an extension of his hand, "Next time you try that just-the-tip bullshit I'll put it in his eye instead. Do it again." Dani nodded and compiled. The soldering iron met Malcolm's skin about three inches higher on his forearm than the first time. "Hold it," Nathan demanded.

Dani held it in place. Two seconds. Three seconds…

Malcolm somehow managed complete silence. But he couldn't keep his forearm from shaking from the pain.

Four seconds… "Please!" Dani implored.

Nathan tapped her hand and she jerked the tool away as fast as she possibly could. She looked down at Malcolm's arm. Unlike the first one, which had bubbled into a dime-shaped blister, this mark was already oozing blood down the side of his forearm.

"Again," Nathan said. Again Dani brought the red hot tool down onto Malcom's flesh. Each time it made contact her stomach lurched, bile made its way up the back of her throat and into her mouth. The guilt of each new mark weighed down on her chest like an anvil.

Again and again Nathan demanded she burn him. Each time Malcolm kept steadfastly silent. His arm was shaking uncontrollably at this point, but he refused to give Nathan the satisfaction of hearing him scream. After the ninth time that Dani was forced to prod his arm, Malcolm could tell that Nathan was frustrated. His arm was dripping a fair amount of blood, but he wasn't giving his captor the response that he so desperately craved. Malcolm knew this was a dangerous game to play. Denying a sadistic killer their gratification rarely goes well for people. But the stubborn side of him refused to give Nathan the pleasure.

"Again," Nathan repeated for a tenth time. "Only this time… write Malcom a message."

Dani's head whipped around toward her captor, "What do you mean 'write him a message'?" she asked incredulously.

Malcolm remained silent with his head lowered. The pain was causing him to sweat profusely now in addition to the violently shaking of his arm. His shirt was sticking to him everywhere.

"I mean use the iron to spell words. Write," he replied.

Dani knew better than to say she wouldn't do it again. But she tried to stall, "What exactly am I supposed to write?"

"A sonnet. A 'to do' list. Your address. I really don't give a shit. But stop delaying and do it. Now!"

"Alright," Dani moved closer to Malcolm.

He raised his head slightly. He wanted to look at her, to reassure her that this was all okay. But he knew that his ability to mask the pain was damn-near non existent at this point and he couldn't bear it if he made her feel worse. She used her left hand to brace the uninjured side of his forearm and brought the soldering iron close to his skin again. This time she held it like a twisted version of a pencil, keeping her hand just high enough on the device to not burn herself as well.

"Ready?" She asked Malcolm in a last attempt to delay the inevitable.

"Just fucking do it!" Nathan snapped.

Dani lowered her makeshift pencil to Malcolm's skin. He immediately made a fist and tensed. The tremors in his arm made it difficult for her. Thankfully she didn't have to press as hard as before and made sure she moved the iron as fast as she possibly could, but Dani could hear Malcolm's resolve breaking down. What had been complete silence was now hissed, quick breaths in and out. She had one letter to go when his willpower finally shattered completely and Malcolm let out one single blood-curdling scream that completely crushed her heart. She pulled away from his arm, her orders fulfilled, and again dropped the iron to the floor.

Nathan leaned in to survey the damage, and the message. He grabbed Malcolm's chin and raised his head. Malcolm's hair was soaked with sweat. He tried to blink away the drops that were falling into his eyes. Nathan smiled as he inspected his captive's face for the one thing he craved most, pain.

He must have gotten what he was looking for, because he tossed Malcolm's face aside and announced, "I think that's enough for now." He reached down and grabbed Dani by the arm lifting her up and marching her back to her restraints. Once she was secured, he returned to Malcolm and grabbed his injured arm without any care for where he touched.

Malcolm hissed in pain and tried to wrench his arm back, but his strength was depleted.

"That looks painful," Nathan taunted. "You should put some ointment on that. You don't want it to get infected. Might kill ya." He flashed one last smile before exiting the room.

Malcolm collapsed onto his back, exhausted. His arm was still shaking so badly that he couldn't get a good look at the wounds. He used his left arm to steady his injured one. His body was so spent that he could barely keep his eyes open long enough to see the message that had been forever branded into his skin. It was short, written in a neat cursive script. A single word.

Dani.