Author's Note:
Right…I think this next chapter might be a bit boring but I felt like I needed to write it in order to ensure everything made more sense etc.
I just want to mention that I struggled with some of the tenses (always get confused with that silly 'had' word) so if there are any mistakes in this chapter I apologize sincerely.
I would also like to use this author's note to thank the following people that has reviewed me up to now.
NYT, kevin, Eden, dolphin18paradise (like the name by the way), Jar-Par fan (took a while to figure out that your name meant Jarod-Parker fan), Marie55, rev2004, pretender fan, Lyn, Angelus Love, Sango2, leochick, slayer-P, Magie, ab and Ami4 – thank you so much for your reviews. If I forgot to add anybody's names please forgive me. Let me know and I promise to make it up to you.
I would especially like to thank ab – apparently a fellow foreigner in the strange world of the English language, for having gone through the trouble of reviewing me although you apparently don't do it a lot. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that long, but very kind, words. I really appreciated that review.
Lastly I promise to shut up now in order to allow all of you to read the new chapter.
Happy New Year to all of you, may 2005 bring only happiness…oh and may my story not suck in the long run, hehe.
xxx
Chapter 8
After some struggle she had finally managed to find some sort of a comfortable spot against the wall where her chain was running from.
At that moment she was sitting with her back against what she thought felt like a stone wall. Her arms were hugging her knees against her chest and her head was leaning back against the welcoming coolness of the damp wall.
Every now and again she tried to swallow in an attempt to sooth the terrible thirst that had started to assault her throat some time ago. That combined with the severe growling of her stomach and the short stabs of pain coming from her ulcer told her that she must have been abducted from her house somewhere from a couple of days to a week ago.
Due to the ever-present darkness around she had completely lost track of time. Some time ago, shortly after she had awakened for the first time in her jail, she also discovered that her watch together with her shoes was missing, most probably she had her brother to thank for that.
Groaning slightly she grabbed a medium-sized plastic bottle, it had been laying for a long time next to her, and brought it to her mouth. After a second of sucking eagerly with her dry lips on the plastic straw that was sticking out from the tip of the bottle, she came to the awful realization that there was nothing left. Barely more than a drop of water had landed on her tongue and quickly evaporated in her dry mouth before it could even reach her throat. With disgust, even a bit of despair, she threw the bottle forcefully to one side.
She knew what he was trying to do to her. After all it was the oldest cliché in the handbook of abduction – if your victim were to become utterly depended on you for even the most basic need you have already won half of the battle.
Suddenly feeling very tired she closed her eyes and allowed her head to rest for a little while on her arms. As she felt her body beginning to relax a little bit she found herself unable to prevent her thoughts from returning to the recent past.
Lyle had left her cell quickly after the first attack. For a while she had remained in the same sitting position, her fists still slightly raised in the air. Only after she had heard the lock of the door clicking into place, followed shortly afterwards by the light in her room going dark, did she begin to feel the adrenaline slowly leaving her body.
At first she had allowed only her arms to relax against her side and was unable to tear her eyes away from the closed door, afraid that he might return again. Then, after a couple of minutes, she had begun to feel her heart's rhythm increasing followed by a sudden sensation of needles and pins forming in her fingertips. She knew then that she was busy going into shock, but had been just too tired and stunned to do anything more than lay down on the floor with her back towards the wall to enable her to continue viewing the door at all times.
For a few seconds she had remained in that position, a living statue, and then slowly her shoulders started shaking slightly as intense emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She had refused to cry, to show any sign of weakness, in case he might be watching, but it was a struggle. The horror of her narrow escape, the injuries she had obtained at his hand and the thought that she was doomed to be at the mercy of a madman for the rest of her life had been almost too much for her to bear.
Whether she had felt asleep or merely lost all conscious hold on reality for a while she would never know. She had only become aware of her surrounding area again when the terrifying sound of the door being open could be heard once again.
Immediately she had leaped to a sitting position, afraid but more than willing to defend herself at whatever cost. In the darkness she had only been able to discern the outlines of a figure standing silently in the doorway. The person had stood quietly for a long time, not uttering a single word or giving her any visible clue as to what was going to follow next, before bending over and rolling something over the floor until it came to a rest next to her one foot. "Make it last…I won't be back for a while," the person had said before turning around and exiting her room.
She had been hesitant, maybe even a bit scared, of the strange item she could feel laying against her big toe in the dark. Then slowly she had reached out and carefully investigated the item with her fingertips before picking up what she could discern to be a typical sport plastic bottle.
Unscrewing the cab she had smelled the contents of the bottle hesitantly – water. At first she had no plan to consume even a single drop of the liquid, there was no telling what her psycho brother could have added to it, but as time flew passed an all-encompassing thirst started forcing itself to the foreground. Then, after what had seemed like an eternity to her, she decided to take maybe a small sip, thinking that surely a small drop of water would not hurt her. One drop had let to more and before she could help herself a quarter of the bottle's content had been consumed.
More time passed and in the long run she had been completely unable to resist the temptation of quenching the almost unnatural thirst that seemed to be ever present. It eventually led to the situation where she had eagerly tried to force out the last drop of water in her mouth barely a few minutes ago.
Forcing her thoughts back to the present reality Ms Parker lifted her head from her arms and tried to swallow again, she never knew that it could be possible for something as plain as thirst to become such an overpowering sensation. She was also no longer sure what was worst - the complete darkness surrounding her, the terrible thirst or the hunger pains growling in her stomach.
For a moment she wondered if maybe her mad brother's big plan for her was to die from thirst and hunger in that hellhole, but then she remembered how he had told her she was supposed to make the water last because he would not be back for a while. If he had wanted her to die he would surely not have bothered to give her the water – he would just have allowed her to perish.
There was no doubt about it - he would be back.
Reaching out a hand she gently touched the side on her face where he had backhanded her and then slowly let her hand moved down to investigate the bruises around her neck which she had sustained during that attack too. Where at first the injuries had been very tender and swollen they at least appeared to be getting better now. If only the same could be said of the emotional wounds that had pierced through her soul during that attack.
Wiping a hand over her eyebrow her whole face twisted in a bitter grimace. She could not help but wonder as to whether she did not deserve what was happening to her. After all it was not like she had any reason to be proud of the life she had been living for the past couple of years…actually more like decades. Maybe fate finally decided to take revenge for all the years she had been tempting it and for all the times she had utterly disregard the feelings of those people that were supposed to be the closest to her.
Sydney…
Broots…
Even Jarod.
They were the only people left in her pathetic life that even remotely assembled something akin to friends, but at every corner she would insult, be sarcastic or even try to undermine them. Only a shameful few times had she really reached out a hand of friendship to them.
"They understand…they know why I need to be the way I am…it's the only way to survive that place," she whispered, trying to defend herself against the accusing voice in her head.
'Sydney and Broots…maybe. But what about Jarod? What's your excuse for all the pain and hurt you have caused him?' the persistent voice asked again. 'You never had any reason to pretend in front of him.'
"He run and I chase…that's the way it's supposed to be. Nothing is going to change that fact," she replied bitterly.
'Then why doesn't your heart want to believe that anymore?' the voice inquired one last time before going quiet altogether as the sound of someone being busy on the other side of her door could be heard.
Shocked out of her own introspective she lifted her gaze towards the direction of the sound but did not say anything except to ball her hands in fists against her side and to clench her jaws.
She could hear the lock on the door being opened. Her heart started beating faster and sweat started forming across her forehead. As the wooden horror slowly opened she took a couple of deep breaths and could feel a shiver of fear running down her spine.
"Miss me?" Entering and taking a few steps forward Lyle hold his arms in the air in the personification of a typical television game host, his lips were formed in a big grin.
xxx
Angelo was sitting on his haunches behind the final division, an air vent that was between him and freedom from the Centre. He was waiting patiently for some sweepers in front of him to finish their smoke break and to start moving into the opposite direction.
"So she finally got what was due to her," Angelo could hear one of the sweepers addressing his colleagues.
"What are you talking about?" One of the others replied with a bit of irritation in his voice.
"The Ice-Queen. She finally got what she deserved…the Centre decided to get rid of her once and for all," the original speaker addressed the small crowd again with a big smile on his face, obviously taking a delight out of being the sudden center of attention.
One of the sweepers took a step forward with a frown on his face. Without warning he grabbed a fist-full of the guy's jacket and pulled forward him before hissing between teeth, "I hope you aren't talking about Ms Parker. Because if you are you better keep your crabby comments to yourself, that lady saved my butt on more than one occasion. I won't have her memories taunted by the likes of you."
"The same goes for me," one of the other sweepers added.
"Me too."
"Yeah man…rather shut your mouth or I'll do it for you," another said with a threatening tone to his voice.
That was the last that Angelo heard before the small crowd started moving away, still arguing, to wherever their intended destination was.
As soon as he was sure that they were out of sight he unscrewed the vent's cover and quickly made his way from out of his hiding place. Looking once left to right he pulled out a small brown bag from the vent and swung it over his shoulder. With one last final look behind him he whispered, "Timmy go save daughter," before hurrying across the grass that covered the grounds behind the one unused wing of the Centre and he immediately disappeared into the darkness of the wood before him.
xxx
Ethan was laying flat on his stomach on a hill, facing what appeared to be a abandoned warehouse, and was holding a pair of binoculars in front of his eyes.
Below him he could see a car stopping and a dark-haired man getting out. The man looked around once before making his way into the warehouse.
Removing the binoculars, putting them away in a bag against his side, Ethan sat up with a frown playing between his eyebrows.
"Is this him Mom?" he mumbled to himself, "Is this the brother that has her?" After a few seconds of sitting quietly in the same position he stood up and started making his way down the hill towards the same door that he had seen the other man disappearing through.