Red haired angel

by Skovko

Seth has been in this place for over a month. Kidnapped and tortured, lonely and afraid, not knowing if it's night or day, or exactly how long he's been there. He knows other people are sharing the same cruel fate as him. He can hear them scream when they are tortured. What he doesn't know is that one of them apparently escaped and is hiding in his cell to help him out.

2. Run

"Seth! Seth!" Paprika shook him awake. "They're coming."
"Huh?" He mumbled.
"Someone's coming, Seth," she said.

He heard the door to his cell being unlocked. His eyes flew open and he jumped out of bed. He knew it was their only chance. She stood up too but he signaled with his hand for her to stand back. The door swung open. One of the torturers stepped inside and looked at Paprika behind Seth. The man seemed more surprised than angry.

"You?" The man asked. "That's not possible."

While the man was left to wonder how Paprika had somehow managed to get into Seth's room, Seth acted quickly. He mustered up all his strength and smashed his elbow full force into the man's face. The man went down on one knee. Seth grabbed the cell door and slammed it into the man's face. It knocked the man out cold.

"Come on," Seth said.
"The keys are still in the door," Paprika said.

They moved out of the cell. Seth closed the door and locked the man inside. He grabbed the keys and looked at Paprika. She started running down the hall and he followed behind. They had to be fast.

She turned corners several times as if she had run this route many times. It made sense somehow. Seth had no idea how long she had managed to stay hidden. She probably had spent a lot of time memorizing the route to perfection so she wouldn't mess up when the time came. Suddenly she stopped in front of a closed door.

"Unlock it," she said.
"Is this why you didn't escape? You needed the keys?" He asked.
"Just unlock it, Seth. We don't have much time," she said.

He unlocked the door and opened it. The fresh air hit him full force and he almost stumbled backwards at the mild breeze. It felt heavenly. He ran outside but stopped after ten steps when he realized she wasn't next to him. He turned around to see her still standing in the open door.

"Come on," he said.
"I can't," she said.
"Paprika, come on! Let's go!" He growled.
"I have to stay," she said.
"Don't go fucking Stockholm syndrome on me right now," he said. "Get your ass in gear or I will drag you out of there."

He was starting to feel angry. They needed to go, and they needed to go now. His anger was pushed aside when he noticed one of the other torturers walk towards her.

"Paprika!" He yelled. "Get the fuck out of there right now!"
"Run, Seth!" She yelled back.
"Not without you!" He yelled.
"Run!" She yelled louder.
"Fuck!" He muttered.

He saw the man start running towards the open door. He turned around and sprinted out of there as fast as he could. He praised himself lucky for the many years of hardcore training and learning to work through pain and injuries. He was finally free. No way he was being captured again. He was gonna keep running until he was far away.

He memorized every little detail he could as he ran from that place. Anything to lead the police back to that place. As soon as he could get a hold of the police, he would tell them to go get Paprika and who else they kept in there. She got him out. It was his turn to get her out.