Day 0.
January 28, 1978.
I wake up all of a sudden, hearing noises downstairs. I do not have the courage to get out of bed and check what caused it, for fear of finding someone on the ground floor. If they were the orcs and I was bothering them, going down, I could not imagine any retaliation.
Squinting, trying to get my eyes used to the darkness of the room, I look to Lord Tubbington's kennel, and he's resting happily, probably still too sated from dinner a few hours before.
My eyelids close again and in that exact moment I am brought back to reality by the sound of breaking glass. I wonder what's going on and if there is reason to get up and go checking what's happening. Then I am reminded that there is no need for me to move, because the men of my father's supervision are paid just to ensure us maximum protection.
I realize the gravity of the situation when I hear my mother screaming. I hear other voices yell at her to shut up, that they're not here for her. Because of that I decide to hide behind the door that, a few seconds later, is wide open to a figure that I can't identify.
This is definitely a man, but it is too little beefy for being one of surveillance. I think he's dressed in black and has something in his hand, perhaps a weapon. My heart starts beating wildly and I have to tighten my eyelids and lips, in order to avoid too strong sobs. But all this does not prevent the man - yes, I'm pretty sure that it is a man - to spot me. I do not have time to realize it that he has already grabbed me by the wrist and he's trying to get me out of my room.
I try to fight with all the strength I have, which is quite a lot, since I'm a dancer. I feel that the man is making a slight effort and one of his arms is still. Maybe he is hurt. I feel my wrist slowly sliding away from his grip, but at the same moment comes another person. A woman.
"Forget it, you're hurt. I'll take care of her." I hear her say, sternly.
"Look, it's a tough nut to crack, be careful."
"If you allow me, I think I know how to defend myself. And I also know how to treat these spoiled dolls. There's no need to play their own game, because they would not stop kicking and punching for the whole trip. "
Trip? Where am I going?
"Are you going to take care of her with your own method?" The boy questions, making my blood run cold. Which method are we talking about? Copious tears run down my cheeks now, for fear of what might happen to me.
"Of course, as always! Now go downstairs, untie the parents and bring them back to bed. "
"Aye! Tomorrow morning, the poor gentlemen Pierce, will have a great awakening. "
"Not as much as this baby doll." Says the woman.
"I'm going. You keep it tight, otherwise she's going to run away." This statement causes an ironic giggle by the girl.
I don't know what to think, I'm expecting the worst now. What have I done to be treated this way? During my short life I haven't done anything but dance and study... More dancing than studying, but dancing is my passion. How could I have offended someone? I decide to talk.
"What have I done? What do you want?" I ask the woman, now left alone with me while I'm trying to free myself from her grip.
"Oh, this is not the time for questions, young lady. If I am being honest, it never will. You have no right to ask us anything, now or ever." She answers annoyed.
"Leave me alone! I have the right to ask any questions I want. You are in my house, you're holding my wrist, in my room. Release me, I pray thee. I'll do whatever you want. "
"Oh, that's what you're going to do anyway, whether you like it or not."
"I'm not going to do anyth-" I do not have time to finish the sentence, because something rough, but soft, surrounds my face, making me lose consciousness.
/
I don't know how long I have slept. I open my eyes, slightly lifting myself from the bed. Looking around I can catch a glimpse of the place I am at. Everything is still hazy and my head is spinning ... they probably gave me something to stun me.
I have no idea how I got in this room, which reminds me so much of the bulk storage of our country house. Obviously I am not there, because I can only see one bed in the room, on which I'm lying, a toilet and a chair on which is placed a tray of food. Evading the dizziness I try to get up, but I get blocked by something.
I turn to the left, noticing that my wrist is anchored to the bed by a pair of handcuffs. On the one hand I hope someone will come, because I'm literally dying of hunger and thirst, but on the other hand I'm afraid of what they might do to me. I feel disoriented and afraid. I don't know where I am, don't know who brought me here, or why.
Terror attacks me and tears begin to flow, while I'm sobbing softly. Evidently, however, I made enough noise for someone to hear me, because I perceive some steps come nearer and nearer. After a few seconds I hear the sound of a lock being opened.
I try in every way to break free from the handcuffs, in order to try to surprise the person who is entering the room, and if I'm lucky enough, to be able to escape. I also try to break one of the small bones of my thumb, as I have heard counsel in a movie, but it's too painful and I have to stop, because I haven't even fully regained my strength yet.
The door opens and two figures enter the room: two men with their faces covered by a balaclava.
"I thought I heard something." Says the first, whose voice doesn't remind me of the one I heard inside my room.
"Good morning, princess." Behold, this is the voice that I heard during the attack, I do not know how long ago.
"Where am I? Who are you? Where are my parents?" I ask, clearly in a panic.
"You're where we brought you ..." Answers the tallest man, of whom I can only see the green eyes.
"Why am I here? What do you want from me?"
"Don't worry, we are going to take care of you now. Meanwhile, if you're done with the questioning you can eat if you're hungry."
"I'm not going to eat until you explain to me what's going on. Then I want to see how you dug if I die of hunger." I answer, in a moment of courage.
"As if it would be the first time ..." Says the same man from before, looking at the other one and exchanging a chuckle with him. "If you want to do so go on, as far as I'm interested you could never eat ... And I thought we were being the good guys by coming here to take off the handcuffs and let you eat and drink ... Maybe next time." They tell me, still laughing as they walk to the door .
"No, wait -" I do not have time to make them listening to me, or maybe they are pretending not to hear. Anyway, they're already out of my room while I hear the lock close.
From inside I hear receding soft voices.
"Have you finished?" Asks a female voice, the same one that I've heard in my room, the last before losing consciousness.
"She thinks she's on charge in here. She says she's not going to eat until we answer her questions. "
"I already said that she will never have the right to ask questions. Maybe I wasn't clear enough, so I'd better go in there and repeat her the lesson." Responds the same voice.
"Leave her alone, you don't have to be angry, sooner or later she's going to feel the pangs of hunger and she will give it up."
After that I'm not able to listen to anything more, probably because the owners of the voices are now too far away from my door. I try one last time to yank the handcuffs, but the only thing that I 'gain' from this action is a bad cut on my wrist, which bleeds profusely.
I start to cry, louder this time, because of the pain. I hear footsteps approaching again and I realize I'm practically shouting. Three people enter the room and they all widen their eyes as soon as they see me. Instinctively I turn towards the tied wrist, noticing how the cushion is awash with blood.
"Oh fuck." Says one of the boys.
"Christ, do you want to kill yourself?" The woman I met back into my room yells at me. "Are you stupid or what?" She asks, approaching me.
"Enough, S. You're scaring her and that can only rebound on us. P, go get a disinfectant and bandages." Orders the smaller boy to the other one, who immediately leaves the room.
After a while P, if I'm not mistaken, is back with everything needed for the dressing. The woman, who seems to be called S, leans towards me to take off my shirt, with very little delicacy. During those few seconds of closeness I'm able, through the hole left by the hood, to take a look at her eyes. Their color reminds me of oil, they've got darker shade of black I've ever seen. But what strikes me, is the hardness and the pride of her gaze, from that little I can see. It must be the head over all the others, I think. As soon as she releases me from my sweatshirt she steps away and one of the boys approaches me.
"Quick M, she's bleeding too much! Dios, what did you want to do? Do you think this is the occasion to try to cut your veins? You're nothing but a spoiled child! You wanted to punish us for not having answered your stupid questions? Well, too bad for you, because you have done nothing but making your situation worse. I wanted come here to persuade you to eat, but now you can forget it." Screams the black eyed woman, pulling a kick to the chair, so as to overthrow the tray.
"I did not ... I just wanted to get rid of ... I just want to go home ..." I try to mumble, although now the forces are abandoning me.
The guy spills some liquid on my wound. I think it's a disinfectant, as it burns badly. Then he lays a piece of gauze on it, securing it with a band aid while the woman leaves the room muttering something in Spanish, I think.
"You should rest now. Reminder for the future: never piss S off, she'd be capable of anything." Ok, now I have the chills. That woman scared me so much. She hasn't done anything other than yelling at me and in her eyes I could see so much, too much anger.
"I'm hungry. And tired."
"I know, now sleep. You will eat later, unless S decides to let you starve for your little joke." Answers the boy, abandoning the room.
Only then I can feel the heaviness of my eyelids and, after a while, I fall into a deep sleep.
/
When I wake up, I notice that the little light that filtered through the blinds before is now gone. I guess it must be late.
"Hey ... Is there anyone?" I try to draw attention to me, because now I'm really hungry.
I hear someone approaching. The steps are lightweight. I hope is not S. That girl worries me.
Someone's opening the lock.
"Princess! You're awake. Are you still going to attempt suicide or can I get you something to eat?" It's her. I hope she didn't come to do something bad to me.
"I have not attempted suicide, I was just trying to break myself free. And I am not anyone's princess." l answer, slightly annoyed by her behavior but always with the utmost respect. I wouldn't want her to hurt me.
"Yeah ... Whatever. Are you hungry or not?" She asks annoyed.
"I am. But first I'd like some water. I am completely dehydrated."
"Of course, my lady." She replies sarcastically. I snort, but I not dare to respond to her provocation.
While she's out of the room I can see a light over the door and when she opens it completely, in order to come back into my room, I can spot a table on which lay some playing cards. Probably, before I called, they were playing poker or something like that. They must be hidden to avoid being seen in the face because, despite the weakness, I can hear some voices.
"Do you still think you'd be able to run away or I can remove the handcuffs to let you eat?" S asks me.
"I haven't enough strength to be able to run away from three people. Not even from you, actually. I'm too weak, you can easily untie me." l answer with a faint voice.
"Try not to do some shit. I don't like people who put spokes in my wheels. "
"I know, I have already been warned to be careful with you." I say.
"That asshole of M, I guess. He never keeps his mouth shut."
I don't know what to say. She seems to despise everyone, especially me, so I just nod. She looks at me intensely, before slowly reaching the handcuffs. I think she's trying to predict my reaction.
"Be good, because I'm not kidding." She tells me and I nod.
After releasing me, she looks at me pointing toward the tray placed at the foot of the bed.
"There's chicken soup. If you don't like it you'll have to strain, because there isn't anything else. Unlike you, we don't have a cook."
"I love it. To tell you the truth my grandmother used to cook it for me." I answer with a bit of melancholy. I miss my house, my parents and my grandmother, even though she passed out actually.
"Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear your life story. Eat, because I'd have to put back the handcuffs straight after.
"But it hurts ..."
"If you wouldn't insist on tugging at them in an attempt to get rid of them, they would not hurt you so bad." Is this girl always so nasty?
After drinking almost a full bottle of water, I start to eat. I realize that the more I eat, the more hungry I get. I must have been fasting for some time.
"What day is it?" I ask, trying to have a little conversation, because I don't want her to hate me anymore.
"You shouldn't be interested. As long as you're in here what will it matter to you if it's Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday?"
"How long are you going to keep me in here? And, anyway, that makes a lot of difference. Please ... " I try to convince her. Being able to keep track of the days will help me to maintain a minimal of contact with the outside, with reality. I don't want to lose the sense of time... I might go crazy.
"I'm not able to answer. It depends on your daddy." She answers, eluding the second question.
I'm done eating and I wonder what's going to happen now.
"How do I do if I have to pee?"
"Don't you see the toilet?" She answers, looking at it. "Just scream, we untie you and you do whatever you need to do. "
"But I do not want to do it in front of men ... Not even in front of you." I answer.
I'm not going to get undressed in front of people I don't know, who kidnapped me for some reason. As far as I know they could sell my organs.
"Don't worry, we'll wait outside. But, if it takes more time than it should, we'll consider ourselves authorized to burst into the room. Just so you know. "
"Ok." I get up slowly to avoid to make her believe I want to escape and I head towards the toilet." Can you go out for a moment, then?"
Without answering, without even nodding, she's out of the door. What a bad person!
After doing what I had to do I lay back on the bed, waiting for her to come back in, because I certainly will not be calling her.
After a few minutes, surprisingly, I hear a knock on the door.
"Are you done?" She asks me without the slightest bit of arrogance, as I would have imagined.
"Yes," I answer dryly, because the fact that she respected my privacy doesn't make her look better at all.
A few seconds later she approaches me and I gasp. What does she want now?
"Relax, baby doll. I just need to handcuff you again." She replies, while actually performing the action.
By doing it, she has to bend over me and that gives me another opportunity to look at the only visible point of her body: her eyes. They are like magnets, I can't stop looking at them. I feel as if they are surrounded by an aura of mystery. I'm not mistaken. If only, at that time, I knew what was behind those irises ...
After tying my left wrist to the bars of the bed, she moves towards the door. Then she hangs halfway, as if she had suddenly remembered something. She turns her body back to me and I don't know what to expect. I see her bending over on the floor, probably to get something. When she raises I can see her holding a blanket.
"Here we go. I would never want the princess to be cold." She says acidly, spreading the blanket over my body. I'm amazed. I didn't think she would care for me, after having mocked and insulted me for the rest of the time.
"Thanks," I reply, surprised.
"Now go to sleep." This time she really reaches the door, but as soon as her hand surrounds the handle she stops and turns to me again. "Anyway, it's Thursday ..."
I smile, thanking her mentally. I can't understand how someone so surly might have had not one, but two kind thoughts. First she covers me with a blanket, then she tells me what day it is, finally responding to one of my questions. I hope the other guys are not obnoxious like her. More than anything I hope they don't have her same prejudices towards me. I hope they won't treat me bad just relying on those. I'm not just a spoiled brat, I'm so much more. I'm Brittany. And I am convinced that even she, as well as being S, is much, much more ...