Thanks for the reviews! I AM continuing this story and it is well underway. Unbeta'd I own none of Ashes. The characters I created and the plot belong to me.
DATE UNKNOWN
Alex wearily opened her eyes. She struggled weakly against the ropes holding her feet together, but quickly gave up. She didn't even try to work with the handcuffs that held her arms in place behind her back. The room she was in was black, but that didn't mean anything. It could be noon for all she knew. She had quickly lost track of time in this windowless prison, since the men had broken her watch the day she had been kidnapped.
Her stomach growled, but that was no indication of time either. She was given a sandwich every once in a while, but she was sure that it had been a few days since the last time she was fed.
The door opened. She watched it, making no attempt to call out. She had screamed the first few times it had opened, but each time she had she was beaten to near unconsciousness. She quickly stopped; eager to stop the pain. She had been rewarded for this by the gag being removed from her mouth.
A man stepped into the room, quickly shutting the door behind him. He flipped on a light. Alex closed her eyes. The light burned through her eyelids, hurting her eyes. She squinted, slowly adjusting to the brightness. The man squatted in front of her, a mask covering his face.
"Thirsty, Alex?" he asked. His voice was deep, even though he wasn't big himself. She looked at him. She didn't bother answering, knowing if she did, he would just make a game out of keeping the water away from her. Instead she gazed past him, looking around the room. It was plain. The walls were covered in wallpaper that was peeling from the walls. The floor was wood, and it creaked underneath the weight of the man as he squatted in front of her, waiting for her to answer.
Suddenly he slapped her across the face. "Answer me when I'm talking to you! I asked you if you were thirsty!"
She looked up at him, trying to muster all the hate she could in her eyes while keeping her face impassive. "Yes, I'm thirsty."
"I thought you would be." His voice sounded cocky. He raised the glass up to her lips, and she drank, trying not to dribble too much water down her shirt. The water ran out too soon. He pulled the glass away from her face. He set it on a table, the only piece of furniture in the room. Then he reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulling out a small key. The man squatted back down, and unlocked her handcuffs. Then he untied the rope around her feet.
Alex moved her arm slightly but made no attempt to rush out of the room. She was too weak from hunger and the frequent beatings she had received until recently. The man stood up and looked at her.
"Have fun," he said, and walked out of the room, turning out the light. Alex heard the sound of a lock click. She crawled over and lay in front where she believed the door was. She heard a voice outside and struggled to make out what it was saying.
"Yes, boss. I understand. I wanted to tell you, we have moved into phase two. Phase three should be able to start in a few weeks."
Phase two? What was that? Alex lay on her back. She closed her eyes, remembering when she had actually liked this world.
She imagined herself in CID. Gene was at his desk, smoking and brooding. Chris and Ray were sitting with their legs up on their desks, talking about the bird Ray had been with the night before. Shaz was at her desk, making wedding plans. Gene would call her into his office. It would end up in a fight as often as not, and he would put his face into the pout. She had loved his pout.
Alex was sure that they would look for her, but would they find her? She knew that the Guv wouldn't give up on the search for her. As she drifted back into sleep, she wondered what they were doing.
TBC...