Chapter 2

I woke up to darkness. My neck was stiff. I guessed that I am bound to a chair, blindfolded and taped across my mouth. I couldn't see, couldn't speak. And I couldn't remember what happened yesterday, after I got off from the Tube. I tried to recall, but failed miserably. I moved my head around, trying to make my neck not stiff. "Lil' miss sunshine woke up!" I heard a man's voice, sneering. "Nasty bit of a bruise yesterday." He said. I think I'll call him Mr Thug.

"Eh, David, tell our boss that the bitch woke up!" He said to someone else. The bitch? Not really a nice name.

"Who?" Called out a new voice. This person seemed nicer, more caring than Mr Thug. I'll call him Mr Nice Guy.

"Who do you think?" Mr Thug yelled at the nicer guy.

"Don't be so hard on her. She's gonna go through a lot." It sent chills down my spine. What am I gonna go through? Is it bad? Of course it's bad, they kidnapped you, from the look of it. I heard the sound of footsteps going up some stairs. Mr Nice Guy then. Who's the boss? Who would do this to me?

A few minutes later, I heard Mr Nice Guy coming back down. "Boss says to rip off the tape, so that he'll be able to hear her screams when you torture her." I knew I was pale. Scared, even. I felt the tape being ripped from my mouth. I bit my lip to stop a scream. Someone's calloused hand slapped me across my face. Mr Thug. His hand tipped my chin up. "What a pretty face. Sadly, it won't be pretty later on." He laughed. I spat at him. I think it landed on his face. Another slap, and a chain of curses. I heard him walk up the stairs, still swearing.

"You shouldn't do that." Mr Nice Guy said. "We might have to kill you, so I guess you should just sit tight and bite it all in. I don't like watching Eric torture people, especially girls."

"He's done this b-before?" I stammered. It was weird speaking. I couldn't get the feel of talking.

"No, this is the first."

"Am I going t-to die?" My lips quivered slightly.

"Not sure yet. We gotta wait for our boss' orders." I swear I could hear the regret in his voice. "I'm so sorry."

"W-What's your name?" I asked, hoping to stall some time. Thank god, Mr Thug -Eric- was taking forever to wash his face.

"David." I heard the heavy footsteps against hard steps. Eric. He's coming.

"Move over,Davey! You don't wanna be watching this, eh?" He laughed. "Always a sissy." He laughed again. I heard him move towards one corner of the room. The clanging of metal, probably his instruments of torture. I could tell he had a table there.

"What are you gonna do to me?" I asked him, hoping that I sounded tough, and not the scared mess I am inside.

"Things you don't want to know." He said. I felt a white-hot pain shoot up from my thigh. Something was sizzling. My guess was that he's trying to make me suffer burns. I think he was using a poker. He dug it deeper against my jeans. I gave in. I yelped in pain. His free hand grabbed my hair, pulling me. The chair scraped against the floor, metallic sounds of scratching surfaces. He released my hair from his vice-like grasp.

And he repeated this. Burn. Pull. Stop. Burn. Pull. Stop. Burn. Pull. Stop. And I kept screaming in pain as fire exploded through every inch of skin I had. My skin was raw when he stopped. "See you tomorrow, girly!" Eric's voice, chirpy yet scratchy, echoed in the room. I collapsed into sobs.

The next morning, Eric came in and went to his table, where he kept his torture tools. "Boss told me not to hurt you that much. He said you might be useful. To me, I thought how could someone so fragile, so useless, be of use to a great man like him? His answer was he might need a girl for a huge job." He laughed. He was shuffling about, finding his tools or something.

Suddenly, I felt pain exploded as he broke one of my fingers with something that felt like a plier. "Fuck you!" I yelled out in pain. I was trashing about, kicking and screaming. I kicked him in the groin.

"That's it, you little shit!" He said. He pulled the chair down, causing me to tumble. He untied my bounds to the chair. He grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head against something hard. Repeatedly. Then, he pushed me to the cold, hard ground. He kicked me, yelling out curses. His shoe, a boot I think, slammed against my wrist. I sobbed. I was positive that he sprained it, or worse, he broke it. I heard the thundering sounds of footsteps.

"Eric! Stop it!" I heard David.

He kept kicking at me. I spat and coughed out blood. I knew I was going to be beaten to death if he kept going. "Eric, you heard the boss! Stop it, now!" I heard David tell Eric.

"She's a fucking piece of shit, and she deserves to fucking die!" Eric bellowed, still kicking me. I was about to faint. I felt everything spinning. The voices of David and Eric in the distance.

Eric yelling in pain. A thud. The soothing voice of David in my ear, asking if I was alright. I groaned in response. Being carried away. Lost in the sea of pain and unconsciousness.

I woke up on a soft bed. Sunlight spilled from the drawn curtains. I was in a posh room, decorated with gold and red. The bed was so soft, I wantd to sleep in it forever. But I couldn't. I need to wake up. I propped an elbow to lift myself off the bed. Pain shot through my left hand. "Eaaaaasy, tiger." An Irish drawl spoke. I saw Jim, wearing an expensive suit, sitting next to the bed on a chair. "You're lucky David was there. You would've been dead. It was only a sprain, but we had to be sure. He could've killed you."

"Why didn't you...let him?" I croaked out. My voice was distorted. I was beyond tired. I need to sleep. Yet I need to be awake.

"Now, now. You don't really wanna die, do you?" Jim laughed. "I realize that you have no idea who I am! Jim Moriarty. Hiiii..." He said in a childish voice.

"You're a bloody psychopath. I don't need to say anything else." I spat.

"That's not a nice thing to say." He mocked a hurt expression. "I just want to see if you're alright." Him? Care for me? Hah, never in a million years!

"Yeah, well you wouldn't let Eric torture me if you wanted to 'see if I was alright'." I retorted. He leaned forward, his face barely inches from mine.

"One word, and I would let him kill you." He snarled. I knew that if I pushed more buttons, he would kill me for sure. He reclined back into his seat, his composure more relaxed.

"Why did you even kidnap me in the first place?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you!" He laughed.

"I'm nothing to you. Why don't you just kill me?" I pressed on.

"Whoever said you were nothing?" He said. He got up abruptly and left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts. What did he mean?

David brought me my meals, three times a day. He was a really nice guy. When I wasn't up for eating, he'd gently coax me to eating small spoonfuls of food at a time. He never lost his patience with me. When I needed to pee, he'd go and lead me by the hand to the bathroom. He'd wait for me outside, patiently.

Two weeks later...

"Hey, Sherrelyn." David came into the room. He held something in his hand.

"Hi, David."

"Here." He handed me something sleek and black. "Jim told me to give this to you. It's a nook. You like reading?" Hell yes, I love reading! I nodded. "It's fully stocked, and if there's any new books you'd like to have, you can have it. He won't mind."

"Tell him I said thanks."

He nodded and said 'will do' and backed out of the room. I sat back and browsed through the library. Lots of books. Goodie. I started reading a random book and got hooked.

Two hours later, David came back with a blue iPod, complete with blue earphones. "Here. Another present from Jim." He laughed. "I swear you're gonna get so many presents from him if you do your part. He's quite generous when he wants something done." David left me alone with the iPod on the bedside table. I grabbed it and found so many songs! I had a feeling that Jim knew what my favourite song was. Superheroes by the Script was on. I plugged the earphones in and listened to music as I read.

Weeks later, Jim came into the room. "Sherrelyn! Your wrist better?" He asked. I nodded. "Good, you're coming with me."

"Why?"

"I have a fun job to do."

"But why would you want me to come with you?" I asked, confused. This man wanted to kill me weeks ago, and now we're going on an adventure?

"I could use a little help." He shrugged, as if it was no biggie.

"What does it involve?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Just a fun night out, the two of us. You and me against the world."

"Sounds fun." I said. It was tempting, really. I'd do anything to get out of this bed, as comfy as it is. My butt ached of being sleeping in for the past few weeks. "No kidnapping or murder?" I asked.

He laughed. "No, not tonight."

"Deal." I grinned. Foolish girl! Don't trust him! He wanted you dead!