Chapter 2 - Captive
The sound of her cell phone buzzing cut through Rey's consciousness but she couldn't tell from where. Her hands groped around her for a moment before she was able to open her eyes at all. When Rey finally cracked them open she was met with a very dark room. The surface below her was no longer the gravel of the country road, but a stiff, slightly itchy fabric. The only light at all emanated from her phone screen which was off to her right.
Rey reached for it and was relieved to see just one bar of service and Finns face and name on the caller ID.
"Finn…" She whispered, curling in on herself to muffle her voice.
"Rey?" His voice responded, panic tingeing the single syllable.
"Finn, I don't know where I am," She murmured, stumbling over her words. "I couldn't find the turn…" She started but was cut off.
"Rey? Can you hear me?" He asked frantically. "Rey?"
"I'm here, can't you hear me?"
"Rey! Please, this isn't funny…" Finn pleaded, "I'm calling the police if you're not here by midnight!"
"Finn!" Rey tried again, the fear churned her stomach and the sound of her friend's voice stoked her nerves. The line went dead and Rey felt herself start to slip into a panic. She had to concentrate, she knew there had to be a way out of this mess, whatever it was. Her breath came short and shallow as she rolled over in the dark and attempted to make out anything in the room. Her phone was still at over fifty percent battery so she pulled it out and turned on the flashlight.
"What the…" she began, the words falling out of her lips unbidden. Her panic subsided as she took in the room and slowly was replaced with pure curiosity. It was as if she had walked into a museum. She was in a cabin which seemed to be constructed of heavy wooden beams. Hanging from the rafters there were dried bouquets of various plants, against one wall was a giant hearth and against the other was an ornately carved desk.
Rey shone the light over the surface she was laying on and found it to be a simple bed, big enough for just one person and made from very sturdy looking pine. The blankets looked handmade out of chunky knit wool. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the only window in the house, mercifully, the curtains were pulled closed as she couldn't bare to think of seeing that haunting grey face peering in at her. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the door swung open, Rey let out a shriek and flew backwards off the bed.
As she sat crouched on the floor she heard the door shut and heavy footsteps cross the creaking floor in her direction. She held perfectly still, holding her breath and not daring to peek over the edge of the bed. Rey's entire body trembled when a deep voice cut through the tense silence.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. You're my guest."
Rey dared to poke her eyes out over the top of the mattress. Immediately her heart dropped, the terrifying mask which loomed over her before she had passed out was only feet away on the other side of the bed. It was clearly a man, his large frame blocked out the doorway entirely and his hands which gripped a stack of wood seemed impossibly large. He spoke again through the mouthpiece of his mask. It was made of slightly rusted bits of mangled metal.
"You'll be relieved to hear I have no intention of harming you. You don't need to be afraid."
Rey bit back a bitter laugh, this man's assertion did absolutely nothing to lessen her fear. How could it when all she could see was his terrifyingly large body and a mask which seemed almost designed to instill fear.
"That tends to happen when you've been kidnapped by a creature in a mask!" She barked, finally raising herself above the line of the mattress. There was a long pause and then the man stalked forward towards her. His gloved hands moved swiftly and pulled the mask off in one fluid movement.
The first thing Rey noticed was that he was young, younger than she could have imagined, no more than ten years older than herself. Then her eyes fell on his hair, it was long and fell in loose waves around his chiseled yet sallow face. There was something timeless about him and Rey couldn't quite put her finger on it; he was beautiful but something about him inspired a primal fear within her.
"Tell me, what are you doing in these woods?" He asked groughly, leaning over her. Rey remained silent, still dumbstruck by her captor's appearance. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and explain the situation.
"I-I was on my way to a wedding, took a wrong turn and… and I kept seeing that face."
"It was foolish of you to get lost." He muttered, straightening and taking a step away from Rey, who scoffed.
"Yeah, I know." She watched the man turn away from her and place his mask roughly down on the desk, sending a couple sheets of parchment flying. "So are you going to help me get back to the main road?" She asked impatiently. "Because I have somewhere to be." She saw the man's shoulders rise with a huff of humourless laughter.
"If I could find the main road I would have left these woods a very long time ago." He murmured, voice low and dark. The way he spoke made the hair on the back of Rey's neck stand on end.
"What do you mean? You obviously live here!" She wailed, her frustration getting the better of her. "You have to know where the road is!" The man shook his head, his dark curls falling over his eyes. This had to be a nightmare, Rey thought, there was no way this was happening to her. She had to get out of here.
"You won't be able to find the road either, not now that you've seen him." The dark figure whispered as he crossed the room to the window. He pulled back the curtain and Rey could see a small bit of light fading through the trees. The sun had set and she was trapped in a log cabin with a mad man.
"Look, If you're not going to help me, I'll figure it out myself."
"I would help you if I could… There's no hope of escaping. But I will keep you safe to the best of my ability." He sighed, as he closed the curtains again and lit a lantern. The man came to sit on a chest across from the bed, his elbows on his knees. Rey took in his appearance now there was more light, his clothes were odd. Most of them black, or dark brown, he wore britches and boots that covered his knees and were adorned with heavy but ornate iron buckles. The doublet over his loose shirt was beautifully embroidered leather and draped over his immense shoulders was a woolen cowl, clasped in the front with an intricate pin.
"What do you mean?" She asked, settling on the bed.
"I've lost track of how long I have been here." He began, running his hand through his hair. He was an enigma to her and she watched him closely, both afraid of him and in awe. She held onto the blankets nervously, white knuckled. "I guess I should explain from the beginning and I know it will sound insane…"
Rey shrugged. How much more insane could this day get anyway?
"I was an officer, tasked with bringing the Rebels to heel." Rey's eyes narrowed, his outfit beginning to make more sense.
"The American Rebels? As in the Continental army?" She asked, confusion clouding her comprehension.
"Of course." he stated simply as though there could be no other explanation. Rey racked her brain for dates of the American War of Independence. Growing up in England she had been taught little of that particular war and it blurred together with other events she learned about in history class. Was it the early eighteenth century? She thought. Or was that the War of Spanish Succession?
"Hold on." Started, holding her hands up. "What year were you born?" She asked, knowing the answer would only add to her perplexity. The man took a deep breath and straightened himself,
"Seventeen-hundred fifty-one." He sighed.
"Do you know what year it is now?" She asked, leaning forward on her elbows in curiosity.
"No, It's been a long time," He begins, his voice trailing off in thought. He was silent for a moment then his eyes snapped back to Rey fixing her with his dark gaze. "I gave up counting the months and years once I realized it had been a century."
"Do you want to know?" she asked carefully, his mood seemed to be deteriorating the more he spoke of his entrapment. His head dropped as he looked at his hands and nodded slowly.
"Its two thousand eighteen." His head shot up at that and he fixed her with a disbelieving stare, they looked at each other for a long time, neither knowing what to say.
"What is your name?" He finally muttered, expression softening.
"Rey" She breathed, "and yours?"
"I was born Benjamin… It's difficult for me to remember ever going by that name however. During the war I was given a new name."
"Why?" Rey asked, letting the name Benjamin sink into her mind.
"I was a deserter, a traitor…" He admitted. "When I turned on the King's Royal Regiment the patriots gave me a new Identity." Benjamin paused for a long moment, seemingly lost in his memory. "I've been Kylo Ren ever since."
Author's Note: Wow so I might have bit off a lot to chew here. There's gonna be a lot of plot and a lot of historical stuff. I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know and I'll try to have the next up by the end of the weekend!