AN/ Hello, got another chapter ready for you guys. Just wanna say thank you to Maddy, hgirl, QueenCupecake101 and . Possible for your reviews, and see you all at the bottom...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own kickin it.

Chapter 12

Longing for Freedom

Jack's pov.

I paced back and forth in the small room, dying of boredom and hopelessness. My steps were short and my legs felt like lead due to the awful conditions I've been kept in. I sat down on the bed flinching slightly, my body still sore from Mark's visit three days ago. He hadn't showed up ever since. In fact I hadn't heard or seen anyone or anything except this room for the past days. The lack of noise had made me figured that I probably wasn't in the basement of the mall after all, which added to the list of things that worried me. I still had absolutely no clue of where I was.

At first I had thought that someone would find me or I would figure out a way to get out, but as the days had passed my hopes had slowly faded. I had tried everything; climbing up on the sink to try to break through the window, searched the walls, ceiling and floor for weaknesses, banging and shouting at the door for hours and hours, but to no avail. My only possible escape would be through the door, but someone would have to open it from the outside. Most likely that someone would be Mark, which meant that I would either have to find a way to trick him or fight him. Spending most of my awake time to plan some kind of trap for him without any results, I would probably have to go with the fight option…

I was in a way thankful that he hadn't showed up yet, as it had given me some time to heal, but it also worried me. What if he has no intention of coming back? What if this was his way to make me pay for something that I still had no clue of what it was?

Maybe he was planning on keeping me here until I starve to death. I was already so hungry it hurt, not eating anything for days. My body felt weak and I was tired all the time.

At least I had been able to quench my thirst thanks to the sink tap, which had been the only thing keeping me strong enough to move around my small cell. If it hadn't been for the water I would probably be laying in bed right now, too weak to even sit up.

The worst part though was being so isolated from the outside world, not knowing how they were all doing back home. I wondered if they missed me as much as I missed them.

Mom is probably worried sick by now…and dad... he's more likely to trying to find me in one way or another as he's the problem solver kind of guy. If they've contacted the police, he's probably the one that's checking in on them every now and then. He always wants to have control over things and he's a man of action, a lot like me actually…

I smiled at the thought of them.

My friends back at the dojo were probably also worried, but they would have to concentrate on the tournament on Saturday, especially if I wasn't not gonna make it there…

I shook the thought of spending two more days here out of my head. Of course I wasn't going to be locked up in here until Saturday, I must have found a way out by then.

I wondered if Kim missed me. I liked to think so… Of course she would wonder why I was gone but she had Austin there… I frowned, just thinking his name made my stomach turn.

I should have told Kim how I felt once I had the chance. I remembered mum used to say that I should always be open and tell everyone around me how I felt about them, good or bad, always be honest. She was right of course. The thing was that I hadn't even been honest with myself, as I had locked up my feelings for Kim so deep within my heart terrified that they would show that I'd almost forgotten about them. Not until Austin had showed up did they burst out, filling me with all these strong emotions. I just couldn't stand to see Kim with someone else and to sit here without knowing what was going on between them back home was more than I could take.

Austin wasn't to be trusted. I just knew that. Somehow he would find a way to break Kim's heart and I wasn't going to let that happen.

All the thinking of Kim and Austin seemed to have given me new strength again. I stood up and headed over to the door with determination. There's got to be something, some weakness in this place, I just got to find it.

I had almost made it to the door when I heard footsteps on the other side of it and I stopped dead in my tracks. Knowing that I only had a few seconds before someone would open the door, I had to quickly make up my mind whether I should step back and let them in or I should just bust out through the door the moment it opened, hopefully surprising the person on the other side enough to get away.

I heard the door being unbolted and realized I didn't have anymore time to think. Slightly panicking I jumped at the door too rushed. The door gave away from my pressure and for a moment I thought that I was going to succeed. I was halfway through it when I met the pair of green eyes I had come to fear. The look on Mark's face told me that he hadn't expected me to burst out like this. But his reflexes kicked in as soon as he comprehended what I was trying to do and he threw himself at the door. Unfortunate he was stronger than me and the door came crashing into me, making me stumble backwards. I quickly regained my balance though and charged at it once more. I heard the door being looked again when I was only an inch away from it and I ran into what felt like a solid wall. I banged my fists against it in frustration, knowing that I'd ruined what might have been my only chance to escape. Resting my forehead against the door I sighed. On the other side I could hear Mark moving around.

"What do you want from me?" I asked loud enough so that he would hear, but I was given no answer. Instead he fiddled around with something and I concentrated on the sounds that he made, trying to figure out what he was doing.

"Can you hold that for me Tess?" My head shot up as I heard Marks voice. Was Tess here?

"TESS!" I screamed. "I'm in here!" I started banging on the door again. Hopefully she would hear me… "TESS?!"

All of a sudden the small square-shaped hatch on middle of the door opened exposing Mark's face on the other side.

"You better shut up…!" He hissed. "...or else you're gonna bring him out!" I looked confused at him. What was he talking about?

"Believe me; you do not want him to come…" He said just before slamming the small hatch shut.

"Wait!" I could hear his footsteps walking away. "Don't leave me here!" I cried desperately, even though I knew that it would be useless. "Please…"

The last thing that was heard was another door being closed before silence filled the room. I turned my back against the door and slid to the ground with a deep sigh. Resting my elbows on my knees, I buried my face in my hands, not knowing what to do anymore. I was devastated, truly believing that I was going to spend the rest of my life in this godforsaken place. For the first time since I got here I felt really alone and I was scared that I might never get to see any of my friends and family again. Mark would probably not give me another chance like that again, in fact I doubted that he would ever return.

A tear fell from my eye. I hadn't even noticed that tears had started to form in my eyes and I didn't do anything to stop them. The physical pain that I've been through was nothing compared to the ache in my heart caused by the endless longing for my loved ones and my freedom…

Just as I had predicted I hadn't seen or heard anything from the outside world the entire day. It was getting darker outside and I was already lying in bed, trying to get some sleep. My stomach was killing me and I tried to find a more comfortable position as I constantly tossed and turned under the blanket. I was just about to finally head off to sleep when the sound of someone approaching my cell reached my ears. Not making the same mistake again, I stayed in bed, waiting for anything to happen. I listened carefully, holding my breath as I kept an eye on the door. It didn't take too long until the hatch in the door opened and two buns were thrown in. They landed on the floor just before the hatch was closed shut again. Not daring to make a sound, I waited in bed a little longer than necessary until I was positive that the person (who I'm pretty sure was Mark) had left.

I then threw the blanket of, shivering slightly as the cold air embraced me. I made my way over to the pieces of bread. Normally I wouldn't eat anything that's been rolling around on the floor, but not having eaten in days made the buns look absolutely delicious. I grabbed one of them and brought it to my mouth, but just before I took the first bite I hesitated. What if this was some kind of trick? What if they were poisoned or something like that? I studied the bun I held in my hand, not sure if I should eat it or not. But my growling stomach made me make up my mind. When I come to think of it there was no reason why Mark would poison me. He was more likely to keep me alive so that he could do to me whatever it was he had planed… I didn't know what he had in store for me and I'm not sure that I would want to know either, although I was pretty sure that it would be something that I wasn't going to like and I would have to prevent it from happening. And to be able to do that I had to be strong, which meant that I would need to eat...

I quickly finished my meal and I must say I'd never tasted so heavenly delicious buns before. Not that they were anything special, I was just so hungry that no matter what I would be given it would all taste good.

Satisfied I returned to the bed and curled up under the blanket, resting my slightly aching head on the pillow. Even though I felt a little nauseous from filling my empty stomach too fast, I hadn't felt this good in what seemed like ages.

Maybe I was going to survive this and get back to my friends and family after all. The hope that had just sprung to life made me feel a lot better and I fell asleep with a smile on my face, thinking that I would wake up stronger and I was bound to find a way out in the morning. Little did I know that tomorrow would come to be the worst day of my life…

That was it...

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review. See y'all:)

/MJ