Chapter Five

What's going on... Why am I here... Why do they want me... I just lay there, staring at the wall, drooling onto the rope in my mouth. My jaw ached and my wrists were bleeding from the rope around them. My gaze fell on the chains again and I shivered in fright of what the men could do to me with me against them.

Suddenly, I got an idea. I remembered that one end was snapped. I sat up, standing and limping to them. I turned around, bending down a bit to cut the rope off my wrists. I cracked my fingers and stretched a bit, feeling my shoulders pop. I looked up and my eyes widened, noticing the window above the chains. I could escape. I had a chance! I could live! I grabbed the chains quickly, gasping at the sudden shock from something stabbing into my hand. I groaned and backed up, my leg braces not allowing my knees to bend, so I fell back hard. I grimaced and looked at my left hand, noticing a deep gash along the palm. I clenched my fist, shaking my head and beginning to climb up the chains once more. My hands were sticky with sweat and blood, and pain racked through my nerves every other second as I grasped each different clamp. But I ignored the pain; I needed to escape.

I finally reached the small window, putting my bloodied hands on the frame and taking a deep intake of the fresh air through my nose. The window was small, but it was wide enough for me to fit through, hopefully. I might as well try, no point in just staying here to die... I pulled myself up, getting my torso out of the window. But suddenly, firm hands grabbed my hips and I gasped, getting yanked back and thrown to the floor. I slammed into the opposite wall, whining against the gag. My vision blurred for a while, but once it came back, I stared up at the man towering above me. He reminded me of one of the scary Russian guys from school, who always had an innocent smile yet an evil aura around him. Yet they differed in appearance much. This man had dark brown hair with a faint hint of red, his skin pale like Ivan's. He had on a long sleeved, black turtle neck with grey pants, blood splattered across one pant leg, his red eyes piercing down at me with annoyance. He spoke with a thick Russian accent.

"Bad idea. You just cause this little problem to get worse for you, nice job." He grabbed my hair, knotting his fingers in the locks and yanking me up, making me scream in agony against the cloth around my mouth. Warm blood dripped down my chin as my skin was rubbed raw and tears streamed down, mixing with the blood. I grabbed at his wrist, digging my nails in and pulling back, wanting to scratch him up. It didn't really work; he just hissed and tossed me to the ground, slamming his foot down on my chest. I felt something crack, and I began to panic, finally noticing it was just my leg braces that he was stepping on with his other foot. Doesn't mean it didn't make me hurt and scream any less.

"You will learn your lesson." He snarled, kicking me to the other wall under the chains. The pain was just beginning to settle in, and I screamed loudly against the rope as he grabbed my blood covered shoulder. He pulled me up, holding me firm and crashing me into the wall. The mixed substance of my blood and tears dripped down my neck and onto my shirt, causing it to stick a bit to my skin. The man took out a metal pipe from no where and let me fall to the floor in a crumpled ball. My leg braces had cracked, and were cutting my skin. Blood spotted here and there on the plastic, making my brain seem to numb. But suddenly, something cold and metal slammed into the side of my face, making me fall to the side, limp like a rag-doll. The pain was insane, and made me want to twitch and hold a pillow close to me. But this man didn't want me to feel safe, he wanted me to have false hope, and I knew it. He reached down, cupping my face softly, "Look at me..." I didn't want to, I wanted to stay away from him. He was scaring me so much, but I knew I needed to do what he wanted... He growled and gripped my jaw, turning me to face him, "Look at me!" I stared into his eyes, tears streaming non-stop now. He grimaced as I felt something warm and sticky drip down my face. It smelled of iron and rust, making my head spin. He shoved me off, standing up and taking the blood splattered pipe, lifting my face up with it and staring at me. I then took it and slammed it into my chest, making my double over in pain, holding my stomach. I had given up; I couldn't take it. He could do whatever he wanted, I had nothing left to care about. I cried onto the hay, shaking my head and sniffling.

But something made me cry harder. He hadn't shown up... Antonio... His sweet, caring voice... I would never hear again. His caring, gentle touch... I would never feel. His holding, loving eyes... Never to gaze into mine again. I gripped some of the hay, staring up at the man. He didn't seem to have any caring for my pain, no care that I was empty inside. But he then mumbled something to me in a bland voice.

"You get break. But lesson will be back later." He turned and walked away out up the steps. He left me alone to cry, screaming against the gag. The pain was overtaking, and I suddenly felt sleepy. But I knew what it meant. I shouldn't give in, but I feel so sleepy... I might as well... rest for a while...

Pain.

It was unbearable. I awoke to me laying on my back, staring up at the cracked ceiling. I could feel my head on someone's knees, and I leaned my head back very slowly to stare at a familiar man. It was the first man I had seen, the one that was in my house. He was wearing a short sleeved light blue shirt with blood dotted here and there, as well as orange shorts. He was rubbing a cloth on the side of my face, humming quietly. I moved my jaw, shocked that the gag was gone now. I groaned, wanting to sit up. The man's eyes opened and the icy blue orbs focused on me, a smile forming as he helped me sit up. He turned me and smiled warmly, purring quietly.

"Are you okay? It feels like I sat there for an eternity just rubbing that dirty cloth on your cuts! Stupid Luiciano didn't give me a fully clean one, so I sadly had to clean it myself as best as I could..." I backed up a bit, feeling scared of him, but I also felt like I shouldn't. He was the only one who didn't seem to want to hurt me that much. He was so sweet and caring as it acted, ruffling my hair gently, "Aw you are a precious little cupcake~ I'm Oliver, pleased to meet you!" I stared at him, gulping and taking the cloth, holding it to my temple.

"... Nice to meet you..." My voice was raspy and quiet from being parched, and I rubbed my throat with my free hand. It felt horrible; I was so thirsty. "I'm... Melissa... Can you get me any water?" I asked, wincing a bit at the pain that surged through me with ever small movement. He furrowed his brow and leaned to me, rubbing my arm.

"I'll see if I can, please stay still. You'll only hurt more if you move." He beamed and stood, walking out of the room. I felt a little happier that someone wasn't beating me or calling me horrible names of anything like that. He seemed like Arthur, just Oliver was a tad nicer to me. I sighed and felt a pang of sadness shoot through my heart as I thought of something I had read not long ago...

Letting go of someone dear to you is hard, but holding on to someone who doesn't even feel the same is much harder. Giving up doesn't mean you are weak.. It only means that you are strong enough to let go...

I couldn't help but starting crying harder as I remembered more and more things, gripping my hands on the hay by my legs.

It's tough, but I'll get used to it. Hope you're doing fine too.

I could fill a thousand pages, telling you how I feel, and still you wouldn't understand. So now I leave without a sound, except my heart shattering on the ground.

Trying to forget someone you love, is like trying to remember someone you never knew.

It's funny how someone can break your heart, but you can still love them with all the tiny pieces. The last one made big tears start to fall, dripping onto my skin. I couldn't even hold in all of my cries of sadness. It was so true to me. Did Antonio not care anymore? He was so... so insensitive at times! Did he seriously care? He might have sounded sincere all those times, but he could have lied!

It's funny how someone can break your heart, but you can still love them with all the tiny pieces. I couldn't help but cry harder. The reason I did, was because I loved him. Yes, I loved him so much, and he didn't even know it! He loved that Italian person, I don't even know who! But I couldn't help but love him. He was so kind and sweet, and so stupid at times! I craved to see him again, I couldn't just let him slip away from me... At that moment, Oliver walked back in.

"I got your water- Melissa? Are you okay?" He gasped, heading over to my and bending down, rubbing my eyes with a tissue. "I... I got you some water. Please stop crying, it hurts me dearly to see you cry... Heh, reminds me of Al whenever he would come home from school and tell me he got hurt. Cried like a little baby, he did..." I laughed a little roughly, looking at my hands. He smiled sadly and coiffed my hair with a pink comb, smiling and holding out a water bottle.

"You know, you look... rather familiar. I have a cousin that I rarely see, and we rarely talk. She looks like you, just... she's a little more dark and gothic... You seem light and happy. I like you more than her, Melissa. Her name is Allison." I tilted my head, "Does that make us related? It seems like everyone here in another version of everyone I know in my life... That Diego guy... He reminds me of someone I really cared about..." I sighed and drank some of the water, feeling a little relieved as it dripped down my scratchy throat. "Ah, much better... Thanks."

"You are very welcome..." He pulled my into a very gentle hug and I closed my eyes, slowly hugging him back. The door flung open and we froze, I opened my eyes to stare at the man there. Luiciano and that Russian man was there, Luiciano glaring.

"Oliver! You traitor!"He screamed and pointed at us, glaring at the Russian, "Nikolai! Get him away from her and let Diego take care of him, I'll get her on the chains!" The Russian, Nikolai, tore him away from me and out of my arms, dragging him off as he screamed for me. I reached forward to him, but a foot slammed up into my jaw and made me fall back, coughing up blood. The water bottle feel out of my hand and I lay there, twitching and staring wide-eyed. Luiciano kicked the bottle, making the liquid spill out and dampen the floor. He stepped on my legs, making me shriek as his fist hit my stomach. He glared down at me and whispered menacingly, "Nikolai went easy on you... But I promise you..."

I stared up at him, tears streaming down my face now as he finished.

"I will have no mercy."

~Hi it's me again. Um... I don't know if I'm gonna put as much blood in the next chapter as I did in this one. I mean like, really. I feel horrible beating up my own character. But we all do it some times, right? RIGHT?! D: I feel bad, so I might just die down on the torture. I might not show the part where Luiciano hurts Andorra. So hai, hope you enjoy the rest of this story! Please review.