Nicki's Point Of View
My eyes opened, but it took a few seconds for them to adjust to the darkness that surrounded me. Even at midday, the light was dim, and I spent a majority of my waking hours in darkness, not knowing what time- or even what day- it was. At least the darkness meant I couldn't see myself, or the state that I knew I was in. Every inch of me felt sore, and I only moved when I needed to- unless he moved me, of course. I lay on the cold concrete floor, dreading when he would next come in to satisfy his sick little mind.
Right on cue, the door opened and almost as quickly slammed shut again, the key clicking in the lock. A pitiful flashlight shone into the dark basement, revealing it in all of its dingy glory, as heavy footsteps clomped down the stairs. I tensed as he came towards me, but instead of his usual routine, he aimed a kick at my side (which, luckily for him, hit the target) and walked past. I exhaled, relieved, that at least there was a delay before my unavoidable fate.
"You think you've gotten lucky, don't you?!" He said, laughing bitterly. "Oh, if only you knew. Something's happening today, but it's something very... special. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, shall we say."
I remained silent as he headed further into the basement, going beyond my line of sight.
"I'm lucky I've managed to find this place," He continued, beginning to do what sounded like drag things around. "It's in such a remote location... here, nobody will hear you scream."
As I heard these words, a stab of panic flared up inside me. He sounded so menacing, so relentless. As if he would stop at nothing to get revenge.
"I can only imagine what it'll be like once they find you." I could now hear the sound of liquid being poured. "It'll be all over the news, but I won't have to worry about that, because I'll be far, far away by then."
He laughed again, a harsh and unforgiving sound, so unlike a laugh should be. Then, I heard an extremely familiar sound, and the panic inside me grew. Ignoring the pain it caused, I turned to look towards him- and then I saw it. The unmistakable sight of a burning flame.
"You're insane." I hissed. "You can't do this!"
"Oh, can't I?" He mocked. "Well, watch me."
"You'll get caught!"
"Don't you think I've spent enough hours planning this? Of course I won't get caught. It's a nice, simple way to get rid of you once and for all."
"You... you..." I started, but the words wouldn't come. I couldn't even begin to express my anger and hatred towards this horrible, twisted man. He didn't even deserve to be called a man. He was a monster.
"Good night, Nicki. Sweet dreams." He said, and then the door closed behind him. The next second, a whole pile of wood burst into flames. A cold hand gripped my heart as I realised that I was trapped. He was going to leave me here to burn. I was going to die.
The acrid smell of smoke filled my lungs and I coughed, sitting upright and covering my mouth with my hand. I then decided that I had to try and get away from the fire, clinging onto the small shred of hope that there was some way I could escape. Ignoring the screams of agony from my muscles, I began to push myself backwards. It was an excruciatingly slow process, as even though I was ignoring the pain that surged through my entire body, I simply wasn't able to move very far. All the while, the fire raged on, as it hungrily engulfed more and more of the wood. The heat produced was enough to make my whole body feel as if it was burning even though the flames were still several metres away from me. I looked around desperately, my body shaking with sobs as I realised there was nothing I could do to save myself. My head was spinning and I was fast on the way to losing consciousness. I hoped that it would make death less painful.
Suddenly, there was a deafening bang. I was blown backwards, my body hitting something very hard with a lot of impact. Then, the world went black. I couldn't feel anything any more.