He leaned into me. His hands pressed down on both sides of my face as the heat from his body enclosed me in his makeshift circle. I held my breath, stiffened every muscle in my body, and waited.
“I’m sure your arms are killing you by now. I’m going to remove the ropes. If you try to touch your blindfold, you’ll never be released again. Do you understand?”
I shook my head, released a breath of relief, and inhaled the sweet smell of mint on his breath as he leaned in closer to loosen up the rope. As he released each hand, my arms fell to the bed as if weighted down by cement.
Pulling off the blindfold wasn’t even a consideration. Between the numbness and the pain, I could barely lift my arms. His strong fingers began massaging the feeling back into my hands, but it also caused more pain from the pressure. I groaned and he softened his touch. One at a time, he rotated my wrists, wiggled my fingers, and then caressed my skin with gentle touches. My groans turned into moans of pleasure as life returned to my digits. His large rough hands wrapped around my wrist.
“Come with me.” His voice was gravelly, as though he hadn't spoken all day. With a gentle pressure on my wrist he pulled me up. My legs felt weak but I maintained my balance as he guided me through the room. The coarse carpet scratched the bare soles of my feet before it changed to cool tiles.
My mind automatically registered the flooring being that of a bathroom, and my bladder automatically reacted, making the urge to go stronger. He spun me and guided me a few steps back until I felt the cool brim of the toilet.
His hand lowered from my wrist to my hips. The second I felt him tugging my dress up I froze.“No... please. Can I at least do this on my own?”
His hand stilled but remained pressed against my hip. He considered it for a couple long minutes before he removed his hand and warned me.“Don't touch the blindfold.”
And I wouldn't. For some reason every time he was adamant about me keeping the blindfold on, I had more hope. I mean, you wouldn't care if someone saw your face if you planned on killing them. Right?
I knew he stepped away because the warmth he radiated disappeared with him. Quickly, I pulled down my underwear while trying to keep everything concealed by yanking on my dress for coverage.
I pretended he wasn't in the same room and imagined I was in the bathroom attached to my room at home. As my bladder let out an imaginary sigh of relief, I felt him pushing a wad of paper into my hand. I gritted my teeth as I wiped and pulled my underwear back up, knowing he'd probably seen at least a glimpse of what I’d been trying to hide, heated my face up.
He led me back out of the room. The moment I was settled back down on the bed, he pulled my arms down to my sides, and suddenly a cuff of some sort encircled my wrist.
“No… please don’t.”
He had to wrestle my other hand down to cuff it. I pulled on the cuffs and heard the clank of metal against metal from underneath the bed. He’d strapped me to the frame of the bed. Although this way was easier on my shoulders, and the cuff was looser than the ropes, it didn’t make me any less aggravated.
“I brought you something to eat. I’m going to feed it to you.”
“How long are you going to keep me here?” My voice was gravelly and it actually hurt to speak, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. He pushed a spoon against my lips, but I turned my face.
“How long?”
“Eat!”
“I want to go home.”
“Eat your dinner or starve.”
I shook my head like a child. “My dad’s going to kill you for this.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before.”
“You’ve done this before?”
The quiet that followed was almost an answer in itself. “This is your last chance to eat.”
“Answer a question and I’ll eat.”
His weight lifted off the bed as he stood. “Starve to death. Doesn’t matter to me either way.”
“I think it does matter to you.”
“Why do you think I’d give a fuck?” His irritation was clear in his tone.
“A dead hostage will get you nothing.”
“We’ll have what we need before it comes to that.”
“Who’s we?”
He stood there quietly. He’d said too much. I knew he wouldn’t give in easily, so when I heard the door click shut behind him, I wasn’t surprised. I was determined to find out as much as I could, even if it meant starving. My instincts told me he wouldn’t let that happen, but I was willing to take the chance anyway.
~*~*~
As the time passed, the days began to blur. Without the ability to see the sun rise and set, I had no idea how many days I’d been there. I slept sporadically, so I couldn’t use that as any indication. In order to keep track of time, I counted meals. Well… meals he tried to feed me. I figured he fed me two to three times a day, and if I kept track, I could make a rough estimate on how long I’d been there.