Captured and Bound

      Her eyes flutter open and she slowly regains consciousness. She lifts her head and her eyes immediately follow the single ray of light that falls into the room, she looks towards the window and realizes she is underground. Her thoughts are sluggish and she feels sick, her first instinct is to get up and run, but as she tries to move she finds that she is bound to her seat. There are chains on her feet and her hands are tied to the arms of the chair, she pushes herself forward to find even her waist is locked down to the chair by a tight leather cloth. The stress she applies to get out of the chair is too much for her and she has to stop lest she becomes unconscious once again. She takes a long deep breath only to find that the air makes her lungs burn and she coughs up a combination of blood and bile. She feels like screaming, kicking and crying but she knows she must remain calm.

      She decides she has to take in her surrounds and try not to fight. She looks back at the window and watches the solitary ray of light quickly disappear. Suddenly the room is pitch black, a black that is blacker than black. It’s as if the air around her is opaque, not a single bit of the sunlight has been absorbed by the room. She closes her eyes and finds that the darkness she feels with them closed is more comfortable. She concentrates all her strength to her ears and listens hard. Somewhere in the room she hears a muted trickling of water, and even the scuttling of insects, which further confirms her thoughts of being underground. She focuses more on her ears but unfortunately that is all she can seem to make out. Once again her head becomes dizzy and she stops herself from overstraining. Now that her adrenaline has dimmed down she starts feeling pain in various places, her arms throb and she thinks her ankle may be twisted. Even though her back is pressed against the chair she feels a sharp sting across it. The pain makes it harder for her to think straight but she needs to keep her mind agile. Next she puts her nose to the test, the sharp stench of human feces enters her nose and she can only conclude that she has made a mess, considering the state she is in she doesn’t even feel disgusted with herself, in fact she is relieved that her body still works normally. Despite the smells of human waste she catches a whiff of mildew, and knows for certain there is water close by. Her tongue is dry and her mouth tastes vile due to the blood, if only there was a way she could get to the water. She knows by thinking of it her dehydration will only get worse. She thinks of a nice cool glass of cranberry juice to get her salivating, and as soon as she builds up the slightest amount of saliva she swallows, bringing a small amount of relief to her throat.

      The pain keeps building up and it reaches a point where she feels like she would rather die, but then she recalls her training. She brings up an image in her mind, a beautiful lush meadow. There is a stream running through the green grass and flowers scattered all around her. She just has to concentrate on this image and she will make it through. She knows there is no point in trying to escape, she has lost all her energy and must build it up before she can try anything. She forces her body to relax and concentrates on the serenity she has managed to conjure up in her head. She is lying on the grass as a butterfly comes and sits next to her. She walks to a tree and picks up a ripe apple lying at its base. As she pictures herself taking a huge chunk of the apple her mouth salivates once again, and she can almost taste the juicy red apple. She continues her mediation and slowly but surely the pain dulls down, she can feel herself rejuvenating. She keeps her eyes closed and slowly moves her fingers; she doesn’t want any sudden shocks of pain. Thanking her stars she finds all her fingers are intact and none have been broken or cut off, which she knows is common practice when it comes to torture. She imagines herself petting her little puppy back home which brings a slight smile to her cracked lips. That smile however has cost her, her lips start bleeding profusely and her mouth is once again filled with the taste of iron. She sticks out her tongue in hopes to capture any moisture that may be in the air, and she finds herself lucky when she retracts her tongue to find it isn’t dried up. Feeling hopeful, she slows down her breathing and tries to hold in as much oxygen in her lungs as she can. She must awaken all her brain cells if she wants to devise an escape plan.

      She stays in her little world for what may as well be an eternity; she thinks she has no concept of time. When it dawns on her, she has forgotten about the window, she glances over and notices the ray of light is back. But it couldn’t possibly be the sun, she would have seen moonlight if it was; unless of course it’s time for the new moon. She shakes her head, none of these thoughts matter right now. She sticks to the belief that a night has passed and decides she is going to keep count. One night, one long night has passed since she regained awareness. She stares at the window, trying to soak in all the light she can through her eyes. That little bit of light is all she has to hold on to right now, the only small wisp of hope that she will once again be able to bathe in the sunlight.