9 (part 1)

When Sonya finally began to come to her senses, she found herself lying on one of the hardest and most uncomfortable surfaces she had ever been on. Groaning while trying to fight off one of the worst headaches she’d ever had, Sonya slowly pushed herself upright. Pain shot through her, and she ignored it as best as she could as she repositioned herself. Leaning back against the wall, she struggled to get her thoughts together.

What the hell happened?

Her memory came to her in bits and pieces. She remembered sitting in her father’s house wondering about his safety. After that, there was a vague memory of some man knocking at her door, an old hand-drawn map, and a dark forest.

Sonya moaned and raised her hand to her forehead… at least that was what she tried to do. The pain that slammed into her was enough to rip a scream from her. She dropped her arm back into her lap. Huffing as sweat beads formed between her brows, Sonya cursed herself and her stupidity. She had foolishly rushed off and ended up locked in some dark and dirty dungeon. There was no doubt in her mind that she had been put there to keep her screams and pleas for help away from anyone that might hear.

How far underground the cell was she wasn’t sure, but it had to be more than six feet given the dampness of the air and the fact that she could hear nothing other than her breathing.

Quickly, her eyes darted around the cell, searching for her cell phone. There was no telling how long she had been left down here. There was no sun, no light other than the soft glow of a torch outside the cell. Again, she cursed herself. There was no way her captors would let her keep her phone. They couldn’t chance her getting a signal and calling for help. If her body didn’t feel as if it were being set on fire, she would have been more upset. However, in that moment, she wished for a reprieve from her pain.

Daddy… please be okay. She thought as fresh tears began to run down her cheek. If anything happened to him, all her efforts would have been for nothing.

In the midst of her thoughts, she suddenly felt water flowing down her forehead. Reaching up with her good arm, but still wincing in pain, Sonya wiped the water from her forehead. When she felt warmth instead of cold water, she frowned and brought her hand to her face.

Guess that explains why I feel like my skull was split in half. Sonya thought darkly to herself as she looked at her blood-coated fingers. A busted arm, a bleeding scalp, and no phone. She was sure things couldn’t get much worse.

Her stomach growled.

She took that back, things had gotten worse. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate and neither could her body, given the hunger pains that began to grip her.

Truly, just how long has she been in this dungeon?

Whatever, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was how she was going to get out of her cell. With her eyes fully adjusting to the darkness, Sonya took the time to look around the room. The first thing that caught her attention, besides the long claw marks that ran along all four sides of the cell, was the dried blood that covered the walls. Clearly, whatever had been in this room before her had not been happy.

She understood their feelings.

While she looked at the claw marks, she couldn’t help but wonder what could have made those deep cravings into walls made of stone. Suddenly the image of some dark beast as he held her father’s limp body in the air, dangling like some rag doll, came into her mind. Instantly, everything came rushing back, and she struggled to keep a tight rein on her fear and anger, which was slowly mixing into a dangerous combination. The last thing she needed was to do something reckless and injure herself further.

I have to get out of here.

A statement of the obvious but a truth nonetheless. With her battered body protesting any type of movement, Sonya used the walls of the dungeon as a crutch. Slowly making her way to her feet and around the cell, she was careful not to stumble over anything lying on the ground. Matter of fact, she didn’t want to think about what she might have been stepping over; she was just glad she hadn’t been stripped of her clothing and boots. If she had to walk around naked and barefoot, she might have killed herself just to get away from the humiliation.

“Thank God for small favors,” Sonya muttered while she pretended not to notice the heavy metal chains in the center of the floor. She said another prayer of thanks for the fact that she hadn’t been chained as she neared the iron door of the dungeon. Pressing her hand against the cool metal of the dungeon door, she steadied herself as another wave of pain shot through her.

Sonya gritted her teeth and tried to deal with the pain. She took several deep breaths before she reached for the door handle. Using what little strength she had, Sonya pushed on the door. When it didn’t budge, she let out a defeated sigh. Slowly the realization of her situation sunk into her head. Sudden tears burned the back of her eyes as the thought of never seeing her loved ones again consumed her.

Daddy…

She thought about him, about the sorrow and pain he would feel, the guilt he would put himself through for her imprisonment, and she came undone. Sobbing, she could no longer fight her fear or exhaustion. Her legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed to the ground. She tried to put her hands out to stop her fall. A dumb move she quickly paid for as her injured arm folded under her, and she busted her head against the ground. For a second, she blacked out as pain exploded inside her skull. Curling herself into a tight ball, painful sobs rocked her again, and she could do nothing but wallow in her sorrow.

Sonya wasn’t entirely sure how long she stayed like that, and after a while, it didn’t matter. As cold numbness crept over her, she resigned herself to the fact she was going to die in her cell, alone, cold, and yearning for home.

Truly, what was the point of taking her prisoner if all they were going to do was leave her alone to become the next human popsicle? The monster could have just killed her once he had her. Why make her suffer? Just what had her father done for her to deserve this? Or maybe this had nothing to do with her father. Maybe it was just her luck that her life ended up like this. From the moment she went through puberty, nothing seemed to go right for her. Between her sisters’ constant harassment and bullying and her jobs, where her bosses constantly hit and made passes at her, she had no peace of mind. Back then, all she had wanted was to get through her day peacefully and come home and lose herself in a good book. Then there was her ex; when she was with him, her world had felt right…

Groaning, Sonya pushed thoughts of her ex-husband out of her head. The last person she wanted to think about in her final hours was him. Rather, she turned her thoughts to her dream man. Him, she wanted to see. For one last time, she wanted to hear his voice and feel the touch of his hands against her skin.

“Beauty.”

She groaned again, would have laughed if she could but her throat had gone dry. In her last moments, delirium was finally setting in, and she swore she could feel his presence near her.

“Beauty, can you hear me?”

This time she felt the warmth of his breath across her face. Lifting her heavy lids, she found concerned green eyes focused on her. She gave him a small smile. Mustering up what little strength she had left, she said, “I thought… I thought I would never see you again.” Straining herself, she winced as her voice scratched her sore throat.

“Shh.” He silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips. A single tear fell from her face. “It’s going to be all right.” He caressed the side of her face.

Sighing, her eyes fluttered closed as she enjoyed the warm and rough feel of his hand. It had been a long time since a man had touched her so softly.

“I’ll keep you company for a while.” Had she been paying attention to the change in his voice, she would have heard the hint of remorse in his tone. If her eyes were open, she would have seen the regret swirling in that forest green stare.

“That would be nice,” she mumbled while opening her eyes and bringing her gaze to his.

“Whatever you want.” He smiled at her. Despite her pain, her heart fluttered in her chest.

“That’s lovely,” she muttered as her lids closed. Content that she could at least slip into a peaceful death since she had seen him one more time, Sonya sighed and relaxed her body.

“Hey,” he called to her, panic in his tone as he continued to stroke the side of her face. “Beauty.” His tone became more panicked, and he gave her a rough shake.

Barely opening her eyes, she muttered, “Uhhmm.”

“Stay with me.”

She felt him press his forehead against hers.

He muttered into her ear. “Stay with me… I need you.”

In the background, as her mind receded into the darkness, she heard an almost painful howl. Long and chilling, she couldn’t help but find it an oddly fitting background music to the end of her life.