Her own way

Chapter 15

Days passed, Kate had lost count how many but she knew she had been in this one place for over a week now. Each day she endured the same routine: wake, eat and sleep, with the occasional toilet trip. Not that she was given much to eat, nor somewhere comfortable to sleep. All she knew was that she was in a tiny cell with some straw on the ground that her kidnappers called a 'bed'. Her wrists were kept tied by a rope that was connected through a metal ring high up on the wall, just to emphasise the point that she was a prisoner. There was a tiny open window on one wall, allowing fresh air to come in and bring with it smells that Kate did not reconise from home.

Home and her family were often in her thoughts. Not a day went by without Kate thinking of her family and asking the question: what happened to them? Several of her kidnappers took great pleasure in taunting her with the idea that her family was dead. Just hearing that filled Kate with such a feeling of guilt and grief. She never wanted anything to happen to them, and try as she might, doubts were starting to creep in about if they were alive or dead.

Being kept on her own bored Kate. She was tired and scared, but restlessness was creeping up causing her to argue with the kidnappers until she was either gagged or hit to keep her quiet. All of this had taken it's toll and she was beginning to wear down, to keep quiet around her captors. But inside, all Kate longed for was the freedom of the forest, the ability to disappear amongst the trees and only having to worry about getting home in time for dinner. The last time she had been indoors for a long time was when James died, but that was by choice - this wasn't. Each day after her breakfast of stale bread and cheese was finished, she would make a vain attempt to gree herself and try as she might, the ropes were always tied just that bit too tightly. After failing this, she would often feel around on the ground with her hands and feet in hopes there might be a sharp object that she could use to cut the rope. As ususal there was nothing, leaving Kate to slump against the wall ffeeling rather frustrated and miserable that once more, she had failed to get out of the rope. On this particular day, after Kate had finished this little ritual, one of the men came to her cell on a random check. It wasn't the first time that someone had appeared to check on her, but this was the earliest someone had come around.

Kate stayed where she was, leaning against the wall and kept her head down in hopes that the man would leave quickly after looking in just like the others do. No such luck today. She heard the rapping of feet just outside the cell door and peeked through her ratty hair. The man seemed to be staring at her with a puzzled look on his face as if to say 'is there something wrong with her? Should I check?''. Kate, despite her exhaustion was amused by this but held back her laughter which only made her shoulders shake.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, his voice was gruff but Kate could here a hint of concern running in it. Clearly he thought that she must be ill or something because she was shaking so much keeping the now slightly hysterical feeling down. She kept her head down and made some small movements from side to side, hoping that the man would either come in and check on her properly or just leave. If he came in, she might be able to knock him out if she was lucky, but it could also go terribly wrong. After a moment of silence, Kate heard the jangle of keys and the sound of metal scraping against metal as the man unlocked the door. Her face twisted at the screechy noise and her head automatically turned away from it.

Looking at the girl, he made his way closer to where she was crouched against the wall. His footsteps were loud on the stone floor and with every step he made, the girl seemed to push herself further against the wall until she could move no further. He stopped a short distance away from her, close enough to touch her but not close enough to terrify her, he thought. The man nudged her leg with his foot, once again asking if she was okay. Kate didn't answer again and the man swore under his breath. It was one thing for the girl to be sick and still fighting them, but it was a completely different situation if she was not able to answer at all. He crouched down so that he was eye level with her and hesitantly reached out to give her shoulder a push. Again she gave no response which really worried the man.