Within His Reach

Chapter 4

WARNING: This chapter may be triggering to some readers due to somewhat 'gruesome' content, though it is mild compared to what's coming. By skipping this chapter you will not miss out a great deal of plot, just perhaps miss a reference here and there later on. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. 

BRIAR POV

I had not seen Theo since what he had done that god awful day. When I woke up from Theo's brutal hit it was Jona who was there and broke the news to me that I was going to be a bride once I turned eighteen. I still remember how mortified I was. How else was one expected to react to being told something like that? I was hardly going to smile and take it with acceptance or appreciation. Instead I fought back.

I had been move out of the basement and taken to another room. It wasn't far better though. Still cold and empty apart from an attached cubicle and mattress that sat on the concrete ground. However I did have one gift, a small and dim bulb that hung from the ceiling. After my years in darkness, even that was something I'd learnt to be grateful for. Light. Simple as it sounded, that light was the very thing that I held responsible for keeping me sane. Without I would have surely gone mad- left alone with nothing but the sinful darkness that drowned me.

However still, in my days I'd do whatever I possibly could to wreak havoc. Unfortunately, that wasn't a lot. I tried ripping up my 'bed' since I knew that there was probably a camera in here somewhere. I suppose that I was trying to gain someone's attention. But of course that didn't work. In fact it probably made my stay even worse, since now I didn't even have the comfort of the mattress when I slept.

I eventually figured out that the most effective way to successfully defy Theo would be to stop eating, since he was trying to nurse me back to health. I was frequently bought meals. I'd drink the water, since dying from dehydration did not sound like fun or a win to me, but leave the majority of the food. I had lived off of the bare minimum for six years, I could last a while longer. So every five meals I would eat just a small amount to keep me alive. My aim wasn't to starve myself to death but grasp Theo's attention and perhaps even bribe my way to some better treatment.

Although it didn't take long for them to catch onto what I was doing. Guards started coming in and giving me nutrient shots since I was refusing to eat the food that was being served to me. Of course it was only a short matter of time until Theo got involved and once he did I wished that I'd just been good in the first place.

The door of the room opened, a man walking in and holding a mobile out to me. With the little energy that I had I cautiously moved towards him, taking the device. My hands shook as I took the phone from the guard's hand, bringing it up to my ear as slowly as I could, as if to delay my fate.

"My sweet Briar..."

My breathing instantly hitched, catching itself in my throat. I felt paralyzed, although my body couldn't stop shaking as if I was wearing nothing but a swimsuit in the middle of a snow storm. Only the difference was that I was shaking from fear, not the cold.

"Do you know how long you've been in that room?"

"No...."

My voice came out extremely timid, doing me no favors to help hide how scared I truly was.

"Nine days, to be precise."

I knew that it had been a while, so I was not particularly shocked by what Theo had just said. Still, nine days was an awfully long time to go without a decent amount of food.

"Do you know what happens to a dead body after nine days, Briar?"

I shook my head and then once I realized that he could not actually see me, responded with a meek no. Who did he think I was to know such a gruesome fact?