Caged

Chapter 3

The lights went out and Cage made his way back to his sad little mattress. "Nothing. Again," he grumbled sadly. He had no idea how many days he'd been searching for the bricked-up door. It seemed an eternity. He dragged a hand over his face. He had moved the mattress slightly so he could sit on it and lean back against the wall while he ate the food that the madman provided.

Nothing told him why this psycho would be doing this to him. There didn't seem to be a purpose and from the way the bastard spoke to him, it didn't seem personal. Did he even know the man behind that eerie disembodied voice? The only purpose he could envision was that the bastard liked playing sick games and messing with people. Maybe this wasn't even the first time he'd done this. Who knew how many others had been here searching for a nonexistent way out? His thoughts wandered slightly as he sat there eating the bland food the voice provided.

He wondered what his family was like and if they were searching for him. Were they worried about him, crying and standing before cameras begging for his safe return? What about the girlfriend the voice mentioned, was she worried too? He chugged down the rest of the water in the paper cup, crushed it, and tossed it onto the tray. The voice didn't trust him with a glass and his only utensil was a plastic fork.

He laid down on the mattress with a sigh. "There's no point in pursuing questions that have no answers." He could certainly continue to chase those questions but as long as his memories remained absent he'd never catch the answers to them.

He stretched out on his back and stared up into the blackness above him. Why he did it, he wasn't certain. The shadows above taunted him as if they held the answer to his dilemma. Though the answer had yet to reveal itself if it was hiding there. He shut his eyes and allowed sleep to find him.

***

"Wake up, my dear boy. I've been kind enough to bring you a little gift. Think of it as a bit of motivation."

Cage rolled to his side with a groan and pushed himself upright. He blinked in the bright lights and looked around him. Everything inside of him went cold when he spotted a second mattress across the room and the form lying huddled on it.

"I know you don't recognize her and sadly she won't recognize you either. Given that, I shall fill you in." The voice went silent a moment. "You see, my boy, that is your dear, sweet girlfriend. Hmmm, what shall we call her? How about Shade? Do enjoy yourselves, well not too much, let's not forget that I always have my eyes on you." Laughter echoed through the room for a moment before it went silent.

Cage rose and went over to the curled form across the room of his formerly lonely prison. He crouched beside the girl and gently rolled her to her back. She was still unconscious, she must have been drugged. If it was the same as it had been for him, she'd have a hell of a headache when she woke. He studied her for a moment. Her hair was spread out around her, the deep brown was shot through with red highlights. She was probably around the same age as he was and according to the voice, she was his girlfriend.

He sank back on his butt and stared at her. "Perfect, so whoever I've managed to piss off decided to involve her." Had he pissed someone off or was this simply some random wacko that got his kicks by kidnapping people and taunting them with the promise of freedom? He buried his face in his hands with a groan. There were no answers to any of what was happening and that was the most frustrating part of this mess.

The girl released a groan and he peeked at her between his fingers.

She winced and rubbed at her eyes before she opened them. When she caught sight of him she frowned. "Um, hi."

"Hey."

"Who are you?" She looked around. "Where are we?"

"I have no clue where we are and I don't remember anything either. There's a voice that talks to me and he calls me Cage, he said to call you Shade." It probably wasn't a good idea to inform her that the voice claimed she was his girlfriend since neither of them remembered a damn thing. She had also just woke up in a room with no memory of who she was with some strange guy staring at her.