These High Walls

Chapter 4

I realize Niall put a blanket over my cage, right at the moment I hear more shuffling in the room. I can't make how many people entered the room but I'm guessing all the men who live here.

"Sorry for the blanket but it's for your safety", I hear Niall saying.

"We are going to give you a couple of rules to follow and a little explanation on what happened", Liam explains.

"Alright, I guess I shall do it then." begins Liam with a disappointed tone, "You must always listen to us and only us. You can never under any circumstance leave this room willingly, this also means that you don't try to escape. If Niall leaves this room, you immediately get into the cage and wrap yourself in the blankets. You make no noise; you can only talk when talked to by one of us. If either Harry or a stranger enters this room, you click the button that is situated inside one of the cushions, the same goes when you are bleeding. Lastly, you always eat everything we give you."

"Do you understand all these rules?" Zayn asks.

"Yes, I do"

"Alright press the button I talked about", Liam commands.

I start looking for the button, which isn't easy in the dark, but I eventually find it and press it. When nothing happens, I make a move to press it again, because maybe I didn't press it hard enough, but I am stopped by a voice I recognize as Harry's.

"Don't press it again, it's not because it doesn't affect you that it doesn't affect anyone!" Harry yells angrily.

I look with a confused look in the direction of the sudden voice even when I know they can't see me. I remember that they were going to tell me some stuff and I hope they didn't forget because suddenly it's quiet in the room. They can't let me just hang in the dark, they have to give me some explanation.

"As earlier said, we are going to give you some sort of explanation. We can't tell you everything because that wouldn't be safe for you. On the other hand, not telling you anything would be equally dangerous."

I am startled when I hear Harry's voice beginning to explain, out of all my kidnappers I didn't think Harry would be the one to explain. It somewhat makes sense though because it's kind of his fault there is explaining to do, to begin with.

"Alright, I shall begin then, this evening when I saw your blood, I lost my mind. We think it's because of some sort of mental illness. That's also the reason you moved upstairs in Niall's room, and why you must press that button when you start bleeding anywhere. We kidnapped you because those men were cannibalists. We were just walking by when we saw you. Niall decided to be the hero and save you, you should be grateful to him."

"Now you may ask any questions you have", I hear Liam's voice say.

I think back to all the questions I had listed before the meeting. Some were answered in the explanation, but there were still a few unanswered.

"Why didn't I feel Niall's heartbeat the first day I was here?"

It is silent for a couple of minutes after I asked my first question but then Liam answers it: "You probably had your hand on the wrong spot."

I absolutely don't believe that pathetic lie but I don't question it further because I'm afraid it will only anger them.

"What does the button do?"

This time it's Niall answering: "It makes a very high sound that apparently you can't hear."

"Why don't you guys eat?"

"We do eat", says Zayn in a harsh voice that tells me not to question it further.

I can hear by Zayn's tone that he wants this meeting to end so I ask my final question: "What day and how late is it?"

"It's November the nineteenth and it's ten forty-three p.m.."

Now I know the reason why I am so tired, normally I go to bed at ten p.m..

"I am kind of tired can we end this meeting?"

"Of course," says Liam, "if you ever have any more questions, you can ask one of us or you can ask for a new meeting. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say hoping they will go away now so that I can sleep peacefully.

I hear the door opening and three pairs of footsteps leave the room. Since this is Niall's room I figured I ought to sleep in the cage because I don't think he will let me sleep in the bed with him. I crawl deeper into the blanket and take a pillow in my arms to cuddle while I sleep.

I am however disturbed by sudden light thus I open my eyes again to look for the source of the light. What I see is not at all what I expected, I see... the moon that's shining down on me with a blanket of stars surrounding it. I open my eyes further and admire the beauty that shows itself before me.

I am so astonished that I don't hear the footsteps approaching me from behind. I am only awakened when I hear the voice of my captor.

"I figured you would like to look at the sky before you go to sleep, I hope you can find some peace in it."

I briskly turn my head. I completely forgot there was still someone in the room and not just anybody, my kidnapper for God's sake. Even though Harry said they saved me, I don't believe one word of it.

If they saved me why don't they just return me to my life instead of locking me in a cage in the middle of the woods?

They say I am not safe anymore, well guess what, nobody is ever actually safe. There is always a chance your house blows up. There is always a chance you get a weird sickness and die. There is always a chance. Always.

I get so lost in my anger that I don't realize Niall taking the blanket all the way off of my cage and giving me a book. When I feel something poking in my leg I snap out of my daze and look into the darkness of the room. Why is this room so dark? I look down at the items laying in my cage but since it's so dark I can't see what it is.

I hear Niall laughing from the other side of the room.

"We don't have electricity and we have only a couple of batteries left that we are going to use to make your food. You're going to have to learn the star constellations during the day if you want to distinguish them during the night. I also gave you a flashlight, but you can only use it for emergencies. Going to the bathroom at night is not an emergency."

While he is talking, I hear him coming closer to the cage until he is right in front of it. I put the flashlight and book in my pillowcase in which the button is situated.

"I am going to let you out of the cage, you won't run or talk, if you want to say anything you whisper. I guess you already know where the bathroom and closet are. You can pick something from the closet if you want and you can sleep wherever you like, except for the bed."

He opens the door of the cage and I wait a bit until he is further away to go to the bathroom. I automatically reach for a light switch before I realize there is none.

When I come back into the bedroom I look around, trying to find a comfortable place to sleep. I decide that sleeping on one of the bay windows is the best option I got, so I take my blankets and cushions and choose one of them.

The next morning, I am awoken by the sun that is shining down on me through the bay window. I look around the room to see if Niall is still sleeping but I don't see him anywhere.

Maybe this is my only chance at escaping?

I know it's not a good idea because if they catch me I don't know what they are going to do to me. On the other hand, I don't want to live in this room for the rest of my life. So, I decide to try it.

I silently walk to the closet and bathroom first to check if Niall is there, but he isn't. After that, I walk on my tiptoes to the door and listen for a second to hear if nobody's there. I don't hear anything so I lay my hand on the doorknob. I am about to turn it when I hear a voice come from behind the locked door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

I stand there for a second like a statue and then realize Niall caught me trying to escape.

Why did I do that?