Finding Madeline

Chapter 20

Madeline:

"Maddie, look," the kidnapper sighed. "I don't know why you disobey me like this. Why would you try to escape from me? Is this some sort of rebellious act against me? I don't understand, I've raised you to be better than this! I know that being a teenager is when the hormones kick in and everything but you still need to learn how to behave yourself. My duty as your father is to make sure you stay safe okay? That's why you must be punished when you act out like this so that you learn. What do I need to do to make you love me? I give you food and water and I leave you alone most of the day except for our daily routine. The daily routine is to make sure you don't have the nerve to try and run away from me again. God knows what could happen to you out there! I don't want you escaping my grasp. Do you understand? Your grounded for a week for that stunt you pulled yesterday."

He scowled at me with angry eyes. Why did I try to escape? I thought to myself. I should've never tried getting out, of course it would be a set up. 

"W-what do you m-mean by grounded?" I asked through a whispery voice now lost from dehydration and screaming. 

"I mean that one beating isn't going to teach you enough of a lesson, baby. This needs to really sink in with you. I'm going to stay in the shack with you to monitor you. Twice instead of once a day we will have our daily routine. That's all. See, I still give you such good treatment when I have the capability to do much worse. All you do to thank me is disobey me! It needs to stop. Alright its getting late, we need to sleep."

He then tucked my hair behind my ear,  kissed my forehead, and played down beside me. I lay on my side facing away from him and flinched when I felt his arm snake its way around me. A tear began to roll down my cheek. I'd been here a month and a half now and I hadn't gone one day without breaking down into hysterical tears. I hadn't gotten much sleep because every time I closed my eyes all I could think about was the beatings and other torture this man put me through. I just wanted it to be over. My fingers found their way to Taylor's bracelet and I sighed. 

She made it out. She made it out. She made it out. I can too. I thought.

***

I watched the sky from my tiny hole all night and watched the sun rise. I didn't sleep a bit. I didn't move all night either so my limbs were stiff and sore. I took quick, short breaths out of fear that the movement of my stomach would awaken my kidnapper. I suddenly felt his arm move off of my body and I began to sigh a sigh of relief, but then I heard his voice and realized he was awake.

"Maddie, time to get up sweetheart!" He whispered in my ear. 

I sat up as fast as I could, which was still extremely slow due to my injuries from the torture. He grabbed my hand, laced his fingers in mine, and pulled me up. I was sure my bones were broken but I'd gotten so used to the pain of old injuries that only new ones hurt. I felt numb almost everyday, and although it seemed to be a good thing, I was getting scared that my body might be shutting down. I didn't want to die here, I'd changed my mindset since I found the bracelet. Yes, I wanted to die, but if I did I wouldn't want the last thing I saw to be this place. I braced myself for the daily routine and suffered through it once again. Everyday I was sure that any healing my bones had done was recked by the daily routine. At least thats what it felt like. Normally, after the routine I'm left alone in the shack until meal time. That would give me time to think, to cry, to sort my emotions out. Now, I was watched. Instead of leaving me alone, the kidnapper sat with me and tried to talk. It was extremely uncomfortable. He would sit far away from me and stare, or sit extremely close and try and talk to me. I tried to close my eyes and shut everything out but that made him upset and he threatened to add a third beating everyday instead of just two. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I thought about a whole week like this. I thought about another month in this place. I thought about a whole year. I know people had been kidnapped for use amounts of time like 18 years. What if I was the next person kidnapped for that long?