End Point

Chapter 9

"Ellis wake up!"

Ellis jerked awake to Adam's voice. She tried to move but couldn't and started to panic, but she could still hear Adam speaking and she forced the panic down. If he was here, then she would be fine. She might be telling herself that, still she knew that something had gone horribly wrong.

Ellis opened her bleary eyes, and Adam was standing at some distance from her. He looked taller than usual. She blinked several times, and then let out a cry. Adam was hanging by his wrists, his feet at least a foot off the floor and tied together by more rope. His jacket was gone, and she could see the deep red of his blood staining the blue cuffs of his shirt from where the ropes had sliced through his skin.

"Adam! Oh my God! I'll..." Ellis tried to rush to him only to realize that her hands and feet were bound to the steel chair she had woken up in. She could not even move the chair since it was bolted to the floor.

"It's fine baby. Just take deep breaths." Adam said gently, his face showing none of the pain he must be feeling.

Ellis looked at him with eyes filled with tears, and he knew that all those tears were for him. He gave her a wry grin, but before he could say anything, they heard the sound of boots coming closer. Adam's eyes met hers, trying to communicate everything he could not with words at that moment.

Adam counted four masked men in his line of vision and he was sure that at least two more were behind him. He could see Ellis's fear escalating and he concentrated on her. She met his eyes, and tried to match her breathing with his. She was barely stopping herself from hyperventilating.

"I told you the man would prove to be useful. Already he is keeping his woman from being hysterical." One of the men said casually in a heavily accented voice. Adam felt himself stiffen. He was sure the accent was South American, but he could not identify it beyond that.

"Now that you have calmed down some, I need you to concentrate little girl." The same man drawled, coming to stand in front of Ellis.

Ellis nodded.

"Good. We are going to make a video in which you will convince your uncle to give us a weapon that he has made. Will you do that?" he asked calmly.

Ellis nodded again.

"Perfect. Now, your uncle is pretty stubborn, so you'll have to be real convincing or he won't get it, yes? For that, you have to be convinced real well, yes?" the man said rationally, logically.

Ellis nodded, but she could feel dread coiling in the pit of her stomach.

He stepped aside, and Ellis saw that while he had been blocking her view of Adam, another man had stepped close to him. He held a long leather whip in his hand. Ellis had seen such a whip only once before in her life. She knew how it felt when it connected with the flesh on one's body.

"No please, don't. Please, I beg of you. I'll convince Uncle. Just don't hurt Adam." Ellis pleaded.

Ellis begged, she pleaded, she said anything she could think of, just to get them to stop, but they didn't. Adam did not make a single sound, even as the blood dripped down his body., soaking his jeans. His face was pale, and his lips set in a grimace, but he gave no other reaction. His back was away from Ellis after all, and if he could monitor his reactions, maybe, just maybe, he could fool her into thinking that it was not as bad as she thought.