This Can't Be Love

Chapter 17: Cliffhanger

Samantha is on her knees with the heels of her bare feet serving as the closest thing to a seat she has rested upon in days. Her pants are slightly wet at the bottom where they meet the shackles that chain her to the wall. Her hands are also locked into long chains that extend into the higher end of the same wall. The T-shirt she wears has become loosened with dry sweat. With her head lowered she looks straight forward with a deadpan glaze over her pale face. Her hair, although as dry as her lips, looks dead and thick, just draping along the frame of her face.

Cliff is chained in the same way she is, but he is sitting with his back against the wall, shaking and sweating.

"Why is it so cold in here... Am I dying? Is this what it feels like to starve to death? I'm so hungry..."

Samantha does not even bother looking at Cliff. Her facial expression does not change and her lips barely move when she begins to speak.

"Cliff, you're not dying. If you're hungry there's a burger in this bag here."

Cliff slowly slides his body closer to the white paperbag Samantha is referring to. The bag itself is much closer to Samantha than it is to him and he can not reach it. He extends his arm as far as the chain allows it to go but the tip of his fingers do not reach anywhere near the bag.

"I can't get to it."

Samantha's eyes look to her side without the rest of her face moving. She spots the white paper bag and then shifts her eyes higher toward Cliff.

"It's a couple of days old."

"I don't wanna starve, I'll eat anything."

Samantha takes a deep breath and closes her eyes to exhale. She then reaches to her side and grabs the bag while still facing a different direction. She tosses the bag toward Cliff and it meets his chest before hitting the floor. A mess of stale french fries fall out of the bag and Cliff nervously begins to eat them by bringing his face down to ground level and using his fingers to scoop them into his mouth.

As Cliff picks away at the white paper bag in front of him, Samantha hears footsteps approaching the room they're in, followed by Aaron's voice.

"Sorry about last night. Took me longer than I thought..."

Aaron walks in to the room now, sharply dressed with a black suit and purple tie. His hair neatly brushed and trimmed as it hadn't been in a while, and his face cleanly shaven. In his hand, he holds a baker's box.

"I brought you brakfast, Sam... Hey..."

Aaron looks at Cliff with slight confusion.

"What's he squirreling over...?"

Samantha keeps her mouth shut but allows her icy stare to trace Aaron's every step. Aaron walks over to Cliff and crouches down beside him. Aaron gets a good look and realizes what Cliff is eating.

"Clifford, you... took Sam's food?"

Samantha does not allow any part of her body to move when her now monotone voice addresses Aaron.

"No, Aaron. He didn't. I wasn't going to eat that and he happened to be hungry. He looked like he was having some sort of attack, so I gave it to him."

Aaron looks at Samantha over his shoulders and then back at Cliff.

"He's only been here for like sixteen hours though... Me and him grabbed something to eat less than twenty-four hours ago. How could he be this hungry already?"

"I don't know. Being held hostage can have strange effects on the human appetite."

Aaron stands up and walks closer to Samantha. He then crouches before her just as he was in front of Cliff. He hands her the box he carries but she doesn't even look at it. Samantha is staring straight forward almost as if looking at the air that's between her and Aaron. Aaron insists on trying to get her to take it.