Blinded (A Sequel to "Sight")

Tied Up Again

Rose’s body was, once again, dragged into a basement. This one was slightly larger than the last, with different machine parts sitting all around. The cloaked figure quickly glanced around before closing the door behind them. 

    They retied her hands, then stuck her up against a wall. They set down their knife on a nearby table, then took off their own bauta to take a deep breath. The mask always made them feel suffocated.

    A groan could be heard from behind, and they quickly put the bauta back on, before turning to look at Rose.

    Rose stared at the person before her. She still couldn’t believe that they hadn’t killed her. At the last moment, they’d switched the knife around, instead hitting her in the head with the handle. Rose was thankful that this unknown person hadn’t killed her, but still wondered what they were hiding, and how Rose knew too much.

    “What do you want with me?” Rose asked, exhausted from being knocked out twice in one day.

    “Revenge,” they replied simply. “For what you did to me.”

    “But… what did I do?”

    All they did was laugh. “Obvious of you, being so naive.” They turned their back on Rose, and picked up the knife again. They took the end of their cloak and wiped off the blood-- Kenny’s blood.

    Rose still couldn’t believe that Kenny had taken her. Kenny seemed to be just a normal kid, with good intentions. But what could this new kidnapper have done to make Kenny take Rose? Rose watched them with terror.

    The knife was set down again, and the kidnapper turned back to Rose. They took a breath, about to say something, when someone dashed down the stairs and rammed into them. Rose gasped. It was Varian!

    Varian held the cloaked figure against the wall, and they struggled to get free. He reached to take off their hood, only for the unknown person to whack him in the ribs with their elbow. He lurched with pain, and fell back, dropping the cloaked figure to the ground.

    They tried reaching for the knife on the table, only for Varian to grab their wrist and pull them back. Rose suddenly heard a nibbling noise from behind. Daina was struggling to knaw the rope apart.

    Rose tried helping, by pulling the ropes as far apart as she could. She felt a pinch on her wrist, and knew that Daina had accidentally bitten her. But she didn’t care, as long as she could get free and help Varian.

    The fight continued on. Rose flinched as Varian was thrown against a wall. She could see a scrape on his arm-- small, but still bleeding. The cloaked figure reached for the knife once again, but Varian launched forward.

    The rope around Rose’s wrists became looser, and Rose could almost pull her hands out. Just a little bit further…

    With one last effort, Daina had finally managed to knaw the rope in half. Rose pulled her hands apart, and went to stand up, only to remember that her legs were still tied together. She fell back down. Gritting her teeth, she rearranged herself so that she could reach the rope tied around her ankles. Then, she got to work.

    Once the rope was untied, Rose threw it off to the side. There was clanging as a bauta was thrown to the ground. Rose stared at it for a moment before standing up. Her jaw dropped at the sight before her.

    The cloaked figure was now holding Varian by the neck, holding the knife above him. Varian struggled to get out of their grip.

    “Let him go!” Rose shouted. Her eyes started to water, but she blinked away the tears. “Please!”

    The figure’s arm twitched, as if they were going to drop the knife. But they stayed in their position.

    Rose took a step forward, but this resulted in the knife being moved closer to Varian’s neck. Rose stopped, freezing mid-step. She slowly put her foot down, and raised her hands.

    “I’ll do whatever you want, just please, let him go,” Rose pleaded.

    Suddenly, Varian reached up towards the cloaked figure’s hood, and brought it down. Rose gasped as she saw who it was.

    It was Rae.