Into Darkness

Chapter 36

Ryler:

My eyes open slowly and I feel groggy. I forget where I am for a moment but then I see how I'm tied to a chair and my nightmare comes crashing back to me. I try to force myself to be more awake but I know with the drugs he gave me I won't be feeling awake for a while. Then I begin to wonder how did he drug me? I didn't drink the water. I don't get to think about it for long though because my thoughts become fuzzy as I feel my eyes grow heavy again. I use all my energy then on focusing to stay awake. It's hard though and I know I should be conserving my strength so I can fight my way out of here later but I needed to stay awake long enough so I can find out if he let Nikki go. I need to know that she's safe, that I didn't sacrifice my life so we could both die.

My eyes eventually close again though and who knows how long it is before they open again. I must be in a basement because it's cold and dark. There are no windows and there is only one door. One way in and one way out. That fact both comforted me and upset me. If there was more than one way out it would better my chances of escape but at least this way I would always be able to see him coming.

My hands are tied behind my back with what feels like zip ties and I curse mentally. I guess he learned from last time not to tie me up with rope since I was able to get out of them. I look down and my feet are tied to the chair as well instead of just being tied together. I look at the chair I'm tied to and I curse again at the sturdiness of it. There is no way I could throw myself to the ground and break this chair. He has seemed to thought of everything.

I strain against the zip ties wishing my system would flood with adrenaline and somehow make me super strong so I could break them, but I know this will not happen. I think about if I would have the strength and will to dislocate my thumb so I could slip my hands out of the zip ties but I'm not sure that I do. I don't know if I could inflict that kind of pain on myself. I briefly remember the knife I stuffed in my boot and I wish now that I could find a way to reach it because then I could get out but I can't, and who knows if it is even there anymore. He could have searched me and taken it while I was unconscious for all I know.

I continue to rack my brain with ways to get out of this compromising situation but I come up with none. I'm screwed. At this point most people would probably cry, but I won't. I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry and beg for my life because I know it will do me no good. He will torture me for hours or days before killing me.

I think of my parents and I wonder if they know yet that I'm gone. I feel terrible for what I am doing to them, for what I have put them through, but at least once I'm gone they will eventually be able to move on, or at least I hope they will someday. I'll miss them. I hope they know how much I loved them.

I think of Nikki next and I choose to believe that she is somewhere safe and that she's alive. I hope she knows that I do not regret what I have done for her. I do not want her to feel guilty for the sacrifice I chose to make for her. I hope she knows that she has always been the greatest friend and that I have loved her like a sister since the day we met over fifteen years ago. I think back to the first time we met and how she told my mom she would protect me and she has. For fifteen years she has looked out for me and now it was time that I returned the favor.

Lastly I think of Colt and god does it hurt to think about him. I think about two nights ago and the love that we shared. I think about how I do not regret a single moment spent with him, even the times when all we did was fight. I think about his devastatingly handsome face and his beautifully scarred body. I think about his incredible gray eyes that always tell me how he is feeling and I know that when I die it is his eyes that I will picture. They are the last thing I want to see. I know he will never forgive me for doing this and that is a tough pill to swallow but I can't say I blame him. I would never forgive him either for dying, for leaving me so soon. I hope he knows though that I didn't want to leave him. I hope he knows how much I loved him.