I cannot panic.
I can't let them know I'm scared, or it's all over.
Marian forced the tremors to stop coursing through her body. The gag on her mouth bit into the corners of her skin as she struggled. It tasted like disgusting and her saliva only made it worse, but she felt it begin to loosen. Little by little it began to slacken until she was finally free of it. Her mouth stung as the bloods rushed back to the corners, but she still smiled. One step at a time, she thought with a burst of energy. Marian moved on to her arms and legs. She pleaded with her arms to move though she knew they were bound. Her muscles ached from exertion but she kept pushing. Unlike the gag there was no victory, it seemed like they had done a better job with these. Huh, it figures, well talking to them wasn't going to get me out of here, she thought grimly. Finally she decided to give her arms a rest, she felt herself reaching a breaking point. She leaned against the wall behind her and brought her knees up to her chest letting her head hang between them.
While she sat in the darkness her ears strained for any sounds or movements but none came to her. She waited for her eyes to adjust or at least for the room to come into focus, but nothing seemed to change. This place was devoid of any light, which only frightened her more.
On some base level she knew these people that had taken her were looking for something out of her. Any sign that she had started to weaken while being held here, but she couldn't tell why. She was a nobody with nothing to her name Marian tried to take deep breaths and calm down, so far that had worked. But she couldn't tell for how much longer. She knew couldn't have been here for more than a few hours and it seemed like time was racing ahead of her. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. She might not be able to see them but she knew they were close by. Occasionally she heard shuffling somewhere around her but she couldn't place it. If only she had never left the house today.
She remembered the conversation she had with Father before she had run out. He had been telling her she needed to go out and experience the world more.
"We love having you here my child. Since the day we took you in we have loved you, but now you are an adult my dear. A beautiful young woman that has great potential. You're wasting it here hidden in the libraries of this church. You need to get out and see things, my dear. As much as we want you here, you need to mature outside of this place." She had been devastated. That church had been her home for as long as she could remember. Since her parents' death she had been with the Father and the Sisters, they had been her family, all she ever thought she needed. She knew he was right but she hadn't wanted to leave. If only she had known she would have fought harder to stay. Marian conjured up the memories of what had happened before she was brought here. She had been walking towards the apartment the Father had set up for her. Her head was down as she ran her fingers over the beads on the silver rosary that hung on her neck. It had been a gift when she first got to the church. The Father had stressed how important it was to keep God in her daily life so she had sworn to never take it off. Rubbing it had always given her a sense of security. It seemed ironic that because she had been focused in it she didn't even have the chance to scream before everything had gone black and she was tossed into a car.
Reminiscing was a painful distraction, one that she needed to get rid of so she could focus on a plan. She had to get out of here and she knew sitting wasn't going to get that done. As she sat she tried to place where she was in the darkness of the room, but it was hopeless. Marian had nothing to go off of. After her captors had taken her, they tied her, gagged and blinded her and left her in darkness. Since then they hadn't so much as come back to check on her. Thoughts raced through her mind on what was happening, what was going to happen, but she made sure to keep those fears from showing on her face. Marian never cried out, she never screamed, she just bided her time. In the back of her mind she hoped they had just forgotten she was here. I'd rather be stuck here than have to deal with them directly, Marian thought meekly. If she could only get her hands freed she could try to place where she was.
"You'd be surprised how horrible it can be just sitting here waiting." It took a few seconds for Marian to register the voice had come from outside of her thought. Had she spoken out loud earlier? Taking a deep breath Marian strained her ears to place where the voice came from. It was faint but her ears caught the rhythm of someone's breaths. There was someone else in the room. Marian's heart raced.
"Can you hear me?" said Marian. She heard what sounded like a sigh, but she couldn't really tell. Marian struggled to swallow and take a breath but she continued. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I'm not...not like them." She tried to scoot closer to the voice even though every movement was a struggle. After sitting in that position for so long, everything on her was sore and raw. At least now she wasn't alone here.
