The Ties That Bind.

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. For so long, Abigail had found herself sneaking glances at her captor's window, her only method of keeping any form of track of time or the passing of days being to watch the beams of sunlight rising and falling, creating a thin, focused beam that slithered and passed through the minute translucent box, her only real reminder that there was more than this nightmare she found herself enduring.

She had read so many stories about the outside world. Heard so much about the beauty of nature and the warmth of the sun on her skin. With its every rise and fall she found she coveted it more than the day before. She would close her eyes and lay mere inches below a black, aluminium based desk lamp she had been allowed to have by “V” - as he called himself – multiple times a day, her vision and eyelids turning red as the bulb illuminated and warmed her face until it began to burn, imagining that this must be what sunlight felt like. Today, was the first day she hadn’t completed this ritual in her memory - her mind was too preoccupied – Today she didn’t need to imagine what the warmth of the sun felt like. Today she was going to feel it for real. Today, she was going to escape.

*Ring-Ring-Ring-Ring!!* Abigail heard the harrowing sound of the antique brass hotel bell that V carried with him and knew it was time to start putting her plan into action. When she heard the bell, it was to signal her of his arrival. She was expected to be kneeling on the floor opposite the door as he arrived, greeting him with a warm smile, even though the mere sight of him made her skin crawl. Abigail assumed this position the same as any other day, her heart racing as she heard the low thumping of footsteps on the floor outside the room, the clicking of locks and finally the creaking of the pristine, white-painted wooden door as it slowly opened.

V meandered into the room just as he had so many times before - More times than she could count - With his hands down by his side, relaxed and unguarded, knowing without doubt in his mind that he was in full control of the situation and had been for so long. Longer than Abigail could even remember. His greasy, jet-black hair slicked back, a singular streak of grey in the centre, accentuating a slight parting. As he closed the door behind him, he did as he had done so many times before, casually slipping his hand down below his waist, pressing a small remote in the pocket of the tight-fitting light blue washed jeans, the outer locks on the door clicking and whirring loudly as he did. He looked down at Abigail, his narrow, piercing sapphire blue eyes being pushed into a squint by his cheeks as the large, somewhat goofy, toothy grin he often adorned lit up his face. A warm and inviting smile that was used as a mask by the seemingly cold and heartless man who had held her captive without knowledge for longer than her memories stretched back.

Abigail often pondered if she had always been here, always been with him. Had she had a life before? Did she have friends? A family? A life? Everything before finding herself in this place was a mystery. Her memories a kaleidoscope instead of a picture, a series of disjointed patterns and shapes, soundbites and blurry scenery that she couldn’t put together into anything concise.

As the commotion of the electronic locks closing on the outside of the main door faded out, V kept his eyes trained directly on the kneeling Abigail. She had always found them so unsettling. Whilst she didn’t remember anything of the outside world, she had been allowed many books from V that allowed her to imagine and dream about it, some of her favourites were the animal encyclopaedias she had been given. The way his narrow eyes stayed so intensely trained and observant, seeming to slowly dance around with nothing behind them as they purposefully followed her every movement made her envision him more like some kind of reptile than as another human.

The locks finally fell silent, which meant Abigail was now allowed to speak. She slowly took a deep breath, patiently inhaling through her nose, internally counting up to five in her head, before letting the air almost silently seep out of her slightly pursed lips, repeating her inner monologue’s countdown in reverse from five back down to zero hoping to calm herself and her rapid, beating heart rate so as to not let her voice tremble and give away the plan she’d been working on for so long. “May I take your coat and offer you a drink, sir?” She asked, her voice overly high, like that of a slightly nervous child asking a parent for permission. “Yes. Stand.” spoke V. A man of few words, he knew he didn’t need many at this point just as he knew that Abigail was aware of exactly what was expected of her and feared him far too much for him to have to worry. Their routine had become that of a well-oiled machine, her acting as a stepford-wives-esque presence in his apartment, tending to his every need without question or complaint, grateful for any small rewards she was given.

Abigail slowly lifted herself off her knees. They were constantly slightly bruised and hardened from all the times she had found herself kneeling on this hardwood floor waiting for V, slight tones of pink and purple clouding her otherwise pale, porcelain-white skin. One of the few outfits she had been allowed to have, a plain, cream-coloured dress that was slightly too large for the slim figure she had flowed around her, the soft, slightly translucent, silk-like fabric loosely draping around her body with creating little waves around her with her every movement, a shiny, elegant ocean that shimmered and shined as she slowly crept towards V, her bare feet making light little taps as she did so, minute suction noises following her every step as a result of the nervous sweating moistening her soles, making them stick to the hardwood floor, leaving slightly damp foot prints as she finally made her way to V, stood just feet in front of the apartment’s door.

Abigail stopped as she came face to face with him and for a few moments, time seemed like it had stopped, the only way to know it was still passing being the noticeable palpitations she felt thumping in her chest as her nerves skyrocketed, her trying to remain calm and keep her breathing stable and as relaxed as she could as V stood silently, face-to-face with her, almost staring her down with his normal goofy smile now a slight, unnerving smirk, his lips pressed together. Everything seemed to appear in extreme detail as Abigail observed him. His slight salt and pepper stubble poking out from the pores of his otherwise smooth skin, a slight natural shine radiating from him. All her senses were heightened, knowing that this was it. This was the moment to finally put her plan into action. In one movement V finally let the coyote-like stare leave his face, slowly blinking as he lightly exhaled, calm and self-assured, his body language somehow keeping an air of relaxation whilst still seeming choreographed and uptight as he slowly turned on the heels of his plain black patent leather oxfords, lifting his arms up to his side and letting the thick navy blue, wool overcoat he had worn hang off his body slightly as he faced towards the door, waiting for Abigail to gently slide his coat off of him as she had done so many times before. With the climate-controlled apartment remaining at a constant temperature year-round, the only ways she knew what season it even was by two factors alone: Whether V was wearing a coat or not when he entered the apartment and the amount of time it’d take for the slither of sunlight that peeked through the window in his room to make its daily dance, the tight beam sliding gracefully across the apartment floor over the hours, before it finally reached the end of its journey, setting and leaving her without any trace of the outside world once again.

As she stood there, mere inches from V, his arms outstretched at his side as he waited for Abigail to gently slide off the thick coat draped over him, Abigail could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Increasingly violent tachycardia kicks from within, making her breathe rushed and unsteady as she prepared. She knew this was the moment she’d been preparing for, if she was going to escape this captivity, it was now or never. Abigail slowly slid her pale, bony trembling hands across the sleeves of the soft wool coat a surge of adrenaline poured through her, strengthening her with a new resolve and determination, a low-down rage that had built within her from this seemingly timeless captivity and was now finally exploding through her. Abigail lunged forwards at V; a woman possessed as she charged him against the door, pinning him against it as he let out a loud high-pitched yelp, equal parts of surprise and pain accentuating the notes.

V tried to push himself back as his face slammed against the door, but Abigail wasn’t relenting and as he’d been pinned to the door his legs had buckled beneath him, caught off guard and off-balance, Abigail had finally gotten him on the back foot. Still fighting against his struggles, Abigail used all her strength to keep pushing him into the door, watching his legs bend and curl below him as he tried to stabilize himself to rise, protesting loudly all the time. His booming, strained yells echoed across the apartment as he screamed at Abigail to get off him and threatened her with all the things he was going to do to her. She knew they were nothing but the profanity-laden attempts at controlling by fear of this now defeated man. He wouldn’t get to enact any of the violent acts he’d warned of, she’d make sure of it. Today was the day it all ended. Watching him struggle against the door, Abigail froze for a moment, staring at the exposed neck of V. He looked pathetic. Like a little worm writhing and struggling beneath her. The adrenaline that had spurred her to make her move was fading and inside her was a rising tide, an ocean of calmness that rose from beneath and washed over her brain, dispersing of the rage and energy that she’d used to start her attack, bringing about a sense of detachment. She felt more like she was watching somebody else doing this as all the fear that had followed her every moment for so long left her and in a split-second decision, Abigail’s head flew towards the visible veins pulsing in V’s neck, her teeth sinking deep into his skin, a large purposeful bite with steely resolve. V let out a large scream as her teeth sunk into his flesh, blood beginning to pour as she chewed on it like a junkyard dog fighting with a chewy piece of meat. As she ripped her head back as fast as she could the screams turned into low, desperate gurgles, blood shooting across the room in a pulsing motion, turning the previously crisp-white walls into a gallery of varying blood spatters. V clenched at his neck as Abigail stood back away from him and spun himself around, leaning with his back against the door as the bright red blood continued to shoot out of him in such quantities Abigail couldn’t even make out any details of his hand clenching his neck as he did. They looked each other in the eyes, V’s welling up with fear and tears, Abigail’s with unflinching determination as she observed his slow crying and gurgling. V’s hand fell away from his neck as his eyes seemed to lose focus, still open, but clearly with nobody left behind them. His back still pressed against the door, his body began to go limp as he slumped down and fell in front of it.

Abigail carefully reached into V’s pocket, grabbing the remote to open the door. A tiny little silver rectangle with rounded edges and a couple of small buttons on it. She observed it intently. This minute device and the dead man that lay before her were the two things that had kept her in captivity longer than she had any memories of. She used all her strength to drag V’s lifeless body away from the door and pressed one of the buttons on the remote, hearing the outer locks begin to whirr and whizz outside as she did. As Abigail stepped towards the door, she paused. She’d been here for so long, longer than she had any memory of. Was she really going to leave without looking around V’s room, a place she’d never been allowed to enter to see what she might find? No. She needed to see what was in there. See if she could find anything relating to her past before captivity.

Abigail crept into V’s bedroom slowly. She felt nervous entering it after not being allowed to for so long, as much as she knew V was now dead, reason wasn’t enough to dispel with the sense of fear that she couldn’t shake about entering somewhere she’d always been forbidden from. She slowly walked towards the window in his room, a direct path to it, ignoring all else. She wanted a true glimpse of the outside world she was soon to finally experience before she left, not just of the beams of light that she got to see pass through it from the hallway. Abigail tip-toed towards the high-up window, slowly raising herself up onto a dark walnut desk placed below it as she did, empty besides a small potted green-plant. As she kneeled on the desk she stretched up, peering out at the outer world. Finally, more than a glimpse. She finally had a real look at the outside world. She expected beauty. She expected to see bright blue skies and crisp-white clouds. Chirping birds and vibrant leaves. Instead, she found a large sense of dread washing over her.

Abigail scanned the view outside for any signs of life, but none were to be found. A collection of derelict skyscrapers littered the skyline around her, broken windows all around, glass shards and trash littering the streets below. The sky was a murky shade of yellowish green, these sights were nothing like the outer world she’d read about and coveted for so long. Tears began to flood out of Abigail’s tired eyes as she desperately looked around for something, anything, that could indicate there was anyone else around here but alas it appeared she was all alone.

Abigail slowly slid down onto the desk, sitting cross-legged as she thought about the situation she had found herself in. Were her and V the only two people left? It looked like some kind of disaster had taken place outside. There were no signs of life to be found, even the air looked deadly. Why had V kept her captive here in this place, only them two? Why did he have all these rules and why couldn’t she remember anything before her captivity? Had she lost her memories in whatever had happened in the outer world? She was plagued with more questions than she could ever hope to have answers for.

Abigail recollected herself and gathered some supplies from around the apartment. She had made a choice today that today was her last day in captivity, and she was going to follow it through, whatever the case. She was going to go out and see if she could find any others, find out what had happened, find out where V had been going every day and why there apartment had been so well maintained in this otherwise derelict and destroyed area, where the food he got for her to cook had come from and where he was going each day and, perhaps most importantly - find out who she was. She knew she was going to get the answers she seeked or she was going to die trying. Either way, she figured, it’s better to die free, searching for those answers than to live as a slave, no memory of the past, held at another person’s whims. Abigail took a deep breath as she opened the apartment’s main door, adorned with a large black fabric backpack she’d found in V’s closet filled with things she thought may be useful - a flashlight, tinned food and spare clothes along with some small miscellaneous things she’d picked up around the apartment – and she slowly stepped out the door. Whatever came next, she didn’t know, but she knew that this chapter of her life was over. It was time to see the real world now.