Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Chapter 1

Chains displaying limp, swollen wrists. Knife marks decorating sensitive flesh. Blindfold barricading the sense of sight. Gag crammed down the throat of Parker Brown. Her tears formed damp rivers down her dirty cheeks. She had mud blotching her features. Her pathetic screams for help only made it more dangerous.

    She screams, muffled by the gag clogging her airway. "HELP ME!!!"

    The constant echo was the only response to the helpless cries out. Finally, a response hushed her as a man entered the unseen room.

    "Hush, you pathetic mouse!" he silenced her cries.

She had never seen the room she was prisoner to or the man she had been imprisoned by. She sat still in her ripped clothing, sobbing from the fear of the unknown. The mans long fingers slowly cradled a sharp, moist knife between them.

He spoke softly, admiring the crimson liquid slowly dripping from the tip of the weapon. "I've warned you many times about being too loud, you ungrateful pig. Do you remember your punishment last time you refused to listen to my simple rule?"

She whimpered in fear. Her body shook as her breathing became shallow. She flinched at every noise or rush of new wind created by an open window in the room. She could feel his eyes on her face, waiting for an answer.

"I..." she hesitated as his elongated fingers slip the gag out of her mouth. "I do."

"Of course you do. Yet you still broke my rule for the second time. Are you ashamed?"

Her skin crawled with goosebumps as the blood-drenched blade grazed her arm. She couldn't answer that question. Whatever she said would lead to punishment.

He impatiently asked again. "Are you ashamed of yourself for breaking my rule for the second time immediately after I had showed you your... reward for disobeying?"

She began to bawl again, terrified by the blade as it slowly breaks her skin in a painful array of pressure. He watched her bleed again. He wasn't bothered by it. He could watch this all day. The strawberry fluid was mesmerizing to watch as it drains from the living being it was trying so hard to keep alive. It's a pity that these beautiful oozing droplets has to be spilled in order for Parker to understand her mistakes. She will never learn. Pathetic.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out, hoping that would end the nightmare she was held hostage in.

It failed. He only pressed deeper into the wound with the sharp metal. She cried harder as the pain became just as overwhelming as the last time.

His voice was calm, "I forgive you, you dumb mouse." He spit at her, making her flinch. The blade was removed from the wound and she finally relaxed. A bandage was wrapped around the sensitive, bleeding cut. He was gentle after causing so much pain. She didn't understand why. No one did.

"You're pathetic" he tisked as he yanked the chains holding up her bruised wrists.

She yelped in pain as the chains roughly pulled her to her knees then to her feet. She hadn't stood up in a couple days so her legs felt like jello. He released her from the chains and grabbed her by the arm. He walked as if he was being rushed by time. He pushed Parker into a new room and took off her blindfold.

He shut the door quickly and spoke from behind the door. "You have an hour and a half to get washed and dressed in the clothes provided. Don't get any ideas. I will be outside the door the entire time."

The light of the room blinded her for a short while. She soon realized her surroundings. Parker had entered a bathroom. It looked old and unused. A pile of clothes plumply sat on the counter of the sink. The old, dirty almost marble made the mirror look newer even though it was smudged and almost unusable. She could barely see herself in it. The pale walls reminded her of a hospital room bathroom. It screamed basement in so many ways.

His impatient voice warned her. "You're wasting time by not showering, you idiot!"

She immediately got undressed. Her black t-shirt had many holes in and the ends of the shirt were ripped completely off. Her black sweatpants were ragged at the ankles and had many openings in them. She was able to clean the mirror with the unused clothes. Her skin was peppered with new marks. The new marks gave a red tinge to her pale figure. She turned the water on and felt the lukewarm water on her deprived skin. She quickly washed her jaundice body. She drank the water in case he wasn't planning on giving her something to drink anytime soon. She turned off the water and dressed in the given clothing. It was a plain yellow t-shirt shirt and loose ripped jeans. It felt good to have new clothes on her sensitive flesh.

Just as she was finishing getting dressed, the blindfold was quickly wrapped over her eyes. She flinched until she felt the mans lanky body behind her. He tied the blindfold on before grabbing her.

"Times up."

She wished she had done more in that time but was dragged back into the familiar sounding room. She was forced to the ground where she sat before. She gave her wrists to him and he forced them against the wall to be chained. The quick motion made Parker yelp. He laughed at how pathetic she was. She noticed that he had only chained one wrist. He roughly pressed on the bruises on her wrist as he spoke, making her groan in pain.

"If you even think about trying to leave, you'll get a worse punishment than a wimpy knick on the arm. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Good."

Her wrist fell limp into her lap. She heard his footsteps as he left the room and shut the door behind him. She removed the blindfold quickly to see the moldy cell she was isolated in. It was a lot smaller than she imagined. The walls looked drenched in water and the window was a lot smaller than she had hoped it would be. It was a 3 by 3 window at the top of the furthest wall from her. The door had a slot that looked like it would be for food trays to be slipped under. The padded floor was blood red in certain spots from her bleeding out in the room. The normal color of the padded floor was an ugly flesh color.

The cream floors distracted me from the tray of food that was slid under my door. She finally noticed it when the man spoke through the door like he did before.

"Eat. You won't get this opportunity again for a couple days"

I looked at the food given to me. A couple apple slices and peanut butter next to it. A small cup of what looks like apple juice sat next to the apple slices. It was a pathetic meal but would be very appreciated since it was the first meal Parker would've had in a week. She began eating the apples and peanut butter before drinking the small cup of apple juice.

She barely felt full but she knew she wouldn't get more so she put her plate on the tray and weakly kicked it back under the door. His disturbingly long hands gripped the tray as he slowly bent down to pick it up. She receded from the sight. She groaned when the chains pulled her back. He noticed and laughed maniacally.

"Put your blindfold back on now! Tomorrow has so much in store for you." His words scared Parker Brown since she didn't know what he meant by it. She could imagine his eerie smile after that demand and it wasn't pretty.