Altered Futures

Chapter 6 - Realization

Friday, January 6 --- 8:32p.m.

"Edward!" his captor yelled, starling the boy.

"Yes?" he nervously asked, trying to sound as brave as he could.

"Have you done everything I told you to do? On time? To perfection?"

Edward gave a small nod, glancing down at the floor. Without saying anything else, Edward's captor led him down to the basement.

Is she...?

Before he had more time to worry about the endless possibilities of what he could have done to her down there, the door creaked open. Bravely, he stepped inside. To his surprise, the door was slammed behind him and he could hear a lock being closed. The captor walked back upstairs to his house, smirking the whole time. Finally, he could enjoy some peace and quiet to himself without having to worry about either of them.

Edward looked around the dark room, hardly able to see around him.

Where is she? Was this a trap?

He looked around the best that he could and could soon make out a person lying on the ground. As he moved even closer once again, he could see it was a girl.

Is that...Naf?

Fearing the worst, like always, Edward scooted closer until he could see her clearly. She was a mess. Her hair was unbrushed, her clothes wrinkled and torn in places, her fingernails dirty and blood stained the leggings she wore on her left leg. Her ankles and wrists were covered in duct tape. A piece of tape even covered her mouth.

"N-Naf?" he cautiously asked.

The woman laid perfectly still, not moving an inch. For a moment he feared she did not hear him.

"Naf?" he repeated, a bit louder this time.

Still nothing.

"Wake up! Please!" he said, placing his hand on her shoulder and lightly shaking her body, his chains rattling against each other.

Edward took the piece of tape on her mouth and peeled it off. Some of the glue still stuck to her face, but there was nothing he could do about that. With that piece of tape off, he unwrapped the tape from her wrists and then her ankles. Once all the tape was off, he crumpled it into a ball and tossed it far away.

Now that she was not tied up, he adjusted her to be as comfortable as he could get her to be. Sadness eating him away, he bent over and hugged her limp body. Silent tears slipped from his eyes and onto her, but he didn't care.

At least he kept his promise. I got to see her again.

~~~~~~~

Saturday, January 7 --- 1:12a.m.

Nafratearie fluttered her eyes open and readjusted her head, only for her eyelids to gently close once again. A few second later they opened once again. Looking up, she could tell she was in Edward's lap. His eyes were closed and he was asleep though. A small smile formed on her lips, just for a moment.

"Hey, Edward," she softly said.

What was he doing here? She knew why she was here, but why was he in the basement with her? Not that she minded being able to see him again.

Noticing how she was able to move freely, she looked at her hands, which she had no problem bringing in front of her. Her smile grew a bit wider. He must have untied her. Why would someone do that though? They barely met. Sure enough, in the corner of her eyes, she saw the ball of tape tossed away and crumpled together that use to bind her. Her smile disappeared quickly once she saw his wrists and ankles chained to each other though.