Taken

Chapter 2

I was going to need an extension cord and some power tools when it came time to cut them off. Once Ash was well enough and everything was in place for another attempt to get him out of here. Everything had to be in place. I couldn't afford to fail again.

With how horrible my parents were with succeeding in other aspects of life, keeping Ash confined to this room was one area they strived to excel in. It always left me wondering why, but neither they nor he provided me with the answer to that question. I didn't bother trying to get it out of my parents, not after how the first attempt ended, but Ash... the way his features had stiffened and glazed over made me regret even opening my mouth when I had asked if he knew why. Though he acted like it never happened the next time I snuck down to meet him, I never tried again. I wasn't willing to face the pain I was met with.

Not until I was sure I could keep him from experiencing it again.

I pushed his fraying sleeves up. "Shit," I cursed under my breath as I took in the stiff and dark brown strips of fabric surrounding his wrists.

Though fresh bandages surrounded them, I hid them under layers of soiled and ripped strips of cloth he had attempted to protect his skin with during the years I wasn't able to help him. They hide the evidence that his wounds were being tended to by anyone but himself.

Blood had soaked through all the layers. There was more than there usually was when I changed them.

"What happened?" I asked, pausing in fear of the pain I would cause him when I peeled the thin and dried material from his skin. It wasn't going to be pleasant. Despite how thickly I had wrapped it to protect his skin from the metal that he appeared to be allergic to, it didn't protect him as much as I had hoped. The sight had me wondering if it was from scratching at his skin too hard, or from struggling against his restraints. A part of me didn't want to know, not liking the answer that I already suspected.

It was like he had struggled more than usual.

Before I could begin to unravel the soiled bandages or get the answers I wanted, Ash stiffened. His soft eyes hardened as they focused just behind me. I thought I had asked the wrong question until his rough voice spoke with an urgent command.

"Hide."

I didn't need to question the warning. It was one I was familiar with along with his expression.

Picking up the bottle again, I patted my pockets down to minimize the noise of my movements as I made my way toward the door. Swiftly and quietly pulling it shut, I locked it in a hurry before pocketing the key and rushing to the corner piled with discarded pallets and boxes. It was a practiced and tested routine.

Just as I situated myself behind the splintering wood and damp cardboard that smelled of mold and rat droppings, the sound of the door being unlocked from the outside reached my ears. I held my breath as the door creaked open.

Mom's arms shook as shoved the metal door open the rest of the way to clang against the cement wall. She staggered inside, almost falling on her face when it gave way. The effort it took for her to right herself made it evident that she had more than just the drink I had prepared her before coming down here. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice the missing bottle.

I watched through one of the peepholes the leaning pallets created as she approached him, almost falling twice on her face on the way. My body was tensed and wanted to spring into action and stop her, but just like Ash, I knew better. Both he and I didn't move an inch as she stumbled to her knees in front of him where he sat chained on the floor, his feet flat with his elbows propped on his knees. Four chains connected to the shackles surrounding each wrist and each ankle while the fifth and shortest one attached to the thick metal surrounding his neck. The skin above and below the sections I had bandaged to keep from meeting the iron was an angry red. It was better than the blistering burns and peeling flesh that direct contact led to, but the friction of struggle had blood soaking into the material.