Dark Passions

Chapter Nine

My eyes flickered open as a ray of sunshine hit them from the open window. I laid there stiff, every muscle and bone in my body screaming in agony. Only yesterday did it feel like I entered this nightmare. The entire week had been a blur, but the one thing clear as day was Black's dark expressions as he hovered over me. I knew today was the final day of the week, which meant my salvation had come at last. We would be released; I prayed we would be. My body was drained of energy, and my wrists and ankles bore bruises from the heavy chains. My fighting spirit had diminished and I was hanging on by mere willpower alone. I had detested Black at the beginning, and believed to think I would be able to wiggle myself out of this mess like I had done so many times before. I was wrong. I loathed Black, but now even more so terrified of him. I did not have the time to think about how much he knew about me due to the fact of the torture I endured. I stopped trying to speak out against him, or throw some comeback at him. This seemed to slow his approach; I figured out he loved it when I fought back. When I became submissive, there was emotion in his expressions I couldn't place. It was a mixture between disappointment, sadness and guilt, shortly followed by anger. I had no idea what this meant. In any case, his advances slowed, and he often left me chained to the wall, or locked away in a cage he had purchased.

I closed my eyes as I forced myself to slow my breathing. I knew Black wouldn't want me forever. He would get tired of me. I opened my eyes when I heard movement outside the door, and I raised my head up ever so slightly to see Black walk in carrying his black briefcase. His eyes flickered over to me and I saw his smirk forming on the curves of his mouth. I adjusted my sitting position before looking away from him.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to say something every now and then." I ignored him. For the past two days I hadn't said a word to him. After I pleaded for Ally's release, I had fallen silent, which seemed to piss him off. Nonetheless, he still wore his smartass grin, which pissed me off. I heard him walk over and he lifted my chin up towards him face, to where we were staring into each other's eyes. "It does pain me to chain you up like this." I snorted a reply and tried to look away, but his grip tightened and I flinched at the pain shooting up my jawline. "Still not talking to me?" he whispered and I narrowed my eyes. I could still throw some nasty looks, all to which Black would smile. He released me and walked over to the dresser, undoing his tie.

"It's Friday, you know." I didn't acknowledge this. "In a few hours, the rest of the girls will be released to go." I tried to imagine I was somewhere else. I knew he was going to rub in the fact I wasn't going to be released. I huffed angrily and started to try to readjust myself. It was hard when your hands were chained above your head. I wrinkled my nose; I was beginning to smell. I tried moving my wrists, the chains tinkling as they grazed each other, almost making the noise of a wind chime.

"—minutes to search for Ally." I stopped moving. I lifted my head to see Black staring at me from the corners of his eyes as he removed his suit jacket, his stupid grin forming. I blinked at him and he chuckled. "Do I have your attention?" he whispered and I continued to lock my gaze with his. Content I was listening, Black continued. "In a few minutes, all of the security will be removed. For five minutes, there will be nothing to stop you from reaching upper levels. In that time, I am going to release you. You have five minutes to search for Ally." I couldn't help it. My mouth fell open. As quickly as I tried to hide it, Black caught it, and walked over and squatted down in front of me. His hand cupped my chin as he looked down on me. "You'll have to ask me to let you go." I gritted my teeth as his smile widened. After a moment, I gave in.

"Five minutes?"

"And you have my word I will not seek you until the five are up," Black added gently, his free hand stroking my hair.

"Your word isn't much to go on," I growled, and his smile darkened. His eyes twinkled with the challenge.

"If you find Ally in the deadline, you two are free to go. However, I may add you both need to make it to the third floor. If you succeed, you win."