Taken | h.s + bey ✔️

11. Putting The Pieces Together

I don't know what to do.

I feel like I've lost all incentive to even try anymore.

I haven't really moved from laying horizontally across the bed and face down for a few days except for when I had to go to the bathroom. I try to hold out on going for as long as I can because that would require me calling him up here. And I don't want to see him.

And I'm really starting to feel stir-crazy. That entrapped feeling has only intensified due to me not having anyone but a crazy person to talk to and sitting on this bed 90% of the time.

I honestly don't even know how long I've been here anymore.

I've had nightmares ever since my escape attempt. They're always the same theme but not much context; still, they're nightmarish somehow.

It's always set either in this house, in the woods, in the backyard area or by the lake (mostly the backyard/wood area). They lack sound and color but are not entirely black and white. There's always a large group of women— black— and they look to be of all ages. But most importantly, they look to all be from different decades. Most of the women are wearing flapper and Victorian style dresses, others were wearing dresses that looked to be from this or close decades.

I don't know what they mean. And even though it would look like there's just a bunch of women outside socializing and smiling, there's still an eery, ghostly vibe. Like something bad happened to all of them. And what's even scarier is that I'm one of them. Yes, the dreams are obviously from my point of view, but I'm still aware that I'm supposed to be apart of the crowd.

Anyways, yeah, not only does this house feel creepy, but now it's giving me nightmares.

I just wanna get out. I've never realized how much there was for me to do until I no longer had the luxury of even going to the bathroom on my own time.

I haven't lived either. I realize that now, too.

I don't have kids, I'm somewhat fresh out of graduate school and just now getting into the real world. To think that I've built my life up just for it to end this way is gut-wrenching.

As hopeless as I feel, I shouldn't give up. If me attempting to get out of here ends with him killing me, well... better dead than stuck here playing house with a madman for eternity.

I sat up in the bed for the first time today with a groan. I'm still aching from what he did to me.

What should I do this time around?

He doesn't trust me right now. But if I try rebuilding his trust, maybe I could manipulate my way out. That's gonna take patience and time but what else is there for me to do? Try to fight him? I've learned multiple times that I'm no match for his aggression.

So I'm going to pretend, for however long it takes.

To start with this new plan, I need to be what he wants me to be but I don't know exactly what that is. I need to try to figure it out on my own because relying on him to give me answers is getting me nowhere.

And this is her room... so I just need to look around.

I scan the room as if I haven't been in here for as long as I have. There's so little in here. I glare at the armoire on the far side of the room. Hopefully there's something in there other than dresses. 

I carefully got out of the bed and walked toward the armoire until my leg was yanked by the chain. I was so close but the chain had reached maximum length.

I sighed and tried to pull, in hopes to make the bed move just enough for me to reach. The bed weighing a ton, and me being in so much pain did not help my case.