Forever My Lovely

Chapter One: Open Wounds

"Ava, there is no getting out of here. I've tried everything." His comment replaced her fear with anger. She didn't like being told no.

 "Well we need to try again, we can't just sit here." She said determined, but Henry could see the tears forming and her breath increasing.  She got up and started banging on the large metal door. 

"Hey! Let us out!" She shouted, banging her already bruised hands with immense force until they went numb. Feeling rapidly returned when her hand stuck an open nail in the door frame and punctured her skin. She barely winced and continued with her efforts. What started as slow drops, soon became a steady flow of blood reaching down to her forearm.

 Henry grabbed both wrists and shook her to get her attention, showing complete indifference to the fact that his hands were now coated in her blood as well.

"Ava, Ava stop. Snap out of it. You're only hurting yourself. I don't think anyone is here. I heard a truck start and leave a little while ago. There is no breaking down that door either, it's damn solid. And breaking your hands isn't going to help." He released her hands after wiping the blood off.

"If they're gone then this is when we have to try and get out. Quickly, before he comes back." She said frantically.She ran over to where the window was but was too short to reach. 

"Here give me a boost." She demanded

"It's not going to...."

"Give me a boost. This could be our only shot, are you going to help me or are you just going to stand there?" He shrugged and walked over. 

Getting down on all fours, he allowed her to step on his back. When both hands could reach the bars, she tried everything. She pulled, she pushed, she banged, but nothing would loosen the bars over the windows. Feeling defeated she plopped down on the dirt ground and allowed for a few tears to release.

"How are you so calm?" She asked simply.

"When I first woke up I was freaking out too, but I've tried everything. And crying isn't going to solve the situation. We need to remain calm." 

"We need to make a plan. There are two of us, and so far I've only seen one of them. If we both fight, and fight like hell we can get out of here." She said courageously.

"He came in here to check on us before he left. I tried that, it didn't exactly work out in my favor." He lifted his shirt to reveal a bruise that expanded over his rib cage. The border was an angry red while towards the middle, black, blue and purple met and swirled along his pale skin.

"Then what do you suggest." She asked impatiently.

"I suggest we don't do anything stupid. Right now whoever the hell has us is pretty keen on keeping us alive, but that could change. We need to be smart about this. Keep our mouths shut and our eyes open. When there's an opportunity, we'll take it, but we'll most likely only get one shot. We have to make it count." As he finished speaking, Ava nodded. 

She knew that he was right. There was a silence. Neither knew how to fill it, but then Henry started to speak again.

"Maybe he's getting his ransom demands out, to your family or to my...." He started. 

But she shook her head and interrupted.

"My mom doesn't have any money. Even if there are ransom demands she wouldn't be able to meet them."

"Then maybe someone has noticed we've gone. The police could be working on finding us." He said

"Maybe" She said bleakly, knowing that probably wasn't the case.