Warning: Disturbing content that may cause triggers in certain and or sensitive readers. Please read with caution.
Aurora awoke to the sound of Ryder's footsteps walking towards the door, leaving her on edge like he always did when she knew she was about to come face to face with him again.
Once she had been able to fully grasp her surroundings, she realised she was no longer in the bathroom but back in her prison again, stripped down in her undergarments.
She noticed he was taking his time unlocking the door, plates and what sounded like cups started tinkering in her ears as if he were carrying a tray of food or something in his hands.
After another gruelling minute or two of him fidgeting with the lock, the door was unlocked and swung open, where Ryder appeared from the shadows, making his guest appearance.
Just as she'd guessed, he had been holding a tray, laden with food and a napkin tucked underneath his arm.
She could see this was starting to become a regular thing of him coming and going whenever he felt like it, leaving her there for hours and then returning as if nothing were wrong.
"Good mornin', beautiful," he grinned, once he noticed she was up and about. "It's good to see you awake. Bout time too. I thought you were never gonna wake up after that nasty little accident you had. You sure had me worried there."
After he said that, something hadn't been sitting right with Aurora, and she didn't know why. Other than her mind running blank to the point where she wondered if she had been experiencing temporary amnesia, she had no recollection of this accident he had been speaking of.
Scared to even ask him what he was talking about, Aurora just kept her mouth shut, watching him from where she remained seated in the corner, wishing she knew what his plan of action was with her.
He seemed in a good mood today; almost cheerful even as he walked over to the table beside her bed so he could place her food down on the table, cringing internally that it was morning already.
Being trapped in there for so long had left her oblivious to the world outside of these four walls he'd kept her incarnated in, sucking every precious minute from her life, the longer time endlessly slipped from her fingers.
It could have been night, hailing, snowing, sunny, or morning out there, she wouldn't have even known. There had been no way to tell other than guessing what day it was by what food he brought her or whenever he greeted her.
Once he set the stainless steel tray down on the table and picked up what looked like a cup of tea, he was holding in his hands, a flashback of him sexually assaulting her in the bathroom, entered her mind, making her question her own sanity.
No matter how many times, she tried to think back to what happened everything, had been one distorted haze, which led to a string of emotions stirring up inside her and unanswered questions.
Questions that started going around and around like a hamster wheel in her train of thoughts, worried he'd done something to knock her out and that this had been no accident. With him anything was possible.
Still not responding to him, other than just answering back simple, robotic yes, no answers every time he asked her something, Aurora just sat there, perched on her bed, probing her mind like crazy, trying to jog her memory.
Still, nothing had been clicking in her head, nothing was ringing true other than the incident in the bathroom. However, her head and face had been telling a different story.
Running her fingers along her skin, Aurora only realised now how raised and sore her cheek felt as if someone had punched her in the face.
He'd noticed this, out of his peripheral vision, which led to her leaping up from her bed in horror. He raised the spoon in the air that he'd been using to stir her tea with and flung it across the room, almost hitting her by an inch.
Before she knew it, he came charging in her direction and was up in her face in no time, his brown eyes staring brazenly into hers.
"What's the matter?" he asked, the ire in his voice, matching the ominous look he was giving her now.
For someone who had supposedly done nothing wrong, he surely was behaving like a person who had been acting like a guilty man.
" You tell me?" she challenged, feeling a solitary tear trickle down her cheek." Or did you throw something at me and knock me out, so I couldn't escape?"
As soon as she'd hit him with that rhetorical question, a playback of him knocking her over after he'd tried to sexually assault her, became transparent to her now. She remembered fleeing to go look for a telephone so she could call 9-11.
But he had stopped her after he threw something at her. Presuming she was knocked unconscious from the massive blow to her head, he'd brought her back to this room and was now deluding her into thinking it was an accident when he was the one who had attacked her.
After Aurora persecuted him with the knowledge of what he'd done to her, everything had grown dark and cold, as though the room had dropped to about nine degrees.
It didn't take her long to see the rage bubbling up inside him and the pronounced frown crossing his features, hardening his expression. Within seconds he was towering over her again, his face hovering over hers.
Only this time he was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles began to turn white like the wall behind him, until he pressed his lips against her ear, his warm breath fanning her skin.
" You had it comin'," was all he said before his fist came barreling toward her and a black haze engulfed her.
__________________________________________
Aurora jolted up from her bed but was soon pushed back down by Ryder after he'd woken her up against her will to terrorize her again.
Without even giving her a chance to open her eyes and take in the enormity of what was happening to her, Aurora realised Ryder had been sprawled on top of her, pinning her down to the bed.
He had both of her arms spread out against the bedpost the harder he held her in a double wrist grip, pushing what felt like nearly two hundred pounds of his body weight against hers.
Aurora squirmed trying to buck her hips, but Ryder had latched onto her tight while he continued to strap her body to the bed and locked both her arms together to keep her from pushing him away.
Emitting a loud guttural cry, desperate to break free from Ryder's steel hold on her, Aurora was able to free her hand for a second and lunged her fingernails into his chest.
But it was of no use, for he just grabbed her hands and threw them back down, holding her in a tight restraint by caging his arms around her neck, leaving her paralyzed and unable to break free.
Fearing the worst, Ryder did the strangest thing and brought her face close to his, as if he were trying to be affectionate towards her. No matter what he did or how handsome he was, nothing would change her mind about him and what he had done to her. She hated him. All he did was sicken and repulse her.
Refusing to stop making her feel uncomfortable, he carried on looking into her eyes like a creep and without saying a word, began wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead. He was doing it in gentle, delicate strokes that had done nothing to settle her, but just fray her already jangled nerves.
Exhaling and inhaling, Aurora's chest began to heave while she fought in precious oxygen. She could feel the unwelcoming feeling of his hands wandering and trailing down her leg and then up to her midsection, rotating back and forth for what felt like a lifetime of him violating her.
All she could do was lie there while this man invaded her body, thinking of what he could do to her in this position, forever lying forefront in her mind.
Other than the incident in the bathroom, he hadn't made any sexual advances on her as of yet. But who's to say he wouldn't try at some point during her being kept prisoner there against her will, just like he did in the bathroom? If he could do it once, surely he could do it again.
Trying not to think about him taking advantage of her, she tried to push that thought from her mind.
Nevertheless, he'd been making it difficult for her not to believe that he wasn't going to act on his impulses when he wouldn't stop staring into her eyes and continually kneading his fingers through her hair, refusing to let her go.
"Don't you know, you belong to me?" he told her, his voice just barely above a whisper. "Don't you know, you are mine? You ain't never gonna escape here and you will never have your old life back. This is your life now. Your life is with me."
She struggled and put up a fight in his arms, at the thought of never seeing her father or having life back. But the louder she howled and writhed beneath him, the more Ryder's patience inevitably wore thin with her, which led to another onslaught, of him smacking her across the face, infuriated that she wouldn't give in willingly to him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped at her, the harder she put up a fight and attempted to push him off her. Still perched on top of her in a straddled position, Ryder looked down at her, his eyes flooding black like his soul. "Stupid bitch!"
Pain ripped through Aurora's face as his fist connected with her jaw.
Only this time, she hadn't blacked out.
Instead, a dark haze clouded her sight and a loud ringing echoed in her ears when he slammed his fist in her face for the third time, each blow reverberating through her skull.
"Stop fightin' me!" he screamed at her." You are only makin' this harder on yourself, the more you keep fightin' me. I told you I don't wanna hurt you, so just lay still would ya!"
Panic struck through her like a lightning bolt, along with the throbbing of her jaw, from how many times he'd whipped her across the face, convinced he would never stop hurting her.
After his body eased off hers, giving her a small amount of relief that he wasn't going to rape her, she was scooped up off the bed and lifted into his arms.
He pulled a thick cord of what looked like rope from his jeans pocket; the type that could tie you to a tree or a chair in a matter of seconds.
Before she could even contemplate his motive for what he intended to do with it, he linked her hands together and then forced them apart as he began securing the rope around her wrists.
He had been contradicting his actions by speaking in hushed tones while he continued to tie her up and told her that everything was going to be okay, as long as she did as she was told.
Not doubting him, Aurora was then dragged from her room, with both his hands securely wrapped around her waistline while he led the way, directing her down the passageway.
She was beyond relieved to walk on her feet freely this time, without him, manhandling and carrying her everywhere.
But both her wrists had been fastened with the rope he'd attached around them, making it difficult for her to move her hands or if she wanted to knock him out of the way.
Not that she could have gone far, as Ryder had been right behind her, his eyes watching her movements like a hawk, never leaving her sight. It was as if he knew she would have tried to take off ahead of him and bolted down the stairs again.
Keeping her head hung low to the floor, each step became laboured and difficult for her to manage the longer she walked down the corridor with him like a prisoner being dragged from her cell.
Once she was back in the bathroom, she was ordered to stand against the wall, so he could lock the door behind him. She could see he had come prepared this time.
Not even bothering to ask Aurora to remove her undergarments, knowing the use of her hands had no longer been an option due to her wrists being bound to the thick rope, he took them off himself.
He removed her bra first and then her panties and cast them aside on the floor, before grabbing her forearm, motioning for her to climb in the bath straight away.
Taking one, apprehensive step into the lukewarm water filled with a fresh batch of bubble bath, welcoming her, Aurora's nerves intensified as Ryder slowly directed her into the small tub, by standing right beside her, helping her get in. She became more at ease once she'd made it into the bath, thankful he had at least let her climb in by herself.
Despite Ryder being there constantly in her face, the warm water had felt heavenly against her skin and for a little while, she had forgotten he was even there and just revelled in the fact that she was taking a bath for the first time in days.
She expected Ryder to be rough and impatient with her like he usually was, but he had been nothing but a gentleman throughout the time, he sat on the floor washing her from head to toe with a sponge, never touching her, or laying a hand on her sexually, not even once.
She had seen a completely different side to him, all together.
After lathering her body with soap, and repeatedly washing her hair while occasionally stealing glances at her nudity, he reached for a towel off the towel rack and wrapped it around her shivering body, drying her at the same time.
"Damn, you sure are frozen to the bone," he said, noticing the goosebumps on her skin and her heavy breathing from the crackling of her lungs as a result of being trapped in that cold room for so long.
" Here, lemme me get you get you a towel." Reaching for a second towel, Ryder grabbed it off the rack and threw it over her, covering her up like a baby.
She was about to take the first step out of the bath once she was done, holding onto his hands for support as he proceeded to guide her out.
Until he latched onto the crooks of her elbows, causing her to become frightened of him again while he just stared at her, blinking his eyes.
It hadn't been the usual kind of predatory stare he would usually give her when he was mad.
His expression held a look of concern at how harsh her breathing was and how she wouldn't stop trembling even with two towels wrapped around her.
"You really don't look so great," he told her leaning towards her and taking her hand in his, so he could direct her to the door.
Aurora didn't feel comfortable holding his hand at first and instinctively pulled away from him.
She feared he might hit her again, so she backed away from him, but instead, his gaze on her remained stoic throughout the time they were in the bathroom and reached for her hand again, without seeming bothered that she rebuffed him this time.
"Best we get you back in the room, so you can eat somethin' and get you warm," he advised her. " You need to keep warm."
Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror on her way out, Aurora choked back the tears at the sight of herself.
Aside from the fact that her face was covered in ugly black and blue bruises from how many times he had hit her across the face, she cringed at how much weight she was starting to lose. She'd lost about three to maybe four kgs from not eating for so long.
Her rib cage was visibly starting to protrude out of the side of her stomach and her complexion was pale -- haunting almost like a ghost to the point where she was starting to no longer recognise herself anymore.
She knew It wouldn't be long before she would be a shell of a woman she once was if she didn't get out of this place and away from him soon.
"You'll be okay once, you eat somethin'," he assured her, leading her down the hallway, with one hand pressed up against her shoulder blade and the other holding her hand as he steered her back to her prison. " What you need is a decent breakfast and a long rest."
No, you are wrong. What I need is my life back that you stole from me, she thought, feeling the lump in her throat, blinking the tears away, so he didn't catch her on the brink of balling her eyes out and hitting her again.
She hated that she had to always watch what she said or how she acted around him all the time, not wanting to provoke another psychotic episode of him punching her in the face or starving her to death.
Once she was taken back to her room, Ryder continued to be attentive and patient with her as he removed the rope that had been cutting into her wrists for so long and helped her into bed, tucking her in like a sick child.
Normally, he would be snappy towards her and fly off the handle if she took too long to do something, but he had been strangely pleasant and calm with her as if he were making up for the way he had been treating her.
The lids of her eyes kept opening and closing while she lay there tucked under the covers, he placed over her as she kept slipping in and out of consciousness, drifting between sleepiness and wakefulness.
Opening her eyes, for longer than she could endure, Aurora caught sight of Ryder placing the tray of food down on her lap.
Peering down at it, her eyes widened and she had to do a double take as she looked at the scrambled eggs, five pieces of buttered toast, a few strips of streaky bacon, blueberry pancakes, and a tall glass of orange juice in front of her.
As usual, everything was all neatly arranged and meticulously prepared, with not even a single crumb on the plate or thing out of place. She noticed there had been a much more adequate helping of food on her plate this time, than the last time he fed her.
"Eat up, you look starved to death, " he coaxed her, motioning her to acknowledge the food he just shoved in her face. " I made seconds if that don't fill ya up."
He was pushing the tray in front of her, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her and lifting the fork in her hand, prompting her to eat.
She was just about to take the fork from him when his phone started vibrating in his jeans pocket.
He looked flustered by the unexpected sound of his ringtone intrusively ringing in his pocket and backed away from her, letting out a dismissive grunt, when he glanced down at the screen.
He held the phone away from her, calculatedly tilting it from her vision, as if he were deliberately hiding the screen from her, not wanting her to see who was calling him.
Stumbling to his feet, he became fidgety all of a sudden and began straightening the creases from his blue denim jeans, Ryder positioned his cell phone to his chest. He idly threaded a hand through his scruffy brown hair, which Aurora noticed he would do often when he was on edge about something.
" I gotta take this," he explained in a gruff voice, his countenance holding a strained and somewhat annoyed expression of wanting to be with her, instead of taking the call. " Go ahead and eat up. I'll be back just now."
And with that, Ryder hurried out of the room, locking the door, as soon as he closed it like he always did.
Expecting him to disappear into another room, so she couldn't hear what he was saying, he stood in the hallway talking to someone on the phone.
Aurora reckoned if she stood closer enough to the door, she could possibly hear who was on the other end of the call and why he was hiding this person from her.
Even though, she knew getting out of this bed would have been the hardest thing in the world to do, her curiosity about who Ryder was talking to, motivated her to rise to her feet. She had to find out.
Using every last ounce of strength she had left in her frail body, Aurora placed her untouched breakfast down on the floor and made it to the door, determined to find out what he was up to.
After eavesdropping in on his conversation and the call ended, Aurora's heart started thrashing in her ears, as she just stood there in shock once she'd found out what Ryder had been hiding from her.