We fit together like puzzle pieces, a jigsaw with no name and no end image. All of our jagged edges and our broken, awkwardly healed places matched each other, holding us together with a bond so tight we could not be ripped apart.
My body recovered, and while I still woke screaming and bloody, still broke down in tears and pure panic, my mind, too began to heal. December came and went, the red and green of the holiday season fading into the sad grey and dull brown of January. Slowly, slowly, life filtered back into me. My cheeks pinked, the spaces between my ribs filling in. My cuts and bruises and broken bones knitted, leaving me whole for the first time in months.
Lex left the mansion more and more often, taking day trips into the city to work-but not overnight. Never overnight. He refused to leave me to myself during the dark hours. The trust that I had thoroughly crushed rebuilt, fragile and thin, but there. The ring on my left hand reminded me of who I was, of the promise I had made. It was a symbol of my commitment-to stay alive, to stay.
Snow still stood knee deep around most of the property. It drifted into little peaks, making the lawns looks like waves of an ocean. The garden in the back froze over, the rose bushes standing bare and crooked, weighed down by ice. I liked to sit in the gazebos, huddled in my winter coat, and let the frigid air recenter my brain. The cold was sharp, and it kept my mind clear. Lex didn't like me outside alone, but I told him over and over that I was safe, that I could yell for the groundskeeper or maids if I fell or needed help.
The problem was that I didn't get a chance to yell.
I was tucked up on the wooden bench, watching a bird as it pecked at the seeds I spread out over the crust of the snow for it. It was fat, it's feathers fluffed out against the chill. I loved the way they hopped, never breaking into the snow beneath. My parents used to put out pine cones covered in peanut butter for the birds in the winter, to help them through the lean times. Every time a chickadee flew by, it reminded me of them, pulling my attention inwards. I was watching this bird, remembering making the bird feeders at our scrubbed pine table, when a hand closed over my mouth.
I tried to bite at it, but it was covered
in thick black leather. I felt someone shift behind me, pulling me tightly to their chest. I scrabbled at the arm that held me captive, trying to find purchase with my nails.
"Don't fight." Someone said. "This will be so much easier on everyone if you come quietly."
I kept fighting as I was dragged to my feet, kicking and squirming, but I froze when I felt the cold steel of a gun pressed to my head.
"You're more valuable alive, but I won't hesitate to pull this trigger and let Luthor find the inside of your head splattered through his nice garden." I clenched my jaw, but let myself go limp. "There's a good girl."
My hands were cuffed behind me, and I was thrown over my assailant's shoulder as if I weighed nothing at all. I was tempted to cry out, but the reminder of the gun to my temple kept me silent.
Whoever was kidnapping me clearly had insider knowledge of the place. He carried me along the footpath, and through the trees that bordered the property. Not only would our footprints be completely indistinguishable, but no one would be able to see us from any of the windows. I knew the security cameras didn't extend to the property line. When Lex got home, I would be gone without a trace. There would be no way to know who had grabbed me, or where we went. I cursed myself for refusing to wear the tracker necklace.
There was a car idling beyond the trees. I was set down on the snowy ground, and for the first time I caught sight of my attacker. He was young-older than Lex, but still young. Half his face was concealed with a black scarf, but his blue eyes were cold. He drew a length of black cloth from his pocket, and squatted in front of me.
"I'm going to blindfold you." He said. "And I'll gag you if you so much as open that pretty mouth of yours. Nod if you understand."
I nodded, but I still shrank away as he approached with the blindfold. With a grunt, he grabbed the back of my head, and held me still as he tied the cloth around my eyes. I let out a sob of fear, and then clenched my teeth, trying to keep quiet.
The man lifted me into the backseat of the car, carefully buckling a seatbelt around my waist. I wanted to laugh. He had threatened to shoot me, but still worried about road safety.
"Sorry bout this, love." A british voice said. I jumped, but a hand pressed against my neck. There was a pinch, and suddenly my eyes grew heavy. I had been drugged.
***
"Christ, Tom, how much did you give her?" Someone shook my shoulder. "She's been out cold for nearly six hours."
"She's smaller than what I was told." The same british voice said. "But look. She's coming around."
I opened my eyes cautiously. The blindfold was gone, and I was laying down, my wrists, waist and ankles tied down. Someone had stripped me down to my white camisole and black shorts. A white light blinded me, and I blinked as it seared my eyes.
"Welcome back to world of the living." I turned my head. The same man who had kidnapped me was sitting by the top of the table, a skinny, black-haired man standing behind him. I looked around wildly, pulling at the bonds that held me down. The room around me looked dark, and I couldn't make anything out.
"You can't get out." The man said. "Don't try. Save your strength."
"What do you want from me?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Whatever I've done, I'm sorry."
"She's terrified, Harper." Tom said. "I told you not to tie her down like that. She looks sweet, I doubt she'll put up much of a fight."
Harper rolled his eyes at his colleague, turning to look at him in annoyance.
"Orders are orders, and you're not the one she tried to bite back at the house." He showed me his hand. There was aring of bruises around one of his knuckles, where I had managed to clamp down around his glove.
"Please." I said. "I don't know what I've done."
"You haven't done anything." A familiar female voice came from the dark. I squinted, and then gasped as Bianca stepped into the light. She was in a olive green dress, and she examined her nails as she spoke to me. "But you know plenty. You've been living with Alexander for months now. I'm sure you know more about his... business than anyone else."
"So you only dated him to collect information." I ignored the jibe, and set my jaw. "I thought something was odd. He doesn't really go for evil or shallow girls."
Bianca leaned over me, smiling smugly. I wished my hands were untied so I could slap her right across her perfectly made-up face.
"No, he goes for helpless little crybabies." Bianca sneered. "You're going to tell me everything you know about Alexander and LexCorp."
"Or what?" I spat back.
"Harper is very gifting in twisting information out of people, and if that doesn't work, Tom is handy in dentistry, if you understand my meaning."
"I don't know anything." A bolt of fear shot through my gut. No one knew where I was, and these people would torture me for information I didn't have.
"See, I just don't believe you." Bianca said, shaking her head. "Let's try that again. Where is Alexander getting his communication technology?"
She leaned over, searching my face. With all the strength and bravery I could muster, I spat in her face. She shrieked, frantically wiping at her eyes.
"You little bitch!" She howled. "You'll pay for that. Harper, do what you want. Keep her alive and conscious. When she's done talking, kill her."
Bianca disappeared, and a door slammed somewhere. A sob built in my chest, but I suppressed it, tilting my head back. I was going to protect Lex if it was the last thing I did, which it probably would be. It had been six hours since I had been taken. He would be home by now, or at least on the way. Any minute he would find the empty house. I wondered if would think I had run away.
"Where shall we start?" Harper asked, just out of view. "Nowhere too visible."
I didn't react, but stared straight up. There was the sound of metal on metal,
and the Harper's face hovered over mine. He held a scalpel in one hand, a bottle of water in the other.
"Don't move too much. I wouldn't want to slip and cut something important. Boss wants you to talk, not bleed out first cut I make." He said seriously. "Come on, Ruth. Just give us something."
I bit my lip, and he sighed. It sounded truly regretful. He lifted the hem of my shirt, leaving it at the base of my sternum. There was a touch of cold steel to one of my ribs, and I clenched my fists. The gold of my ring bit into my fingers, and I focussed on it. I had to do this. I didn't know much, but I was going to keep everything I had gleaned to myself.
"I don't have to do this. Just tell us where Luthor learned about Kryptonian technology." Harper said. The steel pressed deeper, but I did not react. Tom shut his eyes, and moved away. Even Harper looked vaguely remorseful.
In one swift motion, he pulled his hand down along the line of my rib. A scream ripped it's way out of my throat, and my back arched off the table as far as the band around my waist allowed. I felt blood, hot and thick, puddle on the table underneath me.
"Mate." Tom put a hand on Harper's shoulder. "Go easy. She's young."
"No younger than you or I when we got into this business." Harper said grimly. "I have my orders, Tom. Stay out of the way."
I was choking on my own tears, and I coughed, every breath sending a new wave of pain through me. Harper raised the scalpel again, the blade reddened with my blood, and again, he pressed it to my rib. He was making his way up them, like a ladder.
"How did Luthor create the monstrosity in the crashed ship?" Harper asked, his voice rough. I turned my head, tucked it into my shoulder. I screamed again, the pool of blood underneath me growing.
It carried on like this until I lost count of the questions, until I was coughing up blood. I was out of ribs, out of strength, out of time. I knew I couldn't last. I lost consciousness more than once, but every time Harper brought me back with a splash of water to the face. Tom sat by my side, his hand threaded through mine. He squeezed it with every slice, wiped the water from my eyes and nose, kept me from flinching away from the knife.
"Where did Luthor get the Kryptonite?" Harper asked.
"Please, Ruth, just tell us." Tom pleaded with me. "Whatever Luthor has over you, it can't be worse than this."
"No." I rasped. "Just kill me and get it over with, you coward."
Harper looked at Tom, who nodded sadly. He ran a thumb over the back of my hand, and Harper brought over a needle and a small vial of a clear fluid, setting the scalpel down next to me.
Tom read the label of the vial, and then inserted the needle, drawing up a full syringe.
"This will put you to sleep, Ruth." He explained softly. "It will be like drifting away. You won't feel a thing."
"You're just giving up?" I asked, my voice barely recognizable. "That's all you got?"
"Ruth, just take it." Harper said. "You don't have much left to give. It's better this way."
Tom took my arm, turning it gently it the bonds. He swiped an alcohol pad over the crook of my elbow, where the soft skin had finally healed from my nighttime attacks. Harper brushed my hair from my face, his palm warm on my forehead. Tom pressed the needle into the vein, letting it slide to the end. He slowly pushed on the syringe.
My head swam as the drug began to enter my bloodstream, and so I thought I was hallucinating when the door was kicked it, when the needle was ripped from my vein, when someone pressed towels to my destroyed torso. My arms and legs were freed, and someone was lifting me, green camouflage fatigues swirling in front of my face.
I coughed, and the soldier carrying me shifted me in his arms, his face coming into view.
"You're alive." He said. "Hold on. Just hold on."
We turned through dark cement corridors, flanked by more soldiers, guns drawn. I let my head fall back, closing my eyes. After an eternity, I felt cool air on my face, raindrops on my forehead. Red lights flashed around me, and I caught sight of Lex amid a group of policemen.
"Put me down." I said, pushing away from the soldier's chest. "Put me down!"
"You're too weak, miss." He held me tighter, but I beat at him until he relented. It wasn't like I could go far.
"Lex!" I called, almost crumpling as my feet hit slick grass. I stumbled towards him, and he turned to look as a wave of people surged to help me up. I pushed them away.
"Ruth." He rushed forwards, catching me as I fell. I slackened against him, the ground coming up to meet up. "My god." He kept whispering as he stroked my hair. "My god."
"I didn't tell them anything, I swear." I said, and then looked down to where my blood was seeping into Lex's white shirt. "I'm bleeding on you."
"Can I get paramedics over here?" He yelled, and I set my head on his shoulder. Gloved hands reached for me, and I finally let the darkness defeat me.
Bit by bit, I plummeted into the dream.