The Silence That Surrounds

Sophia’s POV

My muffled sobs elected through the silent basement many hours later. In fact, my body was so riddled with throbbing pain that I tried letting my body go limp in the chains. It didn’t work, not even in numbing my misery.

My head picked up slightly at the sound of the basement door opening. I wasn’t able to see but I could hear his footsteps. They were slow but confident.

Harry.

He chuckled, approaching me. “Ms. Stone, you look absolutely horrid. Blood down your legs, snot coming out your nose and drool running down your chin? Your father would be utterly embarrassed if pictures like this leaked out to the media, wouldn’t he? Maybe that’s an idea…” Harry tailed off as I let out another muffled sob.

I could feel him behind me undoing my gag.

“Yuck, you’ll be needing another one of these, it’s absolutely drenched. Really Ms. Stone, try to have some control over your fluids.” He sneered but from the tone I could tell he was trying to get a reaction. I was too broken down to fight.

“W-water? Please?” I begged quietly, my voice no more than a crackled whisper, my sobs quietly dying in my stomach.

“Are you sorry you went off on me and threw a bloody temper tantrum? Your words are pretty Ms. Stone but they’re like your father’s, no substance. So maybe you shouldn’t say anything.” Harry said after a second thought crossed his mind.

“I-I’m sorry. Please? I’m sorry.” I begged pathetically, which made Harry scoff.

“Yeah right. If you were so sorry, princess, you would start behaving and stop being so difficult but what do I expect from a spoiled prat?” He continued before I felt him using the drenched bandana that had been in my mouth to wipe the drool from my chin and neck before bringing it to my nose. “Let’s get your nose unclogged, blow it as hard as you can.”

I did as he asked, my cheeks flushing. I was suddenly very aware of my nakedness. Especially since he had set his hand on my bare shoulder to stifle my shivering body. I had never been in such pain in my life, the box couldn’t compare and I had barely recovered from there before my body was being pushed into another punishment.

Harry didn’t pause in his task of cleaning my face. It was done with detachedness. It wasn’t done gently or cruelly. He was simply following his own orders to make sure I could breathe. Though I had never been so happy to hear a water bottle uncapping in my life.

A moment later, I felt it wash over the inside of my thighs, its coldness cascading over skin and washing the blood trailing down my legs.

I whimpered. Not because I was embarrassed or that he’d do something to me but because I craved to quench my desert throat.

Harry laughed, his hands guiding a washcloth over my thighs but leaving everything else alone. I was never so thankful for that.

“Niall is coming in to feed you in a few minutes. He’ll give you your water. I just came in to feed your cat and clean you up. You would think after seven years those boys would be comfortable enough to deal with a girl on her period. Pathetic really – speaking of, you haven’t used the bucket. It’s been thirteen hours, Ms. Stone. You shouldn’t hold it like that, you’ll get a UTI.” Harry tsked, his hand sliding from my shoulder to my lower back, his touch making my skin shiver.

“I-I’m sorry.” I repeated, making him chuckle.

“So you keep saying. If you’re sorry, prove it to me.” Harry mocked, pulling the blindfold from my face so I was staring into his dark monstrous orbs.

“H-how?”

He smirked, his other hand dropping the washcloth and bringing it to my face, using his thumb to wipe away the frightened tears.

“By being a good girl, you think you could manage that for three months? I can make your stay comfortable or I can make it a nightmare. This –“He gestured out to me. “What I’m making you go through right now isn’t anything. I can make the ninth circle of hell sound like a tropical vacation but I hate the extra work. Do you think I enjoy coming down here and washing period blood from you, cleaning your face so you don’t suffocate? You have made so much extra work for my men and me. This needs to stop, you need to get a hold of yourself or I’m going to have to make this room a permanent housing destination. Why do you think there’s a bed down here? These chains? Holding boxes, coffins? You aren’t the only one who has thought they could escape or manipulate and intimidate us to get what they want. You’re here Ms. Stone, it’s time to adapt or you will find yourself in here with Mr. Puss. I’m not a complete monster but I’m not here to be your friend either, I am your captor, I punish when you need to be punished and I give you what you need when I see you’re at a breaking point. I’m not even a mentor to my men. They deal with their own problems and I deal with mine. This is our life and it is yours for right now too. Do you understand?”

I nod my head.

“Y-yes.” I swallow and make sure I don’t break eye contact.

Harry’s eyes seem to lighten and contract with a silent smirk.

“So, if I let you down from there – against my better judgment, you won’t fight me? You’ll do as I say?”

I nod again.

It was painful and my body ached. Staying in the position I was forced wasn’t helping matters. I knew physically and mentally I wouldn’t be able to stay like this for two days.

“I promise. I just want to be tied down and sleep.” I begged him, my voice still pathetically drained.

“Okay, then a test,” He said, walking to where he had set down the can of cat food. I recognized it as the stuff I usually get for Tum Tum’s. “Prove to me your words aren’t just pretty little sounds leaving pretty little lips. If you want your freedom from those chains, you’ll eat this.”

I physically gagged as he picked the can up and walked back.

“No bloody way.” I tried to growl but it came out high pitched and panicked.

Harry laughed, approaching me.

“See? Just like your father. Promises made but never kept.”

His voice was tight with sardonic amusement and my wide eyes staring back into his.

“I’ll do anything else –“ I paused, swallowing hard.

“Really? Alright, I’ll unchain you and release those pretty little fingers. I haven’t had a good wank in a while, I wouldn’t mind some pleasant release, luv.” He teased, his voice unrelenting.

I felt his hand on my lower back again, his fingers tightening into a fist, his touch burning me.

“What can I do? What do you want from me, how am I supposed to prove anything to you? I promise not to escape, can’t that be promise enough?! Can’t you just tie me back in bed and leave me? Can’t I start earning your trust? You said you aren’t a complete monster! If you aren’t one, why are you making me do this?” I sobbed once more, my chest heaving in fear and anxiety. It wasn’t bad enough he stripped me of my dignity and independence but now he aimed to destroy my integrity and cast it in a shadow of humility.

Harry was calm, his face losing its good humor from a moment ago. It was now back into a thin line.

“I’m not making you do anything, luv. It was a simple test and you obviously don’t want to, so hey; hang there for the next bloody day and a half, I honestly don’t really care. Excuse me, I have a cat to feed and Niall has a bitch to feed, isn’t that right, lovely?” Harry cooed, his dark eyes glaring under the limited light leaking in from somewhere above me.

I didn’t reply and simply let myself hang there as Harry whistled twice for Niall. Strangely, Mister Tum Tum’s also came running up to him.

“Your cat listens better than you do.” Harry chuckled as I rested my face on my aching arm and watched my cat rub up against my captor – a monster.

Harry bent down and petted Tum’s gently behind his ear, cooing at him in sadistic baby talk. My cat didn’t even know what he was saying, all he cared about was the food.

“Louis was supposed to shoot Tum Tum’s – why didn’t he?” I croaked, still hiccupping to catch my breath, watching Louis take the lid off the cat food and set it down.

“Louis has a soft spot for animals. He can kill a two year old but a bloody cat? Forget it.” Harry seemed to scowl.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” I stuttered, afraid to ask as he looked at my innocent cat contently eating his food.

He smirked.

“Now Ms. Stone, do you want me to give you a simple answer or my answer by example?” He asked, walking behind my cat, gently stepping on my cat’s tail but adding no pressure. My cat purred loudly at the response and I felt my mouth finally shut.

“That’s what I thought. I’m capable of anything Ms. Stone, my training allowed me simply no other pleasure. Now, if you will excuse me I have some things to take care of. Niall will come down with your tray.” Harry excused himself, making sure to turn around and step off my cat’s tail before taking a step, leaving my cat to eat in blissful ignorant peace.

I closed my eyes tiredly and finally decided to let my bladder relax, realizing I had a moment of peace. I had finished relieving myself into the rusted bucket by the time I heard footsteps coming down the steps again.

Niall was guarded, his eyes a distant blue.

“Good evening, Ms. Stone. How are ya holding up?” Niall asked politely, walking up and showing me the small bowl of food. It was leftovers from yesterday; the pasta steaming hot.

I swallowed but didn’t answer.

He shrugged.

“Very well then, shall we?” He gestured out to the food before picking up a fork from the bowl, a few noodles stabbed on the prongs and guiding it to my lips.

I took a bite, the pasta hot on my tongue.

“Can I have some water, please?” I asked him timidly, seeing him nod and reach back into his pocket, pulling out a bottle, setting the tray down.

He gave me the drink, the liquid rejuvenating my throat.

“Thank you. Can I ask you something, please?”

Niall shrugged and made a small gesture.

“Why did you want to get into a life like this? Kidnapping girls –“ I started asking but he caught me off.

“We don’t just kidnap girls, dove. We kidnap boys, men, women, kids –infants, although that’s a rarity. We keep hostage many walks of life. A hooker’s son whose mother owed money to someone of your stature, Ms. Stone. As for me? To be fair had I had the choice, I wouldn’t have picked this life at all. I was happy with my old but sometimes, you simply have no other options. Especially once you’ve lost everything to go back to.” Niall replied almost sadly. It was the first real emotion I had seen from any of them.

“That doesn’t make any sense? What about Harry? He said his training allowed him no pleasure.” I gulped, moving away from the fork when Niall picked the bowl up and offered me another bite. I didn’t want it, I wanted to know what the fuck was going on.

Niall sighed in frustration and threw the bowl on the ground before stalking away, pausing at the stairs to turn back.

“I was kidnapped, Ms. Stone. Six years ago. I was a mistaken identity. By the time Harry realized his mistake, it had been too late. His father forced him to own up to it – now here I am. Zayn, Liam. They were both kidnapped but the parents didn’t pay. They have other talents that were of use so Harry’s father kept them around. Louis joined on his own accord when he met Harry, he’s Harry’s protégé. Harry was trained by his father at the age of thirteen, he’s been here the longest of any of us. It was never his choice but he was trapped and went along with it. There were more but some were killed, some traded to other gangs in our network and others simply got lucky and disappeared. We aren’t that lucky. His father has ways of finding us…besides, what’s the point in leaving when everything else has been taken from you?”

His voice was bitter as he turned and went up the steps, leaving me in the dark, dim basement.

I let the shock radiate off my body before two small words left my mouth.

“Oh God.”

Notes