Hollow Repentance

- - - - - Izzy's POV - - - - -

I hadn't slept all night. Once I had finally shook the images of my family from my mind, I had decided to try and get away. Struggling against the bed sheets didn't work, nor did trying to slide past them. Well, I couldn't stand up, since Torren was smart enough to remember to tie my legs as well, so I was a little stuck for ideas with a long time still to spare.

I stopped to catch my breath, thinking about how I had gotton into this mess. I should have known that I wouldn't have a chance to escape with someone like Torren watching me. No, not watching me. Watching over me. So now I was trapped here, all alone, waiting for him to return.

I began to recall what had happened last night in parts; the conversation on the porch, running away from Torren and Dimi, and the last bit I could remember was screaming at Torren that I hated him. Wait, there was something else. Oh, I fell in the mud. Hold on, did that really happen or was I dreaming? Well, if it was true, I certainly needed to clean myself off and change my clothes. I caught something out of the corner of my eye.

These aren't my clothes! I was so sleepy I hadn't realised before. These must be Torren's, but that means-- that means he undressed me! Urgh, I feel so violated and embarrassed. He would most definitely pay for that one! If I wasn't a little worried about going to jail, I would have been more than willing to kill him, that arrogant attitude of his just drove me crazy. And he thinks that he can do whatever he likes with me just because he's stronger. Ooh, he makes me so frustrated! I would be relieved if I never saw him again. Well, as long as somebody still came and untied me of course.

By now, it was past midday and he still hadn't come. Had he forgotten about me? I wasn't prepared to stay here any longer, the day was already almost over. I started thrashing around with the little strength I had, rocking the chair from side to side, shuffling slightly forwards. If I could just get the chair to tip, it would break and I would get loose; that or Torren would hear and remember about me. Either way, I would get out of the chair. Eventually, just as I was ready to give up, the chair tipped far enough.

I yelped as it overturned and landed with a crash on the carpet. Damn it! The chair didn't break, but at least it made a loud noise for Torren to hear. I waited impatiently, my body hanging to one side of the overturned chair. This was worse than before. Shuffling slightly, I was able to see the door, but it never moved. Staring for what seemed like hours, the handle didn't turn and I couldn't hear any footsteps. It hadn't worked. Sighing in disappointment, I turned my head into the chair and closed my eyes, hoping to get some much needed sleep.

Several hours later, I opened my eyes into complete darkness. Even though I had just slept, I had very little energy and my main insentive was to go back to sleep. My stomach growled and I clenched my hands into fists to ignore the pain. I was so hungry, I would have even eaten the bed sheets if I could have reached them! Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat. Footsteps... Torren was coming.

I glared menacingly at the door as the handle dipped, swinging slowly open to reveal Torren, leaning casually against the door frame, with a mug in one hand. I half expected him to be surprised that I had compromised myself into such a position, but he just smiled warmly and chuckled as he approached.

"Oh, so you're still here, I see. You do seem to have tried pretty well, though. So, did you get much sleep then, child?"

I snarled at him viciously, feeling my eyes grow heavier by the second. I watched him carefully as he turned and sat the mug on the set of drawers behind him, returning to kneel beside me. I really didn't want to talk to him and turned my head to the other side where the chair blocked my view.

Torren took hold of my chin lightly in his hand and turned my face to meet his with ease.

"Aww, are you embarrassed child?"

I saw his eyes brighten childishly as my eyes grew heavy once again and I allowed them to close as I yawned silently. I listened as Torren sighed contently (which really annoyed me) and I felt his sleeve brush lightly against my cheek as he withdrew his hand.

"Come on, then. Lets get you out of here."

My head snapped towards him as he took hold of the chair with both hands and lifted it into the air as if I wasn't even in it. Any normal person would have struggled even if only slightly from the weight. I screamed hoarsely. My mouth was so dry, it even hurt to breathe. A small smile breaking at the corners of his mouth, he set me down to one side of the room and crossed back to the drawers, collecting his mug and returning to my side.
"You want a drink?"

He held the mug out in front of me and I stared longingly at the liquid within. I wasn't particularly keen on just water, but this time, I didn't care. I glanced up at him and he caught my desperate expression. Nodding slightly, Torren placed a hand at the back of my head and brought the mug up to my mouth. Tipping my head back slightly, I gulped greedily as he poured the water through my parted lips. It felt like pure gold sliding down my throat.

I gasped for breath as he withdrew the now empty mug and threw it carefully onto the bed to the right of us. Pulling his jacket sleeve over his hand, he wiped the water drops from my chin and stepped back, smiling.

"By, you sure were thirsty. So, would you like to come out of there now? I will be making our dinner in a little while, so you will have to come downstairs and stay wherever I put you. Do you understand child?"

I wasn't really listening. My mind fazed over from the word 'dinner'. I snapped back to reality and slowly focused on him as his hand grasped my shoulder and shook me gently. I mumbled, hoping he wasn't expecting an actual reply to whatever he had just asked. Grinning at me, Torren ruffled my hair and knelt down to unstrap my arms. I watched him cautiously, wondering what would happen if I made a run for it. Chuckling randomly, Torren continued to untie the bed sheets.

"Don't even bother! You won't get very far and then you won't get anything to eat at all."

Finally releasing my first arm, he stood up and wandered over to the other side, working at the knots he had firmly reinforced earlier. I didn't understand how he knew what I was thinking, but his argument did make a little sense. I hadn't got very far last time and I was really hungry. If he wasn't careful, I would probably eat him if I got much hungrier. Once both arms were free, I caressed my wrists tenderly, rubbing the irritated skin where the bed sheets had dug in.

"Can't you loosen that any quicker?! Those sheets are really tight and my legs are numb!"

"You know, you could be a little more grateful, child. I'm helping you out here. Ohh, and I'm such an idiot!"

I stared at him, wondering if he had finally started to feel guilty for putting me here in the first place. Perhaps he did have some human emotion in him. Deep, deep down. Ha! Sure, that would be the day. I stared petrified at his hand as he drew a Swiss knife from his pocket and flipped it up, holding the blade out in front of me.

I screamed and thrashed my arms wildly at him, knocking him off balance and onto his back once again. Ignoring the fact that he had already dropped the knife, I continued to struggle, soon knocking the chair over, with me still attached to it. On my hands and knees, I crawled to the corner of the room with the chair holding me close to the ground, covering my head with my hands and curling up as tightly as humanly possible with an armchair strapped to your back.

Before I realised that I had even moved, the chair was upright again and I was sat rigidly in the centre, my arms gripped over my head and shaking violently. Torren was leaning over me with one knee rested on the chair beside me, his strong arms wrapped firmly around my neck and shoulders, holding me still.

"No...no...please don't...I don't wanna..."

"It's okay, child. It's okay. Calm down. Now, what happened?"

I lifted my head up and our eyes met, tears streaming down my cheeks and absorbing into my lap. His eyes were as dark as ever, I could barely see any colour in them, but this time, they were wide and concerned. I didn't speak, I couldn't speak and just stared over his shoulder at the knife laid threateningly on the carpet. Following my gaze, Torren's eyes rested on the knife and jolted back to face me.

"Oh! When I pulled out the-- and then you thought tha-- Oh, poor girl," he stammered, tightening his grip on me. "I wasn't going to stab you, I just forgot I had the knife in my pocket. I was going to use it to cut through the bed sheets quicker."

I stared at him as he smiled sympathetically and cradled my head in his arms, whispering "Poor child" over and over again in a soothing tone. Pushing away from him lightly, I felt myself flush a deep shade of pink and wiped my eyes and cheeks with the back of my hands. Looking back to Torren, I watched cautiously as he picked up the knife once again and proceeded to slice through the bed sheets with ease. In moments, I was free. I jolted down and rubbed my ankles tenderly, massaging the gashes in my skin. As I did so, I glared at him threateningly.

"Well, it's your own fault. If you'd have just listened to me to begin with, none of this would have happened."

I growled and pounced at him, grabbing his lapel in one hand and his jacket sleeve in the other. It was one of the only things I had ever been able to apply to my fights from when I was younger in martial arts lessons, and it was the only thing that I could actually do! To my surprise, he responded perfectly to my attack, breaking my balance and dropping me to the ground.

I was so tired, I could barely move. As he advanced down on me, I tried to roll to the left but my reactions were slow. Torren knelt across me, pinning me to the floor with his hands holding my shoulders roughly.

I stared horrified into his bottomless eyes. Torren...Torren knew martial arts?! I had no chance now. I let out a disappointed moan and released his shirt, dropping my arms down by my sides. I was so annoyed with myself. Relaxing his arms, Torren sat back satisfied and smiled slightly, tilting his head to be parallel with mine.

"Have you used up the last of your energy now? It certainly isn't like you to give up so quickly. Or at all, to be perfectly honest. Come on then, child. Lets go downstairs so I can get dinner started."

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