I woke in the dark and the cold of the next day, staring into the blackness of this confinement's ceiling. The hatred inside me was slowly wilting, replaced by a gasping, blinding pain that removed every inch of thought from my mind. My back ached from the embrace of the stiff, wooden floor, but it was all I had left.

 The attic was heavy with the scent of metal, scalding and burning in my every inhale.  I tried to hold my breath, desperate to block out that pungent odour. Tears gathered around my eyes and tremors escape my body. But at least it was something that the darkness will hide.

The crack of a door in the distance meant the boy was awake.

I eyed his silhouette and the structure of his lean, tall build immediately made my heart race. Burning fear floated around my frame, covering me in something that feels almost like agony.

For a second, I feel his blistering gaze connect with mine, growing red-hot sparks that whispered across my limbs. I looked away.

Villain, murderer, kidnapper... 

One sharp inhale and he was looming over me, cold and empty eyes fixated on mine. I was afraid to breathe. He was so powerful, so menacing, that with a jolt of his wrists he could crush the veins of my throat. I felt desperate and impotent beneath the dangerous smirk and angry darkness of his eyes. I wondered what colour they were in the light.

A gleam trembled upon his figure, and I let myself exhale. There were still ways to escape, I was sure.

"Stand up," he menaced suddenly, and all my comforts dissipated and bloomed again into seeds of imminent fear. He stepped forward and dug his cold fingers into my arms, attempting to hold me up. I recoiled with a grit of resentment. That dangerous, threatening touch- it felt like my father.

"No," I gasped, "Don't touch me."

"Just stand up." He was shaking his head now, hauling my body forwards and up until I was staggering under his clutch. He dragged me so hard that blood trailed from my crushed shoes. My skin felt like a sieve, punctured by needles of interwoven pain. 

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" I felt my cries shatter meaninglessly in the dark, anguish pressing me from all sides. 

He cursed under his breath silently. "Let you go? No." I feel his lean frame taut by my side, his threats pulling me back into a world I desperately wanted to forget. 

No, I can't think of him right now. Not my father.

I feel the rest of my strength extinguish and sink into misty despair. Oh, how I pleaded to the world for this terror to stop, for all of this to be a horrid dream. I felt my body collapse and slump upon the boy who was, just a second ago, holding me with wild, vehement brutality. His hard, solid back melted with mine, although only for a split moment. Almost mechanically, I recoiled from the touch.

"Fine, fine," he growled beneath rushing breaths. "you can sit down." His gaze, which had previously torn threateningly through me, was now glistening with an almost incomprehensible tenderness. Perhaps I had mistaken his gaze. Humiliation seared my flesh, a fire catching in my stomach.

"It... hurts..." I murmured softly, and a groan escaped my lips. The tremors had passed, yet the pain that fought me was now clearer than ever. I felt my frail head being placed upon the wall softly, and his fingers gripping my shoulders. I was too dizzy to repulse his nearness now.

"Wait," he instructed, "I'll go fetch some blankets for you." I felt a pang of relief, for my body was now desperately yearning for warmth. The blankets, as he soon wrapped around my torso, burned of a soothing, familiar smell, which momentarily eased me. About why, I wasn't sure.

He stared at me, and I dared to meet his gaze.

His was studying me intensely, running a hand through his disheveled hair. His eyes were so focused and clear, despite the shroud that enveloped us. It was almost as if he was seeing through my skin. My gaze slid to the floor, defeated.

For a prolonged moment, both of us sank under an ocean of silence, and neither of us shifted in our proximity. He was regarding me with an odd, sympathizing look, a look that appeared strangely distant, despite our closeness. He was the first to break the steely silence.

"What's your name?" His voice pricks my skin, constricting my throat and lungs until I could barely speak. His voice was deep, too deep, enriched by a fibre of sentiment. He clenched his jaws, ran a hand through his hair again. His brow was furrowed, the question hanging uneasily upon his lips. Every inch of his body was raw with untamed power, the muscles of his arm tightening with every movement as he sat down next to me.

"Lily," I answered quietly. "I'm Lily.'

His lips softened into a smile. He leaned towards me and slowly repeated my name. The words sounded strange from his deep, rich voice, almost as if he was afraid to forget it. "I'm Flynn." he said, then I heard a long, drawn-out sigh. He was suddenly so still, so gentle, that shock grazed my throat until I could barely reply.

 He's a murderer, I reminded myself.

"You know... if you need anything, just tell me. I won't hurt you."

Anger tore across my limbs like bruises, his words a mockery to my ears. He won't hurt me? Yet he already had, and I will have nothing but hate towards him. The ridicule mounted within me until I could barely suppress my mounting fury. I drew in a deep breath.

"Well, why don't you just let me go, Flynn?" I directed my gaze towards the graze of sunlight in the distance, the illusion of escape. "I thought you saved me, but you tortured me instead. I just want to..." I released those words which I never would've thought I would say. "I want to... go home."

I barely realized how tight I now grasped the fabric of the blanket. It was only until the pain blossomed within my nails that I loosened my grip.

For a second, he looked as if he was about to say something, but remained silent. His blazing hot gaze crept up my throat, then up my cheeks, and nose, and eyes, which was now moist with tears. He quickly averted his gaze, but not fast enough to conceal a flash of inexplicable sadness.

"--So?" I demanded fiercely, reaching forwards to pull at his limp shirt. He startled, disentangling himself from his haze.

He stared at me for a moment, his expression conveying something torn between desperation and unease. He was still, his eyes hovering between me and the pressing gloom, averting the ire that crossed my face. He was afraid to move, I realized with a start, but why?

He swallowed nervously, clenching his fists tightly. I glared down at myself, to where his gaze seemed to flit and tremor restlessly. Shame clawed like flames through my stomach, and I hurriedly lifted the blanket over my body, concealing the slight glint of bare flesh unveiled through my wet, torn top. 

"I'll go and open the main door." with a flash, Flynn was on his feet and walking away into the distant stillness. I had forgotten how unventilated the attic was. Whether it was the humiliation, or the constant dread of entrapment, it seemed almost impossible to breathe. Dust choked the space around us, forming a hovering mist.

I gasped involuntarily as a blinding aura of light flooded the dark interiors suddenly. For a second, the kindling luminescence was so brilliant that the darkness was replaced by a heavenly glow; a ring of vibrant crimson. But the sightless shroud soon dissipated, and all was replaced by the scene of whirling dust and the bare room which ensnared me. Flynn was crouched before me, his eyes searching me peculiarly; prying, investigating, devouring. I gasped as his countenance came into view. He had perfect cobalt eyes, arresting me in its entrancing grip until all I could see was my own haggard reflection in those depths. I pressed my lips together and felt the blood pool within my mouth. 

The main door was now open, and a wave of crisp, enlightening air crept through the gap. I breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of the outside world which I had nearly forgotten. I could feel the scent of nature, of the chill wintry breeze, and the warm glow emitted by a merciful sun. It almost felt like... I was free.

It was dusk, and the afternoon glow were already rippling through the break from the door. It was a palliating remedy; as the call of nature sank my body to rest. But not for long. Flynn rose from his crouched stance. I realized all of a sudden that he was tall, very tall. His wild, dilapidated clothing was not large enough to fit him, and beneath the slits of the ruined apparel were curves of firm, molded skin. 

"I'm going to do something," he appeared indecisive, yet ultimately shook his head. "I need you to stay here."  When I gave him a look that almost said, why, he fixated me with a pleading glance, and I nodded.

I smiled as he faded into the darkness.

Flynn was gone, and the attic door was still open.

This was my chance at escape.

I hobbled to my feet, lodging my teeth against the back of my lips to avoid making a noise. I dreaded for a fearful cry to slip out of my throat at any instant. As quietly as possible, I made way across the shroud, every step seeming to drag with more effort than before.

The sickening reek drowned the entire attic, and now it was worse than ever. My breath shattered, my heart raced, as ever so slowly, I crossed the opened door.

A voice was behind me.

"Lily." It was Flynn's voice. I took one sharp breath, preparing to flight, before I froze, my hands curled into fists at my side. It was the pungent smell; fresh, dreadful, brooding. I knew what it was before I even looked back.

"No." I clenched my hands feebly behind my back, as I registered the slits of bloodied skin. He was holding the corpse in his arms, yet his eyes were fixed dangerously onto me, a cruel snare that I wanted to escape from. My legs were defeated, despite my every urge to dart out the door and disentangle myself from this lonely, horrifying place.

"I... I just wanted to check on what you were doing." The lies slipped out of my mouth tremulously, as I connected with his cold, cold glare. He was angry. Dangerous. Terrifying. My legs wouldn't budge.

He made no comment, but gestured for me to follow him. I conceded defeat to his demands, all the while the weight of fear burgeoning in my stomach. I walked out into the realm of sunlight.

The exterior world was so strange, so forlorn, yet reassuring at the same time. I realized that the area bordering the isolated building was a sector of rampant fields, with untamed grass leaping and rushing towards a drowning sun. Barred wires gleamed coldly in the distance, as if voicing a reminder of my dreadful imprisonment. I let him lead me towards the edge of this dreary pasture, glancing around at the forbidding greenery and the ominous beauty of the subtle, diffused sky. For a moment I almost forgot that a murderer was before me, holding the remnants of a bloody corpse in his arms.

Then suddenly, he stopped. That glisten of emptiness, that look devoid of emotion, came alit in his eyes again. His jaw clenched.

Startled, I halted, puzzled. There was an ominous air to him, one fueled by destruction. He was silent, scrutinizing the distance intensely, as if he was a malevolent hunter surveying his prey. And then I understood why. Standing just beyond the reaches of the ominous barbed wires, was the vague frame of a disheveled woman, eyes bloodshot and horror-struck as she stared back at us.

She... she saw us. That was of no doubt.

But that wasn't the only thing she had seen.

I glanced towards Flynn. Without a word, he was already striding briskly away from me, the color drained from his face and his lean frame tensed in anticipation, restless and uneasy. He was suddenly poised like an insidious hunter, hungry for blood. A bitter premonition gathered in my throat, strangling me inwardly. The earth beneath me seemed to tremble in forebode as he stalked towards his victim.

"Stop!" I cried, but he only continued to slip away from me, towards the shadow of that woman, recklessness tracing his every step. "What are you doing, Flynn?"

I heard a vague resonance of laughter, and he turned back towards me, an ominous smile illuminating his features.

"Oh, that," he smiled reassuringly, obscuring the bitter cold edge in his voice. "Don't worry. I'm going to kill her."