Hellbound Heart

In a hotel near the airport, Elle was sitting on the cold and hard floor, hugging her knees.

It had been four days since she opened her eyes and found herself locked up in this room. She did not know what happened. The last thing she remembered was her, just sitting in her room, waiting. There was a blank in her memory before she arrived at this place. The weird thing was that she was not harmed at all. Not even a scratch on her skin or a bruise. She did not know how she had ended up here. She did not know how she even left Abi's house no matter how hard she tried to recall. She was drawing on a blank. Nothing. She did not know anything. And that was the thing that made her agitated more than anything else.

The past four days, she had been locked up in this room. No one came to check on her or threaten her. There was not even a shadow of any hotel staff. The Internet was offline and when she checked the telephone, there was one there but it was not connected. But the suite was strangely packed with instant food and water, obviously indicating that her captor was ensuring that she would not starve nor go through dehydration.

She had waited for her abductor to at least show up, but even after four days, no one appeared. She had not seen a single person during that time. She had already tried everything she could. Her room was located on a high enough floor, but her window was facing a vacant space that was under construction. She had screamed and banged on the door countless times. She had tried to throw things out of the strangely small window to attract some attention, but it was all futile. There were no workers down below because it seemed that the construction work had been halted.

Elle had even risked herself by burning something in her room to set off the fire alarm. But even that did not work. The fire alarm was not even triggered after making sure that there was enough smoke to set off the sensor.

She had done everything that was possible. Everything. And she had failed miserably.

The four days she spent in this room had been nothing but misery. It was a kind of hell that slowly destroyed all the fighting spirit and hope she had within her.  She was in a glorified prison. All alone. With no way out.

She could not even speak anymore from all the screaming she had done in the hopes of calling out for someone, anyone to notice her and come help her. She had yelled and shouted for help until her throat felt like it was raw and bleeding.

Now she did not have any strength left. Not only physically, but mentally as well. Her body and mind were tired. So very tired. She was tired of fighting. It felt as though her whole life was just spent fighting. She was... breaking down.

Elle even thought that the torture she had suffered before was better compared to this. She had thought that she would rather feel pain than go through something like this. It was no wonder prisoners kept in isolation were considered to go through one of the worst punishments. It was enough to drive a sane person completely insane!

The sound of the clock had become such a haunting sound for her that she started to cover her ears. The tick-tocking was so constant and steady that it grated on her agitated condition. She had turned on the shower and allowed the water to keep running, just to fill in the maddening silence that had made even the ticking sounds of the clock become even louder in her ears.

Of all the reasons why she was locked in here, Elle had decided to believe that their goal must be to drive her crazy. If they had wanted her dead, the culprits would not have supplied her with so much food and clothes and even hygiene kits. In fact, it was clear they were ensuring that she would not die!

But she had realized that a little late. Because she already felt like she was going mad. She was already breaking down. Just as what the culprits wanted to happen.

She never thought that it would be this easy to break down someone's mind. It was unbelievable because she had thought that she had quite a strong mentality. She had survived just fine in her father and Brandon's hands for years. But here she was now... breaking down just after a few days in complete isolation. When... when had  she become so weak? Or had she just overestimated herself that she could survive anything? Was it so naïve of her to believe that the day when she just wanted to give up and finally stop trying and fighting will never come?

Throwing her head back and pressing it against the wall behind her, Elle had wanted to laugh hysterically but no sound came from her lips. So, she just smiled and looked up at the ceiling with her hollow and hopeless eyes. Her usually bright and lively eyes were now dull and dead looking.

Sebastian's face flashed through her mind and the maniacal smile slowly turned into something heartbreaking. His words from that night they first met echoed in her ears. 'My world is darker than you can ever imagine. It is a hell someone like you might never survive...'

"It seems you were right all along, Sebastian. It seems that I really can't handle it..." she uttered in a broken whisper. "Tell me, Sebastian. Would you tell me 'I told you so' if I tell you now that I can't take it anymore?"

Her eyes began to blur with tears. "Why... why aren't you here yet? Why aren't you coming for me? How long must I hold on? Will you ever come? Sebastian..." she finally broke down, her shoulders wrecked with the tremors from her sobbing.

Then... her body froze and her face snapped up to look towards the door. She frantically rubbed her eyes and stared at the door as the door knob turned.