Chapter 80
Chapter Eighty
ONE WEEK LATER
~Harlow~
I have been down here for a week now, and I am going stir-crazy.
There is no TV down here, no window low enough for me to look out of, only the bed and the bathroom, plus a few storage boxes at the far back.
I rummaged through them and only managed to find some paperwork and a red pen, along with an old lamp shade.
On day two, I tried the windows, but I couldn't get them to unlock. I thought about smashing them but knew they would hear, and I’m not sure punching one is a good idea. I would probably only end up hurting myself. So instead, I do what I do every day, shower and sleep.
I eat whenever Thane or the housekeeper opens the door and sets food on the top step.
I tried waiting by the door a couple of times, but the mealtimes are so random that I would end up with a sore back and have to leave the steps, only to miss the brief chance I had.
It makes me wonder if there is a hidden camera on the stairs I can't see.
Sometime later, I would guess around lunchtime, I hear the door open before my food is set on the step and Thane's scent wafts to me.
My belly rumbles hungrily, and I force myself up before stopping by the documents I have been using to doodle on.
Glancing at the steps, I wonder if he is in the kitchen still.
Retrieving the red pen that is running out of ink, I scribbled on a piece of paper.
Can I have a TV?
I glance at my handwriting before climbing the steps to retrieve the sandwich left there.
It is the same thing every day. I am getting sick of eating ham and tomato sandwiches for lunch.
Sick of eating soup and bread for dinner.
Mostly I hate the oatmeal I get every morning that I always tip down the toilet. I can't stand the smell of it.
Climbing the steps, I look at the gap at the bottom of the door and slide the paper through, pinched between my fingers.
I wiggle it, hoping someone is in the kitchen and sees it.
A few seconds later, it is plucked from my fingers, and I gasp excitedly that someone is here.
A few seconds later, it slides back under the door.
"No!" Thane snaps at me from the other side of the door, and my stomach sinks. It is so quiet down here, so lonely. Fighting back the tears, I use the pen to write something else.
A book?
I slide the paper under the door again, and it doesn't take long before it is plucked from my fingers.
I get no answer this time. Instead, I get the front page of the daily newspaper pushed under the door.
I stare at it. Emotion chokes me, that he would deny me something so minuscule.
What does it matter if I read? Yet I have one page of a newspaper that is mostly taken up by a black and white photo.
I try to peer under the door's gap, thinking maybe the rest just didn't fit through, but all I see is the tiles that lead into the kitchen. With a sigh, I grab my sandwich and walk back down the stairs with my half a page of reading material.
He could have at least given me the comic section, or maybe a horoscope page.
Instead, I get some crap about a new development that is being built somewhere on the other side of the city.
The page ends before I can find out the juicy details of where exactly.
Not that it matters, it isn't like I will ever get to see it.
As the day passes, I slip deeper into my head, deeper into the depression that comes with it. The door opening and footsteps on the stairs make me shoot upright from inside the Den.
Thane walks down the stairs with a tray in his hand. I stand, hoping to convince him to let me come upstairs. The moment I move to climb out of the Den, he commands me.
"Remain where you are until I leave," he orders as he sets the tray down on the tiny table that is attached to the floor. I know because I tried to move it closer to a window. The command washes over me, making every muscle tense, freezing me on the spot.
Once he sets the tray down, I hear more footsteps on the stairs.
I glance up to see Rhen glaring at me while carrying down a load of laundry.
He sets it on the counter beside the washing machine and loads it in.
Neither of them say anything to me, which bugs me.
A conversation other than the bizarre inner monologue running in my head would be nice.
Once they have loaded the washing machine, they both leave, and I feel his command go with them. I find, when I make my way over to the tray; that it has two books on it.
I pick both up, looking at them. Is he just being cruel? Is he taunting me, knowing it would be pointless for me to read these. They are both about pregnancy: what to expect after the baby is born. But by Thane's claims, I will never get to hold my baby, so what’s the point, if not to taunt me?
Setting them down, I look in the bowl. My soup is almost cold, but I begrudgingly mop every bit up with the piece of bread. When I am done, I once again shower.
I hope they run out of hot water upstairs with all my showering, and their water bill gets ridiculously high. Fuck him. Once I hop out though, I am again bored with nothing to do. I move toward the small table and pick up the books, glancing over them.
As I read over the back of one of the books, the washing machine does its little jingle, telling me the load is finished. I suppose it’s something to do. Boredom will be the death of me if I don't die by Thane's hand first.
So, I take the washing out and dump it in the dryer. Maybe if I help, he will get me different books, or maybe give me the TV I asked for. Even prisoners are allowed a TV in jail. It's not like I asked for anything too extravagant.