He wasn’t certain of anything anymore. Was he getting only a single meal per day? Without windows, and with his Fitbit dead, it was hard to say how much time was passing between the visits. He wasn’t used to this kind of mental state. Usually, each day was packed, and any time off he got from studying had a purpose. He’d lived in a rush, always trying to fit as much as he could into his schedule, so he never realized just how endless hours could be.
Passing time made demons crawl out of the corners and sink their fangs into Colin by telling him of the horrible ways in which he could die. How Taron would dismember him and eat him. How the food he was getting was actually human meat. How this was the end of the road for him, and he would never again leave this cage.
In the dark, every sound turned into a threat, until his imagination produced shapes that did not exist, and made them creep up on Colin whenever he shut his eyes.
Colin hadn’t lost hope, but it wasn’t easy to cling to it either.
But on his third visit, Taron brought books and left the light on for Colin.
As usual, he didn’t stay to talk, but the books were such a revelation for Colin’s under-stimulated brain that he latched onto them and kept them in the cage in case Taron changed his mind and wanted to take them away.
World War Z.
Swan Song.
The Iliad.
The Complete Guide to Edible Plants.
A curious selection of books, not concise enough to make up Taron’s psychological profile. It didn’t help that Colin didn’t even know if they were all Taron’s favorites, or if he’d just offered him unwanted gifts he’d had lying around the house. Or if he’d actually brought the ones he hated, so he wouldn’t be upset if Colin destroyed them.
Colin read them all, and it was only halfway through The Iliad that he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d devoured a book in one sitting. And the last time he’d read a fiction book without having to ditch it for audio during drives and gym sessions? Two years ago when the campus had been snowed in, and he’d had an excuse not to go home early for Christmas. Fortunately, watching a movie took a bit less time, so a few times a year he treated himself to a sit-down at a cinema. Would he even live to see that upcoming Avengers movie?
The Girl in the Last Train Car by Anasstasiya Lucas had been stuck in his backpack for four months, because he always told himself he’d read it whenever he had the time, so he wanted to have it on hand. Yet between chores, his part-time job, and studying, he’d never found a spare moment.
Two days later, Taron offered him more books, and Colin reluctantly allowed him to take two from the pile of read ones in exchange for the new material. The silence was still uncomfortable, and the confined space—unbearable, but Colin no longer felt that his life was under threat. In this kind of scenario, he’d half expected torture of some sorts. Instead, he was served fresh food, and his captor even provided him with two pillows and a blanket. Granted, the bottom of the cage was still too hard to be considered comfortable, and his muscles ached from the forced inertia, but he tried to do as much exercise as the tiny space allowed.
About a week into captivity, even Taron’s silence, while annoying, no longer felt menacing. And by the time Colin finished all the new books, he realized that he missed the sun and fresh air way more than any person in his life. It was a strange discovery, but at times, when he was busy rereading favorite passages, or napped without having to worry about his schedule, the captivity felt more like a forced vacation. His most basic needs were met, and for once he didn’t have to think about conventions, listen to nagging or walk on tiptoes to avoid triggering his father’s anger. For once, he could simply be, and as time passed, his interest turned to the only person to offer him human interaction.
That freak had thirteen cats, all named after American rivers, but Colin was yet to become their food. Rio, a muscular tomcat with just one eye and tawny fur, ventured into the underground room first. Then came Missi, a young female with red fur and a belly full of kittens, named after the Mississippi, and spotted siblings, Yukon and Pecos. Out of all the cats, those four were the friendliest, though it was Rio who’d first snuck into the cage and slept alongside Colin.
Colin had never heard Taron speak to them or call them, but they had collars with names, so Taron had taken ownership of them. The cats would sneak in whenever Taron came down to give Colin food, and then Taron would gently carry them all out, unless they were inside the cage.