“It stops when my boss says it does,” the man said.
“We’re not eating it,” I said.
I shoved the food away and scrambled back to Sydney.
“You’ll eat and you’ll like it,” the man said.
“I’d rather starve to death.”
“Is that the fate you wish for the girl?” the man asked.
I gathered Sydney in my arms as tears poured down her face.
“Eat the damn food.”
“No,” I said.
The man’s eyes flashed with anger and I knew I’d made a mistake.
“Come here, bitch.”
“Miss Brooke!” Sydney shrieked.
“Stay there!” I said as the man grabbed my hair. “Don’t move!”
His hand cracked down onto my other cheek, leaving a matching bruise underneath my eye as I fell to the floor. I heard him laughing at me. Sydney was screaming for me and I saw the man take a step toward her. I grabbed his ankle and tugged at him, causing him to lose his balance.
He fell backward onto me and I shoved him off, then scrambled to get back to Sydney. I pressed her into the wall and planted my hands into it. Exposing my back to this man and shielding the little girl. No matter what he did to me, he sure as hell wasn’t getting his hands on Sydney.
I’d kill him before that happened.
But instead of coming at me like I thought he would, I heard him kick the plate across the room. It shattered against the wall and Sydney screamed before the door slammed shut. I was trembling. Quaking against the little girl and trying to keep my own fears at bay.
I looked back and saw we were alone in the room. Food was splattered against the wall and the plate was shattered into pieces. I wrapped Sydney in my arms and stroked her hair, trying to shush her and calm her down.
“I’m going to get us out of here,” I said. “I promise. You just have to trust me, okay?”
I felt the little girl nod into my shoulder as I sat back down on the floor. I had to bide my time. I had to wait until that guy came back to check on us. I couldn’t hear any commotion above us or any voices outside the door, and it stayed that way for hours. The room slowly heated up as the sun rose in the sky, and soon Sydney and I were covered in sweat.
If he didn’t come to check on us soon, the two of us would dehydrate.
I grabbed two large pieces of the broken plate and hid them behind me as footsteps sounded outside. I looked down at Sydney. I put my finger to my lips and she nodded at me, her eyes wide with nervousness and horror.
I would do whatever it took to get us out of this situation.
Even if I had to kill to do it.
I saw the doorknob turning and I knew this was my only chance. There was only one pair of footsteps sounding on the floor, and I rose to my feet. I had to catch him by surprise, pounce when he least expected it. And in breaking the plates, he’d left me with the weapons I needed to do some damage. I felt Sydney clinging to my leg and I pulled her off. I held out my hand and told her to stay put as the door slowly opened. I charged the man coming through the door and smashed the plate on top of his head.
He stumbled forward and tried to get the door shut behind him, but I jammed the large piece of glass into his side.
“Sydney! Come on!”
I reached out my hand and she ran to me. I clasped it tightly in my hand before I picked up another broken shard. I ran with Sydney out of the room and headed up the flight of steps I saw in front of me. I burst through the door and could hear Sydney panting, trying to keep up.
I knew she didn’t have the energy to run, so I scooped her up in my arms.
“You bitch!”