Taken

Whatever she did, she needed to do it fast. Who knew how long it would be before they either finished fucking or decided to look at the camera feed? If they saw the empty cage…

A part of her just wanted to stay put. It was way too risky to climb out of the cage. If she was caught, god only knew what they’d do to her.

Stop it, she told herself sternly. This is your chance! Seize it while you’ve got it.

Carefully easing the lock from the latch, she pushed open the cage door. Heart booming in her ears, she climbed out and got to her feet. She glanced fearfully at the camera and then looked away.

Scuttling across the floor, she went through the open doorframe Robert had gone through when he’d brought that inversion table into the room. The second room was filled with boxes and junk. A stepladder was leaned up against a wall, the inversion table he’d strapped her into folded beside it. Crap! There was no door or window to the outside.

She spied a workbench and rushed over to see what she could find to use as a weapon. There was a large toolbox on the bench. Flipping it open, she pawed quickly through the tools and grabbed a large screwdriver and a box cutter. Then she noticed the packaging for a combination lock. Her cage lock?

She heard a sound behind her and gasped, her heart nearly flying out of her chest. She froze in place, listening with all her might. She heard nothing more, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Still, for all she knew, they might be coming down at any second.

She grabbed the combo lock packaging and hurried with it, along with the screw driver and the box cutter, back to her cage. Dropping to her knees, she crawled back inside and pulled the door closed. She re-adjusted the lock as he’d left it, praying it had been an oversight, and not part of some larger, dark plan to trap her.

She shifted so her back was to the camera and hid the tools under her blankets. Holding her breath, she examined the lock packaging, staring down at the small, folded piece of paper inside it. She unfolded the paper with trembling fingers.

She drew in a stunned breath and let it out slowly. Was luck finally shining on her at last?

There were six digits printed on the small slip of paper: 38-49-16. She repeated the numbers to herself, consigning them to memory. As she lay there, she realized she needed to pee. Did she dare venture out of the cage again?

No. Too risky. Not now. Not yet. Not until she’d formulated some kind of plan. Not until the time was right…

Chapter 11

Day sixteen, Jane thought as she tied the fabric scrap on a new bar early one morning. Her ass was sore, her cunt was sore, she hadn’t pooped in days, her scalp was itchy, there was a crick in her neck from sleeping too long in her curled-up fetal position without a pillow…

“Wait. Stop that,” she murmured aloud. “That’s not productive. Think about something else. What are the good things about today? What are you grateful for?”

It felt weird to be saying this aloud to herself, yet also oddly comforting. Imagine if she’d done this back in her old life—if she’d taken the time to be grateful for those instances when she got all green lights on the way home from work, for the friendly chatter of her work friends across their cubicles, for her comfortable bed with as many pillows as she wanted, for the endless hot showers and baths available for her, for the ability to walk in the fresh air, oh, for so many things…

Okay. She didn’t have that life right now, but she was still alive. And even better, she had the combination to her cage. Soon…soon she would dare to use it, when the time was right.

Meanwhile, she would focus on what she was grateful for today. Today I’m grateful to still be alive. I’m grateful I can now do one hundred modified sit-ups and two hundred hand presses. I’m grateful they didn’t use the cane yesterday, and most of my welts are healing well. I’m grateful for the sparkling stars last night outside my window.

Feeling better, she made herself smile, having read somewhere that just the act of smiling released endorphins into your bloodstream.

She had just covered her ribbon with the blanket when Robert came bounding into the basement. He was dressed in jeans and a striped top, sneakers on his feet. As he crouched in front of the cage and twirled the combination lock dial, Jane watched, mentally reciting the numbers with his turn to the right, two to the left and back to the right.

She’d been incredibly nervous the next time he’d come down after leaving it open. She’d debated with herself for quite a while about whether she should close it for him, but decided that leaving it as he had left it was the best decision. If they’d left it open on purpose as a test, she’d find out soon enough. To her vast relief, all he’d done was frown at the lock, shrug and then pull it open.