Confession of a King

Even hell would be a better place to spend time in than the basement of a warehouse that was dominated by Behemoth and his grungy men. The floor was cold, yet damp, concrete smelling of mildew and humidity. A ray of sunlight would come through the small windows at the top of the walls, just barely illuminating the room. There was a thick chain attached to my ankle, linked to the wall of the basement. I could possibly walk about five feet away from this spot without the link cutting into my skin. I tested it out a few times and felt the pain, felt the blood trickle down onto my feet. If I made it out of here I was going to need twenty tetanus shots.

I had been here for at least a day, maybe two from the light cycle I observed through the small windows. Time was just starting to run together as I sat in darkness, not knowing when my last moment would be and the worry of never seeing my son again driving me nearly insane. They would come down here and deliver me something to eat and drink. I received a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of water to hold me over for the day. I refused to eat each time it was offered.

A camera sat across the room from me, sometimes someone would sit behind it and taunt me, but generally it sat by itself. The red light illuminated, telling me that they were recording my every move down here. Well, as of now they had recorded me urinate in the corner a couple of times, and also me sitting in the same position, no longer having tears to cry, as I stared blankly toward the windows.

My tongue darted out of my mouth, running over my lips as I reached up, pulling my hair from the bun it was in and re-doing it. My body ached from not being able to lay comfortably, and the lack of sleep I was receiving. I was more worried that I would fall asleep and be gnawed on by a rat than anything else, seeing as I’d already seen a few rodents scurry across the floor within the first two hours of being down here.

I heard the sound of the door opening, then footsteps descending the stairs toward the cold, damp climate of satan’s asshole, my new home. I looked toward the dark figure as they stepped into that small ray of sunlight, noticing that it was Behemoth. He smirked at me as he walked over to me, cutting on the light in the room, a slight, yellow glow now illuminating every crevice.

“Sweet, sweet, Ivy,” he crouched down to get eye-level with me. His hand reached out for my jaw as I slapped it away, “Ah, ah, ah. Wouldn’t be your smartest achievement to disobey me.” A hard slap was delivered across my face, then he grabbed it roughly in his large hand, “I have someone who wants to speak with you.” He held his phone out to me, the name Shadows read across the screen. My eyes glistened with hope as I reached for it, but he slapped my hands away, at least this time it wasn’t my face. “Speaker phone, only. Keep your damned hands to yourself or I’ll cut them off.”

Behemoth pressed the button to transfer to speaker and Matt’s voice immediately came through the phone, “I swear you’re a dead man when I find you. Keep your fucking hands off her.”

“Hi, sugar,” my voice came out nearly creaking as I spoke. I hadn’t said a word in days. I was slapped around down here and no noise came from my body.

“Ivy,” Matt’s voice was like a whisper. “I will be there soon, baby. Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Behemoth laughed out loud, his deep, dark chuckle filling the room, “Oh so sure of it, huh Shadows? I wish you could see your babydoll chained against the wall. Unfortunately for you, by the time you get here she’ll be a carcass that will be fed upon by rodents.”

“You talk a tough talk, but we both know that is a lie,” Matt said, firmly. “You wouldn’t dare do anything of that sort. You’re not that stupid of a man. You know that the only way you’ll get me is by keeping her alive.”

“Do I know that for certain?” Behemoth smirked at me and reached toward me again, cupping my chin in his hands. “You are so beautiful when you’re scared, sweet Ivy. I should really get a taste of you before I dispose of you.”

“Get the fuck off me,” I growled and shoved his large body away the best I could, scared for what could be coming next. A slap to my face and being shoved hard against the wall, the phone falling from his other hand, was something I slightly anticipated. “I’d rather you stab me in both eyes than have your ugly ass taste anything.”

“So tough now that your dear fiancé is on the line,” Behemoth chuckled and let go of me, picking the phone back up. “Where was he when I plucked you from your driveway? Dear old Shadows left you home to fend for yourself. He wasn’t watching the cameras. Shouldn’t he had expected that my eyes were on the home? That you were vulnerable? Where was he to protect you?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Matt growled over the line. “Ivy, baby, he’s trying to get in your head. I will be there soon and all this will be over.”

“Hurry the fuck up or don’t come at all,” I snarled, feeling my face contort like a dog ready to bite.

“Nice speaking with you,” Behemoth said into the phone then ended the call. He looked at me with his head cocked, “You speak. Are you hungry? You have not eaten in two days.”

“No,” I responded, flatly, backing up against the wall and sinking down again, the sound of the chain clashing with the concrete floor filling the room.

He pursed his lips, an unamused expression written across his face, “What’s your plan? To starve yourself before I kill you myself?”

“Wouldn’t be a bad idea. Thanks for the recommendation,” I retorted, giving him the same expression on my face.

A deep growl emitted from his throat as he opened his lips to speak to me again, “I am going to strike a deal with you, alright? I am going to give you the phone, and you are going to call your lover back. You are going to tell him that he releases Ashley and I’ll give him the address to find you. Speeds the process up a bit to just get him here and kill you both.” He licked over his gross, chapped lips, “He brings Ashley back here with him. I will sit over on the other side. Call him now. It doesn’t have to be speaker this time.”

The phone was placed in my hands without me agreeing to the situation as Behemoth walked away from me, taking a seat in a chair over by the camera. I knew better than to call 911, as he most likely had a loaded gun hidden in the waistband of his pants to blow my brains out with if I did something so stupid. I went to the recent calls and saw Matt’s number, swallowing the spit in my throat and holding the phone up to my ear.

“What the fuck do you want now?” Matt’s voice came through loud and hoarse, obviously aggravated.

“It’s me,” I said quietly. “It’s just me.”

“Honey,” his voice softened. “I promise you, we are working on cracking this. We are so close. I will be to you by sundown. How are you holding up?”

Hearing the need in his voice let me know that he was truly trying to figure out how to get here, how to get me out of this mess. I was thankful that he was willing to put in that effort, even if Behemoth was trying to trick my mind into thinking Matt was the reason I was abducted from the front yard. “I’m doing okay other than having to piss on the floor like a shelter dog.”

“Have they tried to feed you?” He asked, ignoring my statement about urinating.

“Constantly. I have refused each time,” I sighed out.

“That’s my girl,” he cooed into the phone. “There are probably drugs in whatever they are trying to give you. Not to kill you, but to make you drowsy and fade in and out. Just remember everything we went over. You are getting out of there alive.”

“He has a deal to strike with you,” I said quickly. “You release Ashley from being a hostage, he will give you the address of the warehouse. You must bring Ashley with you. And it can only be you.”

“Put him on the phone,” Matt commanded me. I nodded to Behemoth and he grabbed the phone from my hands, holding it up to his ear. A smile spread across his hideous face as Matt agreed to the plan. The address of the warehouse was rattled off, then he disappeared back up the stairs and slammed the door behind himself.

A million things rushed through my mind as I sat on the damp, concrete floor. A dripping sound was coming from the lefthand corner, and generally that was all my mind could focus on, but not right now. Hearing Matt’s voice left me torn; knowing that he would be here today made it worse. I prayed, something I would never do, to god that Matt would follow instructions like a good boy. I prayed that he wouldn’t bring anyone but Ashley with him. I had a bad feeling about the whole situation. I knew I was going to die down here eventually, whether he showed up to save me or not. Now I firmly believed that Matt had bit off more than he could chew. He was strong, he knew what he was doing, but he had been out of this for some time and is outnumbered without his team. Deep down, I knew that he wouldn’t make it out of here alive either. That made my mind wander to Brian. I prayed Brian would stay home, not make a grand entrance when we needed him the most. He was my only hope for Alec. I’d prefer him to be the father to my son than try to save Matt and I from death.

I watched as the sunlight disappeared through the small windows at the top of the walls. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since I last saw Behemoth, last heard from Matt. No one had come down to offer me food, something to drink or to try to talk to me. My eyes were heavy, not having slept in days, as I leaned my head back against the wall, sort of wishing that there was some insect that could bite me and just kill me now living on it. My mouth was dry, my stomach was grumbling. I was wasting away down here, and I just let slumber take over me.

I woke up to the sound of powerful voices yelling from the top floor, my head snapping toward the stairs and door of the basement. A gunshot was heard, echoing throughout the home, “You either bring me to her or have him come down here to face me himself!”

“Matt,” I whispered to myself, knowing that voice from anywhere. One would assume that having him here would make me more hopeful, more comfortable, but it did the opposite. My stomach twisted, knowing that this was it. I shook my head and pulled my knees to my chest, finding myself in the fetal position while sitting up, my hands placed over my ears to drown out the sounds from upstairs. I couldn’t listen, I didn’t want to.

Gunshots echoed throughout the house, and my skull, unable to block everything completely out. If I still had tears to cry, I probably would cry them at this point, but I was out. This was a nightmare.

Notes