She would persevere

Chapter 31

Lie still, lie silent utter no cries
As the Witcher
Brave and bold
Paid in coin of gold
He'll chop and slice you
Gut and dice you
Eat you up whole
Eat you whole

It was dark. All around me as I woke up with an immense headache. I knew I shouldn't have binged Season 2 of the Witcher so late at night. Wait, that is what happened right? I shook my head and blinked my eyes a few more times and my mind had already restarted. The fight, being grounded, texting maman, the men at the door... falling down the stairs.
I fell down the stairs as I had tried to run from the strangers in my house. I think I hit my head on the railing. Which would explain the severe headache. But where was I? My eyes were adjusting to the darkness around me and the little bit of light that was shown from beyond a door, I think, wasn't really helping.

It did give a reflection to something right in front of me that looked like metal. Touching it felt cold. It was metal and circle shaped. With more rows next to it.
My breathing was laboured and I started to panic. It was in front of me, at my sides, above my head and at my back.
I started to hyperventilate and scream, my worst nightmare became reality... Again.
I was caged in.
Correction, I was in a cage. Like an animal.

"LET ME OUT!!!
GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" I kept screaming.
Nobody was hearing me. Nobody was listening to me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see. I was trapped.
With that everything went dark.

I had no idea how long I had been here for. This was the third time that I woke up in that same cage. Fortunately this time I did not panic as much. I simply kept my eyes closed and listened. I listened for any bit of information that I could use. Voices, steps, sounds from possibly the outside. The echo's on the walls that would indicate how long the corridor went beyond the door where my cage was in.
Any bit of information I could process and remember. For one, I knew that there was no ventilation system on the side of the building I was in. Why? One, there was no breeze being deposited or sucked out for ventilation purposes. Two, even though it was really dark, I could not see any ventilation shafts that usually gleamed, even with a little bit of light. And three, this room, if you could call it that, stank. Like really, the smell in here was that of decomposed dead bodies. Don't ask me how I know.

There were voices far away from where I was being contained. They were speaking in another language. Fortunately it was a language I was learning for fun, unfortunately, I hadn't learned a lot from the language yet, but I could make out a few words and with that I knew they were leaving soon with... someone?
Not thinking about it any longer, I tried yet again to bend the bars like superman would, that did not get me far. I was about to yell out again.

"They won't help you, little girlie." Someone with a raspy voice said from the side of me which made me squeal. I hadn't realised that there was someone with me this time.
"Who are you? Do you know where we are, who took us?"
"You were here when I arrived, which means we are not part of the same group." The man spoke with a heavy accent that reminded me of home. I crawled closer to the man who was chained to the wall and saw an emaciated but familiar face. The man had a long beard and dark brown eyes.

"How long have you been in captivity?" I asked softly.
He laughed and I choked.
"I don't even know anymore. Years, I believe."
"Do it again." I said.
He looked at me strangely. "Do what again?"

"Laugh. I wish to hear you laugh again." He slightly chuckled, but couldn't get himself to laugh. There was nothing to laugh about. But he did give me a smile. A beautiful, breathtaking smile. A smile that I had seen again and again. Just on a much smaller person.
"Robèrt..." She had never seen a picture of him nor asked to see it. She didn't want to reopen old wounds.
"How do you know my name?"