As the tears streamed down her face, Aiko knew she had to remain strong. She found herself trapped, her hands tied, and her fate dependent on two people with unclear intentions. Feeling the cold, unforgiving chair back against her bruised body was a stark reminder of the grim reality she now faced.

Paige stared at her with a mixture of anger and sadness. “I didn’t want it to come to this, Aiko.”

“How could you?” Aiko spat out, venom lacing her words. Hot tears blurred her vision, and she blinked them away. She wouldn’t allow herself to show any further signs of weakness.

“You were just supposed to stay out of it,” Auntie Paige muttered as she walked out of the kitchen.

Aiko shivered as Harold watched her with ominous intent. When he opened his mouth to say something, he seemed to think better of it.

The man’s cold, gravelly voice pierced the silence like a knife. “Your family would be writhing in their graves if they knew what you were doing,” he spat out with venom, his eyes flashing with disgust.

Aiko’s head shot up, her gaze fixing on Harold with a burning intensity. “Don’t you dare speak about my parents!”

Harold shrugged, though a flicker of discomfort passed through his eyes. “I’m just saying the truth. They were good people; they wouldn’t want this for you.”

“Good people?” Aiko scoffed, her voice choked with bile. “Good people don’t leave their daughter at the mercy of monsters like you and Auntie Paige!”

Her words echoed in the silent room, hanging in the air.

Harold’s face contorted into an ugly grimace. “I am not a monster!” His sudden outburst startled Aiko, but she refused to show it.

“Oh? Is that why you’re keeping me tied up like an animal in my house? Because that’s what ‘good’ people do?”

Harold winced at her words but remained silent.

Aiko took a deep breath, trying to quell the fury coursing through her veins. It was crucial for her to stay calm and clear-headed if she was going to find a way out.

Harold leaned in close as if reading her thoughts, his breath reeking of coffee and tobacco. “Don’t even think about trying anything, Aiko. You’re not going anywhere.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Aiko retorted. The knot Harold had tied around her wrists was tight, but not impossible to slip out of.

He locked eyes with Aiko, dismissing her confidence as childish bravado. Then he turned and left the room, leaving Aiko alone with her thoughts. Aiko worked on the zip ties. She reached under the table, trying to find a loose nail or something to help her break out of the zip ties. She twisted and turned her wrists, the effort causing them to bleed. Aiko rubbed the zip tie on the edge of the table over and over. The zip tie showed some sign of wear but didn’t break.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I don’t want to die!

She pushed the table in frustration. The movement caused the chair to tip and smash against the tile floor. A white-hot pain coursed through her shoulder, and her vision blurred for several moments. As the pain in her shoulder grew, she realized she could move her arms. The zip ties had snapped. With her hands freed, she worked at the knot, and it seemed like hours before the knot loosened around her body. She slipped one hand free, then freed the other. A gasp of relief escaped her lips as a wave of pain flooded her senses from the sudden return of circulation. But there was no time to savor the victory; she needed to get out.

Gather your strength, Aiko.

Aiko stood up, her legs trembling from fear and strain. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, anything that could give her an edge over Harold when he returned. Her eyes darted across the room, falling on a porcelain vase that Auntie Paige had once told her was an antique. It was pretty, but right now, it looked as solid as a rock. She wrapped her trembling fingers around the cool, smooth surface. Lifting the vase was a herculean task. To Aiko, it weighed a metric ton.

Don’t you dare drop this, Aiko!

A faint sound from the hallway snapped Aiko out of her thoughts. She held her breath and pressed herself against the wall next to the door, clutching the vase. Footsteps grew louder and then stopped outside the door. The door pushed open, and Harold stepped inside. She followed his gaze to the toppled chair.

“Aiko?” he called out in a low, cautious voice, his hand hovering over his side.

Aiko’s heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline pumping through her veins like lightning. As Harold moved further into the room towards the chair, she sprung out from behind him, swinging the vase with her remaining strength. The sound of porcelain shattering punctuated the surprised yelp that escaped Harold’s lips as he stumbled forward, clutching his head. Aiko sprinted towards the kitchen door. But as she reached it, a substantial hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Pain erupts from her shoulder from Harold’s grasp. The man roared in fury, a glistening trail of blood trickling down his forehead. “You little cunt,” he snarled, the grip on her arm tightening.

I can’t let him take me!

Aiko winced in pain as she clawed at his face with her free hand, her fingernails digging into his skin and drawing blood. Harold bellowed in anger and surprise, releasing Aiko from his painful grasp.

With a triumphant yell, Aiko sprinted out of the kitchen and through the hallways of the house that had once been her sanctuary. She stumbled into the living room, knocking over a lamp in her haste to escape. Shattering glass echoed throughout the room as Aiko pushed open the front door and stumbled onto the front porch. The chilly night air wrapped around her like a comforting blanket as she ran down the driveway and onto the deserted street. Her bare feet pounded against the rough asphalt, each stride carrying her further away from Harold and Auntie Paige.

Run, Aiko, Run!

Behind her, an enraged roar filled the still night air; Harold had recovered and was in pursuit. Fueled by fear, she propelled forward without looking back. The neighborhood was dark and silent, except for her labored breathing and the relentless pursuit behind her. The tiny suburban houses with manicured lawns seemed foreign and uncaring now, offering no refuge to the hunted girl.

She looked back; Harold was closing in, his face flushed with rage. She could see the glint of something metallic in his hand. Panic surged through her, lending her legs a strength she didn’t know she possessed. The flash of headlights blinded her.

Is that a car?

The vehicle bore down on her; she tried to dodge, but fear paralyzed her.

I’m going to die tonight.