Captivated IC

[drewccapp]

Autumn felt so frail and so cold when she took his hand. When she got a better hold of herself using him as a support, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. The good thing about suit jackets was they had some measure of warmth to them. He smiled warmly despite the circumstances they were in. "Autumn.... That's a beautiful name. Don't worry. We'll get out of here. I'll make damn well sure of it."

Vincent looked at the circumstances. Two injured people: one in the hand, one in the leg. A sedated girl clearly in pain. Himself, the unluckiest person in the world. A snarky woman that cared more for her dress than her own life. This is what he had to work with... Yep he was still the unluckiest person in the world. They had managed to get out of the cells they were in, but that was it. The heart attack his parole officer would have if he took too long getting out of here was the worst of his worries. He had to get all of these people out of here alive, at least those that wanted out.

Right now he had a beautiful girl holding onto him for support. It certainly wouldn't help mobility. He couldn't just leave her though. He had to think up some encouraging words of some sort, or something for everyone to look forward to. He announced passionately. "Once we get out of this place. How about we get some drinks? On me. Your choice."

[Fabricant451]

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Nana sighed as she slowly and carefully slid the dress off over her head, it would be silly if she had to step out of it after making such a huge fuss. If someone were to ask her if she would ever strip down in front of strangers, Nana would've laughed, but that was exactly the position she found herself in now. Standing in a strange place in front of stranger people wearing nothing but her unmentionables. Making sure there were no stains or unusual folds on the dress, she handed it to the girl through the bars. "Remember what I said. Don't drop it. Don't breathe on it. Don't fold it. Treat it like your child." Nana was hesitant in letting go of the dress, not exactly sure the girl could be trusted.

She took another look at the opening below her cot. True her dress would no longer be in danger of staining or tearing, but now her skin was at risk. Nana shut her eyes and brought a hand behind her back; she placed it on the tattoo of a rabbit's head located on the dead center of her back and left it here, taking deep breaths. With one final breath, Nana opened her eyes and dropped to a prone position.

"This is so disgusting." The floor was, obviously, rather cold and grainy; it shot a shiver through Nana's spine but it was too late to back out now. She was already on the floor after all. Shaking her head she began to crawl using her arms to propel herself forward. With each movement forward Nana was letting everyone know how disgusting and gross it was and how much she hated doing it. Suddenly she longed for the cot; they were happier times compared to this. The opening under the cot was wide enough for her to squeeze through but not without squeezing her body together tightly.

As she forced her way through the opening she felt something crawling on her skin. It was too dark to see though it did make her crawl faster. Her head bumped into something hard with an audible thump. She didn't cry out in pain despite there being much of it currently coursing through her. Nana looked at her surroundings. She was in a small alcove inbeteween her cell and the one next to hers. To the left she could hear the others shuffling around. Nana palmed the ground and rose to her feet, using the wall in front of her to balance and gauge distance.

Nana sidled down the alcove, muttering her discomfort. Her mouth, being open, was treated to something papery and sticky tasting. Nana knew that taste and she quickened her pace towards the exit, spitting out the cobweb that was in her mouth. She felt more and more webs on her face which caused her to swipe near her face. Her hands off the wall made Nana stumble sideways.

She fell through the opening and landed loudly on the outside of the cells with everyone else. There were cobwebs dangling from her hair and her arms and she was covered in dust, dirt, bits of stone, and grime. She looked like someone who had just come to the surface from the underground.

"I should've stayed in the cell," she said, exasperated.

[reneelizabeth]

Elise smirked as she listened to Nana crawl through the hole in her cell. Immediately there was a dilike Elise had for the girl, there was just something about her demeanor. What put her above everyone else? As far as she was concerned, them being in this position made them all equals. She quickly dismissed this thought and tried to keep a calm mindset, the only mindset that would help any of them. As Nana was crawling through the hole, Elise carefully slipped the dress through the bars on the cell door so Nana would have her precious dress to change back in to once she got in to the hallway. She was extremely careful not to let the dress even graze the metal bars, but nothing could have prepared her for a small piece of cloth getting caught on the bar. Slowly using her other hand, she freed the piece of cloth and pulled the remaining length of dress through the bars, quickly patting it down for any dirt and making sure there were no cuts or frays. By the quick inspection, Elise felt no damage and politely handed the dress back to Nana once she emerged from the crawlspace.

"I should have stayed in the cell," Elise heard Nana say as she brushed herself off.

Elise turned from her and went towards Orion's cell while whispering under her breath, "I think that would have been best for all of us." She slowly drew closer to his cell, a hesitation in her step at approaching a man, but she felt the urge to help him. Orion was sitting on the cot massaging his knee when Elise peered in to the cell, her hands gripping the bars of the cell door. Orion looked at her, a pained smile forced on his face. She was able to get a better look at him, though the light was dim, and couldn't help but blush at his handsome face. The light must not have been as dim as she thought because Orion saw her cheeks grow rosy and quickly looked away, a smile still on his face.

"Did you find anything in your cell that might help you get out?" Elise asked, turning her attention to getting him out and away from flirting. Was that even appropriate in this situation?

Orion winced as he pushed himself off the cot and walked towards the cell door. "There's something on a small ledge above the door," he said, looking up, "but I can't reach it. Why would they put something just out of reach?" He made eye contact with Elise, and saw the pitiful realization in her eyes. "What?" He asked.

Elise said nothing, but looked past Orion and towards the cot, which was tall enough for him to reach the item on top of the door if he were to stand on the cot. Orion followed her gaze, saw the cot and came to the same realization. His shoulders drooped and he let out a small sigh, "you've got to be kidding me."

With an intense pain shooting up and down his leg, with a concentration in his knee, Orion carefully hobbled to the cot and let out another sigh, then took a deep breath before gripping the edge of the metal frame of the cot and pulling it towards the door. He bottled his screams in his mouth with each pull and released a heavy breath when he pulled the cot as far as he could. Elise watched him from the other side of the cell door, a hatred growing inside her for the people who captured them. How were they able to devise such schemes to hurt them all both physically and mentally? Along with the hatred, a fear started to grow for what might be on the other side of the big double doors at the top of the staircase. Her attention was pulled back to Orion when she heard him curse under his breath. "Are you okay?" She asked, her hands gripping the bars just a little tighter and her face starting to wince, behavior she had adapted from her past.

Orion looked at her with sympathetic eyes, "these people really know how to mess with us, huh?" Elise stayed silent, unsure of how to answer. She didn't have the heart to tell him, or even accept it herself, that this was no where near the worst of it. Letting out another sigh, Orion braced himself and with one swift, painful motion lifted his left leg on to the bed then immediately pulled up his right, loosing his balance and desperately clutching at the cell door for support. Letting out a short gasp, Elise shot her hand up and caught Orion's arm, keeping him from falling backwards. He steadied himself, his hand lingering in Elise's palm for a moment before carefully reaching to the top of the door and feeling around. His hand felt something small and smooth, finding it to be a key when he brought his hand in front of his face to see what he grabbed.

"There's no keyhole," Orion said half to himself. He turned his head and looked around the cell, the stone walls as solid as they could be. He felt the deadbolt on the door and, finding no keyhole, looked to Elise for help.

"Uhm, let me see..." Elise trailed off as she backed from the cell door and inspected the surrounding wall. "Here!" Elise called out, running her fingers over the small hidden keyhole just next to the door. "Give me the key." Orion painfully climbed down the bed, his whole leg throbbing now, and handed Elise the key through the bars. Snatching it from his hand, she forced the key into the hole and turned, hearing a satisfying click from Orion's cell door. Opening the door, then removing the key from the keyhole, Elise tentatively helped Orion move the cot away from the threshold of the cell and offered herself as support as he limped out of the cell. She handed him back the key, "I'd keep this just in case."

Orion pocketed the key and for a moment let the warmth of Elise's touch, and soothing effect of her voice fill him. It was the only source of comfort in this dark place. "Thank you," he said to her, then looked around the basement hallway, his eyes landing on the big double doors at the top of the stairs. "How do we get out of here?"

[Fabricant451]

Nana took the dress from Elise's hands in a manner that could only be described as snatching. She held it in both hands, her thumb and index fingers gingerly holding the straps. She scanned it twice over, both inside and out, for any sign of wear and tear.

"Say, that's a cool tattoo."

Nana spun around, still holding her dress. There was another, new voice coming from behind. Seeing the voice belonged to a male, Nana let out a small shriek and covered herself, causing her dress to drop to the floor. This, in turn, led to Nana screaming like a child having a temper tantrum, complete with her hands clutching at her hair and her eyes widened.

"Do you have to be so loud?" the new voice continued, his voice equal parts smarmy and sarcastic, "Hey, you know what would be really cool? If you bent over to get that dress." Behind the bars he was beaming from ear to ear. "Or, you know, letting me out of here. That would be cool, too."

Nana was still frozen in both shock and horror, both having to do with her dress now laying dead on the ground. It was that creepy smiling guy's fault! He startled her and in that momentary lapse of reason, the dress slipped from her hands. As far as Nana was concerned, he owed her a new dress. Or at least a reasonable sum of money to buy a better dress.

"So what's up with that tattoo? Bit weird to have the severed head of a stuffed rabbit on your back, isn't it?"

"Shut up!" Nana's voice was raised. Ignoring her dress, she stomped towards his cell and grabbed the bars, staring through them and directly at the occupant.

"Hey, up close and personal, that's cool too." All the while he continued to smile, "But I don't even know your name so this little tryst won't work out, I'm afraid."

Nana began shaking the bars every word from his mouth just made her all the more pissed off.

"Oh, right, you're one of those girls who wants the guy's name first, right? I'm Eric." Eric stuck a hand towards Nana as if going for a handshake. In his hand was a sharp, thin piece of metal. The pointed end was extended towards Nana's stomach and as Eric's hand slipped through the bars, the piece of metal poked Nana, causing her to pull back from the cell with a wince.

"What the hell are you doing, you creep?" Nana patted the point of impact, discovering there was no blood and no wound.

"It's a rudimentary lockpick. I can't do it from my end so I was giving it to you. I worked really hard on it. I would've gotten you flowers or chocolates but..well...my selection was a bit limited."

Eric dropped the lockpick to the ground in front of the cell. "You know, feel free to, like, turn around when picking it up."

"Fuck you." Nana turned her back to Eric, stomped over to her dress, and crouched down to pick it up. Eric was whistling as he watched. Furious, Nana struggled to put on the dress; the snippy comments from Eric didn't help matters. After she put it on she walked over, scowling, and picked up the lockpick.

"You do care!" Eric took a step back, giving Nana a thumbs up and a fake enthusiastic smile.

Nana said nothing as she stuck the makeshift lockpick into the keyhole. There was a faint click and the cell door slid open. Rather than wait for Eric to come out, Nana entered his cell.

"Now? With everyone still here? Well alrig-"

He didn't finish his sentence because Nana's fist hit him square in the face. He fell to the ground, clutching at his nose. Small bits of blood dripped out and stained the floor.

"Don't talk to me again." With that, Nana dropped the lockpick in front of him and left the now-open cell. She looked at the others waiting outside. "No one say a go damn thing."

She really wished she had stayed in the cell.

[drewccapp]

Vincent rolled his eyes at her dramatic display. He then turned his attention to the door that was everyone's way out of this cell block. He walked while assisting Autumn toward the door. "I'm gonna check out this door and see if there's a way we can open it. That means I'm gonna have to let go of you, if you can't stand up on your own, use the wall or someone else if they're willing." He gingerly let her go near a wall and moved closer to the door that would be their first ticket out of here.

He looked it over and noticed it was very well built. Breaking it down wouldn't work. It had no handle to speak of. There was a lock, but it was far more complicated than the cell locks and he was pretty sure that lock picking it probably wouldn't work. He never had much talent for it. "So... How are we gonna open this?"

[reneelizabeth]

An expression of disgust washed across Orion's face as he listened to the way Eric spoke to Nana. He was about to pipe up and say something when Vincent emerged from Autumn's cell, clutching her as he guided her into the hallway, and asked the same question they were all thinking. How were they going to get out of this basement. Vincent carefully let Autumn lean against a wall before he went to inspect the big double door.

"Hold on," Elise said in an almost whisper to Orion, taking the arm wrapped around her shoulders and leading him to another wall. He winced as he limped, his leg still throbbing, but propped himself against the wall. Elise hurried in to one of the open cells and found a stool and brought it back to the group. "Sit," she said to Orion and guided him to the stool.

"Thank you," he said as he started massaging his knee. Elise then gently went over to Autumn and pulled her weight onto herself. She was smaller than Elise and it was no problem supporting her weight. It was a learned behavior to protect and help her fellow woman, though Elise's compassionate personality wanted to help them all.


A while had gone by with each able bodied person desperately searching each open cell and every corner, then back to the double doors, then another search of the basement, before they were exasperated and confused and quickly losing hope. Elise was still holding Autumn, her arm growing sore, and meeting eyes with Orion every now and then. There was something they were missing. Something "They" wanted to see them do or hear them say. But what?

"Please," Elise finally said in a strained voice, "what do you want us to do."

Like clockwork, as had happened before with Vincent, there came the sound of a lock sliding open followed by a creaking door. Elise's head jerked to look down the hall. A cell door at the end of the basement hall was slowly opening. She stared at it for a moment longer, then turned back to the group, her eyes meeting those of Orion, Autumn, Eric, Nana, then finally Vincent, and she raised an eyebrow as if to say "who should check it out?"