6: Bad Behavior

(TW: violence, assault)

"What-"

The feel of sunlight against her cheeks woke Yanire up. She was surprised to see anything besides the damned twirling of their old ceiling fan. In its place, there was a large window portion cut out of the space over her, allowing pure light to come down. 

Yanire brought her hand to her eyes on reflex before pausing. The metallic handcuffs which used to be around her wrists were gone. She moved to stand up and heard the shuffling of a metal chain. Now it seemed Martien had decided to bound her by her legs instead. With the matter of her chains settled, she looked around the space she was in. The bed beneath her was against a wall, and the door appeared to be solid metal now rather than wood. Yanire cringed lightly- it was much tougher to escape a metal confinement than a wooden one. 

Martien was nowhere to be seen for the moment. Yanire considered it a blessing. The walls were stone or concrete of some kind as was the floor. She realized that the outside world was completely silent inside, meaning the room was likely sound-proofed. 

"Fuck."

Yanire flopped back onto the bed rubbing her hands across her face. She had no idea where Martien could have possibly taken her or how Adriel would be able to find her. Upon hearing his name in her mind, her body relaxed and she took in a slow, calming breath. 

That was right, Adriel. Even being that there was so little information for him to go on, he wouldn't stop. Tears started at the corner of her eyes now. Adriel wasn't going to let her be taken without doing something about it- she was sure of that. With a newfound hope to hold onto, she felt a little less desperate. She was still trapped with a clearly unhinged version of her former abusive husband- but she wouldn't be stuck with him forever. 

Yanire decided that the best thing she could do now was wait. Wait for Adriel to find her and try to make sure she stays in one spot for as long as possible. It likely wouldn't do her any good to fight back against Martien in any obvious ways. In fact, it would probably do the most good if she could try to keep him from becoming any more unstable than he already was. 

Yanire had started absent-mindedly running her hand over her upper arm when she felt the bump of a sleek metal. Her eyes wandered to the area and she noticed there was a device of some kind around her right arm. At first she began trying to tug the device off, but eventually she realized it to be a futile effort. Strange. 

"Good morning, dear."

When Yanire heard the scratch of Martien's voice she shivered in disgust. Quickly, she hid the reaction and turned to the door where it had come from. Her eyes swiftly searched behind his figure- trying to determine where exactly he was keeping her. Behind him was a line of thick forest and what seemed to be a very unkempt grassy field. The trees were all deciduous, though Yanire admittedly wasn't enough of a tree expert to figure what exact kind. Maybe oak or maple, but those were common anywhere in the U.S and told her very little about her location.

"Don't fiddle with that too much, it might bruise."

Yanire shook the tree talk from her head and glanced at Martien. He gestured to her arm and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"What does it do?"

Martien shuffled in through the door, balancing a tray of contents in his arms and walking over to a metal table which was bolted to the ground against the wall opposite Yanire's bed. 

"Nevermind that, it won't hurt you. I brought breakfast."

Yanire gulped numbly as she stared over to the place where he'd set the tray. 

"Made it the way you always liked, strawberry syrup and all."

Yanire went to object to him but closed her lips instead. Strawberry syrup was the way that he always liked it.

"Thank you."

Martien turned to her with desperation in his eyes. He scanned her blank expression hungrily and took a single step in her direction. Yanire clenched the sheets so tight that her knuckles began to turn red- she didn't want him to come any closer.

"Right, no problem darling. Enjoy."

Yanire watched as he moved to a more comfortable distance, near the door he'd entered the room from. She began to feel nauseous when he stood beside the door without leaving, eyes staring right back at her. The woman glanced at the tray and spotted two pancakes with syrup drizzled across them, as well as some scrambled eggs. Unless he'd miraculously decided the kitchen was no longer a "woman's place" it was very unlikely that he'd made the meal himself.

"Eat your breakfast."

When Yanire glanced back to him, the hairs on her neck rose. Martien wore a deep scowl, an expression of complete rage.

She slipped off from the bed slowly, eyes never leaving the rage on his face. She stepped over to the table and nervously touched the outer edge of the plate. The material was plastic, the soft kind. Yanire imagined there was no weight to it at all. When she inspected the plate further, she realized there were no eating utensils available.

"If I eat it without a fork, I'll get syrup all over me."

Martien scowled, muttering something under his breath. Yanire was unsure how or why he'd become so angry so quickly. The man marched over to her, causing her to step backwards until she hit the wall. When he noticed her movement, he stopped, turning to face her. 

Yanire opened her mouth to apologize when she was interrupted.

Martien had started to laugh. At first it was a sarcastic chuckle, but it bubbled in his chest, slowly becoming genuine and hysterical. Yanire cringed slightly, unsure of what exactly was happening.

"Oh, darling."

Martien began to walk over to her, green eyes alight with emotion.

"You've grown so impolite."

Yanire cringed, stepping back to her previous position against the concrete wall. 

"I taught you better than this- what changed?"

He stood within arm's reach of her now, dark black curls dipping down around his collar bone area. Yanire hadn't consciously realized how unkempt the hair was until now.

"I seem to recall a grateful version of you, one with beautiful smiling eyes. My dear, I don't think you've smiled once since I brought you back."

His tone was cold as he stepped forward, closing the rest of the distance between them. Martien grasped the bottom of her face, pressing her hard against the wall.

"Answer me."

Yanire's eyes widened in horror, lips trembling as she tried to form a sentence in her mind. Nothing. She couldn't think of a single thing to say.

"Say something."

When he dropped his hand from her chin, her chest ached. She had to think, quickly.

"I'm sorry. I-"

SLAP!

Yanire slipped from her position, falling as his hand connected with her cheek. She felt the scrape of her back on the way down, but it didn't stop the numbness creeping over her as though she had become buried in a snowstorm. 

Suddenly he was crouched in front of her on his knees, wiping the hair from her eyes.

"Oh dear- oh my sweet Yanire, I'm sorry."

His eyes were wet now with sadness as he flinched away from her. It seemed he thought his touch might scald her- and maybe it would. 

"Oh please- please forgive me."

Yanire closed her eyes. 

Hopefully, Adriel would find her soon.