[zapdragon555]

Cyril finished off the knots in the twine, then sat back on his heels, smiling at the back of her head. His eyes flickered at her request, and he let out a small sigh. "Well, I suppose I'll have to comply," he mused in a singsongy, soft voice, and he stood behind her as he lifted the draped black jacket off of her head, shaking it out beside him and tossing it onto the stool in the room. He smiled down at her for a moment, then wrinkled his nose, frowning a bit. "My, that was a rather strong dose, wasn't it. I'm terribly sorry, princess," he murmured in a voice that sounded anything but genuine. "Is there anything I can do for you to make it up?"

[Atoli01]

The moment the jacket left my head, I inhaled as much of the surrounding pure air (if it could even be called such; it was stagnant in comparison to the air which I regularly breathed, though even a deadly gas, I was certain, would've been a pleasant reprieve) as my lungs could hold, before releasing it through several short pants. I would've glared at the man had he not been behind me, but I knew that getting even a glimpse of his face at the moment would be impossible.

Rather than putting up a fight, I took the opportunity to survey the area around me. It was dark, and there wasn't much I could see, but it didn't take a genius to conclude that this wasn't somewhere that anyone wanted to be. I ignored his words which carried with them a feigned feeling of concern, choosing "selfishly" to take the man up on his offer.

"One... thing." My voice was slowly returning to what it once was with my newly available supply of oxygen, and the puzzle pieces of my brain began to fall back into place. "Let me see you."

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's eyes flickered slightly at her words, as he stared at the back of her head, and they lidded in thought for a moment. For what felt like many minutes but what could only be seconds, Cyril was silent, as if weighing his options, before a slow smile spread over his face. "Well, I can't see any harm in that," he mused, folding his hands behind his back. He walked slowly, his shoes making light noises on the beaten and cold carpet, until he came into her view and finally stopped in front of her, tilting his head to the side to peer at her face. His smile grew vulpine, teeth showing from behind his lips in the dim room. "You look a little out of it, dear."

[Atoli01]

Any second now. Just answer me. Hurry, please, I had thought. I dared not say the words aloud, but it was enough that words were beginning to form once more, even if only in my head. My breaths were still deep ones, I noted as I waited anxiously for his answer. Yes, I needed all the air my lungs could receive in this atmosphere in which I felt as though I was drowning. How long I could live in such a way before I went mad was a question whose answer arrived not at my doorstep.

Upon hearing his words, upon hearing those almost physically painful footsteps, my breath caught in my throat. Upon the sight of his face, my entire world felt as though it froze in place. I did not know this man, no, but to see the face of the man who had kidnapped me, who possessed within him the power to end my life in the flick of a wrist, was a thing of terror.

My eyes flicked away from him, toward my feet, as I ignored his comment and asked yet another question in a shaky voice. "Who are you?"

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's face seemed to grow more and more twisted the longer she looked upon him with horror, his smile even more wicked. He clicked his tongue in a gentle reprimanding manner, shaking his head. "You ask too much of me, princess. I'm afraid you can't know that," he cooed, bringing his hands to fold behind his back as he began his slow circle around her once more, almost sharklike in his manner. "And besides... where would the fun in that be? In you knowing? It ruins the theatrics of it all," he explained, his eyes flicking to her face to gage her reaction, testing for confusion or misunderstanding. He liked those particular expressions, though fear was also nice. But his captive had that one covered.

[Atoli01]

The man's reaction failed to shock me. It was definitely me who was the dimwitted one for even considering such a question. Though... on the off chance that he would'vetold me, couldn't it have paid off later? At the very least, the inquiry didn't seem to anger him or disrupt his mood. My gaze shifted toward the far off darkness, toward my shoes, hem of my skirt, anything I could direct my attention to other than him. I could faintly feel my tied hands shaking, regardless of my attempts to drown out the soft taps of his footsteps on the old wood floorboard.

"Theatrics...?" I repeated, slightly questioningly, in disbelief. Was this all just a game to him? Anyway, another attempt was in order. "But um... I-if I can't have your name, what should I c-call you?"

[zapdragon555]

Cyril paused in his circle for only a moment, before immediately continuing with a renewed, barely elevated cadence. "Yes! Theatrics," Cyril repeated himself, clapping his hands together gently once with a glint in his eyes, which he aimed at her once he circled around in front of her again. "The world's a stage, darling. You should know that best of all. Life is a play and you have a strict script. I suggest you follow it," he mused, then dug his teeth at his lower lip in thought as he laced his hands behind his back once more. "As for what you'll call me..."

A hand touched the back of her chair, then another, holding the corners of it as he loomed behind her, and over her, peering down at the top of her head. "Narrator. Playwright. Master of your fate. Even a simple 'sir.' Be creative if you like," he ended on a light tone and tilted his head slightly. "It's possible I could let you know who I am, eventually. But I'm afraid we aren't to that point yet in our relationship," he said in a tone that held a certain kind of dramatic remorse.

[Atoli01]

This man had to be insane. He had many more than just one or two screws loose. Simply listening to his voice was enough to send my head spiraling, leaving me dizzy and weak. Despite my desire to deny his words-- to keep myself from losing it too-- the idea he wanted to convey was not only clear, but truthful as well. Of course I'd know that everything was just... a play. Half of my life was lived either on stage or behind it. Even still, to have it stated in such a way, to have it applied to such a situation was nothing short of a terrifying notion.

One thump at a time, I felt his hands fix themselves on the back of my chair, and a paralyzing chill ran down my spine. I couldn't see him. He was too close. I could scarcely focus on what it was that he had told me, though I had gained my bearings quickly enough to hear him say "sir", and all that followed. A part of me wanted to question what "that point in our relationship would be" and how we would get there, but then... I felt it was a dangerous subject.

Instead, I sat silently in the chair, stiff as a board, only able to make guesses as to what the man's next plan of action was.

[zapdragon555]

Cyril stared at the top of her head, his expression slowly melting into something like boredom, perhaps even disappointment. No reaction...? Well then... A soft chuckle escaped Cyril's throat, and he let go of her chair with a rough jerk, barely rattling it as he stepped away. "In the meantime, I intend to make you as comfortable as possible... while still within certain perimeters, of course," he said, his tone light and almost cheery again as he walked into her view, giving her a friendly smile as he bent down closer to her level. His eyes lidded slightly, and his voice lowered. "Untying you is, obviously, currently outside of those perimeters."

"However!" he quickly recovered his light tone, straightening up with a smile. "If you're good, then we'll see about something a bit more comfortable. Honestly, rope burns do nothing for your skin. Terrible tragedy for someone as beautiful as yourself. Objectively speaking of course," he added, a small glint in his eyes, and his voice came out in a purr. "So let me just fix something up for you. I won't be long," he cooed over his shoulder, walking into the darker room, disappearing from her sight.

[Atoli01]

[ Writing in first person is starting to become difficult for me. Don't mind the sudden switch. :'l ]

Don't respond. Stay quiet. Maki kept repeating these words in her head. In some roundabout way, the girl figured that things would somehow get better for her if she took those words as Gospel. If he was trying to get any sort of sizable reaction from her, than he'd have to do more than that. But if that was the case... But if she spoke and got out of line... She sighed inwardly, careful to stay still and unresponsive until the man traveled  out of her view.

In some twisted way, she was thankful at least that he acknowledged that an idol's beauty was not, in fact, natural or easy to maintain. Assuming she was going to get out of this situation in a form that was still mildly presentable to her fans, she knew, without even looking, that her makeup artists would insist on applying foundation at the very least to those wretched rope marks. Maki shuffled in her chair slightly, trying to find a position that was at least slightly more comfortable than the one she was tied in now.

[zapdragon555]

[No problem! Yeah first person is weird to write in haha. xD]

It was a long time before Cyril returned, at least a good ten minutes, but at last he walked back into the room where Maki was kept with a pleasant smile on his face. "Terribly sorry for the wait; your room awaits, princess," he said with a lilting tone, and he walked over to the chair, grabbing the back of it in his hands and dragging it backwards towards the door. The roughness, compared to everything else, was both uncharacteristic and somehow far befitting of the man than anything else he'd done or said that night. He jerked the chair roughly into the dark room and shut the door behind them both, locking it with a key that he slipped into his pocket. "I've pulled out a mattress for you," he explained, then bent down more to her level, his chin almost resting on her shoulder from behind. "Is it alright? Any complaints?"

[Atoli01]

Just when Maki had begun to question her kidnapper's absence, he arrived. It almost seemed as though she called him forth with her thoughts; it wasn't a thing she was pleased about.Confusion flashed across her face upon hearing the word "room", though she didn't have the time to ponder his words very much. It was all she could do to stifle a scream when he began pulling her chair through the house, his roughness a stark contrast to how this man had been treating her just before he left.

When he finally delivered her to her destination, she supposed, Maki breathed a sigh of relief, realizing just how thankful she was to be merely tied to a chair, rather than tied to one that was being dragged. Once again, however, the stranger's words confused her. "M-mattress?" she squeaked, her earlier resolve cracking for just long enough to allow the word to slip from her mouth. Maki could feel the man behind her, and as she was prompted, she merely nodded her head.

It was fine, she assured herself. Just fine. It would be fine.

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's eyes lidded slightly, an almost affectionate look entering them, were he capable of such an emotion in such a situation. "Good," he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out what looked like a switchblade, and he flicked it open. "Hold still now." With a swift movement he snipped the twine around her wrists free, and he stood back tilting his head to the corner. "It's a bit dark, I know. I'm sorry about that. I'll see what I can do about it later," he said. There was a window on the opposite wall, boarded up just like the one in the previous room, letting in a few slivers of light from the outside that kept the room from being completely pitch dark. "Though, we'll have to be careful about that. Can't let anyone outside know that we're inside. Think of it as a fun little hiding game, hm?"

[Atoli01]

Once they were freed, Maki rotated her wrists, almost shocked retained the ability to turn like they were supposed to. She rubbed her wrists as she stared at the man, as if rubbing them would make the light red rings now around them vanish. Stealing a glance at the mattress laying on the floor beside her, her eyes flicked between her kidnapper and the mattress once more before concluding that it would be safe for her to stand. Conducting herself with extreme caution, she moved from her chair to the bed, taking not a single step she didn't have to.

Not taking her eyes off the man for a moment-- not even to look at the window of which he was speaking-- she crawled over to the center of the mattress. Maki removed her scarf and hugged it to her chest before curling herself into as small of a ball as she could. "How much longer?" she asked him quietly, her face only visible enough to peek at the man.

[zapdragon555]

Cyril watched Maki's movements as she walked over to the mattress, and he slid the knife back into his pocket, leaning against the door and gazing at her with a tilt of his head, a small smile on his face. "Longer until what, dear?" he asked, fully aware of what she was asking. He walked towards the mattress, then sat down beside it on the floor, his elbows on his knees as he peered at her. "You don't like it?" he asked, his smile falling as his eyes grew a little somber. "Is that what you're saying?"