Chapter 82: Dungeon

I woke up slowly. My stomach felt tight. I could feel the new skin that knitted across it pull as I stretched out my cramped legs. I opened my eyes to the gloomy dungeon. I had no idea what time it was. The wall sconces were still on, so everything looked how it had been when I'd fallen asleep.
I slowly stood and stretched again. I started pacing in my cell one step at a time. I wondered if Mr. Kline would bring me food. I wonder if Liam was okay. I wondered if anyone was coming to get me. I stopped. I still had power. I could get out of here. I faced the grated iron and placed my hands on it. I summoned power to my fingertips.
"Open."
My pink power sparked under my fingertips, sending a painful jolt to my heart. I flew across the cell and hit the stone wall. I slid down it like a swatted bug. I gasped in a breath as my heart sped.
"Okay, no magic then," I said to myself.
"Reveal," I commanded. My daggers slipped from my skin to my hands. I slashed them at the grate. Their metal clanged. White and dark sparks burst from them, but the grate remained.
"Hmph."
I used the Aurora sword in its dagger form to cut my hand. I dripped a circle of blood with a few runes. I stood outside the circle. "I summon..." The blood disappeared into the floor.
"Damn it."
"Are you trying to break out?" Mr. Kline's voice.
I jumped and spun around. He was holding a plate of eggs and toast on a tray with some orange juice. He opened a slot in the grate and slipped the tray onto a table in my cell.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
I crossed my arms and stared at him.
"Are you not feeling talkative this morning?"
I continued to glare at him.
"Well, don't worry. I'll get your shift covered for you today. I can't have my best employee's reputation tainted." He stared back at me for a minute.
"Okay, well, have a good day. I will be back with lunch later." He turned to leave.
"What are you going to do with me?" I asked.
He stopped. "Why, Kira, don't you know? I am going to make you loyal to me."
"How?"
The smile beneath his beard creeped me out. "You'll see," he said as he walked away. "Enjoy yourself."
When he left, I sat and ate the breakfast at the little table. Hours crept by. I made use of them by doing some bodyweight exercises. Then I did Tai Chi. I was in the middle of a set of push-ups when Mr. Kline appeared on the other side of my cell with a chair.
His eyes roamed my body as I stood up. My yellow smock was wrinkled and stained with blood. There were burnt holes where the shotgun blast had scattered its shot. My breathing was a little heavy from my workout, and sweat glimmered on my skin. I saw him take it all in. It was almost like he was sniffing the air, too. The more he stared, the more my skin crawled.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
I narrowed my eyes at him. How did he think I was feeling? I got shot. I was his captive. I was feeling fantastic. When he realized I wasn't going to say anything, he set the chair down, so the back was facing my cell. He sat on it so his elbows draped across the top of the back of the chair. He set his chin on his forearms and stared.
I crossed my arms and glared at him. After about ten minutes, I realized he was going to do this all day. He was going to sit here and watch me all day long. Either I had to say something, or I had to ignore him. A million things ran through my mind; all of them heated. Nothing I could say would make my situation any better. But if I didn't say anything that might actually piss him off.
I broke the staring contest. I breathed out a breath and started the first form of my Tai Chi again. If I was going to be stuck in here, then I was going to make use of it. I was usually working on paying rent, but now, I had all the time in the world.
After an hour, I released the last pose and sat. Mr. Kline was still staring at me. He wasn't asleep. He had definitely moved, blinked, and scratched, so I knew he was real. He just sat as he watched me.
"You're very beautiful," he said.
The sudden noise in the quiet dungeon made me flinch. I glared at him again then turned away slowly. I knew he was playing a game with me. This was his version of torture. And I was starting to feel it. He watched every move I made. I was so used to being invisible, and for someone to pay so much attention to me all of a sudden made my insides squirm. Especially since it was him, the creepy manager that had been creeping me out for the last two years.
I dropped down to the bed. My stomach grumbled. It must have been well past lunchtime. Maybe it was almost even dinner time. Mr. Kline seemed to be neglecting his duties as a store manager, too. I lay down and pulled the sheet up around me. I wasn't that tired, but I didn't know what else to do. It took a long time to fall asleep, but I finally did.
I wasn't sure how long I was out. When I opened my eyes, I looked around the cell. There was food on the table. Mr. Kline still sat staring at me.
"Good morning," he said.
I was sure it wasn't morning. There was no way. It was just another mind game he was playing with me. But the food was another breakfast. And I had to pee. I stared at the small toilet and sink across from the bed. I looked back at Mr. Kline. A small smile appeared beneath his beard.
I had an idea. I took the sheet up in my hands then draped it between the chair and the bed. It was just enough to cover my lower half. Before I walked away, my hand grabbed the sheet and pulled it down. I glared at Mr. Kline. I focused on his aura. I could see his black magic wrapped around my hand. It released and my hand dropped the sheet on the ground. I snatched it back up and tried again. His magic took hold again, ripping down the sheet.
This time, I pretended not to care. I did care. I definitely, totally did care, but this was a battle of wills. I had to act like nothing he did got to me. It was just like when I was little. Anytime I showed that my brother annoyed me, he would do it tenfold. If I didn't care, he got bored and left me alone. I just had to do the same here. If Mr. Kline wanted to watch me pee, then I had to act like I didn't give a fuck.
But that was hard. It was humiliating. It made me feel small and weak. I wanted to rage and scream and break things, but that would be a reaction, and he would know he'd gotten to me. So instead, I undid the button on my slacks then pulled down my pants and underwear. I had to keep my hands from moving too fast. I didn't want to show him my fear. I just had to do it like he wasn't here like, he wasn't watching, like he wasn't enjoying every moment of this. I finished my business and washed my hands. I sat at the table and ate. I stared through him, like he wasn't there. I just let my eyes glaze over as I looked in his general direction. Let's see how he felt about that.
I ate the pancakes and eggs. I downed the juice. I took my time, taking a very slow bite and chewing everything before I swallowed and put more in. When I was finished, I washed the dishes and set them on the table, so the smell of old food didn't fill the cell. I couldn't stand that smell. I knew Mr. Kline watched my every move, but I didn't look at him anymore. Anytime I looked that way, I unfocused my eyes and gave him a vacant stare.
I stood in the middle of the cell and practiced my Tai Chi again. I had to modify it so that I wasn't taking many steps. It felt more like yoga poses. I still didn't look at him. I could hear him moving more and more as he grew anxious. I wondered how long he could keep this up. I wondered if I was starting to irritate him.
After an hour of me running through poses and him shifting every thirty seconds, his phone rang. I flinched but went right back to my movements.
"Hello?" Mr. Kline answered the phone.
"No."
"No."
"One second, I'm on my way."
Mr. Kline stood from the chair and disappeared down the hall, leaving me alone with the chair. I plopped down on the bed in relief. I didn't know what was worse, having him watching me or not knowing what he was up to.