Emily thought it had been hours since she had last moved.
She was lying on her back in the middle of the pool in full sunlight. The heat of the sun on her naked body aggravated her burnt and blistering skin, but she didn’t have enough inclination to do anything about it.
It was over now.
She had given up.
She may still be physically alive, but she was dead inside.
After her failed attempt at getting away after he’d raped her, she had accepted her fate. The force of the blow her body had taken when he’d thrown her off the ladder had stunned her and knocked out whatever last scraps of hope had still been lodged inside her. She had been so close. She had caught him by surprise, gotten away, been halfway up the rope ladder when he got her.
But ultimately, close wasn't close enough.
She had failed.
She was going to die here. She didn’t believe otherwise.
So she was simply waiting.
Waiting to die.
That was all she did. She didn’t really sleep, and yet she wasn't really awake. He hadn’t been back since last time so she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything, and therefore didn’t really need to get up and relieve herself.
The longer she laid here, the easier it got to let go of her mind. To let it slip into nothingness. To stop any thought from fully forming until it faded. Eventually, thoughts just stopped coming to her.
Sporadically, the odd one rattled into her head. Flashes of her life before this place. Happy times as a child playing with her sister, family vacations, parties with friends, her marriage. It was like her life was flashing before her eyes as her life slowly came to an end.
She wished he would just hurry up and kill her.
Put her out of her misery.
The waiting was torture.
Although she supposed that was his point.
He wanted to make her suffer, humiliate her, torment her, make her wish for death but refuse to give it to her. She was his plaything, his toy, and nothing more.
A rush of cold water showered down on her.
Her body gave a mild jump when it hit her, and the icy water made her body shake, but other than that she didn’t move. She didn’t want to drink any water. She didn’t want to do anything that would prolong her life.
Next, several dry crackers rained down. But she had neither the will to move nor an appetite to motivate her. So she simply lay still.
A moment later a shadow crossed over her.
A foot nudged her.
“Hey, you don’t give up until I say so. I'm in charge here.”
Emily blinked and cracked her eyes open a little more, all she could see was a big black figure looming over her.
“Come on, get up.” He kicked at her again.
“Why?” the word was a mere rasp through her dry, split lips. “You want me to die, so just do it already.”
“I’ll kill you when I'm good and ready and not a moment sooner.”
“You got what you wanted, you destroyed me, Iwantto die.” Talking hurt her parched throat, but she wanted to beg for the freedom of death. She couldn’t stand living another day, another hour, another minute.