Chapter Five
When Camila woke up, she was alone in the room and the door was closed. At first, she was confused. Until she remembered.
He still thinks I’m sick.
She was keeping up the lie really well, and Adrien clearly didn’t want to get near her while she was still sick any more than he had to. He had looked around the place but had only come by some more of the Ibuprofen, but nothing that would be of help against the flu. Because he didn’t want to catch it from her, he was allowing her to sleep alone.
So instead of dragging her out of the main bedroom, he’d taken over another room. Only, he took a moment to nail down the window so she couldn’t think to escape that way, and locked the door behind her once she was back in there. With the door closed, she didn’t get much heat from the fireplace in the living room, so she was really cold, even with the blanket.
If I’d known he would nail down the window, I would have at least aired out the room first.
Her breath wheezed a little, which meant she’d probably inhaled a heck load of dust in her sleep under the bed the night before or she really was getting sick. She needed to get out to drink some water. She slipped out of the bed and walked over to the door, but just as she’d thought, it didn’t even budge.
She thought about knocking for a second, but decided to wait. In the meantime, she looked around the room. Just maybe, there might be something around that would be useful.
It wasn’t that big of a room. There wasn’t much in the room, either. The bed, a nightstand, a dresser and closet, and the bathroom. Camila went through everything in the room, but there really wasn’t anything to find, not even clothes that would fit her. She didn’t think it was Adrien that cleared the place, either. It was probably just that Tansy hadn’t thought she’d need a weapon of any sort.
“Now what,” she whispered, standing in the middle of the room and looking around.
There was nothing else for her to do. She didn’t even bother going to the window. It was too small for her to get through and impossible anyway since Adrien had nailed it shut. She would bet some of the other rooms had better windows.
When she heard the sound of footsteps outside, she froze, before hurrying over to the bed. She got back on it and lay on her side, pretending to still be asleep. She tried not to tense up when she heard the click of the lock at her door. When the door opened, she felt her body shiver, and she covered it with a cough as she curled into herself.
Adrien didn’t try to walk further into the room. Instead, he knocked on the door.
“Camila,” he said. “You need to get up and eat. I’m leaving your food at the door. Let me know if you’re okay to come out today or not.”
She pretended to stir up and rolled over, squinting her eyes his way. Seeing she was responding, he left an opened can of beans on the dresser where he could reach, and turned to leave. He closed the door behind him. He didn’t lock it, but it wasn’t as if she could freely move around while he was awake.
Still, this is good enough. I can last this way.
She went to pick up the can that already had a spoon in it, and moved back to the bed to eat. She was a little miffed that he hadn’t even bothered to warm it and put it in a bowl, but at least he was feeding her, somewhat.
There wasn’t much to do in the bedroom. There was no TV, and not even a radio. It made her wonder at times how the previous owner had lived there with barely any entertainment. Even the TV only had three channels that didn’t come in all that great. She came from the busy city, so all this silence was too odd for her.
She didn’t want to spend all her time in her room, so eventually, she made her way outside into the rest of the house. Adrien was around, but he didn’t bother her.
The next few days passed just like that.
Pretending physical illness and some well-placed lies and acting kept her safe. In addition to her slow sabotage of Adrien’s healing, he hadn't tried to approach her sexually after that one time. He didn’t like that she couldn’t be at his beck and call like before, but at least, he couldn’t be too effective in being abusive, either.
When she thought about it, she figured she could survive just like this until someone came to find her.
The situation was still bad, she wasn’t suddenly falling into Stockholm Syndrome. But at least this way, she wasn’t spending every waking—and sleeping—moment in fear. She didn’t think she could last long this way, but she was sure she wouldn’t have to.
It was only a matter of time.
Adrien was doing a good job of holding out. He’d only made her help him change his bandages another couple times, and his wound looked worse with each one. It was growing a little disgusting and seeping even more every time she had to remove the bandages.
Camila was still hoping that he would get blood poisoning and she could be free of him sooner, because it didn’t seem the police, or anyone, had come close to finding her yet, and she was getting impatient to be found.
As the days passed, Camila silently watched Adrien’s decline. She noticed he spent more and more time sleeping. He was coming to unlock the door for her early in the morning, and locking her up early in the evening. He did his best to stay alert when she was around, but there were times when she would catch him staring off into space with a miserable look on his face. He didn’t even bother turning on the TV most days.
She didn’t even once feel sorry for him. Not with what he was doing to her. And besides, she’d brought up going to the hospital, he was the one to refuse to go. Getting an infected bullet wound probably hurt like hell, and he was suffering, but there was a little part of her that was happy she wasn’t the only one suffering in this.
Another couple days passed. Adrien now looked visibly unwell, though he was still trying to act tough. She didn’t bother trying to blow his cover, acting as if everything was fine. With one small change. Now that he was looking sicker and weaker, she acted a little less sick herself. In the condition he was in, she didn’t think he would try to pull anything on her regardless.
“Camila.”