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Madi jolted awake, her heart pounding as she was suddenly aware of someone standing over her. Her vision blurred as she blinked away the remnants of sleep, but the dark, hulking figure at her bedside quickly came into focus. It was Sid.
Panic surged through her as she tried to scramble backward, pressing herself against the cold, unforgiving wall behind her. The rough metal of the shackles clinked ominously as she moved, the chain pulling taut and reminding her of her imprisonment. Sid, however, didn’t seem angry this morning. He was looking at her with an expression she hadn’t seen before—something almost gentle.
“Easy now,” he murmured, his voice low and lacking its usual edge. He leaned down, his large hands reaching for her wrists. Madi flinched, expecting the worst, but to her surprise, he didn’t hurt her. Instead, he carefully unlocked the handcuffs, the cold metal releasing her wrists with a click.
Her skin was raw where the cuffs had dug in, and she rubbed her wrists absentmindedly, too dazed to process what was happening. She watched Sid warily as he stepped back, gesturing for her to follow him.
“Come on,” he said, his tone gruff but not unkind. “You need to eat somethin’.”
Madi hesitated, her mind racing with fear and confusion. But what choice did she have? She couldn’t run, not now, not when he was standing so close. She could still feel the weight of the handcuffs on her wrists, could still see the shadow of the man who had bound her to the bed. But Sid was different today—softer, as though he had set aside the darker parts of himself, if only for a moment.
With trembling legs, she pushed herself off the bed, her body stiff from the uncomfortable night’s sleep. Sid waited patiently, watching her every move with those keen, unsettling eyes. Once she was standing, he turned and led her out of the small, dark room. Madi followed, her heart pounding as she wondered what was waiting for her outside.
The cabin’s kitchen was dimly lit, a single bulb hanging from the ceiling casting weak light over the worn wooden table and mismatched chairs. The room smelled of cooking—eggs, bacon, and something sweet and warm. On the table was a plate of food, steam still rising from the scrambled eggs and crispy bacon, along with a glass of sweet tea that sparkled in the dim light.
“Sit down,” Sid instructed, nodding toward the chair closest to the plate.
Madi hesitated, her instincts screaming at her to resist, to flee, but the gnawing hunger and thirst were too powerful. She hadn’t eaten since before she got lost, and the sight of the food, made her mouth water.
Sid’s gaze softened as she slowly lowered herself into the chair. “Go on,” he said, as if coaxing a frightened child. “Eat up. You’re gonna need your strength.”
Madi glanced at him, unsure, but the emptiness in her stomach was unbearable. She reached for the glass of tea first, her hands trembling as she brought it to her lips. The sweet liquid was cool and refreshing, and she drank deeply, the sugar and caffeine giving her a small burst of energy.
Sid watched her, his expression almost… pleased. It was unsettling, the way his eyes softened as she drank, as though he were playing a role in his mind—one that she couldn’t quite understand yet.
Once the glass was empty, Madi set it down and picked up the fork. The scrambled eggs were slightly overcooked, the toast was burnt around the edges, but she didn’t care. She took small, cautious bites, all the while keeping Sid in her peripheral vision.
Sid pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. He placed his own plate in front of him, and began to eat, his movements slow and deliberate. Madi’s nerves tightened as he settled in, as if they were about to share a normal meal together.
“You sleep alright?” he asked suddenly, breaking the silence. His voice was gentle, almost paternal, and the question caught her off guard.
Madi swallowed hard, struggling to find her voice. “I… I guess,” she stammered, her words feeling foreign in her mouth.
He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her response. “Good, good. You need your rest. Can’t have you gettin’ sick.”
“You’re not eatin’,” Sid observed, his brow furrowing. “You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s… it’s good,” Madi quickly replied, forcing herself to pick up the fork again. She took another bite of the eggs, chewing mechanically, her throat tight with fear. “I’m just… I’m not very hungry.”
Sid’s expression softened again, but there was an edge to his gaze, a flash of something darker lurking beneath the surface. “You need to eat,” he insisted, his voice firm. “Can’t have you wastin’ away on me.”
Madi nodded quickly, forcing herself to take another bite, though the food tasted like ash in her mouth. Sid watched her intently, and she could feel the weight of his expectations pressing down on her. She was supposed to be his daughter now, supposed to play the part he had created in his mind, and any deviation from that would shatter the fragile peace that had settled between them.
“You remind me of her,” Sid said suddenly, his voice tinged with sadness. “My little girl. You’re just like her.”
Madi’s breath caught in her throat. She wanted to ask more, to understand the full extent of his delusion, but she was afraid of saying the wrong thing, of triggering his anger.
“What… what happened to her?” she asked cautiously, keeping her voice soft.
Sid’s expression darkened, his eyes clouding with grief. He turned away, running a hand through his long white beard, as if trying to pull himself back from the edge of something painful.
“She… she got sick,” he said after a long pause. “Cancer. It took her so fast. One day she was here, laughin’ and playin’… and the next, she was gone.” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard, his shoulders slumping. “I couldn’t save her.”
Madi felt a pang of sympathy, despite her fear. She couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a child, of watching them suffer and knowing there was nothing you could do. But this sympathy was quickly tempered by the reality of her situation. Sid was dangerous, and no amount of sorrow could change that.
“And your wife?” Madi asked gently, though she could already sense where the story was heading.
Sid’s expression hardened, the sorrow in his eyes turning to bitterness. “She left me,” he said, his voice cold. “Said she couldn’t stand to be here anymore, couldn’t stand to look at me. Like it was my fault.” He spat the last word, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “She walked out that door and never looked back.”
Madi’s heart ached for the man Sid had once been, for the life that had been torn apart by tragedy. But the man sitting before her was a shadow of that person, twisted and broken by years of loneliness and grief. She could see now how he had ended up here, alone in this cabin, his mind unraveling with each passing year.
Sid looked up at her, his eyes suddenly bright with a desperate, almost pleading light. “But you… you’re here now. And I’m gonna take care of you, just like I shoulda taken care of her.”
Madi’s blood ran cold. He wasn’t just pretending she was his daughter—he was trying to rewrite the past, to fix the mistakes he believed he had made. And that meant she was trapped, caught in the middle of a delusion she had no idea how to escape.
“I… I appreciate that,” she said carefully, trying to keep her voice steady. “But Sid, I’m not—”
“You’re mine now,” he interrupted, his voice firm. “My daughter. And you’ll stay here, where I can keep you safe.”
Madi felt the walls closing in around her, the air growing thin as panic clawed at her throat. She wanted to scream, to tell him that she wasn’t his daughter, that she had a life of her own, a family who would be looking for her. But she knew that any sign of resistance would only make things worse.
Sid’s gaze hardened, his eyes narrowing as he studied her face. “You’re scared,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t like it when you’re scared. You know that, don’t you?”
Madi forced herself to nod, her hands trembling as she gripped the edge of the plate. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just… I’m trying to understand.”
His expression softened slightly, but there was still an edge to it, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “You don’t need to understand,” he said. “You just need to do what I say. Be a good girl, and everything’ll be fine.”
Madi nodded again, her throat tightening as she struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. She needed to keep him calm, to play along with his fantasy, at least until she could find a way out. But every word felt like a betrayal, every nod like a surrender to the nightmare that had become her reality.
“Finish your breakfast,” Sid said, his tone softening once more. “Then we’ll go outside. It’s a beautiful day, and I think you’ll like the garden.”
Madi forced herself to pick up the fork again, her hands shaking as she took another bite of the cold, rubbery eggs. Sid watched her for a moment, then nodded in approval as he went back to eating his own food.
She stared at the front door, her mind spinning with fear and confusion. Sid was delusional, trapped in a fantasy where she was his daughter, and every time she showed fear or hesitated, he saw it as a failure on her part to play along. But she couldn’t keep this up forever—couldn’t keep pretending to be someone she wasn’t.
Madi glanced down at the food on the plate, her appetite gone. She needed to stay strong, to find a way to escape before Sid’s delusion grew even more dangerous. But the thought of what he might do if she tried to run again made her stomach churn with fear.
She had to play along for now, had to pretend to be the daughter he had lost, at least until she could find a way out.
She scanned the cabin as if she was interested in its contents, but she was actually looking intently for her backpack. It was nowhere to be seen.
Just then, Sid stood up and said, "I have something for you," as he walked to a drawer in the kitchen. He pulled out what looked to be a collar and walked behind Madi, starting to put it on her. She leaned down as if to refuse.
“Wanna go back to the chains?” he asked sternly. Madi relented and let Sid put the collar on her, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"This here is a shock collar; it's made for bears. If you go more than 100 feet away from this cabin, you’ll get a shock that’ll likely kill you, so don’t do that." He then sat back down to finish his food.
"Finish eating now," he said nonchalantly. "We have a lot of work to do in the garden. You’re going to need your strength."
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