Bonded
an excerpt

The room was cold, dark and drafty. There were no furnishings or windows but he could feel the sharp stab of loose dirt and gravel against his bare feet. He couldn't remember how he'd lost his shoes or why but it was a constant reminder to the nightmare he was living. His entire body trembled violently, not from the cold, but from his own uncontrolled fear. He huddled in a corner, making himself as small as he possibly could to conserve all the warmth he had left - none of it stopped the shivers of terror that crawled down his spine. His stomach tied itself in painful knots and his muscles ached horribly. The sounds and echoes of blood-curdling screams reverberated throughout his enclosure, enhanced by the steel door that kept him trapped in his icy prison.

He couldn't remember anything - not even his own name. His mind ceased working what seemed like ages ago, focused instead on hiding from the terrors that surrounded him. His clothes were threadbare and torn, dirty and smelling of blood and moss. He'd been in a forest - that much he could remember but everything else sent a violent haze of red through his mind that blocked out the memory of what had happened. It hurt too much to think so he didn't try.

"I wanna go home..." he whispered meekly as hot, stinging tears began to well in his eyes yet again. His entire face felt swollen from the amount of tears he'd shed, the sobs that had wracked his small body.

"Oh, but I'm afraid," a low, oddly cooing voice began. He couldn't see the owner, but recognized it, heard it and froze in pure panic. "Leaving, is entirely out of the question, pet..."

Nothing could have stopped the scream that was ripped from his chest. Nothing.