By Taurus
Part 29 – “Debrief”
James awoke with a start, opening his eyes to see nothing. Today was his last day here at this facility. Despite the fact that he had been stripped of his humanity, he wanted to stay.
So this was Stockholm syndrome. Maybe this was not the right term to use; his captors never really caused him much harm at all, if discounting Arnold that is. Though Russell in particular, he gave him the time of his life, and showed him what perfect love could feel like.
Speaking of Russell, where was he? The night prior, Russell had slept in the cell with James again, upholding his promise to stay by his slave’s side for the rest of yesterday. This morning, he seemed to have gone.
The lights were all off, but James felt a distinct absence. Gingerly, he shuffled around, and found no one by his side. After confirming no one was on the mattress, he splayed himself out as he usually did, but knocked into a certain something with his right shoulder.
Inspecting it further, he felt leather, chain and an unlocked padlock.