The Fort (Aric Davis)

to see that it was feeling a little better than the day before. He hobbled his way to the bathroom, then sat on the toilet like an invalid to urinate. When he was done he turned on the shower and stripped off his underwear. The water felt nice but didn’t bring the clarity he was used to. His leg was far too distracting, the water on it felt like someone running broken glass across his skin. Giving up after just a few short and decidedly unsatisfying minutes, Hooper dried off and opened the medicine cabinet. He poured three aspirin into his mouth from the bottle and chewed them into a bitter powder, then swallowed. It was time to check on Amy.
    He made toast and carried it with him to the steps, then made his way down them, careful not to spill the bread. She was awake, he saw when he reached the bottom, with her back to the pole. He felt cruel setting the plate next to her. She was gagged and bound, after all, and had to be starving, but there was one more thing to be done before she could eat. He tried to avoid her eyes as he said, “I’ll be right back,” before slowly making his way back up the stairs. Once at the top, he went to the garage to get the chain and locks from his car, and then headed back downstairs.
    When he was finally in the basement again, he undid one of Amy’s arms and then the other, then refastened them in front of her. He half expected her to fight, and took her passivity as a good sign. Everyone has a breaking point, and hopefully she was getting closer to hers, perhaps was even there already. He wound the chain around the pole five times, then locked two links together, so that it made a very solid five-foot-long leash. Amy would be able to stand, but barely. He took the other end of the chain, looped the lock through it, and attached it to the metal ring on the collar around her neck.
    “I’m going to take your gag off now,” said Hooper. “And if you scream, no one is going to hear you, but you will be punished. I already owe you a lashing for yesterday, so think it through.” He gently loosened the straps on the back of the gag, and she fell upon the water he’d cruelly left her the night before. In his injured state, he hadn’t realized the glass would just provide torment, as she would have been unable to drink it. She drank greedily at first, and then seemed to consider the idea that she should make it last. She set the cup down half empty, then began to eat the dry toast.
    “This will be our arrangement for a few days,” said Hooper. “If you keep up the good behavior, I’ll bring you more to eat than just bread and water.” He looked at the slowly drying spot on the floor where she had pissed, and grabbed an empty five-gallon bucket from under the steps. “You can use this as a toilet—again, at least until I know I can trust you.”
    “Does your leg hurt?” Amy asked him in a timid, kind-sounding voice.
    “It does,” he said. “I was hurt in the war, by shrapnel, and this feels a little bit like that,” he said, then chuckled. “Maybe a little worse. I was a much younger man then, and they had me on painkillers almost immediately. Walking is easier than I expected it to be, so that’s a blessing.”
    “What are you going to do with me? If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone what’s happened, and I don’t even know where I am, not really.” She was smiling at Hooper, but unlike when she kindly asked after his injury, this was not a smile to be nice. She was trying to manipulate him. He walked behind her. She didn’t turn to follow him, though he was sure she must have wanted to. Hooper grabbed the chain with both hands and yanked, jerking her back into the pole and making Amy grunt with pain. He dropped the chain and walked to where she could see him again. She was crying, looking at the floor while sobs wracked her body. It’s not my fault that I need to discipline her. She tried to run away, that’s how this whole mess started, and if I’m not stern enough, problems like that will persist.
    Hooper knelt in front of her, then tenderly lifted her head by the chin. “You need to understand some things, Amy. You belong to me now. There is no going back to what you had before. This is your life now. The sooner you accept that, the better for both of us.” He smiled, and she smiled back, but he knew it was forced. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face bruised slightly from the fall down the steps, he assumed. “Do what you’re told, and things