Captivity

A young red-haired erythrocyte was calmly pushing a cart with two oxygen boxes. She had a smile on her face, because she hadn't gotten lost even once during the entire day. Yes, she had really gotten better in her work and was proud of it, but there was another, bigger motive for her to feel so happy... There was someone admiring her! A platelet had given her a letter and a box in the name of her "secret admirer". Since the little one had promised to the author to not reveal his name, the red blood cell didn't insist, instead just reading the note together with Hakkekkyuu-san and her senpai, the latter being as or even more excited than AE herself: "Dear AE3803! Sorry for making a secret out of this, but I still haven't gathered the courage to confess my feelings in person. You are the cutest woman in the world, and I hope you'll like my gift. The one who loves you in secret, a white blood cell". She left her oxygen cart next to a bench and sat down for a moment, opening her bag and taking out the little box that had come together with the letter: inside were sweets of various fruit flavors, and she tried some while rereading the note, trying to find a clue.  "What if it's from Hakkekkyuu-san?" she wondered and started blushing. He was the white blood cell closest to her, and deep inside she wished that he turned out to be the one... but considered the chances to be rather small. Though they were, indeed, friends, there was nothing that would indicate to her that it was him, since he was kind to everyone and also way too serious to do something like that. And besides, he had been there when she received the gift. "Oh, well... at least, someone out there's thinking that I'm cute, hehehe," she said to herself, put the objects back and returned to her work. AE entered a narrow hallway in order to reach the place where she had to deliver the oxygen, barely seeing any other cell around. It was dark and a bit creepy, since the streetlight was broken. "Strange, the platelets are always repairing things like this right away..." She was only a few steps away from the receiver's door, but suddenly felt something cover her face, a handkerchief emitting a strong smell that was making her dizzy. The erythrocyte got terrified and wanted to scream for help, while tears were falling out of her beautiful amber eyes, but instead started to lose conscience... and what followed was complete darkness. *** "So you're in love with AE3803." "Who, me? No... no, no, no, uhm... What are you talking about?" "I was there when she received your note, and I know your handwriting. No need to lie, we're friends, aren't we? I'm just a bit offended that you're denying it, I thought you were trusting me more..." said 1146, the neutrophil with the covered eye, the one our erythrocyte was calling "Hakkekkyuu-san". His younger friend sighed, realizing that keeping up that lie would get him nowhere. The letter was, indeed, from him. "I asked you twice if you were in love with her, and you replied that you didn't have time nor the desire for a girlfriend... I have a crush on her, but you're my friend and I respect you, that's why I didn't do anything without asking," 4989 justified himself. "I know, you were a real gentleman. I respect you as well... let's not allow our friendship to be ruined by this, my dear friend," exclaimed 1146, placing his hand on the surprised 4989's shoulder. The latter put on a huge smile, really happy that the other had taken it so well. "Thanks, pal, to be honest, I didn't want to lose our friendship either and even less because of something like that... Feelings can't be controlled, after all, and I felt so horrible for having fallen in love with her, I was afraid that you were too and that it would end everything between us." "Hey, I would have never allowed that... I have no intention of losing a brother. Yes, to be honest, I do have feelings for her, but this doesn't erase my love for you, my friend, my brother," replied 1146 with a smile. "I won't get in your way, but don't you do the same," said 4989. And they both shook each other's hand and went home to rest. *** The young delivery girl opened her eyes with some effort and wanted to rub them, but then realized that her hands were tied up behind her back. She got terrified and intended to scream, but her mouth was sealed with duct tape. AE had not the tiniest clue where she was and how she had gotten there, she only saw that she was lying on a bed in an unknown room, with tied-up arms and legs and a covered mouth... She started crying. Who could do something so perverted to her? Who could have kidnapped her and why? The young woman heard steps, someone was approaching the room. She trembled, imagining the worst... but quickly calmed down when she spotted Hakkekkyuu-san. "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright." He came closer and carefully removed the tape from her mouth. "Hakkekkyuu-san! I was so scared, I'm so glad that you're here! You know, I was on an oxygen delivery when someone suddenly attacked me from behind, and then I woke up here, all tied-up... I was really scared. Thanks for saving me, how great that you've found me! And now untie me, please, and get me out of here..." "Get you out? Why would I do that?" The white soldier sat down on the mattress and started to play with the baffled erythrocyte's curl, as if her story wasn't interesting him in the slightest. "What? Is this some kind of joke?.. Hakkekkyuu-san? Hakkekkyuu-san! Please don't toy around with me and get me out of here..." Her fear returned, no, turned into pure panic. "Look, Sekkekkyuu, your kidnapper is me. The thing is that I don't like the fact of you having a secret admirer, and even less that this admirer turned out to be a cell very important to me. I don't want to lose any of you two, so I started to think what I could do to keep you both without hurting anyone. And realized that it wasn't possible. So I said to myself: '1146, you'll take Sekkekkyuu far away from him and sooner or later he'll have no other choice than to forget her...' And that's it, everyone's happy." "But this is sick! Stop already, Hakkekkyuu-san, please quit that stupid joke! And get me out of here, you're scaring me!"  She started crying, but the neutrophil didn't even flinch. "No, Sekkekkyuu... don't be like that, I'm doing this for the sake of everyone. Like this, I can love you in peace, without feeling guilty of hurting a friend," he said, caressing the perplexed girl's face. "What? You... You love... me?" AE had the impression that she was starting to lose her mind. On one hand, she was terrified, but on the other hand, she did have feelings for that neutrophil who had basically kidnapped her. She knew that his actions were wrong and was afraid and uncomfortable, however, a tiny part of her was feeling a certain gratitude for his love. But she didn't want to be loved like this, to be hold captive.  "What? Do you really have doubts left? Look where you are right now! Sekkekkyuu, please! You're literally mine. I have you here for myself and can love you forever... without any guilt." The neutrophil kissed her neck lasciviously, but when she tried to get away from him, he got angry and bit her. She yelled out in pain. "Listen, this is how things work here: if you're good, I'll be good. But if you're misbehaving, I'll have no other choice than to punish you..." The red blood cell gulped. His serious face was telling her that he wasn't joking. "How is this possible? Were you really always like that, Hakkekkyuu? Or maybe you are very sick in your head now. It's as if I couldn't recognize you... or perhaps you're just a great actor, you are evil, very evil... I have to flee. I have to get out of here!" "HELP!!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" she yelled with all her strength, but the neutrophil just laughed. "Help! Somebody save our poor Sekkekkyuu!" 1146 started mocking her. "My dear, did you really think I was such an idiot to have freed your mouth without being sure that no one would hear you? This place's abandoned, no one ever comes here... we'll be here alone, just the two of us." AE felt stupid. He was a lot smarter than her, so of course everything was planned perfectly. Tears started flowing from her eyes again. "Oh, no, no, don't cry, Sekkekkyuu... I won't punish you for having attempted to call for help, but only this time. And now try to be a good girl, alright?" he said, holding her face with both hands and kissing the bite wound on the soft skin of her neck. "Do you know why I adore your neck?" 1146 inquired, without letting her go and without stopping to kiss the delicate skin of his scared hostage. "I don't want to know..." she replied, pretending to be brave and trying to squirm away. "You do, and this is exactly what I mean. The neck is a very sensitive area... a place that cannot lie." He pressed his lips against said place. "Here's where your hemoglobin is circulating, and its rhythm and intensity are telling me whether you are telling the truth." The neutrophil had fun playing around with the erythrocyte, knowing that he had started entering her mind. "Not true... This is not true! I'm scared!" she objected, but he didn't let go. "Oh, are you? Your neck's telling another story... You're in love with me, right?" "..." "Silence means consent..." "Not always, sometimes it also means that it's useless to deal with a... stupid like you," she replied, trying to not show any weakness. That ingenuity of hers at such a wrong time made him laugh. "Not bad, but I can demonstrate to you that I'm not lying." 1146 left a last kiss on his hostage's neck, stood up and untied her wrists. Then he took out all his weapons and placed them on the small table next to the bed, apart from the smallest knife which he put on the red blood cell's lap.  "You're free, Sekkekkyuu. But in order to flee, you have to kill me, otherwise I will kidnap you again, and you won't get such a chance anymore... There are my weapons, and in the drawer's a map which will help you to reach the nearest artery. And now come, kill me and escape," he said, extending his arms and waiting for her attack. AE quickly grabbed the knife, cut the rope tied around her feet, took the map, put it into her pocket and wanted to get out, but the white blood cell was standing in front of the door. "I won't kill you... I won't, if you step away from there. B-But I will report you and you... you'll be judged... Move!" she commanded, pointing the knife at him. "No, if you want to get out, you have to kill me," responded the neutrophil, taking her hand that was holding the weapon and approaching the blade to his chest. "Go on, kill me. I'm giving you a chance to get rid of me." "Don't do that to me... Let me go, and I won't tell anyone about what you have done," she begged, on the verge of tears. "No. You have to kill me. Otherwise, you'll stay here." "I can't kill you! Please... Please..." The red blood cell fell to her knees, letting go of the weapon. Did she really want to free herself from him? His words started to make her dizzy, and she began to doubt her own sanity. If she really wanted to be free, why didn't she kill him? He had told her that he would go after her again, giving her a chance to flee, and she wasn't taking it... "And what if he's right?.. What if I'm really lying to myself and want to stay here with him? Maybe I was just too afraid to admit it... No, no, no, this is wrong? Or is it? It can't be. It can't be! He's bad! I'm bad! We're all bad!" AE was clutching her head, feeling as though it was about to burst into a thousand pieces. "You want to stay... you want to stay and you know it, told you so. Calm down, it's alright. Sometimes we just want someone else to choose for us when we are afraid to make the wrong decision." He bent down to her height. "I'm not normal... right?" she asked with a lost look in her eyes. "Who is? No one..." he replied, lifting her into his arms and carrying her. Now she was just like a will-less doll, not putting up any resistance and just breathing and blinking. He placed her on the bed again. "Who's my admirer?" AE asked, staring at the ceiling. "4989." "Ah, he's a good one. He's sweet, kind... and crazy as well?" "That I don't know..." "You said that no one's normal," she replied, turning his head to him, with an odd smile on her lips. The white soldier was surprised, he had never seen such a look in her eyes before, and the worst thing was that she was right. She had used his own words against him and rendered him speechless. "Touché," was the only thing he could utter. The red blood cell stretched out her hands, offering him her wrists. This gesture made the neutrophil feel bad, since she was basically submitting to him, recognizing that she was the hostage and he the captor. The white soldier started feeling guilty and regretting what he had done, plagued by shame at the sight of the poor erythrocyte who didn't have any will left, neither trying to escape nor trusting her own mind... she was losing her sanity, while he began regaining his. "Sekkekkyuu... I'm sorry for everything I've done. Leave, you're free..." "Are you out of your mind?! First you make me question everything I used to believe in, and now you pretend to throw me out into a world that isn't mine anymore! You're trash! You're trash, 1146!" AE started to hit his chest with her fists, while the neutrophil was just standing there, doing nothing. Her punches didn't affect him, they were weak. What hurt him for real, were her words, and he knew that she was right. "Sekkekkyuu..." "Don't you dare call me that! I'm AE3803 for you! I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed, still hitting him. The leukocyte was holding the red blood cell’s wrists with force. The two of them were glaring at each other, until he took her wrists into one hand, raised them above her head and pressed AE herself against the wall, grabbing her face with his free hand and pressing his own against her neck. “Repeat it! Repeat that you hate me!” “I… hate you,” replied the hostage quietly. The white soldier kissed his beloved so gently that she barely sensed the contact of his lips. “You’re lying, Sekkekkyuu. Your neck is telling me the truth… and now say that you love me.” “No…” “Say it…” “I won’t! I’m not going to give you that satisfaction!” she spat at him, hitting him with her knee into the stomach, managing to free herself from his grip. Then she picked up the knife from the ground and pointed it at him, however, not to hurt him, but to offer him the weapon. “Kill me.” “I can’t, Sekkekkyuu, and you know that.” “Argh! But you didn’t hesitate doing that to me, did you? You were able to tell me to kill you, right? How unfair! Come on, stop being a coward and kill me! Otherwise, I won’t let you go! If you don’t kill me… I… I… I…” The poor erythrocyte wasn’t able to finish her sentence. “I’m so sorry… Do you really want me to kill you?” he inquired, taking the weapon. AE took off her jacket, folded it and laid it on the floor, next to the bed in that abandoned room where she was being held hostage. “And now kill me before you destroy the last bit of sanity I have still left…” she muttered, standing in front of the neutrophil, taking his hand that was holding the knife and holding it mere centimeters from her chest. The same way he had done it with her before. “I could never hurt you,” responded 1146. As soon as she heard that, the erythrocyte threw herself at him and kissed his neck. “Say it again!” “I could never hurt you! I love you!” He threw the weapon away and hugged her, asking for forgiveness for everything he had done. She hugged him back without separating her lips from his skin. “Now… Now you know how it feels like when someone you love tells you to kill them,” she murmured and broke out in tears. “So you do love me.” “Just Stockholm syndrome, don’t flatter yourself. For me, you’re still an idiot, a sicko, a kidnapper, an assho-...” She was interrupted by a kiss on her lips. A kiss full of passion and remorse. *** Several days had passed without any news from AE3803 and U-1146. The erythrocytes' and neutrophils' high squadrons presumed them dead, because that was what the system was like: three days without showing up at your base, and you're registered as deceased. Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the body, the area of the left leg, AE3803 was studying a new route, far away from the world she used to know, almost as though she had moved to another continent. And a neutrophil, who had replaced his "U" with a"W" was marking the simplest way to her destiny on her map. "Do you regret what we did?" he asked. "You mean our new life far away from everything? Not really. It would've been harder to explain to them how sick both of us are and to tell them about our 'vacations' in that abandoned room… Though I do feel like a coward for not having informed 4989 and the others that I'm with you and that we're alive," she answered, putting the map back. The neutrophil looked around to make sure that no one was nearby, and then kissed his beloved Sekkekkyuu's neck in a lascivious way. "It's better that way… To be honest, I wouldn't even find the right words to explain that I kidnapped you and played dirty," muttered the white blood cell, now called W-1146, continuing to kiss her. "Yeah, sure. That's not your real problem… admit it." "Okay, fine, you're right. It annoys me when others look at you… You're mine, no one should look at you like…" "Like you?" "Well, if someone looks at you like I do, I'll get angry for real," replied the neutrophil and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, since someone was coming. "What was your name again, miss?" asked a macrophage with very short hair. "AE3816," the erythrocyte lied. "Oh, that's right, our rookie… I have brought you your new uniform~"