THE ROOM was so dark that Tyler began to feel disoriented. He had to count on the sound of his breath to reassure himself that he was still alive. He wasn't sure how many hours had passed, then again, 20 minutes felt like two days in that damn cell.

The string that was attached to his hand tickled his forearm, consistently reminding him of the situation.

He assumed the girl in the room was probably asleep by her lack of conversation, or she was too terrified to speak.

He leaned his head against the hard wall that his back was pressed against and sighed. He unsuccessfully tried to pull his wrists apart to break the thick rope that confined them.

Each time he moved, even just a little bit, he felt a sharp pain in his rib cage. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, unable to even check for any cracked bones with his wrists tied back. He was positive that at least one of his ribs were broken - the pain was far too agonizing for them to still be intact.

He tried to stop himself from bending the upper part of his torso, as he knew how easy it would be for one of his broken ribs to puncture his lungs. A low groan escaped his lips while he began to think about how difficult it will be to prevent that from happening - this psychotic man seemed to enjoy throwing him around. 

He felt warm tears fall down his clammy cheeks unexpectedly. His conscience still desperately grasped onto a single shred of hope that, as each minute passed, slowly disintegrated into nothing.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked in a soft, worried tone.

He jumped at the sound of her voice, having forgotten somebody else was in there with him. "Uh, yeah," he said, his voice breathy. "I think so."

"He... he looked like he hurt you," she said, her breath shaking.

Tyler shook his head, though he knew that she couldn't see him in the thick darkness.

"I'll be fine," he lied, just before his entire body ached. It also didn't help that his throat was dry, his stomach was so empty it was practically devouring itself, and the room was unbearably freezing.

"I just want to get out of here," she mumbled, barely above a whisper.

"We will get out of here, I promise," he spoke, searching around the room for some way to escape.

There was nothing but an engulfing, heavy blackness that nearly sent his mind into hysterics.

She didn't respond for a while, but he couldn't allow his thoughts to take over his sanity any longer. He had to speak, even if it was only to himself. "My name is Tyler," he said.

She didn't answer him.

He sat there for a minute, his eyes closed. "Do... um, do you have a name?"

"We're going to die, and all you can think about is my name?"

He exhaled in surprise. "I'm in the same position as you. There's no reason for you to get mad at me-"

She cut him off, "I'm not mad. You think there's a way for us to get out of here, but there isn't. We're as good as dead - everything we've ever worked for is pointless! There's no way out," she stressed loudly, a hysterical rockiness to her tone. He was startled; that was the first time he heard her speak so loudly, so clearly.

He listened to her sob, and each breathy inhale she took shook his body. He couldn't tell where she was exactly but she seemed close.

"I think that if we just... if we just, you know.. stay calm and try our best not to make him mad-" Tyler tried to explain.

"We're going to die. He's going to kill us and I never even got to say goodbye to my family," she sniffled, while Tyler tapped his foot quickly to try and stop himself from falling into the hole she was already deep in.

"Somebody help us!" she cried out. "Please! Please help us!"

Her cries were driving him insane. He shook his head to get his dirty, matted hair out of his eyes. "Fucking stop!" he cried out, causing her to stop instantly.

He didn't mean to sound so cruel, but he was frustrated, and rightfully so. He was trying to keep a steady mind and she was completely shooting him down, which was the last thing he needed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.

"It's okay..." she murmured, sniffling a bit. "You're right."

His lungs were trying desperately to expand, but they couldn't, shortening his breath.

"My name is Emily," she spoke, her voice gentle again.

He sighed, feeling relieved that she had finally stopped crying.

Tyler went to speak, but suddenly, the door flew open and the most horrifying image was exposed to them. The Man was standing in the doorway, his stance powerful. The flickering hall light from behind him poured into the room, poorly illuminating it.

Tyler looked over and found Emily's silhouette not too far from him, staring at the man with widened eyes.

"Let's go, my little puppets. I have a surprise for you," The Man said while walking over to them.

Tyler swallowed hard as The Man grabbed the tied part of their wrists and pulled the both of them up at the same time. He stopped them in the middle of the room and did something he had never done before. He pulled his mask up a little bit, exposing his lips and his wide nose, the darkness preventing Tyler from distinguishing any distinct facial features.

He stroked Emily's hair for a few minutes, taking a handful of it and pressing it to his nose. He inhaled audibly, causing Emily to shake like a leaf beneath his touch.

Tyler stared at the exchange, disturbed. The Man began to press his lips to the bottom of her jaw, and Tyler saw a few tears slide from her eyes.

"I am so lucky I found such a beautiful Puppet Girl," The Man praised, his voice dangerously low. Emily sniffled loudly, her lip quivering.

"And such a handsome Puppet Boy..." he then averted his attention to Tyler while stroking his finger gently along his prominent jawline.

Tyler's heart slammed against his battered rib cage, his breath heavy.

"Look at those eyes," The Man exhaled upon examining Tyler's features. "So blue... So perfect..."

The Man stared blankly at Tyler for a minute, before he slammed his fist into Tyler's eye. Tyler grunted and stumbled to the ground, and Emily gasped out loud.

The Man only laughed as he grabbed Tyler's ripped shirt and pulled him up from the floor, striking his large fist into Tyler's lip. Tyler tried his best not to protest - he took the unnecessary beating and spit out the salty blood that gathered between his teeth.

"Handsome. You are so handsome," The Man said, a hint of jealousy in his tone. "A handsome young man. I bet that nobody ever did this to you before, well guess what!" The Man shouted, grabbing Tyler by his shirt again and pulling him to eye level. "Guess what!" he screamed again.

The Man's exposed lips tilted into an ill smirk.

"I am in control of you now. I will be in control of you until the end of your handsome little life," he promised.

Tyler tried to calm himself. "I'm not scared of you," he said, surprised by the smoothness of his tone.

But Tyler was scared. He couldn't breathe. His heart practically stopped, his blood ran cold and his aching body froze entirely when The Man inched closer.

"We'll see about that," The Man whispered, his shadowed eyes locked on Tyler's.

The Man then released Tyler's shirt, grabbing his tied wrists along with Emily's and pulling them forward. Tyler stumbled from the fresh pain he felt.

"Now, for your surprise..."