Zosk POV:

One thing I don’t think many would realize is how slow time feels like it goes when you’re kept locked up. Days could feel like weeks and weeks could feel like months. Sure, I have the sun and the moon to give me a more accurate time sense. But with being chained by my neck, days just move by slowly. Even with the little interactions I get with the family doesn’t seem to help much with passing time any faster.

Mostly cause everything blends into each other in what I do or at least what I can do. Which is fly or pace the length of my reach. I do try to remain somewhat active instead of just sitting there, wallowing in sorrow at being chained.

I also can’t complain too much. Sure, the reach of my freedom is as long as the chain reach is. It is still better than being kept inside of some small space like a cell. Still would be better if I could get myself free from the chain so I can be free once more.

I kind of have lost some track of time since I’ve been locked up. Again that false feeling of time going slower even though no change has taken place. But I would have to guess that its close to a month now. A month of me chained by my neck. Still as frustrated about it as I was day one.

In that time, I have not stopped trying to get loose from the collar or the chain. I am not going to give up on trying. Though I think I might have found a weakness.

The collar, where the chain hangs from it, the ring there started to come open. Not enough to slip the chain away from it but just a little. So I started to spend more time focused on that point with my attempts to break free than anywhere else.

There were a few problems with that for sure. I would have to pull on the chain with my hands away from my neck while straining my neck the other direction on the collar itself. While the most effective at causing the weakness to become weaker, slowly, it caused the back of my neck to hurt.

The other option I tried and worked at was grasping what I could of the collar into my fingers of both my hands and pull away from each other. One hand being on each ‘half’ of the collar’s circle. Uncomfortable for sure to do but I still did it. This was less effective on the weakness as the other option but at least it was an option.

One final option I tried was a sort of a combination of the two options. I would go as far as I could go, to the very end of the reach of the chain. Turn around and then press back on it so the pressure of the hold was on the back of my neck. I also put my fingers around the collar and pulled there as well. I would do jerking motions as much as I could on this. Stopping though quickly after a few moments of it given how it was hurting my neck.

I kept working at it though and over time, the gap that was the weakness slowly got bigger. It wasn’t enough to pull the chain through for a while but I kept working at it. It did give me something to do to pass the time. Though at the most, I could work on it for maybe an hour or two in a day before what energy I had was spent. I wasn’t very strong unless I was in the air. I figured I didn’t need much strength when I was free given I could just easily fly away.

‘I’ll get free ad I’ll fly as far away from here as I can. Then I’ll workout more.’ Least that’s what I started to tell myself after a few days of finding the weakness and working at trying to escape.

I wasn’t careful to hide my attempts from the family. I didn’t really care that much. Though I doubt that they saw that I had found the weakness. The weak link so to speak.

I did have to be careful though as to where the weakness was at. I found that out fast as it pinched the skin of my neck a few times. It would also scratch at the skin of my neck a little, given how snug the collar was around my neck. The design was just horrible all around. My neck I’m sure was showing plenty of signs of issues with the collar and it’s design. Pinched skin, scratch marks, you name it. It was uncomfortable and I was going to get the collar off.

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Today started the same as the day before it and the day before that. Wasn’t really anything special about it. So it came as a bit of a shocker a little later to feeling very close to slipping the chain from the ring in the collar through the gap that had formed.

So I focused as much as I could on that, trying to get it that last few millimeters through the gap. I pulled and pulled more on the chain, straining my neck on the collar.

What felt like another hour, and likely was about that long, I finally felt the chain suddenly slip through the gap with a sort of clink sound.

I stumbled some cause the support of the chain holding the collar was no longer there. I almost fell to the ground as well. I did though stand there, panting for a few moments.

“So I see Angel is trying to escape. Well, can’t have any of that now can we?” Were some words I heard spoken from behind me. Yeah, I had my back turned to the house. So I didn’t know the man had returned home.

I let out a frightened sound and threw my wings open to their full extent. In a panic, I tried to leap off into the air, still holding onto the chain like some idiot.

I didn’t get far before I felt the weight of the man pushed from behind. Pushing me down onto the ground. If I had maybe moved some other direction, maybe not even threw my wings open like that, I may have had an advantage and may have been able to get away. But nope.

I was now laying on the ground with the strange man on top of me. I wriggled and struggled as much as I could, trying to get out from under the guy. But he was very patient and just waited for me to stop struggling. He didn’t do anything other then just keep me pinned down which I guess I should be glad for. He could have put me in a choke hold or knocked the wind out of me but he didn’t. Not that I’m really going to question it.

I did start to cry while I struggled. It didn’t help me any for sure nor did it hinder my efforts. I was just fed up and frustrated. I didn’t want to be trapped and here I was, trapped.

Not sure how much time passed, though I don’t think it was long since I first started struggling with the man. I started to calm down just a little from the struggle. Though I didn’t stop crying.

After a bit of laying still, I felt a pinch on my arm. Kind of near a shoulder. I didn’t make much since of the feeling.

The next I felt, which I thought was very strange indeed, was the man’s hand started to stroke my hair. This weirded me out at first and I tried to wriggle away from the touch. But he kept stroking my hair while holding me down to the ground. My guess was that he did it to try to help me relax.

After a bit, his attention worked. I did start to relax. Even feeling oddly comforted by the touch even though his weight pinning me down was anything but comfortable.

“Let’s take this off. Got you a better one anyway.” I heard him say. I wasn’t too sure as to what he was talking about as I was starting to feel a bit loopy. I wasn’t able to focus very well.

I did hear a jingle of sorts though. Followed by some other noises before feeling the collar around my neck being removed.

His hand started to stroke along my neck some. I heard him make a sort of noise. Likely he’s noticing the marks on my neck from the collar for the first time. “Well, no matter. I hope the new one won’t scratch you up like that. Such a pretty Angel….rest….. Rest.” I wasn’t even sure if I heard him say that or not.

All I knew was that after a while, I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. My body was drifting off into slumber. The stroking of the hand along my neck and hair helped to lull me into the state of slumber.

If I was able to put two and two together, I would have realised that I have been drugged into a stupor. I was now at the mercy of the man.