It takes me a few seconds to realize I'm swaying - not like a pendulum - but it's a movement not caused by me.
It takes me another few seconds to realize I'm unable to move my limbs- what the fuck?
It takes me yet another minute to notice everywhere is dark and that I'm blindfolded. That's when the stark realization hits me in the chest -
Not again. . .
I've been kidnapped.
I begin to thrash against the bindings holding my hands hostage at my back and those at my legs. My only joy is that my mouth is not bound, so I open it and scream, but even that is fleeting when I feel the solid nudge of something against my temple.
It's a gun. It has to be a gun.
"One more word out of your pretty mouth and I'll pump lead into your head. Nod if you understand me."
I nod immediately and a small sense of relief flits through me when the weight of the gun against my head is removed. I close my eyes, even though I've been blindfolded, and try to remember what happened before I was taken. I immediately go back to when I was in the toilet and the green and blue-haired girls came inside. They were arguing and they asked my opinion of whose hair was better-looking. They also asked me to take a picture of them which I obliged, and...
I wince because I am such an idiot.
I should have just left when I could. I should never have taken that phone. Maybe I would not have been in this situation. That may be so, but how was I to know I would be injected with a sleeping pill?
I let out a moan and shake my head as I recap my situation.
1. I've been kidnapped and I'm being held hostage.
2. I'm in a moving vehicle going to an unknown destination.
3. I don't know who kidnapped me or why.
4. It's either still night and I've not been out for long, or the bindings around my eyes are too thick for me to tell.
5. No one knows where I am.
Wait. . .
The scorned woman. . .
I'm sure she's the one who kidnapped me. It's gotta be her and no one else. The stark realization hits me in the chest causing ricocheting pain to shoot up and down my chest.
I should have listened to Ash. I should have realized this was not a setup of his to get my attention. I should have trusted him. A voice wells up inside of me. Trust- ha! Trust a man that didn't show up on the day of his engagement to you and just upped and left for one full year with no word from him?
I shake my head as a long drawn-out moan leaves my lips. I should have never left the house. I should have stayed, and...
As sure as the sky is blue, I know I'm going to die soon. That's a given. I'm not coming out of this one alive.
Lily. My baby. What's going to happen to her? She's going to grow up without a mother and think that I abandoned her in this shark-infested world all alone. My thoughts spiral fast, leaving me with a hollow feeling and an increasing pain in my chest.
The vehicle stops, and then I hear voices. Two men. I strain my ears to hear what they're saying but I shouldn't have bothered because they're clear as a bell and they seem to be arguing.
"You gonna light that or just leave it in your mouth all night long?" Man one asks with a note of irritation in his voice.
"What's it to you?" Man, two asks.
"Maaaan, your shit is so far up your ass, it's annoying." Man one says, louder this time. "Don't know why the boss has to pair me with you."
"Like what you said - it's my ass." Man, two replies.
"Alright, what's the hold up for?" Someone close to me says. I hear the thud of boots as if he's just jumped down from -
That's right - I'm inside a truck. An open-boot truck. No wonder I heard and felt the wind all around me. I strain my ears as he continues speaking.
". . . gotta take the princess inside before it's fully daytime."
I hear the thump of his boots on the ground as he comes back to me. Everywhere is silent. Too silent. I listen for some noise but all I hear is the howling of the wind.
Okay -
So they've either brought me to an open place or the countryside. I can't really find out more because I'm being hoisted from the floor of the vehicle and onto the shoulder of a man. I feel him walking away from the vehicle and the two men who are still squabbling. I feel myself slipping but he holds me in place with just one hand. From the feel of his shoulder, he's strong and well-built.
The thud of his boots is the only noise I can hear until I hear the click of a door. It seems we just entered a building from the contained silence all around. He continues to walk and as he does, I hear music - it's faint but it's there. Strains of jazz music. Is that Jill Scott playing?
I'm not able to dwell on it because the man is walking away from the sound of the music and down a flight of stairs. Fear rises in my chest, hot and fast, because I know we're going to a basement. I know what happens in places like that.
They kill.
They murder.
They get rid of the bodies.
And I'll probably just be another body to get rid of.
Not if I can help it.
I begin to struggle as my life depends on it. Hold up! My life does depend on it.
"Put me down now!" I bellow.
"Your wish is my command, princess." The man says immediately and foists me from his shoulder and throws me to the ground like I'm a bag of potatoes.
"Oww! That hurts." My back is in turmoil and I'm starting to get cramps from being tied up.
"That's what you get for wanting to be put down." I feel the blindfold being removed from around my eyes and the ropes around my legs and hands.
It's dark here as most basements are and I can hardly see the man's face but I can tell he's big and strong.
"What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?"
"Because you pissed off the wrong person and you're paying for it," Is his immediate reply. He leans close to me. "I hope you're not going to make me regret untying you?"
All I can do is stare in shock at him. He taps my cheek hard before standing and walking away. I have to bite my lips to resist the urge to cry out to him not to leave me here all alone. I curl into myself, holding my legs to my chest as I look around. I'm on a bare concrete floor and from the looks of things, I'm the only one down here. I hear some noise and that makes me scared. I hope there are no rats. I hate rats.
I don't know how long I remain this way but I must have drifted off because I wake up with a jolt when I hear voices. The first thing I see when I open my eyes are two people. A man and a woman. I can't see their faces well because it's still dark but the woman begins to circle me like
I'm a creature in a zoo.
"She doesn't look like much, I don't understand why Ash likes her so much."
At the mention of his name, I sit up straighter. "Ash?"
The woman lets out a throaty laugh. "And the bitch finally wakes." She turns her head to the man beside her. "Yes, I'm Ash's wife, pleased to meet you."
She jots out her right hand expecting me to take it, but I stare in contempt at it. The jealousy that sears through me is debilitating, to say the least.
It's my turn to let out a throat laugh but it sounds more like a cackle to me "So you're the scorned woman Ash talked about."
I cock my head and gaze into her face. I wish I could see it well, but it's shrouded in dimness. She taps her fingers and light floods the room. I close my eyes against the glare but open it a little until my eyes adjust fully. The scorned woman stares at me like she wants to tear me apart from limb to limb. She's drop-dead gorgeous and has the Barbie-blonde look with complete blue eyes down to a T.
I turn my attention to the man standing beside her and my whole world seems to implode.
"D.. Dan?"
The woman flicks some of her long waist-length hair to her back and anchors one of her hands on her hip as she shrugs. "See. . . you're nothing special, bitch."
"You set me up, Dan," I say with breathless rage. "Is that even your real name? Are you even a psychologist?"
Dan smirks but says nothing.
The woman turns to Dan and hands him an envelope. "You played your part, Rob, so clear out."
"Gladly!" He takes one look at me and smirks. "Was fun while it lasted, princess, but. . ." He shakes his head. "Unfortunately I don't do damaged goods." He shakes his head as pity flashes in his eyes before he turns and walks off.
The scorned woman watches my reaction with a look of delight etched onto her beautiful face.
"Now, you. . . will stay here like a good girl and wait for my men to take you to where you actually
belong."
Alarm bells flare in my head. "What do you mean where I belong?" My heart is racing as my words come out in a rush. "Aren't you going to kill me?"
She throws her head back and laughs loudly before fixing her gaze on me again. There's a smirk on her face as she speaks. "You, my dear, are going to a place where no one will find you." She starts to walk away but stops and turns around. "I guess I could give you a little tip to help you. it's going to be a place where you'll be servicing lots of clients every thirty minutes because at the end of the day - that's the only thing you're good for."
She laughs heartily and walks away, her words making a dent in my heart.