Miriam reached for the bedside lamp and quickly switched it on. Pale yellow light spread across the room. She could see Shivan now, she looked tired. Her hair was disheveled, and she was still wearing the same clothes from the sessions earlier in the day.
“Have you had any sleep?” Miriam asked her, “What time is it? Why are you here?”
“It’s 3 AM. No, I haven’t slept yet. And I am here because His Holiness would like to see you!”
“What!?” Miriam almost screamed. “Why!?”
Shivan was puzzled. “We talked about this. This is a good thing!”
“But why now? Why I the middle of the night? Why not in the daytime, in the daylight?”
“Because His Holiness made the request now. So don’t lose your chance. Come quickly, get dressed! We shouldn’t keep him waiting!”
The urgency in Shivan’s voice was palpable. Miriam sensed a tension there, was it fear? In any case, she didn’t think she was in any real position to argue. So she scrambled out of bed and hurriedly threw on a blouse and jeans. The she followed Shivan out of her room and down the hall to the stairs, and out into the cool chill of the night air.
“Where are we going?” Miriam asked, folding her arms as she followed Shivan.
“To the main building,” Shivan answered quickly and quietly. They reached the entrance and Shivan pushed the doors open. “He’s upstairs.”
Miriam was shivering from the cold, but she was also terrified that she was walking into a trap. For a brief moment, she entertained the thought of tackling Shivan and making a run for it. The front gates were not too far away. But then she remembered Shivan’s warning and thought better of it. Whatever was waiting for her upstairs, she decided that she would face it.
Shivan became very quiet as they ascended the spiral staircase. Every little noise was amplified in the silence of the night. Every step they took, every creak of the wooden steps. It felt surreal, unearthly.
They walked down a long hallway and then stopped in front of one of the several doors lining the walls.
“Are you ready?” Shivan asked.
“I guess I have to be, don’t I?” Miriam replied.
Shivan opened the door and motioned for Miriam to walk in. She followed behind her.
A horrific scene met Miriam’s eyes when she entered the room. There was a macabre session of sorts happening here. There were several of the senior 2F membership present, along with Pama himself, who stood at the far end of the room with a very serious, foreboding expression on his face. He was shirtless, his body glistening with sweat. Others stood in a semi circle in various states of undress. In the center of the room was something that Miriam had never seen before: a large wooden cross attached to a platform at the base, so it was standing up. Naked and bound to the cross at her wrists and ankles was Elizabeth. Her body was limp, her head flopped to one side. She had several marks and cuts and was bleeding from multiple lacerations. There was a ball-gag stuck in her mouth.
Miriam gasped.
“Elizabeth!” she cried, running to her. “Oh my God!”
Elizabeth couldn’t move or speak, but her eyes opened and she seemed to recognize Miriam. Her eyes conveyed the message: I am so sorry.
“No!” Miriam screamed and turned to the people assembled in the room. “How could you do this? You monsters!”
“Oh I assure you, we are not the only monsters here,” Pama walked up to Miriam and stood before her with an amused half-smile on his lips. “You are just as bad, and just as worse. You are the reason she is up here like this. You sent her to this fate.”
Miriam shook her head. “No, no, no,” she said, staring at her hands.
“You can’t save her now,” Pama continued in his very matter-of-fact voice, “She has but a few hours left, at best. She will bleed out, maybe. Or perhaps we’re not quite done with her yet.”
“Let her go!” Miriam shrieked, clenching her fists. She could feel the wrath forming in the pit of her stomach.
“You, issuing a command to me?” Pama narrowed his eyes as his tone changed to cold and unfeeling, “Or else? What will you do?”
Miriam remained quiet, realizing her predicament. She clenched her jaw. Everyone assembled was staring at her. She knew she was alone here.
“Maybe you would like to join her up there, hmm?” Pama motioned to Elizabeth. “No? Then perhaps you will think twice before trying to send secret messages to people who would destroy our work and our family!”
It was Pama who was shouting now. He produced the little package which Miriam ad prepared with Agent Dawn’s card on it, and threw it down at her feet. Miriam stared at it, dismayed.
“You see,” Pama wagged a finger at her. “We here at 2F are a family. And our business, is exactly that. Our business. We don’t have any need of, or want, outsiders sticking their noses into our business.”
Miriam took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. But anxiety was quickly taking over every corner of her mind. Her message to the outside world had been intercepted. Elizabeth, her only friend here, was at death’s door. Nobody knew where she was. And perhaps she, herself, would be next after they were done with Elizabeth. No, now was definitely not the time to remain calm.
“And you have broken the rules,” Pama had regained some of his composure. “So you will be punished.”
Miriam sought out Shivan in the crowd. She was standing a little father back, looking unassuming and intnocuous. Their eyes met for a moment. Shivan was the only other person here who Miriam had a connection with. As unlikely as it was that Shivan would help her, she had to try.
But Shivan looked away, and then down at the floor. She was was not going to help her.
Miriam sighed. It seemed like there was no way out.
“Are you going to kill me?” she was surprised at the sound of her own voice. It was neutral, very matter-of-fact. There was hardly any emotion there at all.
“No,” Pama smiled his sickening smile, “That would be too easy. And besides, it would be overkill. We don’t do that, not here at 2F. We believe that the punishment must match the crime.”
He nodded and three men advanced upon Miriam, grasping her roughly by her arms. She struggled, but in vain.
“Oh don’t worry,” Pama’s voice was laced with an erotic pleasure. “You’re not going to die, probably. But you are about to get very well acquainted with pain and misery.”
The men holding Miriam began to drag her towards the door.
“Where are you taking me?” Miriam cried. She turned to look at Pama as she was being dragged out of the room. His face was in a pure ecstasy of delight. He gave her a little wave while he chuckled.
It was difficult to see where they were taking her in the darkness of night. They were moving so fast it almost felt like she was running. Miriam thought about escape. How could she get away from these three men? She was already out of the building. Perhaps she could make a run for it? But she no idea where she was, and what direction the gate was. And how would she get away from her captors?
It seemed like they had been walking for several minutes. The buildings seemed to be in the distance now, and the tree’s had thinned out. There was almost nothing out here.
Eventually they came to a small van parked on the side of a dirt road. They all climbed into the van, with Miriam in the back surrounded on each side by one of the men. The third man drove. She couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like they drove out of the gates of the compound. If only she had her mobile phone with her now, she thought ruefully.
They drove on in silence for what felt like an hour. Although it could have been less, or more. Maybe forty five minutes, maybe thirty? Miriam had no way of knowing. Eventually, they pulled over in a deserted area. There seemed to be no sign of civilization here at all. Where were they? The men unceremoniously pushed her out of the van and led her down a path.
Miriam saw a shape in the darkness. It seemed like a sort of structure, very oddly located in the middle of nowhere. T
he men brought her to it. As they got closer, she got a better look at it. Made entirely from metal, it was a tall, narrow structure, unlike anything she had ever seen. There was a door of sorts, locked hut with a thick padlock. Her mind was attempting to make sense of what this might be. Perhaps some sort of outhouse? It could have been a shed, had it only been bigger.
One of the men produced a key and unlocked the padlock. The metal door creaked when they opened it.
“Inside!” they ordered her, and then roughly shoved her into the darkness of the structure. Almost immediately she could feel the metal walls all around her. There was hardly any space inside, barely enough to stand.
Behind her the door clanged shut and she heard the sound of the padlock clicking locked. Then, footsteps as the men walked away. She was alone.
So this was her punishment.
Chapter 13
For the first few minutes, Miriam took deep breaths. She felt relieved that they hadn’t tortured her or did to her what they had done to Elizabeth. She felt somewhat fortunate for that and was grateful. After a while, though, she began to realize the severity of the predicament she was in.
It was cold at night. And inside this little tin shed, it felt even colder. As the minutes passed, it seemed that the temperature was dropping even more rapidly.
Miriam hugged herself to try to keep warm. Her legs were starting to feel tired and cramped from standing so long. This shed was extremely narrow. It was difficult to even turn around. There were no windows. The ground under her feet was cold and hard.
“Hey!” she called out, hoping that there was someone outside. “Hey! Can you hear me?”
There was no answer.
She banged on the door, the metal clanging.
“Hey, anyone?”
Still, no answer.
She took a deep breath. “You’re going to be okay,” she told herself, “you’ll be fine.”
She could not lie down or even sit properly, so she leaned back as far as she could, pushing her feet against one wall and letting her back rest against the opposite wall. It was not comfortable, but at least it took the strain off her legs. She tried to sleep, but it was impossible.
It kept getting colder and colder. Miriam could see her breath coming out in little clouds of vapor as she breathed out. It it going to get below freezing? she wondered. Her teeth began to chatter.
“Please,” she whispered, “Get me out of here.”
But she knew that nobody would be coming to get her out. Perhaps they were hoping that she would perish in the middle of the night. Then they would come in the morning and drag her lifeless body out of this metal coffin. No, she thought, I’m not going to let that happen.
She didn’t have a fire or a heater, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have any means to warm herself. In the bitter, crippling cold, she retreated into her own mind. There, she found a cherished memory of her and Daniel when they had visited Lake Tahoe on a skiing trip. They had rented a cabin up on the mountain. Daniel had tended to the fireplace while she made hot cocoa. They both sat cuddled up in a blanket in front of the crackling fire and sipped their hot cocoa with marshmallows.
“Mmm,” she said to him, “I like this. This is nice.”
“Yeah,” he replied, “And the cocoa is not bad either.”
She elbowed him in the ribs playfully as they both laughed. She had been so happy then.
She had a sudden, sharp pain in her right side. The memory began to fade as the reality of her dire situation asserted itself in her consciousness.
“No!” she grasped at the bright, warm memory of Daniel even as it slowly slipped away. Desperate, she held on to the image of the fire and Daniel. In her mind, she focused all her energy on keeping Daniel and the fire alive. And while everything else vanished into nothingness, they stayed. The flames of the fire were crackling and sputtering, sending out heat and energy. Daniel sat there, smiling at her and sipping his hot cocoa.
“Oh, Daniel,” she whispered, her lips barely moving. “I miss you so, so much.”
“I miss you too, my love,” he replied, smiling. He took a sip of his hot cocoa. “Here, you need this.”
He waved his hand through the flames, and the fire leaped out towards her. She furrowed her brow and looked at the fire. It seemed like it was growing. The flames got taller and taller, the sound of crackling and spitting louder and louder. And there was more of the fire, and more, and more. It kept growing and growing. Soon, there was no fireplace left. The fire had consumed it, and still it continued to grow. It was so intense that she began to feel the heat. Her skin began to warm. Slowly, very slowly, the shivering and trembling stopped, and she felt the warmth of the fire on her skin. Daniel kept watching her with a loving smile on his face.
“Thank you, honey,” she said, tears sliding down her face.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but it must have been several hours at least. Maybe she had fallen asleep or passed out. When she came to, it was morning. She heard the padlock being unlocked from the outside. The metal door groaned as it was swung open, and the sharply bright sunlight assaulted her senses. She blinked and shut her eyes to avoid the painful brightness of the day.
“Rise and shine princess!” a voice said mockingly.
Miriam raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she tried to look at who was talking. There were several figures standing outside. She didn’t recognize most of them. She was just about to open her mouth to say something when someone splashed a bucket of ice cold water right in her face. She gasped uncontrollably from the sudden shock of the ice water, struggling to catch her breath. Her pulse shot up, her heart hammering against her ribs. She thought she might go into shock.
Hands reached in and grabbed her roughly, yanking her painfully out of the little shed. She collapsed on the ground outside the door.
“Time to show her what traitors get!” someone snarled.
“Wait,” said a female voice. Authoritative. Commanding. The voice sounded familiar. It was Shivan.
Miriam looked up, trying to open her eyes in the stinging sunshine. She could only make out silhouettes of the people surrounding her and looking down at her. One of the figures, Shivan, squatted down in front of her.
“You once held such promise,” she remarked, almost mournfully, “But look at you now. Nothing but a mess of a failure.”
“Shivan,” Miriam tried to speak but could only whisper, “You don’t have to do this.”
“Too late,” replied Shivan. She seemed to be talking almost to herself. “I wish you had chosen a different path.”
Shivan stood up. “Take her to station twelve.”
They lifted her up and dragged her into the back of the van. This time she was blindfolded and her wrists were tied behind her back. They put her on the floor of the van and pinned her down with their feet. When she squirmed too much, someone put his foot on her throat. All he had to do was to press his shoe down and she would choke. She stayed still, uncomfortable as she was.
The drive was shorter than the previous night. They stopped at what looked like an old, abandoned building. It was dilapidated, the roof having caved in many years ago. Weeds and moss were growing all over the structure. There were no doors and the windows were devoid of glass or coverings. In the corner of this relic was the entry to the basement. The men opened the wooden cover and then led her down two flights of stairs. Out of the bright sunlight, back into darkness.
When they took off the blindfold, she looked around and saw that she was in an unfinished basement. It was dank and smelled musty odor. There were piles of dirt and rusted old equipment in the corners. Wheelbarrows, rakes, trimming shears. Everything looked so old and abandoned.
So this was station twelve.
Shivan was not among the assembled group. She must have returned to the main 2F compound.
“What is this place?” Miriam asked.
“Some call it the confessional,” one of the men answered, “Although I
prefer to call it, the hole.”
“I gotta say, I’m not a fan,” Miriam said, sounding a little defiant.
“Doesn’t matter,” Someone grabbed Miriam from behind and forced her down onto her knees.
Another one of the men stepped closer to Miriam and looked down at her. Miriam looked up and saw a mad, excited look in his eyes. She had a foreboding that what was coming next would be excruciatingly painful.
His features contorted into a twisted scowl as he raised his hand and slapped Miriam. It stung, but Miriam was already feeling numb. She looked back up at him.
“How long have you been following that freak?” she said as a taunt.
Shock Treatment Page 9
