Darknet Game

by Grant Hunter

  ‘Oh, yeah, that. Well err, that was not the plan. It wasn't entirely my intention. Sorry.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Yes, well… I couldn't control myself. You smelled so nice. But any way you wanted it yourself, so it doesn't count.’

  ‘You are a totally mad.’

  ‘Do you know how long you kept me waiting after that time? How long I have yearned for this moment? I was good to you.’

  ‘Please, Gabe. You have to let me go.’

  ‘That is impossible. Now run and hide, otherwise it's over. One... Two... Three...’

  I didn't know what to do. Run away? Stay? It didn’t matter. Cameras hung everywhere. He lied about everything and he would see where I was. It was as if an invisible chain of cameras was holding me, and my bare feet were glued to the concrete floor.

  ‘Six... Seven... Eight...’ Without thinking about it anymore I started to run.

  I ran like I was possessed to the corner on the left, far away from the door through which I had seen Gabe enter the factory. In the corner were machines and I wondered if this place was really for people to work in.

  ‘…Ten!’

  Damn! My time was too short. I had to grab my chance now. He would think that I had hidden myself in this hall, behind the machines. I had to do what he didn’t expect...

  I changed direction and ran to the other side, to the only door. Out of breath I pressed myself against the wall. When he came through the door, I could hide behind it. I made myself as flat as possible, until I almost melted in the rough wall, keeping my eyes on the door latch.

  Footsteps came closer. The latch was slowly pushed downwards and the door opened, but remained ajar. I bit my lip and tried to keep my breathing under control. A head stuck through the opening and then I was afraid he would see me, but he turned the other way.

  ‘I’m coming...’

  He rushed into the opening space, towards the place I had been hiding in before. He threw the covers off the machines and looked underneath. This was my chance! I ran behind the door, slipped through it and ran through a dark hallway, towards an iron staircase that led upwards. I took great strides, two steps at a time and I could hear the crackling of the iron beams.

  The upper floor seemed less like a factory; it was more like a residential house, with a long chilly hallway. I pulled the first door open, and entered a room that seemed an office. It had a with a desk in the corner. Papers were scattered all around, even on the floor. Other than that, it was very empty. My attention was drawn to an old-fashioned ‘phone with a round dial. I hid myself under the desk pulled the phone along, and made myself as small as possible. I had almost picked up the handset then I heard something. A muted sound, just too soft to be sure, a sound that you doubt whether it is real or not. As if someone was there. I threw my hand to my mouth, when I understood he was in the room!

  ‘Naomi? You're here, eh?’

  I pressed the phone firmly to me, afraid of having to face it, when I was discovered. Just when I thought he walked to the desk, I heard the door slamming. Had he gone? I focused my ears. There was no sound. I heard nothing but my own heartbeat. Slowly I turned from the desk, and stuck my head gently around the corner. Then everything happened so quickly that I barely understood what was happening. Someone grabbed my hair, and I was dragged from under from the desk. I groaned out in pain.

  ‘Yes, I found you!’ Gabe cried amused.

  Before I could get out with the phone, he ripped it violently out of my hands. ‘Oh, no, no. We are not going to cheat.’

  I made growling sounds and spat into his face when he released me. I wanted to beat him, but he wrenched my arms up my back in one move and pushed me against the ground. With his full weight, he held me down.

  ‘No, Naomi. I have won. I have won this round,’ he chuckled, as he drew my dress up.

  31

  All I could do was counting the seconds. The numbers became irregular and as a result, it made my mind wander, as if I was not really there, and stared from a different angle to the apathetic woman. Sweat drops rolled from my forehead. I noticed that my body shivered and that my teeth were chattering. There was this horrible thought that haunted me; how he would kill me. I was sure he intended to. Gabe would never let me go. He had planned this long ago, just for his pleasure. Now he enjoyed to see me suffer. I decided that it might be best if I just pretended to liked it.

  ‘You’ve got me,’ I said weakly.

  His expression changed, he stared at me as if he didn’t understand. Then a little smile appeared on his face.

  ‘Ha, I knew it. I knew it right away, when I first saw you. I knew you were going to understand. You are a good girl. A winner. You are going to make it.’

  He gave me a kiss on my forehead. It was bizarre, but at that the same time I knew I had scored a point. My plan to please him seemed to work. Maybe I could stay alive. At least for a while. It would buy me time, to think about how I could escape.

  ‘I think it’s a fun game, Gabe.’

  He leaned over me. ‘I think so, too...’

  ‘Will we play again?’

  ‘Of course, if you like.’

  ‘Must I hide again?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’ll like that, Gabe. But you know what? I would like to hide where you can’t find me that easy.’

  He threw his head back and started laughing hard. I thought he would have a heart attack. His head became red and his body jerked while standing up.

  ‘B-but of course we don’t have to,’ I said hesitantly.

  He paused. Slowly I stood up, the phone was on the ground and now I saw that the cord had been cut. Had he known all this time that I would hide myself here? Why else would he cut the cable? I looked at the computer on the desk and saw that the plug was not plugged into the wall socket.

  ‘I will explain something. There are rules. Games without rules don’t work, right?’

  He is crazy, I thought, still I nodded

  ‘Look. This here...’ He made a great gesture with his arms. ‘... This is our play area. You are my prey, you understand? And remember; a prey is never a hunter, so think carefully about what you say. I am the hunter and therefore you are hiding from me. Where I want, and when I want. Understood?’

  ‘Yes,’ I whispered.

  ‘Good girl!’

  A prey is never a hunter! His words echoed in my mind. And then, at that moment I realised a hunter is playing to kill. I couldn’t stay in this role.

  ‘That’s not really a fair game, anyway Gabe? What if I don’t want to join?’

  ‘Now that would be a horrible mistake. Then I have to look for a new one!’ He made a movement along his neck with his index finger, as if he had to cut it off.

  ‘I don’t want to die.’

  ‘Don’t worry, babe. You are playing the game quite well. We are very satisfied.’ He came over to me and I cringed, afraid of what was to come.

  Afraid, as a prey should be. A prey is never a hunter, it repeated through my head, while Gabe grabbed me and pulled me by my arm, down the room. I hobbled along with him. Down the stairs and the hallway, back to the place I had been before. He tied me to the stove. Tighter this time.

  ‘Gabriel? I’m cold.’

  ‘There is a quilt in the box behind you.’

  ‘You put it there for me? Thank you.’

  He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I don’t want you to get sick. Nothing worse than a slow prey.’

  Fucking psychopath, I thought, but I just nodded.

  ‘We’re going to have so much fun! Exactly as I suggested.’ He turned around and walked back to the door at the rear of the shed.

  I grabbed the quilt out of the box and lay down on the floor. It had to be night time. There was no light in the shed at all. I climbed more deeply under the quilt, so that the cold draft which blew around the shed had less effect on me.

  Counting the minutes, I waited my moment. When he would be asleep he wouldn’t spy on me with the cameras. That was
my chance to escape. First I had to get those damn ropes off. This time they were so tight that I could hardly get any movement. For at least an hour I rubbed my wrists back and forth without success.

  I closed my eyes at last, and tried to rest. Maybe I could escape tomorrow, when he untied me. Wriggling, I turned on my other side. Everything about me felt stiff. I tried to stop the rising cramps by occasionally tightening my muscles. ‘We are going to survive this, Naomi!’ I whispered, and I stared at the wooden crates around me until my eyes closed naturally.

  I ran away, far away, even though I had no idea where that was. Or perhaps was it the factory? I just had to escape, but my feet stayed in the exact same place. I didn’t move a metre ahead. I had to move faster and walked as fast as possible. Somehow I came away from the concrete floor. There was the door; the great roller door. It was open and outside was an open field. Even though I was out of breath, and felt a stinging cramp in my calves, I couldn’t give up, not now that I could even smell the fresh air from outside. At every step I sank deeper into the concrete, as if it was mud that pulled me down. With my arms I tried to get my legs out of the concrete, but then I heard a rattling sound in front of me. The roller door was coming down. I grabbed my left leg and pulled and pulled, until all of a sudden blood flowed over my hands. To my horror I saw that my leg had been torn off. I screamed, but no sound came out of my mouth.

  With a shock I woke up from my nightmare. Immediately a loud booming sound came from the speakers. When I covered my ears, the volume was immediately lowered.

  ‘Good morning, babe. Welcome to a new day again. Time for the next level!’

  ‘Next level?’ I screamed.

  Gabriel laughed through the microphone and turned the music up. Damn! Whatever did he mean? I thought. Would he come back for another round of hide and seek? Like yesterday? This time I would open the shutters and escape. I moved my legs up and down to get the blood flow going, and suddenly all the music fell away. Gabe breathed heavily. Gasping.

  ‘You have exactly ten minutes...’ In the background I heard the ticking of a clock.

  ‘For fuck’s sake! What do you mean?’

  ‘Babe? This goes off your time. Make sure you get out before you get slaughtered.’ His voice sounded calm and surreal.

  ‘W-what? No. That’s not fair. A prey always gets the chance to get away. You cheat!’

  He grunted something unintelligible and suddenly the clock stopped ticking in the background.

  ‘Damn! Stupid girl, this is level two. You should have realised by now that there is something that you can free yourself with. Those who aren’t smart enough do not survive! That’s nature. Fucking evolution. The Darwinian system, survival of the fittest! Everything that is not worth living dies out. Didn’t they tell you that at school? This is how it works. Otherwise we keep the weak in place, and what good comes of that? Even more weaklings. Are you weak, Naomi? Forget it! You know what? I’m in a good mood, and for that reason I’ll help you this time. And because it’s only level two. Next time you’ll not get more bonus points. But I feel lucky today, and I’ll give you extra time.’

  ‘Bonus points? No, I don’t want to use them!’ Frenzied I looked around me. Did I miss something?

  ‘Sorry, babe. Already done.’

  ‘How then? Where is it?’ I screamed frustrated and just then I heard the ticking of the clock again, my eye fell on a lighter, behind the box.

  I moved over to it, and tried to grab the thing, by leaning backwards and scrabbling over the floor with my hands. With my index finger I managed to grab the plastic part. I took it in my right hand and with my thumb I clicked the ignition.

  ‘Please. Come on...’

  It burned my skin. I had to stop myself from crying out or take my thumb from the button. The smell of burnt hair hung around me. I screwed up my eyes and counted: ‘One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six...’ In order to distract my thoughts from the burning sensation. At ten I couldn’t stand it anymore. I dropped the lighter while I was trying to pull the rope with all my strength. But nothing happened.

  ‘Oh, God… please help!’ Warm tears ran down my cheeks.

  No, it wouldn’t end like that. I thought very quickly. My hand shot again over the floor and when I grabbed the lighter once again, I flicked the wheel. One click, nothing else.

  ‘Fuck -’

  In a frenzy my thumb went over the wheel. I moved to the quilt, tilted the lighter and kept clicking and moving my thumb until I felt heat. The warmth swelled and then I saw flames coming from under it.

  This will keep him occupied for a while. I held my hands above the fire and screamed when the rope blazed. The pain came in waves, even in colours. Purple. Red. Deep Blue. Go on, Naomi. I pulled as hard as I could on the rope, until it finally released. Panicked, I clapped my burning hands against my legs. The smell of burnt hair and scorched flesh made me sick. I felt the acid from my stomach coming up. At the same time, the door in the back of the space, opened wide.

  Gabe looked like a mad man, with spiky hair and a made-up face. On his mouth, a grin was painted, his eyes where huge and black. There were streaks over his face.

  I was so distracted by the sight that at first I didn’t realise he held an exe in his right hand.

  I jumped up, and wondered which way I should go. Did I have to run to the side of the handles? No. Of course I would never manage to reach them with a psychopath with an axe running after me. I would never get the shutters open on time, not before he would grab me, and slice me in pieces on the floor. I watched him. How he entered the room quietly. As soon as he was a hundred metres away from me, I threw the wooden crates on the burning quilt. Immediately the whole thing was covered in flames.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing?’

  Did I see fear in Gabe’s eyes? Was he afraid of fire? I kicked the burning crates at him. The thick fog, coming out of the burning quilt, made him cough.

  ‘Cursing, Gabe jumped aside and I saw an opportunity to throw the rest of the boxes on it. The fire blazed up, even higher. Gabe breathed heavy. Coughing his lungs out. He seemed to have forgotten me for a few seconds. He used his axe to move the burning crates out of the fire. The flames spread over on the floor, covered with wood chips, and took a route to the other side of the room, to the sheets that covered the machines that were now blazing as well.

  ‘You fucking bitch. What the fuck did you do?’

  Gabe ran back to the door and disappeared. As if I was nailed to the floor, I stayed there, staring at the dancing fire that quickly moved to the other side. This was my chance! Smoke crept into my nose and throat. Coughing, I ran to the sliding door. Panicked, I rattled them. When no movement came in, I bent down and tried to shove the door open with all my strength.

  From the side of my eyes, I saw a button, half hidden behind a panel. I ran to it and hit it. Like an accordion, the metal parts folded upwards and as soon as the opening was big enough, I shot through it. The bright light made me close my eyes. Relieved, I breathed the fresh air in. This was my route to freedom! I would succeed, I was sure of it.

  32

  As soon as I walked outside, I knew that something wasn’t right. I stood with my back to the building, and in front of me I saw other dilapidated buildings. There were huge mountains of concrete, rubble and construction waste. Something behind the heap of rubble grabbed my attention, something that was hiding behind the wall. Whether it was my imagination or my intuition, I didn’t know, but I froze.

  I stiffened when I heard growling. It sounded like a pack of hungry wolves; a soft, incessant, deep bass. They came at me, from behind the mountain of rubbish, and stared at me with their long tongues hanging out of their muzzles, with piercing grey-blue eyes.

  One of the animals had only one eye, he just stood there making a deep throated growling noise. The other two wolves crept closer towards me, with their lips curled up showing their razor sharp teeth. My legs shook fiercely. They smell my fear, the realisation came to me. Before I co
uld run, they jumped on me.

  ‘Help! Someone! Help!’ I screamed my heart out.

  One of the wolves’ tried to bite me in my right arm, but I blocked it with my wrist. I let out a cry when I felt his teeth in my leg. Another pushed me aside and I collapsed on the ground. An icy, agonising pain shot though my leg, while I was kicking wildly against the creature that wouldn’t let me go. Blood dripped thickly over my pale skin and splashed on my white dress. Because of my panicked movements, the teeth pierced deeper into my flesh. The pain was unbearable. Everything happened so fast, I saw blood and teeth in strobe-like flashes. My only thought was: This is it. And then my mind wandered, and I left my injured body.

  At times I had the idea that I was awake, but then I wandered off again. Something was pulling at me, and I felt a sensation that I was levitating. Then, at the same time, it was as if my body was placed on a soft bed. Stroking softly over my forehead, whispering; ‘You can do this. Here, something for the pain...’ and gently pushed a glass of water against my numbed lips.

  I drifted off again. When I woke up, I noticed I was lying on a mattress, in a tiny empty room. There was this intense pain, that pulsed down from my shoulder blade, like a knife that sliced down onto my back. In the half-light I saw the red light of a camera blinking, right above me, in the corner of the flaking ceiling.

  With every ounce of strength I had, I raised my right hand and stuck my middle finger up.

  ‘You fucking bastard!’ I whispered. Then I looked at my body. It seemed like it belonged to another person. Not only did I wear another dress, but my leg was wrapped in a thick layer of bandage. I turned my head and saw that my left arm was taped all the way up to my shoulder.

  With my right arm, I touched my left shoulder but immediately I pulled it back. A hellish, burning pain shot through it.

  ‘Damn!’

  ‘Don’t touch it,’ Gabe’s voice sounded through the intercom.

  ‘What did you do?’ I clenched my fists.