by Palvi Sharma
Keith was confused and frightened and so it was understandable that he had the notion that the riders were innocent. Of course they were not, Melissa thought. How could they be?
She backed away a few steps, remembered there was an electric fence behind her and stopped. She took a deep breath and swallowed. This was it- this was her chance. Mark was all alone and he held no weapon in his hand yet.
Melissa pushed herself in motion and ran as fast as she could, shoving Mark aside. She could hear his cry of surprise, but she didn’t turn back. She could feel the adrenaline pumping into her veins as she ran straight ahead. There had to be a way out of this. There just had to be! To her relief, she saw that there was a narrow opening in the fence and she could see Rafe, Fiona and Jennifer standing there looking stunned as she drew closer towards them.
“Mel!” Jennifer squealed. “Faster, Mel! Faster!”
Seeing Jennifer alive and well, boosted her own spirits and Melissa pushed herself harder to run faster.
“Come on!” Rafe goaded and held out his hand.
“Mel!” Jennifer screamed and before she could understand why her friend looked terrified all of a sudden, someone came up behind her and pushed her away roughly.
“Uff!” Melissa staggered on the floor writhing in pain as one of the riders tried to restrain her. He took off his helmet and Melissa saw that he was a guy of her own age with sandy brown hair that fell to his shoulders.
“Let me go! Let me go!” she cried, but the boy wouldn’t listen. He held her as tight as possible and Melissa started to wonder what terrible things he was going to do to her.
“Help!” She screamed and looked at the opening to where her friends were standing.
“Mel!” Jennifer shrieked, but Fiona pulled her away.
“Come on.” She could hear Rafe say quietly.
She saw Jennifer struggle with them as they pulled her away from the area. Before she could even blink, the three of them had vanished and Melissa knew then that she was going to die. There was nothing else to do now. No one was coming to save her. She was caught and the riders would kill her in the most sadistic way possible.
“Let me go!” she screamed at the rider and he in turn, slapped her across the face hard.
Melissa instantly tasted blood and started to sob loudly. This was it. He would remove a sharp blade and stab her. She gasped as the rider pushed his knee on her stomach.
“Hey!” she heard Mark call. “Get off her Kevin!”
“She won’t...”Kevin started to say, but Mark shoved him away and pulled her to her feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
Melissa cried when she saw the other three riders form a small circle around her. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve and sobbed.
“I was only trying to stop her.” Kevin explained to Mark.
“Nobody asked you to hit her!” Mark said angrily.
“She’s too strong.” Kevin said quietly. “You know we can’t afford to lose another one to them.”
“What are you going to do to me?” she whimpered.
“Nothing.” Mark said soothingly. “I promise you. Come with me.”
Mark put an arm around her and gently led her towards the restaurant. Melissa shuddered at his touch but didn’t pull away. Mark felt nice and warm and she was freezing. As they entered the restaurant, she noticed that the pieces of glass from the broken door were cleared out and the door was replaced.
She started to walk towards a booth, but Mark pulled her away and made her walk towards a door at the back. She looked at him questioningly, but Mark said nothing and opened up another door that led downstairs.
She felt a thick blanket on her shoulders and saw that Mark was smiling at her. She pulled the blanket closer to her and wondered where on earth he had found one when she found herself wondering what Mark intended to do with her.
She walked downstairs as slowly as possible, half expecting for Mark to turn around any second and holding up a wire to tie up her hands. But Mark did no such thing and instead flipped on a light switch.
Melissa felt her mouth drop open as she saw the basement. Instead of knives and weapons and other torture related things, she saw that the entire basement was as cozy as it could have been. There were small cots set up in a corner where Mark and his friends obviously slept, a flat screen television set up on the other side with comfortable couches and a refrigerator standing idly in the other corner.
She looked up to see air conditioners on both sides and then looked at Mark who gave her an amused glance.
“What is this?” she asked. Her head was spinning after being knocked over and the bright lights were doing nothing to help her confused state of mind.
“I’ll explain later.” Mark said and led her to one of the cots.
Melissa sat down and looked up to Mark who was busy unfolding another blanket.
One of the other riders came to her with a bowl of soup and Melissa looked at it suspiciously.
“When was the last time you ate?” Mark asked.
Melissa took the bowl of soup but only so that the rider would walk away. She saw the other riders walk in and saw Kevin with a sullen look on his face. The others looked about her age. So young and they had chosen to live it so precariously.
She spooned at the soup and raised it to study it in the light. She could see the vegetables swimming in broth and took a whiff of it. The soup smelled delicious and she could feel her stomach grumble.
“It’s from a can.” Mark said almost apologetically and then adjusted the bed sheets. “You can sleep here tonight.”
Melissa glanced at the other riders and saw them getting comfortable on the couches as one of them switched on the television. Nobody paid any attention to her and Melissa wondered if she should be relieved or cautious at this.
She raised the spoon to her mouth and took a small sip. Her tongue instantly tingled as the soup ran all over her mouth before disappearing into her gullet. She started to eat hungrily then, not caring whether the soup was poisoned or not. She was being paranoid, she told herself. If Mark wanted to kill her right now, why would he give her poisoned food when he still had a gun in his holster?
As soon as she was done, Mark took the bowl of soup from her hands and put it into a dishwasher. “Why don’t you lie down and try to sleep?” He said. “I know you have questions, but we can talk tomorrow morning. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
“Tell me now!” Melissa argued.
“Not now.” Mark said. “I need you to get as much rest as possible. After what I’m about to tell you may never be able to sleep easy ever again.”
“I can take it now.” She said. Her curiosity was roused. What could be possibly more horrific than the events of last night?
Melissa lifted up her legs and felt herself getting drowsy. She really wanted to know what was going on and so if she pretended to be asleep, she could eavesdrop on their conversations.
She laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath as Mark pulled the blankets over her. The pillow was soft under her head and the blanket was nice and warm on her. Nestling further into the cot, she felt herself drifting away.
Chapter Thirteen
A gentle murmur near the windows woke her up and Melissa learned to her dismay that she had fallen asleep even though she had tried so hard not to. Her plan for learning more about her hosts had failed only because she couldn’t keep her eyes open for even a second!
She blinked and spotted the riders from the corner of her eyes. They were all huddled around a desk and talking to each other in soft voices. Whatever it was that they were discussing definitely wasn’t intended for her ears. Melissa closed her eyes again and inched closer towards the edge of the cot, trying to listen in to what they were talking about. Last night had been a failure after she had fallen asleep. Perhaps she could try this time to be discreet and learn their plans?
“I really don’t see a patt
ern.” She heard one of them say.
“There must be something we’re missing.” Mark said and Melissa could hear the frustration mounting in his voice.
“What are you going to do about her?” Kevin asked. At least that was who Melissa thought it was. Their brief interaction last night left her cold and terrified but she was almost sure that the voice belonged to Kevin.
“Wait for her to get up and then tell her the truth.” Mark said.
Taking this as a cue, Melissa shifted restlessly and started to get up slowly. If Mark was going to tell her something, she couldn’t wait to find out what it was.
“Hey.” Mark said coming towards her. “Did you sleep well?”
Melissa blinked at him and brushed the hair off her face. Mark was being so gentle with her that for a moment she imagined herself in her hometown, six months ago. She had been so happy with him then and so much in love. There hadn’t been a single waking moment when she hadn’t seen him or spoken to him over the phone. They had been pretty much inseparable. But all that was gone now. The feelings, the trust and their love had changed. She had made the mistake of coming here and now she was stuck in this never ending nightmare.
“There’s a washroom upstairs where you can take a shower.” Mark suggested.
Melissa started to ask him what he was going to tell her and then remembered that Mark would then find out that she had been trying to eavesdrop on them.
So she got up and instantly felt her legs wobble. Mark let out his hand for support but she pretended not to notice it and went towards the stairs, her head still spinning. Once upstairs, she spotted the restroom and entered it eagerly. The thought of cold water on her hot head felt tempting and she made her way to the basin.
She expected a lone soap dispenser and an unclean towel hanging somewhere, but instead she was surprised to find an array of soaps, shampoos and shower gels lined all over the shelves. On the top shelf, there were stacks of clean towels and toothpaste and shaving gels right below it.
She stood in front of her mirror and frowned at her reflection. Her sweaty hair was matted against her forehead and her mascara had run in streaks against her face. She looked pale and tired and almost green.
Melissa covered her mouth and waited for the nausea to pass. She opened up the faucet and splashed cold water on her face and neck. It was hot again and the sunlight poured in through the windows making her feel stuffy.
Melissa picked up a bottle of face wash and squeezed its contents on her palm. As she washed her face with it, Melissa wondered if she should take a shower. It was too hot and her skin felt feverish. A shower was just the thing she needed to invigorate herself. But she was here in what she believed was an enemy’s territory. Being comfortable should be the farthest thing from her mind. Still…it was just a shower…
Before she could change her mind, she stepped into the shower and started to wash herself vigorously with a new bar of soap. She stared at the bottle of shampoo for a few seconds before picking that up too.
As she washed her hair she chuckled softly to herself. This was absurd, she thought to herself. She was probably in the presence of serial killers and here she was trying to clean herself when she should have tried prying open the widows and looking for a way to escape.
She dried herself with a towel and looked at the window. Jumping out of the window wasn’t such a great idea. Where would she run anyway? If the bikers had wanted to kill her, they would have done so when she had been sleeping. Besides, Mark had seemed sincere in his request to hear him out.
“Melissa?” Mark called.
Melissa pulled the towel closer to her and gasped.
“If you want new clothes, you can find some in the small cupboard.” Mark said. “Feel free to use whatever you want.”
Melissa walked over to the cupboard and opened it to find T-shirts, jackets, jeans and sweaters folded neatly on the shelves. She stared at it for several seconds before picking out a long sleeved shirt and a pair of new jeans with the tags still on it.
Melissa quickly put on her clothes and started to brush her teeth. Mark sure had a lot of explaining to do, she thought. Everything was so peculiar on this street. Why for instance, did they have a vast supply of rations? And a flat screen TV? Brand new clothes with the tags still on it?
After she was done, she unlocked the door and stepped out slowly, expecting to be pounced on by the riders who were playing with her after all.
“How do you feel now?” Mark asked her. She almost jumped and looked at him warily. He was sitting on one of the tables with a plate of food for her. Melissa shuffled her legs and felt her hands going numb. Mark seemed the least bit troubled about what was going on and she hated the way he was being so nice to her. There was something about him that was making her feel very uneasy. She shook her head. Of course there was a reason why she felt this way. She had just seen him and his friends kill two innocents. And what had they done to Keith?
Melissa walked over to his table and sat down, staring intently at the knife near the plate. She picked up a slice of toast and took a small bite off it. Mark poured her a glass of juice and handed it over to her. She flinched as he passed her the glass and her hands grasped the knife even closer.
“I’m going to tell you exactly what’s going on.” Mark said and leaned forward on the table. “And I’m going to begin by telling you that I’m not the bad guy.”
Melissa looked away and sipped on her juice. Of course he would say that.
“Something happened on this street three years ago.” Mark said. “There used to be a gang of bikers that terrorized the streets, particularly this one. The gang consisted of five members.
Melissa chewed slowly on her toast as Mark continued. Rafe had already told her the story, but she didn’t want to interrupt Mark. The last thing she wanted to do was rile him up.
“The mayor wanted to put an end to this and pressured the sheriff to control them. The sheriff tried to do whatever he could in his power, but the gang was too fast for them and continued to terrorize the streets. They broke into stores, stole things and even burned down a grocery once.
Melissa ran a hand through her hair and felt her nausea returning. She took a sip of juice and was relieved when it passed away.
“It was when they ran over a pedestrian that the sheriff came up with a plan that would end this once and for all.” Mark said. His voice grew strange as he said this and Melissa pushed away her plate.
“What did he do?” she asked.
“He greased up the roads leading to this street. He even tried icing the roads but it was the middle of July and...”
Melissa nodded quickly.
“Anyway, the bikers came in at the exact same time they always did and started to throw bricks on the store windows and stink bombs at the people walking by. They were so engrossed in what they were doing that they weren’t watching where they were going and skidded on the road.”
Melissa felt her breath caught up in her throat. “Did the sheriff manage to catch them?”
“That had been the plan.” Mark explained. “But the bikers had been drunk and weren’t wearing any helmets. Their bikes skidded and they all crashed into each other. None of them survived. The sheriff couldn’t let this get out; that he had made such a big mistake, so he had their bodies buried at the islet.”
“The islet where I was? What exactly are you trying to tell me?” Melissa asked.
Mark leaned back on his seat and took a deep breath. “That the riders who died that day were the people you were with two nights ago. They’re all back from the dead!”
Chapter Fourteen
Melissa sat with her head in her hands and instantly felt her mouth starting to water as the aroma of baked potatoes reached her nose. Mark put a basket of buns in front of her and a plate of hamburgers. She eyed them hungrily, wanting to gorge on them so desperately, but holding back only because it seemed weird that Mark was making a feast for her. She almost felt like he was fattening her up b
efore a sacrifice.
Sacrifice- the very words that had sent cold shivers up her spine when Rafe had used them to explain why the city had suddenly turned their backs on them. Melissa picked up a bun, sliced it in half and started to apply mustard on it as Mark put down a bowl of salad in front of her. It was very quiet in the restaurant and all she could hear was the soft ticking of the wall clock as it read just after one.
“What about your friends?” She asked.
Mark took out the tray of potatoes from the oven and proceeded to put them in a dish. “We’ve had a heavy breakfast. You need to eat. You look starved.”
Melissa licked her lips and bit into her burger. “This is really good. At least your cooking skills are coming to some use.”
