by Lilly Wilder
“I don’t understand…” I try to speak, but I can’t get the words out.
David chuckles. I see his back teeth this time. They’re stained yellow. I notice his fingers, too. I can’t see shapes, but colors are more prominent than ever. He’s a heavy smoker. Just like dad was.
“Almost there,” David says.
“What…” I try again, but I stop at the first word.
I can’t even think straight. I clutch at my purse, realizing that I have all my documents in there. Everything they required me to bring, including my passport. My grip loosens and I know that I’m falling asleep. I know what happened. Hannah drugged me. She put something in my coffee before she brought it to me. That was why she was so insistent on me trying it.
“I need to...” I want to scream, but only a whimper escapes my lips. “Go out…”
David laughs again, louder this time. I see Hannah’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. There is no sympathy in her eyes anymore. They’re cold and calculating. I wonder how she does it. It’s one thing to pretend to be nice, but how do you make your eyes pretend, too? Is it even possible?
Their evil laughter echoes in the back of my mind, as I drift into slumber land. I see Vanessa somewhere far away, calling out to me. Her arms are outstretched and I can almost grab her hands, but as soon as I reach out, she disappears. It’s all darkness around me and the feeling of exhaustion is overwhelming. I finally give in and my whole body falls into deep sleep.
Chapter 4
When I open my eyes, the first thing that welcomes me is a headache. I feel like someone’s been using my head for drums and was playing them all night long. The pressure creeps up from my temples, all the way to the back of my head, making a full circle, only to return to the starting position, not letting go for a single instant.
I try to move my hands and a metallic sound follows. I look down, seeing heavy chains around my wrists, hiding the redness on my skin. They are connected to my ankles and a long chain is traveling all the way to the radiator underneath the window. There’s daylight coming in, so it’s either still the same day, or I’ve slept through the night here. Either way, it’s bad.
I try to straighten on the bed and I’m sitting now. I tug at the chains, but I quickly realize that won’t help. They’re too thick, gripping at my thin wrists and ankles, offering no means of escape without the key. I’m wearing the same clothes from before, but I’ve been sweating and I can smell myself. I think I even peed myself a little. The thought makes me want to cry, but I don’t. Instead, I bite on my lower lip, trying to displace the pain. A wave of helplessness washes over me and I feel like I’m not only bound, but broken. I doubt I’d be able to walk out of this room, even if I wasn’t chained up.
At that moment, I realize I’m not alone in the room. There is another bed in the corner and another girl sitting on it. She is my mirror image. Chestnut hair, fear in her eyes, chains around her limbs. In every way, she is me and yet, she doesn’t speak to me. She’s obviously been awake longer than I have, but her lips are pressed against each other, almost as if purposefully preventing herself from talking. She is wearing a thin summer dress and I can see a few bruises on her arms. There is also a cut right to the side of her right eye. Someone wiped off the blood while it was still an open wound and the blood is now all dried up. But, that’s the least of her worries.
“Where are we?” I ask, trying to talk to her.
“Shhh!” she hisses at me desperately, lifting her index finger all the way up to her lips. “Don’t talk so loud.” She is whispering and I can barely hear her, but I heed her advice.
There is a door in the far corner and the girl glances over there. She is petrified and it’s starting to rub off on me. I try to remember exactly what happened, but it’s a blur. I have a headache that still isn’t letting go, but slowly it starts coming back to me. Hannah. Coffee. The van. Me passing out. Reality hits me like a ton of bricks and I know enough. I may not know where exactly I am, or who is holding me captive, but I can guess why. My fingers start shaking and my whole body follows this sensation. I’m trembling now and I can’t calm down. My home is so far away now and with every passing moment, it seems further and further away. The image of my mother appears in my mind and a small tear rolls down my face. My mother. Vanessa. Do they know I’m missing? Do they know that something happened to me?
At that moment, the door swings open and the man I recognize as David walks in, carrying two metal plates in his hands and two plastic bottles of water. He doesn’t look at either of us. The girl acknowledges him with outstretched arms. He gives her the plate and the water, then brings the rest to me.
“I’m not hungry,” I manage to whimper, as he places the food and water on the bed, next to me.
“Eat, don’t eat,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t care.”
He walks out of the room, without saying anything else. I watch the plate without any appetite. It’s a triangular white bread sandwich and I see some ham and tomatoes peeking from the side. Even if I were hungry, I wouldn’t eat it. But the girl grabs the sandwich and starts stuffing her mouth. She is done in less than a minute. When she finally realizes that I’m looking at her, she looks away, probably feeling self-conscious.
“I’m hungry,” she tells me, as if trying to explain what just happened.
“How long have you been here?” I ask her.
“Three days,” she replies.
“When did I get here?”
“This morning,” she says.
I see she is eyeing the plate of food on my bed.
“Are you gonna eat that?” I hear her ask. I just shake my head. “Slide it over to me.”
I lower the plate onto the floor and do as she instructed. She eats the second sandwich, then gulps down the water.
“I also didn’t eat anything the first day, like you,” she explains again, even though there was no judgment in my eyes. “They don’t care. You heard what that guy said. They’re just here to make sure we don’t escape.”
The word escape echoes in the room, tempting but at the same time, so far away. My chains dangle, reminding me that escape is mission impossible. I remember all those movies I saw, where the heroine pulled out a hairclip and skillfully unchained herself, which allowed her to escape. But this isn’t a movie. And, I’m no heroine. I can’t break free from these chains. The thought bears heavily on my chest and I feel a surge of tears coming on. I just let them flow, silently, without a single sob. The girl notices, but she doesn’t say anything. She is probably all cried out at this point, being here three days already. If there was a way out, she would probably have found it by now.
“What are they going to do to us?” I ask, whimpering, afraid of what the answer might be, but needing to know.
“If they were going to do anything to us, they would have done it by now,” she replies, speaking softly, every once in a while, glancing at the door expecting someone to barge in. “So, I doubt it’s them we need to fear.”
“Then who?”
“Whoever buys us,” she whispers back and I back down in fright.
“Buys us?” I repeat.
“You’re a virgin, right?” she suddenly asks.
“How… how did you know?” I’m shaking at this point and it’s not because I’m cold. I’m frightened. I’m petrified. And, there is no one to turn to, apart from this stranger who is in the same position as I am.
“You applied for a modeling job, right?” she keeps asking, without taking heed of my question. “They brought you in from a small town, making sure to find out all about you in some online interview. Then, you came by bus, this lady met you at some cafe, she spilled your coffee and bought you a new one. You drank it and it all got dark from there,” ending her story, she sighs heavily.
I want to repeat my question, but there’s no point. It’s obvious that this was an elaborate scheme and these people have been scamming girls like us for a while. I ca
n’t believe I’ve been so stupid. Tears start streaming down my face again. I feel even more hopeless now, even more certain that I will never see my family again.
“I heard that they’ll take us to some meeting place and sell us there to some guy.”
“What guy?” I almost shriek, surprised at how calm she is now. She doesn’t look as petrified as when I saw her the first time. It’s almost as if she’s come to terms with what’s going to happen to us.
“I don’t know,” she shrugs her shoulders. “But I wouldn’t ask too many questions.”
Instinctively, she touches the bloodied part of her face, like a warning. I swallow heavily, realizing that I’m parched. I hesitate for a few seconds, remembering how drinking that coffee got me here in the first place, but I’m too thirsty to think rationally now. I open the water bottle, feeling the click of the cap. Hopefully, it hasn’t been tampered with, but I can’t be sure. I can’t be sure of anything right now, apart from my own thirst. I drink half of it in one go, leaving the rest for later.
“Do you know where we are?” I gaze longingly at the window.
“Somewhere out of town,” she replies, looking in the same direction. “You can hear birds chirping in the morning, but no cars. So, we can’t be in the city anymore.”
“Have you been out since you were here?”
“No,” she shakes her head. “Why would they let me out?”
She has a point and for a moment, I feel stupid asking. But I need to talk. I feel like the only thing preventing me from bursting into tears again is hearing this girl’s voice and talking to her.
“Sorry, I’m just trying not to go out of my mind,” she apologizes, with a soft, barely their smile. “I hope this won’t sound weird, but at least I’m not alone anymore.”
I know what she means. I can’t even imagine what it must have felt like to be in this room alone, for two days, having that guy come in only to bring her food and water. Horrifying.
“I cried the whole first day,” she continues. “I shouted and called for help. That guy came in and told me to stop, that I’m better off here than where I’m going, so I should enjoy it while I can.”
“Oh, God…” I gasp, feeling nauseous. “We aren’t getting out of this, are we?”
We lock eyes for a moment and neither of us says anything. The situation seems hopeless. We’re chained, in the middle of nowhere and no one knows where we are. No one knows where we’ll be taken.
“I’m getting out one way or another,” she suddenly tells me, lying down on the bed and turning away from me.
It’s slowly starting to get dark, but I’m not sleepy. I’m not sure if the girl is sleeping or not, but she obviously doesn’t want to talk any longer. I’m cold now and despite my initial disgust, I take the blanket that was underneath me and cover myself with it. It smells of moisture and sweat and I’m sure it’s not mine. My whole body craves a shower, as if the warm water would wash away all the fear. In a few hours, the room is completely dark. There is no light coming from anywhere. I gaze outside the window. Even the skies are pitch black. I see no moon. With eyes open or closed, it’s the same. I see no way out.
Chapter 5
“Come on, wake up!”
I hear someone shouting and I open my eyes. I can’t believe that I actually managed to fall asleep, but instead of feeling refreshed, I feel even more exhausted. My whole body aches. I quickly kick off the cover, fearing that the musty smell transferred onto my skin and clothes. I glance at the door and see David. He is waiting for us to get up. There is no food in his hands. The girl on the other bed is also awake. She is sitting upright, her hands in fists. She is sending daggers at the guy and I know how she feels.
He walks over to her first. He fumbles with her chains and I hear the sound of a metallic click. The chains drop to the ground, but her hands don’t move. There is another heavy bracelet around her wrists, rendering her chained, even though her legs are now free. I watch her intently to see what she will do, but she does nothing. She is just waiting.
David walks over to me and does the same. Then, he moves back to the door and instructs us to follow him. The girl stands up first, the chain sparkling around her reddened wrists like a promise bracelet she can’t get rid of. I know the feeling. I stand up, mirroring her actions and immediately, I feel dizzy. I feel like I’m about to faint, but I stand my ground. David gives me a questioning glance, but I look down.
“Let’s go,” he tells us.
I want to ask him where he’s taking us, but is there a point? Will he tell me even? Not like I can say no, anyway. I try to be indifferent. I try not to think about all the horrible things that might happen to me after I leave this room, but I can’t stop dwelling on them. Tears are ready to start rolling down my face and I’m surprised that there’s still more to come.
David waits until the girl goes out first, then me. He closes the door behind us and follows us as we walk down a long narrow hallway with no windows. There is only one door at the end and the girl stops when she reaches it. David goes to the front of the line and opens it.
Sunlight hits me hard and I have to squint at first, to let my eyes adjust to the brightness. It takes me a few seconds and dark blurs in front of me start to take shape. I see a dark van in front of us, parked on gravel. In the distance, there is a wooded area and a large uninhabited patch of land that seems like the wilderness, belonging to no one. I turn around and see that we were being held in some barn-like structure and I guess it was the basement, because the one window we had was higher than usual.
I’m happy and frightened at the same time. I’m out of that basement, but I’m still not free. These chains clanking around my wrists are heavy and I know that I can’t run away with them weighing me down. The girl next to me probably feels the same. I look at her and there is a blank stare in her eyes. It’s like she isn’t here any longer. She has left her body and her mind is back with her family and loved ones. I wish I could do the same, but the reality of the situation isn’t allowing me to do that. I’m too frightened, too defeated, too hopeless to be able to think about Vanessa and mom. Whenever I see their faces in my mind, a quiet voice in the back of my mind tells me to take a good look, because it’s the last time I will be seeing them. And, I believe it.
“Get in the van,” David tells us.
He is walking behind us, as we trot slowly to the back. I look around and for a moment, I consider running. But, where? We’re in the middle of nowhere and I’d be running straight into the woods. There are probably wild animals there, maybe even bear traps. What if I step into one? What if I get lost in the woods and starve to death? I try to listen to any sound of a passing car, but there is nothing but the chirping of the birds. I never hated that sound. In fact, I loved it. But now, it means that I’m doomed. We’re probably miles away from the nearest highway and I doubt I’d be able to run through the woods to get to it. My shoulders slump under the realization that I don’t dare run away. Silently, I enter the van and the door shuts behind us, with a clicking sound of a lock.
Neither me nor the girl talk during the trip. The road is bumpy and I have no idea how much time has passed when we finally make a stop. It feels like a whole lifetime of silence, bad choices and regret. The door opens and we are let out. It’s windy and cold, as I look around. We’re in the middle of nowhere again. I see the woods in the distance again and I’m not sure if it’s the same woods we saw a while back. There isn’t a road in sight. This is some off-road path, where these guys agreed to meet someone who is to take us off their hands. I shudder at the thought.
The girl and I huddle together for warmth and security, but we get neither. Still, the closeness of her body to mine offers me some kind of solace and it helps me not to burst into tears. But I know once I start crying, I will probably do it incessantly for hours and hours, until I cry out all my tears.
David is already outside with us and he is leaning through the open window back inside.
He seems to be talking to someone, someone we don’t see, because he is still in the van.
“There’s no one here,” David growls at his partner. “We said fucking 10:00.”
I can hear mumbling from inside, but nothing audible. David doesn’t say anything. He just pulls himself out of the van window. He’s standing next to me, taking out a pack of cigarettes. He extracts one, puts it in the corner of his mouth, pockets the rest and pats himself for the lighter. A few seconds pass and he realizes he’s got none. He leans back into the van through the open window and at that moment the girl makes a run for it.
Without thinking, I follow. My legs are heavy. My mind is a blur. Our chains clink together, making horrific music and I hear an enraged voice shout after us.
“You bitches! You better get back here now!!!”
His voice is hard, like thunder and I know if he catches us, he will kill us. I breathe heavily, as I try to keep up with the girl. She isn’t turning around to see if I’m following her, or if David is following her. To her, it seems the same. She is running alone, for herself. I’m not sure if given the chance, she would even help me. But I keep running because that is the only thing I can do now. My shoes are making it harder to run on uneven ground. Soon, we reach the woods to our left, but the girl doesn’t go in. Instead, she runs to the right and after thick shrubbery opens up before us both, I realize to my horror, that we’ve reached the end.
