Trapped contest entry. "The oddest thing"

Well this is for a contest had to include the beginning bit "Trapped-I could not escape, I knew to remain idle would be certain death, whatever I had planned, I needed to act fast. It was up to me to rescue them both, and unless I could find a way ou

 

Trapped-I could not escape, I knew to remain idle would be certain death, whatever I had planned, I needed to act fast. It was up to me to rescue them both, and unless I could find a way out of here we would surely all perish. I could feel the blood pumping through my head…throbbing in sync with the beating of my heart. I started to breathe slowly.

“A calm mind is a smarter mind” I said to myself as I assessed the situation. I was lying down on a bed, my arms and feet seemed to be bound. I hadn’t seen where they put Nyssa and Julian but I was sure they were alive. 

 

“Okay Markus, focus.” Talking to myself was the easiest way to focus my thoughts though, 

“You know they do say the first sign of madness is talking to yourself…”

“Do they indeed? Well I’d like to see a madman get out of these restraints.”

“No good. You will only hurt yourself.”

“Okay I need to think outside the box. Where am I?”

“Well let’s see here, it looks to be a small medical room. There is a small bit of surgical equipment on a small table by my feet. I can see a scalpel but I can’t seem to reach it with my foot. The door is on the opposite side of the room and there seems to be no light coming from under it.” I fell silent when I heard a noise from outside the room. I saw a light flicker from behind the door. Then the door opened, and a man stepped in. I hadn’t seen him before. He was tall with short black hair, and had glasses that were big and looked heavy.

 

“You’re awake Markus. Good, good.” The stranger seemed to be looking at a chart; I could only presume that it had something to do with me, though I don’t remember checking into a hospital. “I can see from your stare that you do not remember me. I am, well, your captor. My name is not important, but you can address me as John if you must.”

 

“Well I assume it’s a pleasure to meet you… John. I would shake your hand but it seems to me that my hands are tied down at the moment. You will excuse the rudeness I hope?” I presented John with a smile. If you have been in as many tough spots as my friends and I have, you find whining and endless questions get you nowhere, but I think it is time for a few questions.  “I am sorry to be such a bore, but where am I?”

 

“Now, now Markus…that would be telling wouldn’t it?” John walked over to the table of instruments and started fiddling with each one, holding them up to his eye and then replacing them almost exactly where they were to begin with. 

 

“Right you are. May I ask about the state of my friends?”

 

“They’re fine, and will most likely remain that way for the next four to five minutes.” A smile crept across Johns face. “That is if they’re not immune to sulfuric acid. Your head is right next to their wall. If they yell loud enough, you might just be able to hear them scream.

 

“What is it that you want exactly?  Money? Power? You know we don’t have either.”

 

“I guess it won’t hurt to tell you, the famous detective Markus Paine, the son of famous detectives Jane and Paul Paine. Your parents destroyed my life; they convicted my parents and made me in orphan at age 8. Both my parents were butchered by an insane inmate who stole a scalpel, much like this one in my hands. For you see, since your parents are dead, I have to redirect my revenge onto you. Since they took away my life, I will take yours, it’s that simple.”  John took his left hand that held the scalpel and started moving towards Markus’ neck.    

 

“Wait! You’ll kill me!”

 

“I dare say that is the point.” John held up his scalpel for a second and ran his finger on the blade until his blood started to drip.

 

“Well I know that. I was just thinking that revenge wise that is pretty quick death. Most of the people who want to kill me try to lengthen it out a bit.” I started to speak louder, mainly due to the fact that I saw the door knob turning at a slow speed and I assumed it was some sort of help. “I am no expert at revenge, but I would think that inflicting continuous small amounts of pain until I die may be a bit more satisfying. You could always slit my throat later if drawn out revenge is not working for you.” My heart skipped a beat when I saw Julian smiling at me from the now slowly opening door.

 

John just looked at me- I could see the rage in his eyes. I could also see pain in his face when Julian hit him over the head with the fire extinguisher he came in with.

 

“Markus!”  Nyssa ran into my room a smile beamed from her face indicating that she was alright.

 

I just smiled back and asked, “Would one of you two mind unbinding me?”

Reviews

[Laoidhigh Uilleag]

I liked it :)

it was short enough for the contest but it was long enough for you to address the characters just enough for us to get a sense of what is happening...

the introduction of his parents was a little "this, then this, then this..." but it actually is probably ok the way it is since all evil villians seem to have their infamous monologues and Marcus talking to himself made me chuckle :)