Chapter 1

Will it hurt ?

That was the prevalent thought in my mind, while staring down the end of a gun pointed at me. The barrel resembled a dark, endless hole that seemed to reflect my despair and anguish.

Will it hurt?

I couldn't convince myself that it wouldn't. Wouldn't I feel the bullet piercing my skin, crashing my skull and tearing through my brain, even if just for a fraction of a second? I was pretty sure that I would.

D****t! How do I get myself in these situations? I had sworn not to put myself in danger again after last time, yet here I was again, this time not trusting that I could get myself out of it.

I lifted my eyes from the barrel of the gun, and rested them on the person wielding it. His eyes, barely visible under his hood, were almost as dark as the barrel I had just torn my eyes from, and gave the same sense of despair. They were a dark, cold blue. The kind of blue that you see in pictures of underground ice caves, a kind of blue that makes you feel like you're trapped in a hole, suffocating and waiting to freeze to death.

The man was looking at me with scorn, pleased with himself, the corner of his mouth twisted into a smirk. This look incensed me. I wound't let myself die like this, not now, not here! I could feel rage starting to burn inside me, taking the place of the distress that I had been feeling until now.

I was going to fight. Even though my chances of getting out seemed slim, I would be dammed if I wasn't going to try my hardest.

First I needed to assess my position. I was in a dark room, no windows or any other source of natural light. The only light came from a naked bulb in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling.

My hands were tied behind my back, and I was sitting in a wooden chair, in the middle of the room. I pulled at the rope holding my hands, and was relieved to find that it wasn't as tight as I had feared. The man, though he had a cruel and sadistic look about him, did not seem overly experienced in tying knots. I thought that with enough time, I would be able to get my hands free.

Time being the key word here.

So how do I make time? How can I distract him? He was still pointing the gun at my face, still wearing his freaky smile.

Think, Evelyn, think! I need to stall him. I need to make him talk, make him forget that he wants to kill me. This made me start. Why hasn't he shot me yet? What is he waiting for? Did he just want to scare me out of my mind first? Maybe that how he gets his kicks? Well, if that's the case, then he can check that box, 'cause I'm definitely scared shitless. Or maybe he was waiting for something? Or someone?

"What do you want from me? What did I do to you?" I asked, trying to sound brave, but hearing the quiver in my voice. D****t! I didn't want him to think that I was weak. I want to fight! Ok, concentrate Evelyn, work on getting your hands free.

He laughed. A somber, dark, psychotic laugh that made me want to cry. This man loved inflicting pain on others, I could tell. I tried pulling harder on the knots around my wrists, then stopped, realizing that he might see the movement. I can't let him suspect what I'm doing!

"Answer me!" I cried with as much command in my voice as I could muster. I could hear my voice grow fainter, the fear clearly transpiring, despite my efforts to keep my voice steady.

This made him laugh harder. Despite the laughter in his voice, I noticed that it didn't touch his eyes. They remained cold as stone.

"I don't want anything from you, little girl. I just do what I'm told." He said in a low voice, as cold as his eyes. "Apparently you made someone very angry. You were a naughty girl, weren't you?" His voice cracking, only the emotion causing it was quite different from mine. He was excited, and was having trouble controlling himself. He was happy! Wow. I couldn't believe it. He was almost bubbly, like a kid on Christmas Day, before he finally gets to open his presents.

I repressed a sob. I closed my eyes, and tried to count to ten to calm myself down. One, two, three,... I counted slowly, steadying myself. Eight, nine,-

"Are you worried, little girl?" His taunting voice cut into my thoughts, shattering any calmness I had managed to achieve. "You know what you've done, don't you? You've made him mad. And now, you're going to pay for that, aren't you?" He started laughing again. The more I heard his laugh, the more frightened I was, fear blocking everything else from my mind, and keeping me from registering the meaning of his words.

I need to focus! I pulled my thoughts away from him, back to my hands. Get them loose!

My abductor was still cackling gleefully, repeating his words: "You've made him mad little girl, very, very mad. Now he wants me to take care of you!"

The significance of his words slowly penetrated my mind, slowly forcing its way through the haze of my terror filled brain. I made someone mad? But, who-

My thoughts stopped dead in their tracks. My mind froze, my hands fell limp.

I knew who. I knew.

My heart started thumping at a frantic pace, blood coursing through my veins, pounding in my head. I could feel the panic mounting; I could feel myself start to lose control of my thoughts, absolute fear taking over.

It was him! He was the reason I was here! How had he found me? Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

I took a deep breath, trying again to steady myself. I had to be in control if I wanted to stand a chance. I could do this, d****t! I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to calm down. I looked at him defiantly.

"Yeah, I guess did piss him off, didn't I. He got what was coming to him, though."

WHAM

I felt the butt of the gun smashing into my jaw.

At first I didn't feel the pain. Then I felt heat flaring up, my cheek bursting into flames. I could feel blood trickling down the side of my mouth from a cut in my lip. The pain was now intense, the side of my face throbbing, making it hard to focus. Get a hold of yourself! I resumed working on the knots holding my hands, moving my wrists slowly and carefully, working my fingers into the knots. I could tell I was getting there, they were almost loose!

"Be careful of what you say, little girl." He said in a sing-song voice. He leaned in close, and whispered into my ear "You might get into even more trouble. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad though. That would mean more fun for me!" He laughed softly, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. I twisted away from him, trying to get away from his overpowering smell. He stank of sweat and liquor. The stench made me gag, which earned another gleeful cackle from my captor.

I had to get him away from me. He was too close: I couldn't move my hands without risking him seeing it.

"Is that why I'm here? So you can have fun with me?" My voice was just a whisper now. The thought of him terrified me more than my captor ever could. "Why don't you get it over with then? Isn't that what your boss wants?"

He laughed again. Boy, if I wasn't scared out of my wits, his constant laughing would really start to get to me.

"You have no idea what you got yourself into, little girl, do you?" His steely voice still tinted with scorn. "He wants me to keep you intact, for now... After he's seen you, well, then that's going to be a different story altogether, isn't it?" The enjoyment he was feeling was obvious and it made me feel sick. What did they have planned for me? Well, if I had any say in it, I wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out. He had moved a bit further away, moving towards a table in the back of the room that I hadn't noticed until now. I heard a clonk as he set the gun down. He had his back to me, so I resumed working on the ropes tying my hands, feeling the knots finally give way a little. I was almost there, just a little more!

He turned sharply, almost as if he had sensed I was about to free myself. My eyes went wide with panic. How could he possibly know? I hadn't made any noise, I was very sure of that. He was looking at me, studying me, his eyes running up and down my body, lingering on my legs. His mouth twisted into a leer.

"I'm going to have fun with you, little girl. I just need to decide what I'm going to start with. You see, not all the girls I get to play with are as pretty as you are." His eyes were still travelling up and down my body, a hungry look now inhabiting them. "Yes, very pretty. For now."

Ok, don't let him get to you! I thought to myself. He didn't seem to know my ropes had been loosened. I still need to finish freeing my hands. Don't let him get to you! Focus! He turned back to the table, lifting one object up, examining it, and setting it back down before picking up another. I started working on my hands again, more frantically this time, desperate to get them free.

Yes! Finally, I feel the ropes give way completely, and I am able to move my hands.

Ok, now what? I still don't know where I am, though I think it must be underground. I had a bag over my head when he brought me in, but I distinctly remember the ground sinking under my feet as we were walking, as if we were heading downhill. So: I'm underground, in a place I don't know, in a dark room with a psychotic man who wants to keep me "intact... for now", for a man far worse than my captor. Perfect, well done Evelyn! I could feel panic welling up in me again. I could feel myself start to lose control, again.

Stop it, get a grip! I needed to focus, I needed a plan.

The door was to my right, on the opposite side from the table. There didn't seem to be any other furniture in the room. A longer, more thorough examination confirmed that there were no windows, making the door the only option for escape.

But could I make it there in time?

The room was large, and dark. My captor still had his back to me, still busy examining what I was fairly sure were the tools he meant to torture me with. I had to get the hell out of there! He was about 10 feet away from me. Was that enough to sneak past him without him noticing? I moved my legs very slightly, just to make sure that they weren't tied as well and that it had escaped my notice. They weren't, so I had that going for me, which was nice. I closed my eyes again, trying to figure out the best course of action. Should I try and attack him, try and render him harmless? Or should I make a run for it? I looked back at the door. It was about 10 feet away as well, and closed. I had no way of knowing whether it was locked or not. Would I be able to get it open once I reached it? I turned my eyes back to my captor. He was huge, like the size of a small elephant or something. He must have been at least 6 foot 4, and was as wide as a bus. I hadn't noticed until now, but the guy was made entirely of muscle. Crap. There's no way I could take on that small mountain and overpower him. Even if I hit him in the head with a wrench, it would probably just bounce of him. Ok, so my only option was to run for it. At least he didn't have the gun in his hand anymore, which was a small advantage.

So, should I run, or should I try to sneak out? I looked at my abductor again, but he was still happily inspecting his torture tools. What was he doing? Was he humming? What a sick, twisted human being. Then again, given all that was going on, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

My heart was beating furiously in my chest, adrenaline coursing in my veins, making it hard to concentrate. I flexed my muscles, getting ready to run, deciding that was my best option. I had to do it soon, before he turned back towards me.

NOW!

I jumped up and ran for the door. I reached for the handle, which turned without difficulty. I couldn't believe it, I was out! I started running along a dark corridor just outside the door, my feet making little noise on the soft dirt floor. I could hear my would-be torturer turn and swear furiously. His heavy foot-steps soon followed me out of the room and into the passage.

I can make it, I know I can! I was the fastest runner on the team in high school. Even though it had been a while since I had finished, I was still in reasonable shape, and I could feel the muscles in my legs working feverishly, just as they used to. My arms were pumping, my strides small and even. I could still hear him behind me, but I thought he sounded further away. Was he losing ground? Was I really going to make it out of there alive? This thought gave me hope, and I realized that for the first time since I opened my eyes to that gun, the hope was real. Running was my territory; he was playing on my field now. I kept running, up that slanted, darkened corridor. My pursuer was falling further and further away. I can do this! I turned a corner, feeling that I had to be nearing the exit. I kept running, my feet thumping the dirt with a passion, further and further away form that terrible room. I turned another corner, then another. I realized that even though there were several corners in this corridor, I hadn't passed any doors leading to other rooms. I hadn't come to any forks in the hall either, which meant that even though I was distancing my captor, there was no way I could lose him. All he had to do was continue down the passageway, and he would eventually find me. I had to make it out of there, now!

I turned yet another corner, and came to an abrupt halt.

It was a dead end.

How could it be? There had been no other options down the hall, no door, no alternate passage, I was sure of that! How could there not be an exit here? Where had I come in from? There had to be a way out, where was it? I was starting to get frantic. The running as well as the panic I was feeling were making my breathing heavy and labored. I had to find the way out. I ran my hands over the wall, convinced that there had to be some kind of hidden door that I couldn't see.

"Little girl" came the sing-song voice, all too familiar to me now. Cold sweat broke out over my body, his voice very effectively chilling me to the bone. I needed to find the way out!

"Come and play with me, little girl. We'll have fun, I promise!" He laughed, and added as an after-thought: "Well, at least I will!"

His voice still sounded quite far off, and I estimated that I still had maybe a minute before he would catch up to me. It sounded like he was walking, and that knowledge, far from reassuring me, added to the dread I was feeling. He felt sure that he would find me, even if he took his time.

Focus Evelyn! There has to be a door, it's not possible to have an underground room and hallway without a door, d****t! Where is it?

I turned back, dragging my fingers against the walls on either side, trying to feel for a hidden door. I could still hear him calling to me, taunting me. My hands were trembling, and slippery with sweat. I started jogging down the hall, conscious that I was running towards my captor. Why the hell can't I find that damn door? Why is there a hall that ends in nothing, what's the point? I reached the corner, and decided not to go on. I wasn't going to walk willingly back into that psycho's arms! I turned back once again to the end of the hall, determined to find my way out. It had to be here! I walked back along the hall, slower this time, and moving my hands up and down the walls, paying more attention to the bumps and dents of the cement walls. I even knocked on the wall in a few places, listening for that hollow sound signaling space behind the wall, like you see in the movies.

I could hear my abductor coming closer, his voice louder and clearer.

"By now you must know that you can't hide, little girl. You must have figured it out! There's no way out, little girl. Once you're in here, you stay here, and you die here." He couldn't keep that sadistic glee out of his voice. My death seemed to be a very pleasing prospect to him.

My heart sank. He was close, I could feel it. I was still desperately trying to find a door, my hands moving along the walls, knocking, feeling, prying where the walls were uneven, all to no avail. I could feel tears well up in my eyes, my throat tighten as anguish gained hold of me. Where is that door? I thought, fighting back the tears.

"There you are little girl. Ready to play?"

I turned slowly, unwilling to face the horror waiting for me at the end of the hall. I lifted my eyes, and froze in place.

My captor wasn't alone.

He was with him.

Reviews

[James Alice]

You certainly didn't start off slow!

The captor seemed like a cardboard cut out from a bad Lifetime movie.

Can't say I love the first person, but that's a pretty personal style taste, and it's hard to hit anyone on that.

I do like that there's a deeper story teased here. Maybe just a little more tease, and little less graphic action? Gotta setup for the payoff, maybe?

[Jennifer Z]

Hi,
Thanks so much for the review!
I'll take your comments under consideration, try and put a little more tease...
Thanks! :)