Chapter 4

…the receptionist?

“Well hello Alice. Glad you could make it. Why don’t we..” she paused to let out a small chuckle, “have a talk. Get her!”

Before Alice could even blink, 2 men appeared out of no where. They grabbed her, and the next thing she knew, a sharp pain struck the back of her head and everything went black.

* * * * *

Alice was watching the men through her lashes as the car headed into Alabama. It had been hours since she’s gotten out and stretched, but she didn’t dare make a sound. She heard one of them (the biggest man?) grunt in the passenger seat. He must be asleep, Alice concluded.

“Charlie! Charlie! Get up man! I need help findin’ the dang place so we can ditch the chick and get outta here!” A hoarse voice said.

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!

Where are they taking me?

Alice opened one eye with caution and peered around the small car. It was very clean, and looked brand new. Must be a rental, Alice snickered to herself. She glanced at her feet. No wonder her legs were so stiff. Her ankles were tied together with a large rope, doubled knotted of course. Great. Wonderful. Fabulous. Just what I needed. Being held hostage was always a dream of mine. Her voice sounded with sarcasm as she tried to think of an escape plan.

Open the door and throw my weight out of it? No, they probably have the child locks on. Nobody’s stupid enough to leave the doors wide open for a hostage to get out. Break the window? Nope. Too messy and I’ll probably hurt myself in the process, or worse.

“Hey lady. Get up. Now.” A goofy voice sounded. Maybe it was because he had just woken up, or maybe that was his real voice, but whatever the reason it was still hilarious. It took all of Alice’s concentration to not laugh.

“W-What?” She stammered. It was a real stammer, too. She hadn’t been expecting to be addressed so suddenly.

“Get up and put this on. Hurry.” He handed her a dark lump. She sat up quickly. Too quickly. The bright dots appeared and covered her vision. She grasped at thin air until her hand found the soft material. She stretched out the fabric and examined it. It was a long, black coat. She glared at the man in the passenger seat.

“No.”

“What was that?” He sneered.

“I said no. I’m not wearing it.”

“Well, unfortunately, you’re not in charge here. And, if you want to live to see the daylight of tomorrow, you’re gonna want to wear that jacket,” he threatened. Alice didn’t see any chance of getting out of here wearing the stupid thing, so she disgustedly slid her arms into the sleeves and threw it over her shoulders. She glanced at the clock. 2:39 a.m. Ugh, I can’t wait until we get wherever the heck it is we are headed. My legs are so stiff! Alice tried not to think about her pain as the car rolled into the parking lot of a Motel 8.

' ' Get the chick out. I’ll go get the rooms,” the smaller of the two men said. She had nick named him Jimmy, because he reminded her of a cartoon she used to watch all the time when she was younger. She hadn’t thought of a nick name for the biggest of the two, though, because no name actually suited him.

He opened the door, grabbed her feet, and pulled. Alice didn’t have time to think, let alone time to protest.

“Oof!” Alice hit the ground hard, and her eyes watered in pain. She glared up at the man, and finally found a name that fit him perfectly, though she couldn’t say it. Let’s just shorten it to….Jack, Alice smiled to herself as she was thrown over the shoulder of Jack and carried to where Jimmy was standing.

She tried to find some landmark to tell people about when/if she escaped. Jimmy pulled out yet another dark mass, but this one was smaller. Alice had a sudden idea of what that mass might be and started to scream.

Jack’s reflexes were quick. He clapped a hand hard over Alice’s mouth. She screamed in protest, but his hand only tightened.

“Quick, in the room.” Jimmy hustled to slide the black mask over Alice’s head.

Alice heard a door creak open and someone grunt. This is bad! This is so bad! Alice, terrified to the bone, thought. She was dropped on what was, she assumed, a bed. She felt someone picking at the knots around her ankles and was relieved when she could stretch her legs properly.

“She just called. They’ll be here any minute. She said to keep the chick tied and not let her out.” Jimmy whispered.

Crap!

“They’re here.” The goofy voice sounded once more. Jack ripped the mask off Alice’s head, taking strands of hair with it. She kept her mouth shut, though her mind raced with every foul name to call him.

“I’ll go get her, then we leave.” Jimmy slammed the door behind him as he stepped out into the newly arriving rain.

Alice’s fury seemed to get the best of her. “Why?”

“Why what?” Jack questioned.

“You know. Why take me?” Alice fought to keep her voice steady as the fear reached her. She might never go home. Never go back to the blue pillow she laid her head down on at night, back to the house that she had almost burned down 6 years ago when she forgot to watch her macaroni, back to the…Shut up! She told herself. You’re only making this harder!

“I don’t think I can tell you that.” He smirked out the window. “But I do know someone who would gladly tell you, when the time is right of course.” He grinned so hard that, if Alice hadn’t have been there previously, she would have thought that smile had been painted on his face.

The door sidled open, and in walked Jimmy and the receptionist who had been behind this whole scheme. She glanced at Alice, stranded on the motel’s bed, and whispered something to Jack. He nodded, and stepped outside. Alice could only guess what that meant. Her stomach muscles tightened in fear.

“So! Now that we are all warm and cozy here…let’s get down to business.” She snapped once and Jimmy hustled to the curtains. With a low hiss, they closed, and all light that had been in the room before was now extinguished.

“Okay. Now, your name is…Alice, I believe. Is that correct?” Her voice was high like a child’s and was extremely exuberant.

Alice glared at the petite woman. Like she was going to tell her! In your dreams lady! Maybe not even then! Alice shouted furiously at the woman in her head.

“Yes. Perhaps they will be in my dreams. But of course, I’m not tired yet, so I will just have to wait for you to fall asleep.” Her childish voice echoed in the nearly empty room.

What the…!

“I do not promote foul language in here, so I do recommend that you do not finish that sentence.” She kept her voice casual but her eyes were glazed with anger.

Can you hear me?

Yes…

“Well, now that we have established what my complex mind can do, why don’t we cut the chit-chat and get on with it!” Her smile was toothy and had clearly not been used in a while. It looked out of place on her small, round face. “Now, I’ll ask the questions, you answer and the sooner all of this nonsense is over, capeesh?”

Alice didn’t answer. How could she be expected to answer who knows how many questions when she could barely even think?

“Listen to your mind whirl. Do you want to continue?”

Again, Alice couldn’t answer.

“Well, the sooner you answer, the sooner you’ll be able to go home. You know that, right?” Her voice made the hairs on the back of Alice’s neck stand up unpleasantly.

Alice thought furiously. All I need is to make them make me mad, then I can explode out of here and…

“If I were you, I wouldn’t try anything magical here. Those ropes were on you for reason. Do I look stupid enough to use normal rope on you?” Her face contorted into smugness as she pulled a hard chair to the edge of the bed and sat down. Jimmy stood by the doorway, apparently blocking the only small chance she had of getting out.

“Well, what can I do then?” Alice tempted.

“How well do you know Frost?”

“What?”

“How well do you know Dr. Frost?” She shrilled.

“I-I really…”Alice muttered.

“No need to finish that statement. Your mind acted of its own accord.” She smiled faintly and clambered to her feet. “Well, I think I need a break.” She turned to face Jimmy. “I’ll be in my room. I won’t ask any more questions for tonight, but I’ll be back tomorrow.” She crossed the room to the door and wrenched it open. Jack must have been leaning against it, whether he was trying to listen or trying to act casual Alice wasn’t sure, because when the petite lady opened the door he stumbled in after it, falling on his backside. He stood up quickly and murmured something about a bathroom.

“Oh and Alice,” she turned on her heel and stared into Alice’s blue eyes, as if she were glaring her down. “Be aware that your thoughts can also be heard upstairs. You two! Lock her in. Keep the ropes around her. I don’t want to give her even the slightest chance to consider her escaping.” She marched through the entry way, leaving Alice feeling isolated.

“Okay, you get five minutes. You can walk around and stretch your legs if you want, but a bathroom break is mandatory. I ain’t no housemaid.” Jack said, giving her the ‘ground rules’.

When they finally established what could and could not be done and the feeling in her toes started to come back, Alice couldn’t help but feel elated. She walked around the small room, jumped on the bed, and took Jack’s offer on the bathroom break. She could tell the ropes would be back on before long, but she had to enjoy this while it lasted. The phone sprang into life as it rang, nearly throwing her heart into the room next door. It was only then that she realized Jimmy was no longer in the cramped room. When did he leave? I thought he was here! Alice was still scanning the room for him when Jack’s goofy voice sounded.

“Well lady, I think I gots a bit of bad news for yuh…” His voice loomed out at her from the steadily growing darkness.

Alice’s eyes zoomed back to the dark figure hunched over the phone, and her heart seemed to flutter in her chest.

What is going to happen to me?

It was her voice, whispering in Alice’s mind. Alice asked in thought. A voice replied, but it was not the one she had been expecting to hear, nor in the way to hear it.

Alice thought. She had a small inkling towards who the ‘she’ was, but who the heck was ‘they’? She swiveled her head around to where his voice came from, but could see nothing but blackness. She still had her black mask on. She shuddered at the thought of what could happen if the kidnappers heard her and stopped her with force.

 

 

Author's Note

Please, be nice. Any errors?