There was only darkness around her.
Misha had never been afraid of the dark, in fact, as a child she had always insisted that a game of hide and seek be played with the lights out while the other girls her age would deem the game as too frightening, especially when played in an abandoned house.
In all of her seventeen years, Misha had never been afraid of anything, but waking up in pitch black when she was supposed to be home and in the safety of her room, was starting to unnerve her.
She swallowed and blinked her eyes, hoping she would get used to her surroundings and figure out where she was.
The last thing she remembered was walking out of the school gates and searching for her boyfriend. She had asked his friends where he was and none of them answered her. In fact one of them had averted his eyes and then walked away while stumbling over a feeble ‘he must be around here, somewhere’. She should have known then and there that they were part of the deceit, but she had thought nothing of his fumbling friends and walked out the doors of the main building and headed to the basketball court, guessing her boyfriend might be practicing there.
That’s when she had seen him...not alone.
The basketball court had been empty and through the nets, she had seen him put his arms around Shanaya, her best friend. Taking slow steps, Misha had felt her heart sink but it hadn’t broken yet. Then it was hammered to pieces when Shanaya grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him.
She could still remember that terrible moment when she had felt something slip from under her feet. All she could do at that moment was stand still and watch the boy who had promised to love her forever, tear away at her happiness and replace her heart with deep sorrow.
Misha knew she should have just walked away, but she couldn’t tear herself from the scene unfolding before her. She couldn’t stop staring at the way her best friend was caressing his arms or the way her boyfriend was pinning Shanaya against the netted walls and deepening his kiss.
It was when he had put his hands in Shanaya’s long dark hair and twirled it around his fingers, that something inside Misha snapped.
Suddenly she was stomping towards them, letting her rage consume all her energy. She opened the small netted door on the side and walked in, stamping her feet so that the two betrayers would notice.
“Misha?” Shanaya had gasped in surprise but Misha didn’t miss the smugness that quickly took over her facial expressions.
She ignored her supposed best friend and turned with unbridled ferocity towards her boyfriend, wondering for a brief second what excuses he was going to make. He didn’t. He just stared at her.
Misha was shaking with fear. She wanted to scream at him and slap him or do anything but cry. Instead she surprised herself by turning on her heels and walking away.
He followed her, trying to explain himself and then saying the most hateful and heartbreaking words—it just wasn’t working out between us.’
She had turned then to glare at him, but she still couldn’t respond the way she really wanted to.
“Stay the hell away from me!”
After that, she had turned and walked away, feeling tears burn her eyes. She was supposed to wait by the gates for her father to pick her up, but she couldn’t stay in that place anymore, not where the two people who had hurt her in the worst possible way were just a couple of feet away.
With tears blurring her eyes, she had walked out of the gates and then...
Misha squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t remember. She thought she may have heard the squeal of car tires beside her and then...
Misha raised a hand to her pounding head and then heard the dull clink of metal. It was then that she felt a heaviness around her wrists. She could flex her fingers and stretch her arms before her, but when she raised them, she heard the clang of metal and the tightening around her wrists.
Misha moved her legs and breathed with ease to find that she could move them freely.
She was sitting on her side against a cool wall and when she pressed her fingers against it, cringed when she touched something wet and pliant.
Slowly, she started to notice something else—a dank pungent smell of rust and the sour stench of urine. Misha put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. Somewhere near her, she heard the sounds of water dripping and then a soft squeak.
Misha swallowed, imagining that the squeak came from a pipe being turned and fitted around another. She waited with her breath caught in her chest—hoping she wouldn’t hear the squeaking sounds again.
Seconds passed and Misha could feel the icy cold fingers of fear clasping around her heart. The silence was pounding in her ears and she let out a deep breath just so that she could hear something.
When the squeaking sound returned, Misha let out a cry and pushed herself closer to the wall. The patter of tiny feet was unmistakable and when she felt something coarse and furry against her bare feet, she let out a scream.
“Help me!” she called. “Is anybody here? Please help me!”
She gave a watery hiccup and then twirled her fingers around the long chain and tugged. She could hear the metal clang loudly in front of her, reverberating all around the empty room.
Misha turned and put her feet up on the wall, to give herself some leverage. When she pushed again, the metal chains made a thunking sound and then she felt the clamps around her wrist tighten.
Letting out a pained cry, Misha dropped her hands on her lap and took a deep breath. When her fingers touched the rough material of her clothes, she hitched a breath. Looking down at herself, she could just about make out a frilly cotton lace on a white dress whose hem reached just above her knees.
Misha swallowed. She hadn’t been wearing a dress when she had gone to school. In fact, she didn’t even own a white dress especially of such a stiff plain cotton material.
The squeak of a mouse, broke her away from her thoughts and she used her bare feet to push herself further away. Her back hit the corner and she let out a moan when she felt something cold and wet.
She opened her mouth to breathe, reminding herself to remain calm. She had to face facts: she had been kidnapped.
Swallowing again, she winced when she felt how dry her throat was. Taking another calm breath, she forced herself to focus on what she must do now.
“What do you want from me?” she called out. Whoever her kidnappers were, must be listening to her. “Why have you brought me here?”
Minutes passed in silence and Misha started to feel dread descend upon her.
“Look, whatever you want... we don’t have a lot of money.”
Misha bit her lip. That was a lie. Her family did have a lot of money and it was obvious that was why she
had been kidnapped, but at the moment all she was hoping to do was elicit a response from someone. The silence was getting to her and she started to absurdly wish that the mouse would squeak again. Or was it a rat?
“Why are you keeping me here?” she called out. “Please, just let me go...”
There was a sudden thumping sound and a small bar of light shone, ten feet away from her.
Misha pressed her lips to stifle her cry of surprise. That was where the door was and when she pulled herself towards it, the chains pulled her back.
She was about to call out again when she heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the wall. Focusing on the small bar of yellow light, she let out a tiny moan when she saw a shadow pass.
Someone was there and was standing right outside and by the shape of the figure she deduced it was a man.
Misha considered speaking out again and then felt her throat clench. She was scared. For the very first time she was terrified and it was killing her not knowing where she was or who had taken her.
Whoever was beyond that door could be dangerous and she had to consider the fact that her screaming for help might just agitate him and cause him to break through the door, grab her and hurt her.
She watched the small shadow on the bar of light under the door and tried to decide what she wanted to do.
“What do you want?” She asked, but not loud.
The shadow moved and she heard footsteps walking away from her.
“No, wait!” she called. “Stop! What do you want? Why are you doing this?”
There was the sound of a loud thump and the light under the door disappeared.
“No.” She moaned. A single tear rolled down her cheek and when she raised her hand to wipe it away, she found that her movements were restricted. Her hands twirled around the chain again and when she tugged, she could feel that the chain restraining her had somehow gotten shorter.
She kept pulling on them, desperately hoping they would break when she suddenly heard the patter of soft furry feet.
Except, by the sounds of it, there appeared to be more feet heading straight for her. When she felt a brush of coarse hair against her naked foot and another tickling her hip, Misha let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Let me out!” she kept crying over and over again.
***
Dr. Grifford was sipping his coffee when the door to his
office opened and a security guard entered.
“Close the door behind you,” Dr. Grifford ordered. The security guard put a hand on his hat to pull it
down and then closed the door behind him.
“Is he here?” Dr. Grifford asked.
The young security guard stood in front of the
heavy wooden desk and folded his hands. “No.”
Dr. Grifford put down his mug and wiped the froth of his cappuccino from his greying goatee. “He must be at
the university again.”
“They’re all here,” the guard said. “All your
subjects are restrained.”
Dr. Grifford nodded and turned on his swivel chair
to the desk behind him in which there were ten monitors set up. He pushed a few buttons on the keyboard and turned on all the monitors.
The grey and white pictures revealed ten girls sitting on the floor in their rooms. Some of them were lying down and sobbing, while the others were screaming for help.
Dr. Grifford smiled.
“What are my orders?” the security guard asked.
Dr. Grifford scratched his beard and smiled thoughtfully. He waved his fingers around the monitors and then pointed at the seventh screen. It showed a girl sitting in the corner and covering her face as rats ran all around her.
“Her,” Dr. Grifford said and then turned back to the guard. He opened a door and removed a pair of pliers. Slapping them on the desk, he pushed it towards the guard.
“Remove all her teeth,” he ordered.
The guard’s face had been impassive until now but when he received his orders, he flinched and with trembling hands, picked up the tool.
Dr. Grifford leaned back in his chair and put a finger on his chin. “If you want to back out...”
The guard quickly shook his head. “I need the money.” He pocketed the pliers and walked out the door.
“Close it behind you,” the doctor called.
Once the door was closed, he returned to the monitors and watched the seventh one.
The door to the room opened and the guard walked in. The girl in the corner sat up straight and then started to talk.
Dr. Grifford muted the other screens and turned his attention back to the girl.
“Who are you?” she asked.
The guard grabbed her by the hair and she yelped. “What are you... Don’t... Please...”
Dr. Grifford’s smile widened as the screaming
began.
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