A Captive In The Night

“Couldn’t you have just carried her into the car? She’s too tiny for that drug.” A voice says in frustration.

“Well forgive me for following the rules.” Another voice says and I recognize it as the huge man’s voice. 

I’m currently blindfolded and tied to a chair. My hands are almost numb from the lack of blood circulation. I try to move them around but it’s close to impossible.

“She’s awake now.” A voice says.

“About time.” The huge man says in mock relief. 

I hear footsteps approaching and the voices around become silent. 

“How did it get to this?” A deep voice asks. There is a heavy Italian accent laced in each word this person said. Whoever this person is sounds pissed.

“Sir, we saw her with that bitch. I-I mean Jules. We were going to let her go but we saw the contents of her bag and she’s clearly working with them.”

Who? Me?

Working with who?

They can’t be talking about MY bag. It only had a number of books and my passport in it. 

“Let me see.” The deep voice says. I hear the sound of a zip, probably my bag, and a few papers. The room became dead silent. I’m sure that if they listen closely they will hear the sound of my heart pounding. “Remove the blindfold and tape.” He says. The tape on my mouth is ripped off immediately and I wince. Someone unties the blindfold and I’m met with darkness. The room is dimly lit but I can’t even make out how many people were in the room.

The sound of a gun being cocked knocks my senses back.

“There has to be a mistake. I don’t know what is going on right now. Please let me go” I immediately beg. 

“I’m going to ask you three questions and you’ll answer me honestly.” The deep voice says lowly. “If you don’t give me the answers I want, I can assure you that your body won’t even make it to the morgue in one piece.” 

A lone tear dropped from my eye. From his tone, it is obvious that he means every word he says. How did I even get to this point?

“Please I-I..”

“Who sent you?” He asks and I shake my head immediately.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please.”

“How long have you been spying on us?”

Spying?

“I just got here from Texas!” I exclaim. I struggle against the rope holding my hands in place. 

“Finally,” I hear him take a deep breath. The gun is cocked again, “what is your next plan?”

“My bag was stolen. I was going to go to the station. I have no idea what is going on right now. Please, you have to believe me. You have the wrong person.” My voice cracks as I begin to sob. Who will explain to my mother that I died in an unknown place? I doubt these men will even make my death known.

“John.” The man says. I see a huge figure walk closer to me and I recognize him as the huge man from the gas station. He still had the grin on his face, this time a gun in his hands and he looks more than happy to use it.

“Sir!” A voice called. “Drew just called.” The voice says. I hear whispers then a string of curses. 

“John.” The man calls again and the huge man frowns. He lowers the gun. I let out a shaky breath. My head feels light. I was a few seconds away from death and the huge man, John, doesn’t look like someone that misses a shot. “Take her to the house.”

“But sir, there’s no space in the house for an extra person not to talk of a spy.” John spits the last part glaring at me.

“To the main house. Ask Flora to keep an eye on her.”

“The main house? But..” John starts but immediately shuts up. I hear footsteps retreat. At least, I’m safe for now. Someone unties my hands and I quickly rub my sore wrists. John turns back to me. In a split second, I was over his shoulder.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask in alarm. “Put me down!” I scream, pounding his back but it feels like I am hitting a brick wall. He continues to walk and we eventually get to a garage where a black van is parked. He drops me without caution and butt hits the metallic ground.

“Look doll. You are one lucky girl. Most people in your shoes would’ve gone back to their ancestors but for some reason you’re still alive and whining.” The huge man says. “Unless you want to be mistakenly shot,” he emphasized, “get yourself inside the car now.” 

“You people have no reason to keep me here. I’m innocent. I just want my bag back and..”

“That’s it.” Another voice said from behind me and before I knew it, a familiar pain shoots through my neck and I drop.

***

“Take it easy John.” A woman says.

My body swings back and forth before eventually dropping on a soft surface. I slowly open my eyes. Surprisingly, I'm in a sparsely decorated room. I sit up on the queen sized bed a bit confused.

“She’s awake.” I hear John say. I glare at him before noticing the woman beside him. She looks like she’s in her late sixties. Her grey hair is tied in a tight bun. She’s dressed in a white blouse and black long skirt. She looks at me suspiciously before shaking her head.

“I’ll be going.” John announces, “Keep an eye on her Flora. She’s dangerous.” He says and I roll my eyes.

“You all are making a mistake. This is basically abduction.” I spat. John leaves the room, completely uninterested in what I’m saying.

“Mr Lombardi will be home shortly. You might want to..” she looks at me with slight disgust in her eyes, “clean up.”

She walks to the couch and takes out clothes from the bag. “Change into this.” She drops it on the bed and walks out.

In as much as I would’ve loved to run out of the room immediately, I agree that I must look like a mess. I decide to take advantage of the clean bathroom available and take a quick shower before heading off.

A few minutes later, I’m dressed in a random tracksuit pants and black tshirt. The outfit looks so random and I’m grateful for it. I rush towards the door and press my ears against it. When I didn’t hear any noise, I slowly opened the door and creeped out. My jaw almost hit the floor as I took in my surroundings. One thing is to find the exit and the other is to even make it out without getting lost. 

I wander around the hallway, completely absorbed in the beauty of the house. As I get to the spiral stairs, another door catches my eyes at the end of the hallways. Unlike the rest, this one has double doors made of thick wood and has a golden handle. Curiosity gets the best of me as I walk towards the door. I open it and I conclude that I opened a portal. 

The library before me is huge. Straight out of a movie. The shelves are so high that there are rolling ladders on each one. I let out a sigh. I know I don’t have the time to start going through the books. I need to find a way out of here but my feet move on their own accord and I find myself in a section filled with classics. 

I’ll just look at a few.

I remind myself not to get lost in the books. I have always known that books will be the end of me but I didn’t know it was this soon. A few minutes later, I’m on one of the ladders reaching up to get a Jane Austen book.

“What are you doing?” A familiar deep voice asks and I jump in surprise subconsciously letting go of the ladder. I close my eyes and brace myself for the fall but I end up in warm arms instead.