Cold Game

Prologue

A slow beeping sound was emitted by an electronic gadget, accompanied by the stench of chemicals, cow dung, and tobacco.

Her head ached and throbbed. She could hear voices around her, people talking in gruff voices, swearing, and cussing. But she could not make out their words. She lifted her eyelids slowly and shut them back again as the bright and blinding lights hit her eyes.

After a brief moment of regaining herself, she fluttered her eyes open again. The place was eerily unfamiliar. It left a dreadful feeling in her gut and she gulped on invisible saliva. She weakly circled her gaze around her to take in the setting of her environment.

There were stacks of what looked like dry straw all over the small room. A small window barricaded with large metal bars the size of her wrist close enough for only her hands to slide through; hung on the right edge of the room. Empty bottles of gin and rum lay across the hay carpeted floors and wooden boxes containing unknown items were stacked one on top of the other everywhere.

A few meters away from the only visible door in the room, mounted three men. Each holding a rifle while wearing bulletproof vests on top of tight, white polos and tight black, ripped pocket jeans with scarred faces and nasty tattoos running along their necks, arms, and shoulders. They reminded her very much of her imagination of the devil's demons with their cold looks and sharp edge features.

Wherever this place was, it was definitely not a safe place.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," a dark-haired man dressed in a black suit greeted her. She winced in shock at the sound of his voice. She had not noticed him in the room.

"I hope you slept well. Did you have sweet dreams?" he asked in a clearly sarcastic tone. He inched closer to her, puffing on his wooden tobacco pipe as she tried to move away from his reach.

"Oh relax," he smirked, his lips and eyebrows quirking slightly. "There's no way out of here so just relax,".  His reply did not calm her but spiked her nerves even more.

What did he mean by no way out? How did she even get here?

"Where am I?" She inquired, her voice quavering.

He laughed a peal of deep scary laughter that did not get anywhere near his dark black orbs, a laugh that made her shiver. "Where are you? You don't expect to tell you that now, or do you?"

The men in black laughed along with him and she held her breath, her heart escaping her chest to her throat.

"Stupid girl..." one of them added as their raucous laughter slowly died down.

"But since you've asked, I'll give you a clue. You're in someplace, in some part of the world, where the bluebirds don't go, the flowers cease to exist and happiness disappears," his deep and husky voice said, scaring her to the bone marrows. Even more than his statement. It made him seem more deadly and dangerous. Like someone she should not dare to trifle with.

As she looked up at his face, his grin totally malicious and clearly stating his intentions, it was certain that the man before her was dangerous. Which undeniably meant that she was in danger.

Grave danger. . .