Hot Spring

Part 6

Mike snapped out of his reverie as he heard the dog bark from behind whatever bedroom door the girl had locked him in. Jessica was squirming under his grip, which had loosened ever so slightly. He pulled her closer to him, his left arm pressing against her throat painfully while his right arm held the knife firmly in place. She gave a strangled cry. He decided to ignore her this time. She wouldn't dare move with his knife so close to slashing her throat.
But where was the other one?
"Hey!" he called out, towards the hallway. "Where are you? I have your friend's life in my hands, might I remind you," he said, his tone menacing.
Sue appeared, breathless, from somewhere past the bedroom doors. Her eyes were wild and her face flushed.
"What the hell were you doing?"
"Nothing...I...thought I heard something...outside..." she stammered, her eyes flicking from Jessica back to him.
Mike's face darkened. He dragged Jessica with him towards the kitchen door to get a good look outside. There was nothing there. The windows were open, and he hadn't heard a thing. He turned back to the kitchen.
"Open the cellar door," he said, and Sue stooped to pick up the key where it lay on the floor from earlier. She put it in the lock and turned. The lock jammed. She turned it right to left, forcing as hard as she could without breaking the key, turning the knob at the same time.
Nothing.
"Well? Come on!" he yelled, and she took a deep breath, nodded, and tried again, willing the door to open. It finally did, swinging wide open so suddenly she almost fell down the steps.
"Now give the key to your friend here, and get in there."
"What?" Sue said, her voice verging on hysteria. "No, you said you had some things to..."
"Yes, yes, I do have things in there I need. But first you need to get in there, so I can tie your friend up. Can't be getting my stuff with you two loose, now can I?"
Sue looked at Jessica, who nodded as best she could under Mike's firm hold. She looked down into the cellar, that was pitch dark at the bottom. The end of the steep staircase was not even visible.
"Go all the way down," Mike said, and Sue complied, making her way carefully down the too-high stairs. The staircase was not even attached to the wall, and shook as she descended it.
He shut the door when she'd reached the bottom. "Lock it," he told Jessica, and she did as he asked, her hand shaking badly.
He took the key from her and had her sit on the floor while he dug under the kitchen sink. After almost a minute he fished out a handful of tie wraps and a roll of duct tape. Jessica's stomach dropped to the floor, and she swallowed hard, her throat still sore from Mike's grip on it.
"Please," she said softly, "We won't tell anyone, I promise. Just take what you need and go."
"Shut up," he said, flashing her a grim look.
He tied her hands behind her back, and told her to sit in a far corner of the kitchen, and not move.
As he tried to reopen the cellar door, the lock gave him as much trouble as it had given Sue, and Jessica wondered what would happen if he couldn't get it open. She tried not to think of the horrific consequences of the two of them being left to die here.
Finally, it opened.
"Come up," he yelled down the stairs, and Sue started to climb them. "Wait. There's a radio down there. On a shelf. Get it and bring it up."
"I can't see anything down here," she called up.
Walking back over to the sink, he opened a few drawers under the counter and found a flashlight. He flicked it on and off a few times, to make sure it worked.
"Heads up," he yelled, and tossed the flashlight down the stairs. It hit the floor with a bang, Sue letting out a shriek at the same time. He shook his head, sighing.
The cellar was now illuminated in a dull, yellowish glow, the light of the flashlight disappearing and reappearing again as Sue flashed it around the low-ceilinged room, looking for the radio.
"Got it," she called out, and started up the stairs.
Jessica saw the relieved expression on her friend's face as she exited the cellar, although neither of them knew what to expect next from Mike.
Sue's relief turned to anxiety again as she saw Jessica's hands bound behind her back, and felt a sick hopeless feeling overcome her as Mike did the same to her. He then had them each sit on a kitchen chair, their backs to each other, and used rope to tie them together.
The radio blared to life, startling the girls, as Mike plugged it in. A local station, playing hit oldies.
He moved the old radio's dial, scanning for different channels, but the first one seemed to come in the clearest.
"CJFQ, your favourite Alder, Vermont station, playing the best contemporary music and hit oldies," an enthusiastic DJ announced as the song ended. A commercial for used cars began to play.
Mike disappeared down the cellar steps.
"Are you okay, Jess?" Sue whispered, her heart pounding so loudly she strained to hear her friend's reply.
"I guess so. Yes," Jessica said, every word forced from a painful throat. "What was down there? Did you see?"
"Not really," Sue whispered. "There was a wooden countertop, sort of, really dusty. A box underneath. I just kind of grabbed the radio and came up."
They were silent for a few moments, as the radio continued to spout real estate and restaurant announcements.
"This is your hourly CJFQ news report," a woman said in a monotone voice. "Vancouver police are investigating the disappearance of several young men from the gay village, as well as two men from Richter, Vermont, who were known to frequent gay dating sites. Police say they believe the disappearances are linked. One of the victims from Richter, Alex Cole, has a tattoo of a rose with a snake wrapped around it, the family says. Photos of the men can be viewed on the Vancouver police website at..."
Sue inhaled sharply, and Jessica felt like she was going to throw up.
"It's him," Sue whispered. "It's got to be him...the picture I found...that's got to be Alex Cole's tattoo. He's a serial killer. What are we going to do?" she said, her voice louder now. She moved against the restraints that held them to the chairs, reaching her fingers out behind her as far as they could go, trying to touch the rope.
"I don't know, Sue," Jessica said, her voice flat. "I don't know."