Chapter 15. Again
After biting and struggling against the gag that covered my mouth, it finally loosened a fraction, allowing me to speak my mind. “Where are you taking me?” I said in a hoarse voice that was way too unfamiliar. God. . . I’ve been dying of thirst. No one answer my question so I repeated it over and over.
“I know you’re there, I can hear you breathing.” Not satisfied with the dead air and the ignorance they gave me, I squirmed and wiggled against the rope binding my hands behind my back. What rotten luck. I was kidnapped again and hauled inside a car, or at least a moving vehicle. If I could only remove this cloth covering my face, I would be a very happy woman. Not!
“This girl is so irritating,” one of them spoke in this voice that reminded me of a witch. “Make her shut up.” Scared that they’d kill me, my body went into overdrive. Meaning, I wriggled like my life depended on it. Sadly, that was the last thing I did before someone punched me hard on the stomach, making me lay unconscious on the seat immediately.
“Rise and shine sweetheart.” Someone tapped my face roughly, prompting me to wake up. But I didn’t open my eyes. Instead, I squeezed it tightly, hoping against hope that when I finally opened it, I would be inside Cybele’s room comfortably snuggled against her. No such luck. Before I knew it, my whole body was freezing. When my eyes opened in a snap, I learned that I was tied securely on a chair. To add insult to injury, I was soaking wet. What the heck?
A man with a toothy grin stood in front of me with an empty bucket on his grimy hands. Great! He dumped its contents all over me. What a charmer, I thought in disdain. Opening my mouth I said, “Why did you take me? I have nothing to offer you.”
Mr. Toothy scrunched his face, the already deep lines there looking almost like scars because of the action. “You’re pretty,” he said dumbly. I rolled my eyes at him. He was like a stupid troll. “I’m not pretty,” I replied in a raspy voice. Clearing my throat I added, “I’m just normal looking. If you want to see someone beautiful, you need to kidnap an actress. Not me.”
Toothy scratched his balding head and thought for a while, dropping his empty bucket noisily on the floor. Dumb just got dumber. It gave me an opportunity to take a good look around the place. So what’s the damage? Glancing down, I saw that I was tied to a chair. But aside from that, nothing seemed to be broken. Well except for my stomach. It felt like someone punched it. Which someone totally did, I thought angrily.
Sighing low, I stared at the area. We were inside a house. Go figure. The place looked old. As if it would crumble and cave on us anytime. It smelled like dead rats too. Announcing their foul presence, a big rat almost the size of a kitten scurried on the left, straight to the mouse hole. Where the hell was this place? From the looks of it, I was positioned in the middle of the living room. Or at least the remains of the crumbling living room.
After thinking for the longest time, Toothy finally made up his mind. He walked straight to me, a huge grin on his face. When he was standing right in front of me, I asked him “What are you doing?” I couldn’t keep the sound of sarcasm out of my voice. He continued smiling eerily, just staring at me. “What?”
“Eat,” he said.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed in annoyance.
“I eat,” he repeated while pointing to himself. “You.” His finger and all its dirty glory pointed in my direction, making the hair at the back of my nape stand to attention. Oh God. He guffawed like a sick dog. “Eat your foot,” he muttered. “Eat your tummy.” Toothy stared in my eyes. “Eat your brains.”
“Nooooo!” I screamed as I struggled and bucked against the chair. Toothy was laughing so hard at my predicament. It wasn’t even funny. Of all the people who would kidnap me, why did it have to be the cannibals? Unwillingly, my thoughts strayed to Hannibal Lecter, the psychopath I’ve watched on tv. Shit!
Toothy disappeared behind a door, leaving me momentarily. Hoping to escape, I searched the room for anything that could help me. Broken sofa in the corner, nah! Old and damaged tv, not! What else? As I glanced to my right, I saw a cabinet. Albeit ugly and antique as the house, it might hold something that could assist me. A dagger, a broken glass, anything.
Using all my strength, I tried to carry my weight while seated on the wooden chair. It moved a fraction. I didn’t dare look at the door as I slowly inched my way to the cabinet. Sweat dripped from my forehead down to my neck. It was an unanticipated workout. One that I would never ever consider in my life. Oh well, there was a first time for everything.
Before I could finally reach the destination, Toothy went back with –gulp- a butcher knife. Seeing that I moved on my own, his face went into a frown. “You silly girl,” he muttered to himself before grinning wide again and raising the butcher knife. I stared in complete panic at him. It was all going to end this way. Me, princess Talia, eaten by a troll of a guy.
My mind sought Cybele’s face. I’m so sorry my queen, I thought to myself in a rush. I love you so much. If I ever get out of here, I will bring you to the bed and make love to you all night. Toothy came closer, breaking my train of thought. So much for happy endings. When he raised his knife directly on my head, I squeezed my eyes shut and said a silent prayer.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
My eyes opened a fraction and I saw a guy with a black muscle shirt on frowning at Toothy. Great! Another bad guy in the house everyone. Concentrating on Mr. Muscles, I recognized him as the one who covered my face earlier in Cybele’s building. What did they want from me? Were they going to eat me together?
Muscles wagged his finger at Toothy. “I told you not to frighten the guest.” Toothy gave a disappointed look. “Sorry,” he said shamefully. “Girl looked gullible and stupid so I wanted to tease her.”
“Gullible and stupid?” I protested. “You’re the one who looked like a freaking troll! You’re the one who kept saying eat, eat. I’m neither gullible nor stupid. You’re a moron!” Uh-oh. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now they were gaping at me.
“I never thought that you’d be a smart-mouthed girl,” Muscles mumbled and walked to me. When he was near enough, I could smell his strong cologne. Cheap and powerful. Just like him. He reached a hand and painfully held his fingers on my chin. “I hate girls like you. It makes me want to punish you.”
My gaydar almost exploded. “Get yourself a boyfriend sicko,” I muttered against his grip. I received a harsh slap from him. That’s going to hurt in the morning, I thought bitterly. “I do have a boyfriend,” he sneered, pointing to Toothy. “We’re engaged.” A monster for a monster. Perfect.
To him I said, “You could do better.”
“You little bitch!” he said in contempt. “I’m going to tear that honey colored hair away from your head.” Before he could even do his threats, a woman spoke from the door. “Do not hurt the princess.” Toothy and Muscles glanced in her direction, including me. Judging from her dress and the way she carried herself, she must have been the leader or mastermind. Beside her was the lady with the crooked teeth. They were missing a member. I thought five of them entered Cybele’s building.
“What did you call me again?” I said in an almost whisper.
“You’re the princess.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“I’m not,” I denied.
“Yes you are. And we’re going to get a huge sum of money once we trade you in from the palace. Or we can always sell you to the highest bidder,” she smirked. “Can you imagine how many rich old fools will want to taste that young body of yours?”
“You’re cannibals!” I gasped. She gave me a look of confusion. “What are you talking about?” Her eyes went to Muscles and Toothy. “What was she talking about?” The two shrugged and pretended that they didn’t know. “Well it doesn’t matter,” the leader said. “We’re going to be very rich because of you. Take her to her room.”
Without asking another question, Muscles and his boyfriend carried me –totally the chair- from the living room to another room with just a bed and nothing else. Knowing better than to fight once the rope was removed, I watched silently as the two made their way out of the room, slamming the door shut and bolting it from outside as they did so.
I stared at the cracking and peeling walls. There I was a prisoner against my will. It has become a hobby for people to kidnap me. I didn’t mind when it came to Cybele, but with these folks? No thanks. Going to the dirty bed that was covered by soot and dust that have been collected for gazillion years, I slumped down with a heavy heart and clutched my aching stomach as I tried to get some sleep.
I was awoken by a scratching noise in the middle of the night. How did I know it was nighttime? I didn’t. I just assumed. Fearing that it was a big rat that was going to eat me, I searched for the source of the sound. Kill or be killed, I thought with a twinge of panic. “Come here rat,” I whispered.
“Are you awake?” someone whispered back.
I gasped in surprise. “Is that you Mr. Rat?” My voice trembled. How could it not when one, I was clearly hallucinating, or two the mouse spoke to me which meant I was going crazy.
“I’m not called Mr. Rat.”
“Then what are you called?” The faceless voice didn’t answer for a few seconds, as if thinking of a suitable reply. “They call me Van,” came her reply.
I walked to the door and tried to see if there were any cracks where I could peep through to see the person. There wasn’t so I just sat on the floor, resting my back against the door. “Is that short for Vanessa?”
“No. It’s just Van. It means friend.”
“Well are you? A friend I mean. If you’re here then it must mean that you’re one of the kidnappers.”
A sigh from the other side. “I didn’t know that this would happen,” she said. “The original plan was to break inside the building, take whatever valuables there were and go. Unfortunately my peers recognized you princess Talia. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“You hang out with the wrong crowd Van,” I replied, resting my chin on my knees. “How did you break in the building anyway? I think it’s highly secured.”
Van cleared her throat. “My father was one of the people who worked on that building,” she mumbled, embarrassment in her voice. “He installed all the security measures there and since I was trained by him, I knew how to disarm the whole system. When my childhood friend Muscles learned about it, they kind of blackmailed me to show them the building so we could break in.”
“No way. . . The guy’s name is really Muscles?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “That’s because he’s always wearing a muscle shirt. Believe me princess, I didn’t know that you’d be there when we got in.”
“I forgive you Van,” I said while squeezing my eyes shut. “You do?” she replied in a rush, a combination of astonishment and gratitude in her voice.
“Yes. You said you were blackmailed so you probably didn’t mean for it to happen. But. . . Will you help me escape? I can’t be here Van. There’s someone I really love who must be worried about me right in this second. I need to be with her.” My thoughts went to Cybele. I could only imagine the look on her face when she discovered that I was missing. She’d be so hurt. And knowing her, she’d probably rage and do everything to get me back.
“Okay princess. I promise to help you. But I can’t do it today,” she whispered. “Everyone is guarding the place. Let me think of a plan so we won’t get caught. Deal?”
“Deal,” I replied. “I need to go now before they catch me. I’ll make sure you get fed properly tomorrow so you’ll have strength. Goodbye Princess Talia and goodnight.” Before I could say my own goodnight, I heard Van’s retreating footsteps. Going back to the dirty bed, I lay down with a smile on my face, thanking the heavens that someone was willing to get me out of here.
“Wait for me Cybele,” I said out loud. “I’m getting out of here soon.”
The next morning, I opened my eyes and noticed a tray filled with food on the floor. Inspecting the tray I saw that there was a sandwich, an apple, a bottle of water, and a note. The note read, ‘Prepare for tonight. I have a plan. –V’ I smiled to myself as I happily munched on the food, hoping against hope to strengthen myself for tonight’s activities.
When evening came, I patiently waited for Van to arrive, sitting on the edge of the bed with a poker face whilst I did so. I wonder what her plan would be. A couple of hours more, the door swung open, making me look in surprise. It creaked like that of horror movies but what stunned me was the fact that no one was on the other side.
Albeit barefoot, I walked carefully to the door and poke my head out, looking for anyone in the hallway. No one was in sight. I took the opportunity to creep out, biting my lips to stay quiet all the while. The hallway was a long stretch. Longer than the last time we passed through it. But maybe that was due to the fact that I was anxious of getting caught so the normal hallway looked like a gigantic maze.
Rounding the corner, I passed through the kitchen. Again, no one was in sight. Hurrying to the living room, I saw that the door was wide open. Not even thinking if it was a trap or not, I ran as fast as I could outside. Not a single soul stopped me. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Warning bells if you may. But I dismissed it altogether when I saw a girl about my age waiting for me. She beckoned from inside a black pickup truck.
“Are you Van?” I asked as I got I made my way in and buckled the seatbelt beside her.
“Yes I am Princess.”
She started the vehicle and carefully went to the dirt road. All around us were grass, dirt, and trees. We were somewhere in the country. I stared at Van for the very first time. Her ash blonde hair that barely touched her chest fluttered from the wind coming through the open window. Her pale blue eyes touched mine momentarily before she smiled and stared back at the road.
“Nice to finally meet you,” she murmured with an accent that I couldn’t place. Maybe she was Russian, I thought to myself. “I’d shake your hands but I don’t want to crash Princess.”
“Don’t mind me,” I retorted. “I’m just happy that you got me out of that hell hole. How did you even do that without being caught? And where are the others?”
Van’s face spread into a smile. “I’d rather keep it a secret for now Princess.”