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“It’s OK,” I whisper.
“It’ll be just fifteen minutes there and back, I promise,” Hannah rounds it up and she opens the door to the van.
“We ride in the back,” David reminds me and I hear a slight accent in his voice.
It’s not South American. It’s European. Eastern European? With that hard R sound? But, before I could give it any more thought, the back door is already open for me. I swallow heavily, hearing my own heartbeat ring inside my ears. A couple passes us by, chatting cordially to each other, paying no attention to us.
It’s a beautiful, sunny day. The streets are busy and there isn’t a single dark corner anywhere around us. So, if everything is fine, why are my palms sweating? Why is my heart racing? I don’t have to do this. I know I don’t have to, but somehow, I need to remind myself. I could just thank them for the offer and refuse. I could hail a cab, go back to Vanessa’s place and be on a bus home in less than an hour. I could have dinner with my mother that same evening, telling her that I just changed my mind and that there would be other opportunities out there.
And, yet, I don’t do any of those things. I look up at the sun. Its rays are warm and welcoming, lulling me into a feeling of safety. After all, don’t all bad things happen in the dark, in a hidden alley somewhere? Bad things don’t happen in broad daylight, with people passing you by, in a busy street.
With those thoughts in my mind, I take a step inside the van. David comes in immediately after me and closes it with a loud thud. A moment later, I feel we’re moving and a sudden sensation of sleepiness washes over me. I rub my eyes and yawn, despite trying to hide it.
“Sleepy?” David asks me, smiling, but it’s not a cordial smile. It’s a smile hiding teeth, a smile that waits patiently for something to happen.
“Not really,” I reply politely, sighing.
“Why don’t you finish that coffee and we can get rid of the cup?” he tells me, eyeing the cup in my hand.
I can hear that Eastern European R sound more clearly now. He’s trying hard to hide it, but it peers from behind the curtains, like an understudy for the main actor, hoping to get the lead. You can never truly get rid of that native feeling on your lips. The tongue remembers, even when the brain is working hard to make it forget.
I obediently do as he tells me. I take the final sip of my coffee and again that sleepiness comes creeping back. My fingers aren’t shaking now. They’re loose. They feel too loose, like they aren’t mine. I feel like my limbs aren’t connected to my body with bones and veins, and cartilage and blood, but by mere thread, that is threatening to tear my whole body apart, limb by limb. I slump backwards into the seat and my head bobs back. I can barely keep my eyes open. My eyelids are drooping down.
“Are you alright?” David
with an R asks me again.
“I am, just nauseous I guess,” I try to reply, but my tongue is tied. I can barely speak properly.
“Is she out?”
I hear from the front seat. The voice belongs to Hannah. To me, it sounds like she is somewhere far away, shouting loudly so we can hear her. The images of passing trees, cars and houses I see through the window are blurred together in one mesh of colors. There are no shapes any more.
“Almost,” David informs her, not taking his eyes off of me.
I swallow heavily, feeling my mouth getting dryer by the minute. I don’t understand what’s happening. Why am I so sleepy? Didn’t I just have a coffee? And, even if I didn’t, I’m not tired. I wasn’t tired five minutes ago. How could I be falling asleep like this?
“I don’t understand…” I try to speak, but I can’t get the words out.
David chuckles. I see his back teeth this time. They’re stained yellow. I notice his fingers, too. I can’t see shapes, but colors are more prominent than ever. He’s a heavy smoker. Just like dad was.
“Almost there,” David says.
“What…” I try again, but I stop at the first word.
I can’t even think straight. I clutch at my purse, realizing that I have all my documents in there. Everything they required me to bring, including my passport. My grip loosens and I know that I’m falling asleep. I know what happened. Hannah drugged me. She put something in my coffee before she brought it to me. That was why she was so insistent on me trying it.
“I need to...” I want to scream, but only a whimper escapes my lips. “Go out…”
David laughs again, louder this time. I see Hannah’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. There is no sympathy in her eyes anymore. They’re cold and calculating. I wonder how she does it. It’s one thing to pretend to be nice, but how do you make your eyes pretend, too? Is it even possible?
Their evil laughter echoes in the back of my mind, as I drift into slumber land. I see Vanessa somewhere far away, calling out to me. Her arms are outstretched and I can almost grab her hands, but as soon as I reach out, she disappears. It’s all darkness around me and the feeling of exhaustion is overwhelming. I finally give in and my whole body falls into deep sleep.
Chapter 4
When I open my eyes, the first thing that welcomes me is a headache. I feel like someone’s been using my head for drums and was playing them all night long. The pressure creeps up from my temples, all the way to the back of my head, making a full circle, only to return to the starting position, not letting go for a single instant.
I try to move my hands and a metallic sound follows. I look down, seeing heavy chains around my wrists, hiding the redness on my skin. They are connected to my ankles and a long chain is traveling all the way to the radiator underneath the window. There’s daylight coming in, so it’s either still the same day, or I’ve slept through the night here. Either way, it’s bad.
