AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You.” Memories hit so hard, recollection came rolling back like a boulder down an embankment. I’d seen this man before. I saw him…Where was I? Where was he?
Back and forth my eyes danced as I tried to recall the events of the day I’d disappeared. I must have gone to work. No. That was too late. I needed to remember the morning. I must have woken up. Got dressed.
“Coffee.” Yes. Broken gasps choked me as I began thrashing again. I went and got coffee just like I did every morning. He was at the coffee place. He’d winked at me. “God, please. God, help. Help me,’ I screamed in fear. “God!” I tried to twist myself. I had to get free. I had to leave while he was out of the room.
“Kody. Kody. Hey, beautiful.”
My head lifted as I tried to take in the blurring room. I was starting to spin. My brain couldn’t focus for long, and I felt sick. Had I heard my name? Was someone in the room? It was so bright; I couldn’t see far.
“Hello?”
“There we go. Look up and listen to me.”
“Please, you have to help me.”
“Do I? Is this real?”
“R-Real?” I sobbed even harder. “What do you mean? Do you see me? Yes, this is r-real! He’s going to kill me.”
“I need you to stay calm. I’m going to try to help. In the meantime, you have to be quiet. This didn’t happen.”
My uninjured hand jerked against the strap. “Wait. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me! Please, I want out of here.”
“I’m working on it. It’s not that easy. First, I need to find you. There’s a block on the location I’m trying to get past. Do you know where you are?”
“I…no. I don’t remember what happened yet. I’m trying. I’m…I’m from San Francisco. I…My name is Kody Marshall. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone. Three days maybe? Please, you have to find me. You have to help me get out of here. I don’t want to die.”
“I’m trying my best. For now, I need you to pretend this never happened. If you tell him or try to talk to me and he hears, he’ll know I broke into his system, and he’ll kill you. Okay?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Good. Only talk if I talk to you first. For now, I need you to be quiet.”
I didn’t even answer. I nodded, closing my eyes as I clung to hope for some sort of miracle. This stranger had to save me. If he couldn’t, I was doomed to return to being tortured. Possibly even killed. In the meantime, I had to try to remember more of that day. What happened after the coffee?
Think, Kody. Think!
I left. Yes. I went to work.
“Tiffany.” I blinked rapidly as my eyes fluttered open. My hand was throbbing with my heartbeat, but I couldn’t focus on that. Tiffany, she’d met me in the lobby as I walked in. Her smile immediately made one come to my face as tears rolled down. She was beautiful. Famous beautiful, with dark, dreamy skin and full, curly hair that reached just past her shoulders. She turned every head that caught sight of her. She was tall for a woman. Almost five-feet-ten-inches, and she stood every inch proudly. She had curves and charm. If there was ever the perfect package it was her.
“God…if you can hear me, can you please let my best friend Tiffany know I love her. And…I’m sorry for.” I sniffled, trying not to break completely. “She’s all I have. I haven’t been a great friend lately. I’ve been distant and…I just don’t want her to think it was something she did. I love her so much, and she deserves the world for who she is, and what she’s been through. Tiffany Welsh. She has to know in case. If I—”
“Got it.”
My eyes squeezed shut again at the voice, and I nodded, thankfully. The sobs were still coming. My hand was starting to feel extremely cold. It was turning to a throbbing numbness. Nothing felt right or real. Was I even talking to anyone at all, or was I hallucinating? It made sense. I wasn’t right. Even now, I felt myself slipping away.
It was my cry that pulled me from some deep place inside, but not enough to cause me to wake. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed as I went in and out of consciousness. At one point I thought I heard the voice talking again, but it could have all been a dream. Maybe I was still dreaming. I didn’t want to come back to the room yet. I didn’t want to remember any of this. I wanted peace. I wanted freedom.
“Yeah, I told you I did that already.” Footsteps got closer. I slammed back into consciousness like a rubberband, but I didn’t dare open my eyes. “I’m positive. I didn’t fuck with anything. This has never happened before.” He growled. “Don’t talk to me like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I run this shit. This is my house. My red room.”
Banging sounded near the direction of the desk.
“I did that too. It’s not working. I have a fucking connection, it’s just that no one is joining the room. They were there, and then they were gone.” A pause. “Are you stupid? ‘Maybe they just didn’t come back’—of course they tried, you fucking moron. Someone is sabotaging my connection or some shit. You’re the computer guy. You tell me.”
The chair rolled along the floor.
“Yeah, let’s try that. Click the link in the forum and let’s see. Hmm. Wait! There it is. I see you. You got through just fine. I…No, dammit. I’m telling you; something was different. Someone kicked them off.” Silence. “Okay. I’m going to put it on speakerphone for a minute. Let me get my mask on. I’ll turn back on the cameras.”
