Animals

Day 18

Sunday, May 27th

It seemed like days that I was kept in the trunk, my limbs cramping from lack of movement. There was no light aside from what shown through the thin crack, and it was silent. I was alone with my own thoughts and it drove me mad. At times, they were so loud that I was convinced they were voices coming from outside, and I would scream and pound on the trunk to get their attention.

It didn't help that I was still wearing the bullet proof vest, sending me deeper into claustrophobia than I would have otherwise. Then there came the time when I had to use the bathroom. I held it for as long as I could, but eventually the pain of my bloated bladder forced the urine out. I cried.

I'd never felt so filthy and primitive than I did at that moment, soaking in my own piss. And then, as my oxygen began to deplete, only then was the hood lifted and I was flooded with light. I squinted, barely able to see the brute flinch and cover his nose.

"That's nasty," he mumbled, looking at me with pure disgust as if I was a dog who'd just licked clean its own vomit.

"Please, let me go," I begged, willing to ask anyone who would listen.

"Shut up," he replied.

"Dan, stop yapping and bring her in!" Brute #2 said from inside the building. My begging was futile, though I still tried as he lifted me out of the trunk like a rag doll. I was in a garage, so I had no idea how much time had passed. Had it been 3 hours or 3 days?

Brute #2, whose name I never learned but ended up calling him Bill, shoved a black bag over my head. It was thick so I couldn't see through it, and my hot breath made me feel suffocated.

I was strapped into an uncomfortable chair bolted to the floor, then my hood was yanked off. I winced at the strands of hair pulled from my scalp. The garage didn't belong to a house, but rather a brick building. The inside looked as if it had been under construction at some point, but the project recently fell through.

After a few panicked seconds, I realized that Lester was standing in front of me, his hands behind his back. He watched me like a zoologist watches his animals, with a quiet, detached interest. The room was empty, no windows, no furniture and only one door.

"This isn't happening," I muttered to myself. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, hoping that when I opened my eyes, I'd be back in Mitch's room feeling him strap me in a vest.

Lester tsked slowly, his dress shoes making gentle claps on the concrete. "Elle... I'm disappointed in you."

"Let me go."

"I thought you'd remember the lesson the first time I taught it to you," Lester said, ignoring my pleas.

"What lesson?"

He looked mildly surprised. "You don't know? Perhaps I need to adjust my methods." Stopping in front of me, he was creepily still. "The rats, dear. The rats. I told you what would happen."

I first thought of the animals, but then I remembered the man Lester had ordered to die out back. He was my example, and though I'd taken notice at the time, I never actually believed it would happen to me.

I lowered my gaze to his feet, suddenly feeling like I'd upset a parental figure. I hated what Lester stood for, but I respected the man.

"Oh, well. It's passed." He waved his hand nonchalantly. "You know why you're here, I presume?"

The way he spoke encouraged me to believe that whatever had happened for me to wind up in this position was completely on me. I was tired and wet, and I smelled. I would've agreed to anything he said if it allowed me a shower.