Breathe

The Trip: Part 10

C/W - kidnapping and abuse

Four months later, she was taking her scheduled trip to Cape Town.

Her eyes fluttered as she slowly woke up. She felt the cool air against her skin, the bite of the cold metal from the chair she was sitting on, the rope restraining her digging into her body. She jerked upright in the chair. Rope?? Heart racing, she looked around the damp concrete room, empty apart from her and the chair. Safiya looked down, noting her ripped, dirty clothing, the rope around her ankles and wrists, and realised she was barefoot. What happened to her shoes? They were her nicest pair! They were a special edition custom made pride converse! The soles, laces, and label were rainbow, the rest was black with the inside being green and her name on the heel. She was crushed at the idea of losing her 18th birthday gift. Still, probably not the best issue to focus on, she thought. She had lost her expensive watch too. She wasn't gagged or blindfolded (obviously), still had clothes on even if they were ripped, and wasn't in an extreme amount of pain. That was good. Although, judging by the pounding in her head and the stinging on her temple, she was pretty sure she had been knocked out. The last thing she remembered was getting off the plane in Johannesburg. She was meant to fly to Cape Town but she honestly wasn't sure if she had made it.

She heard a metal door creak open and pretending to still be unconscious didn't even cross her mind. She watched as a heavyset man with so much hair on his face he could have been mistaken for a bear walked towards her. He was wearing some sort of military uniform but she didn't recognize it. He had dark skin, and brown eyes. When he spoke, she recognized but couldn't quite pinpoint his accent. He was speaking Afrikaans so that was a clue about where she was. But it wasn't quite a South African accent.

"Wie is jy?" He asked. Who are you?

"Wie is jy?" She repeated, heart pounding. Who are you?

"Ek is u beskermer, en u is my gevangene," he replied, bending down slightly to be more level and gave her a little smile. I am your captor and you are my prisoner.

Her body responded to his smile with a shiver. "Oh." She frowned. "Hoekom?" Why?

He straightened and walked in a slow circle around her.

"Jy sal my vrae beantwoord, so weer, wie is jy?" You will answer my questions, so, again, who are you?

She decided it would be best just to do as he said and answer his questions. "My naam is Skye."

He placed his hands on her shoulders, standing behind her. "En, Skye, wat doen jy presies hier?" And, Skye, what exactly are you doing here?

She swallowed. "Wel, moeilik om te sê, want ek is nie presies seker waar 'hier' is nie." Well, hard to tell as I'm not exactly sure where 'here' is.

She heard a snicker from outside the cracked door before he spoke again.

"O, ons het 'n bietjie slim gat hier, nie waar nie? Wat is die laaste ding wat jy onthou?" He walked around to stand in front of her, crossing his arms. Oh, we've got a bit of a smart ass over here don't we? What is the last thing you remember?

"Uhh..." she bit her lip, "Klim uit die vliegtuig na JoBurg. Ek was van plan om 'n aansluitingsvlug na Cape Town te haal, maar ek dink nie ek het daarop geklim nie." Getting of the plane to Joburg. I was meant to catch a connecting flight to Cape Town but I don't think I got on it.

He nodded, resuming his pacing as he said, "En waarom het u 'n aansluitende vlug na Cape Town?" And why were you catching a connecting flight to Cape Town?