Don't Look Behind The Door

Part I: Cat Got Your Tongue?

Taylor woke up to the shrill of her alarm clock, blaring loudly next to her. She slapped it off of the nightstand, and it hit the ground and shut off. She reluctantly pulled her blankets off of herself and walked into the bathroom to get ready for work. Her toothbrush was in the trashcan and she grumbled to herself as she pulled it out, and cleaned it. 

"Fucking David." She mumbled, knowing her brother was behind it. She threw his in the trash as retaliation, and finished getting ready. 

She walked out the door and grabbed her bike, and took off down the street. She didn't live far from her office job, so to help the climate, she decided to ride her bike instead of driving. She took the left turn towards her job, and nearly missed a car that was flying down the road. She stopped abruptly, and caught her breath. If she would have been a second later, she would have gotten run over. "ASSHOLE!" She yelled out as she continued pedaling. She was so caught up with what happened with the previous car, she didn't notice the van following her. 

She pulled up to her work's parking lot, and chained her bike up onto the bike rack. As she hoisted her backpack up onto her back, a hand clamped a rag around her nose and mouth. She sucked in a startled breath, and screamed into the rag, trying to fight off her assailant. They pulled her into the back of the van as her body became weak. She fought the urge to fall asleep as the van took off, but her eyelids were too heavy, and she drifted off. 

Taylor opened her eyes and tried to stretch, but became painfully aware that her arms were strapped above her head. She leaned up a little to try to look around, but a hand slammed her head back into the metal table. She cried out in pain, as the mysterious man leaned over her, with a smirk on his face. If she wouldn't have been stuck in this situation, she might have thought he was attractive. Brown long hair to his shoulders, light stubble, and a defined jaw line. Also a scar over his top lip. 

"Good morning Lauren." He said, petting her hair gently. She tried to say something, but he shoved a ball of cloth in her mouth and duct taped it shut. "Can't let you scream can we?"

She tried to fight against the ropes holding her arms above her, or to let out a cry that she wasn't this Lauren he was talking about, but to no avail. He walked over to a table on the other side of the room and gently wheeled it over to her. It had a ton of tools on it, and even some devices she had never seen before. She tried to kick the tray away from him and he chuckled, grabbed her ankles, and strapped them down to the table. "Feisty today are we Lauren?" 

She screamed into her gag but it came out as a muffled yelp. She had no idea who this Lauren person was or why they had kidnapped her. She strained against her restraints as he grabbed a knife from the tray, and dragged it down her stomach, digging it into her skin lightly. She yelped as it made a small cut on her stomach, and blood started dripping down her side. 

"Now. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." He walked back up by her head and grinned. "Where is Anthony." 

She tried to scream out that she didn't know who Anthony was or who they were talking about, but he just laughed at her misery. 

"I'll ask one more time before I get mad. Are you going to tell me where he is?" 

She nodded her head yes, hoping he would remove the gag so she could explain herself. He smiled and did just that. "You scream, I'll slit your throat right here on this table." 

He removed the duct tape and took the gag out of her mouth. She tried to catch her breath. 

"I have no idea who any of these people are. My name is Taylor Dogwood. I'm an office manager at Roselawn Associates. I swear you have the wrong girl!" She whimpered, looking into his eyes, pleading for him to believe her. 

He raised an eyebrow, almost considering that she could be telling the truth, before grabbing the knife again and dragging it along her forearm. It sliced into her skin, causing hot blood to run down her arm. She cried out in pain as he dug it deeper. 

"Where. Is. Anthony." He growled into her ear.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT IS!" She cried out, tears pouring down her face. "Please! You have to believe me."  

He frowned. "Anthony Delgatto. A known drug dealer. He stole goods from boss. And you don't get away with stealing from boss." 

"O-Okay I get that, but I seriously don't know who that is or where he is!" She cried, shaking in her restraints. "Please. Call my work. You can even ask them if I came in today! They'll tell you I'm not lying!" 

He pondered this, before pulling a cell phone out of a zip lock bag on the counter behind him. It had blood on it, making Taylor assume it must have been from another victim of his torture methods. 

"What's the number."

She told him the number, and sat shaking and crying waiting for her coworker to pick up the phone. He put it on speaker.

"Roselawn Associates, this is Jenny, how can I assist you?" 

Taylor cried out in relief hearing her best friends voice, and tried to bite her lip, so he wouldn't punish her for crying. 

"Hey Jenny. Is Taylor Dogwood there today?"

"Umm.. She was scheduled today at 8 am but didn't come in today."

"Okay thank you." 

He hung up the phone and slammed it down on the counter. "FUCK!" He screamed out as he kicked the tray away, sending the tools flying. Taylor could see the panic in his eyes as he realized he really did have the wrong person. She could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to decide what to do with her now. He couldn't just let her go, because she'd seen his face and would go to the police. He walked over to her and put his hand around her throat, applying enough pressure to make breathing very difficult, but not to where she couldn't breathe. 

"I can't let you go now. You know who I am." 

"I don't! I swear! I don't even know your name or where I am. I wouldn't be able to tell the cops even if I wanted to!" She cried out, trying to pull her arms out of the ropes holding her. "Please just let me go!"

He smirked as he got an idea. "Fine. I'll let you go. But there's something I have to do first." 

He hit her over the head with something hard and metal, and she passed out from the force.

Taylor opened her eyes and looked around the room. White walls. IV in her arm. A nurse in the corner of the room. A hospital? How did she get here? 

She opened her mouth to ask where she was and how she got there, but all that came out was a yelp as her mouth filled with blood and the pain was almost unbearable. 

The nurse turned around quickly, and rushed to her side, giving her something to spit the blood into. "Don't try to talk Taylor. It seems you were in a bike accident and you lost your tongue. You must have bust your stitches. I'll get the doctor."

Taylor sat horrified at what she was hearing. She moved what was left of her tongue in her mouth, and tears poured down her face. He had cut her tongue out to stop her from telling anyone what happened to her. She put her head in her hands and sobbed, as her brother walked into the room.

"Oh my god Taylor." He wrapped her in his arms as she cried into his chest. 

She was thankful to be alive, but she knew life would never be the same again.