The Siren's Code

The harsh light of dawn

Cassie came to, crouched in a corner and in pain her head throbbed and pounded so much it felt like she had drunk a bottle of tequila, like she had eaten the worm at the bottom of the bottle of tequila that Gabby had talked about, and she didn't even drink tequila anymore, or eat worms. As she looked around at the concrete floor stained brown and the insipid mint green walls covered in mould and dirt, it dawned on her that tequila, worms, or even her missing passport was the least of her worries.

She tried to fix the pain across her mouth, finding her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was actually gagged with something tied around her head. The stages of consciousness from awake, to pain, to environment, to monstrous fear, may be just a few seconds but it felt longer, as if her brain was making space and time for qualia to define the true horror of the situation.

She remembered being mugged, but had no idea where she was or how she'd got here, her dress was still on, her pants, they seemed still on too. No shoes though, she was cold and that realisation started her shivering, uncontrollably. They say that human fear at its most vigilant is fear of the unknown, whoever they are, but right now that fear was in her mouth, in her ears, raging across her body into her chest, thudding, shaking... now was not the time to have a panic attack, she felt queasy and faint, she passed out.

She woke again, her head swimming and pounding, she was semi-conscious but this time it was dark, the room fractionaly lit by moonlight. She had nightmarish recollections, her stomach churning like she was in a boat, had she been, she closed her eyes not trusting what her brain was telling her.

The next time she woke was because she heard noises, her head involuntarily thumped back into the corner of the room where she leant in an agonising crouch. Maybe she slept, maybe she had been in and out of consciousness, she didn't know, but when she opened her eyes this time there was daylight coming through the high window again and her nightmares were a reality. Trying to get control of her body and mind she heard shouts, excitement, she could barely understand the Spanish, too muffled, but she got the picture. She had been taken hostage and they wanted something in return. The door unlocked. A guy came in, Mexican she guessed from the dialect, he had light skin and slight Spanish features, she wouldn't have pulled him out in a crowd as anything but normal looking. He could easily have been one of the kids studying at UNAM, frequenting the bars and clubs she went to in Mexico City. Dressed in a pale cotton shirt and jeans, he obviously hadn't spent the night in cockroach motel.

There were others that waited outside, older, heavier, scarier, all eyes on her, she cursed against the odds of wearing a dress.

"Now he will pay," the guy said in English, smiling eagerly like a weasel at a mouse's convention. "Everyone has a price, and it seems we now have something he will want to buy." He was eying her up like a high class hooker.

You may have fooled those idiots babysitting him in the bar but you don't fool me or my pa, with your pretty little games. Your boyfriend will come, he knows we mean business." Cassie's eyes darted from his face to the glint of a flick knife now in his hand, her stomach lurched like an unexpected drop on a roller coaster ride, she had no doubt if she wasn't sitting already she would be now.

"And I'll tell you something for nothing," he continued building his confidence."First time lucky, second time estúpido, third time dead, muerto. Do you get that?" He jabbed the knife in her direction. She flinched, and started to shake.

"You can tell it to him if you like. Oh wait, lo siento you won't see him again. No one messes with my family and gets away with it."

Cassie let out an involuntary whimper.

"Oh you have something to say?" He stepped forward and removed her gag and wrist ties with the knife, he smelt rancid, a heady mix of fear and disgust, her intestines contracted and released like a snake eating a puppy, was it her fear, her disgust, she wanted to cry, the emotions and sheer volume of feelings crashing around her body were too much to cope with. She can't cry, not in front of him, her jaw ached in its new found freedom.