I slowly woke up only to find that I was strapped in a chair in the basement of some building. To my horror, Bo was looking down at me.
"Finally awake." He said.
"Please, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed. "I won't tell anyone! Just let me go!!"
"Sorry, dear." He shook his head. "Can't do that."
I tried to fight against the leather wrist straps, but it didn't work. All it did was hurt my scratched up wrists even more.
"Ahh!" I cried out in pain. "C-can you at least loosen these? My arms hurt."
"You think I'm stupid, don't you?" He said. "No. I'm not gonna give you a chance to run." He leaned in uncomfortably close. I noticed him glance down to my wrists and see the painful blisters from me clawing at them earlier. "...What happened?"
"Just... bad habit." I sighed. I was trying to stop panicking so I could think of a better plan to escape. "I've been scratching myself ever since I was young."
"Ah." He said.
He was still uncomfortably close to me but, thankfully, my depersonalization was starting to kick in. I was completely disconnected from the situation. I felt like I was asleep- like this wasn't real. "So I'm never leaving, huh?"
"Nope." He said, looking a little confused.
"...Am I gonna die?" I asked.
"If you misbehave." He replied.
"What counts as misbehaving?" I questioned. I wasn't even crying anymore. I was so dazed from the depersonalization. I just felt out of it.
"No screaming, no trying to escape, no games, no nothing." He squinted his eyes at me.
"And if I do behave?" I asked.
"We'll just have to see." He replied.
Before I could respond, we heard a car approaching. Looking up, I saw a sewer drain above me. We were under ground. He shoved a small towel into my mouth and covered it with duct tape.
"Stay quiet. Don't try anything." He instructed before heading out to greet the person.
I feel like I should be way more scared right now, I thought. I just feel like this is a weird dream. I looked around at the room. It appeared to be the basement to the gas station.
From the drain above me, I heard Bo greet the person who stepped out of the vehicle. They sounded to be a young woman. I knew I could have called out for help, but I decided to do as he said and stay quiet. Listening closer, I noticed the voice sounded familiar. It sounded like one of my friends.
Amy. I realized. She was following me? Well, she must have been pretty far behind me to not know where I am right now.
"Have you seen a girl about this tall, bright orange hair, probably wearing something brightly colored?" I heard her ask.
"I'm sorry, ma'am." He replied. "I haven't. No one's come through here."
I heard the two of them enter the gas station, their voices fading out of view. Honestly, I was surprised Amy even cared to check where I was. She hated me ever since she'd said something incredibly transphobic and I actually called her out on it. I could hardly even consider her a friend at that point. Although, if she went missing, I'd probably try to find her as well.
Now I just feel funny, I thought to myself. I feel so loopy.
What felt like hours later, I heard Amy's shrill voice screaming and then silence. Then Bo came back down to me, covered in blood.
"Was that your friend?" He asked.
"Not really." I responded. I could barely even process what had just happened.
"Well, she's dead now." He said.
"Oh." I stared off into space.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked.
"I'unno. Depersonalization." I answered.
"What's that?" He tilted his head to the side.
"It means I feel so disconnected from reality right now I might as well be dreaming." I explained. "I just feel like I'm dreaming. Or like I'm not real, I guess."
"Oh." He nodded, carefully examining me.
"Who's Vincent?" I asked.
He looked shocked. "Excuse me?"
"His name was on most of the wax things." I said. "Vincent. I'm guessing he's an artist or something."
"Yeah. That's my brother." He said.
"Lester and Vincent are your brothers?" I questioned.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Look, you're starting to annoy me. Just go to sleep now. I'll be back in the morning."
"Okay." I responded.
He flicked off the lights and left. Now would be a good time to think of a plan to escape. But what if he kills me like he killed Amy? I better not risk it. I slumped my head down and tried to fall asleep. After some time, I managed to do just that.
