Sadistic Measures

Chapter 2

I shifted in and out of consciousness. The room blackened and became fuzzy one moment and bright the next; the lights dimming then sharply cranking back up to full intensity. Waves of nausea and faintness arrived but dissipated quickly once I closed my eyes again for a short sleep. I could hear him but not see him, his voice still as lovely as I remembered it. I felt overpowering weakness and sluggishness, as my life force slowly ebbed and flowed fighting for any chance at rousing. Next I would wake startled and confused, head pounding, with the searing light of the room etched into my eyeballs. This pattern repeated itself far too many times to count or remember. It felt like I had been hit by a transport truck.

"Sleeping Beauty finally wakens". The voice reverberated within the confines of my skull as I struggled to place it, to grasp its meaning and context. Confusion and fear were a paralyzing duo as I lay stunned, my brain working overtime to catch me up. As I analyzed the flawless plaster of the exceptionally high ceilings, my head fought for rationalization against the unrelenting pounding pain rattling about my cranium. It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to my noggin and set it to demolish.

"I know you are awake sweetheart," the voice came again. This time, curiosity got the better of me as I slowly turned my head toward its origin. My vision was still a blur but beginning to clear so that I could make out distinct colours and contours. Moving my neck felt sore and stiff, but I positioned it in the general direction of the speaker. I had established enough information to recognize a bedroom when I saw it. I lay sprawled on a king sized bed which duvet and throw pillows were adorned with a rich earth tone palate. Early hours of sunlight filtered in through the wall of windowed glass to my left, casting a golden amber glow throughout the spacious boudoir. As I admired the red and gold ornate throw rug, the opulent stained furniture and decorative vases, I was struck with a frightening epiphany. I was no longer in Kansas anymore.

It was then that I saw him. He sat casually in the far right corner of the room watching me with a hint of amusement. I remembered his beautiful eyes, his well chiseled jawline, his thick luscious locks, his firmly rippled flesh, and that intoxicating scent. For a moment I may have smiled.

"Good morning beautiful" he smiled back. It was a sinister leer much how a wolf snarls at a sheep before springing for the kill. It shot acold and terrifying jolt of dread pumping through my system as all the memories of the night before came painfully rushing back in one horrifying wave. I shot upright in bed which sent a nauseating dizziness swirling about my insides. My hands immediately went to steady my head which felt like at any moment it might have spun and detached right off my shoulders. I wanted to retch but there was nothing to produce. My throat felt so dry that my tongue stuck obnoxiously to the roof of my mouth.

"You are going to feel a little dizzy and dehydrated but it will dissipate" he reassured. My sudden movement had produced little reaction in him as he sat smirking. A panic in me rose as I tried desperately to account for the hours I was missing. There were definite gaps in time that I had no recollection of. How did I get here? What happened between the club and now? I nervously glanced down and breathed a momentary sigh of relief when I found myself fully clothed in the same little black lace dress ensemble Kate had let me borrow.

"What did you give me?" I finally found the confidence to speak. Self-conscious I tugged at the hem of my garment out of a deadly mix of humiliation and modesty.

"Oh Sophie didn't anyone teach you not to accept a drink from a stranger?" he sighed rising from his chair and beginning to cross the room. A switch in me had triggered and like a petrified cornered animal I stumbled out of the bed and took a dizzying tumble smashing my knees into the hard wood floor. Scurrying across the ground toward the far wall, I used its steadying stature to climb up to my feet.