Chasing a Ghost

Chapter Eight

Groans. Pained, confused, involuntary groans. You heard them, not even realizing they were coming from you.

The world faded in. Your brain throbbing in your skull. You were cold and shivering all over again. The pounding in your skull didn't cease, worsening when your eyes opened up to be blinded by light bouncing off the snow. You squeezed them shut almost as soon as you opened them. You groaned again. Your arms moved to push yourself up off the ground, but they seemed to be stuck on something.

"What the hell?" Your eyes began to blink open. All you could see was white, at first. Then the shapes of the trees, standing tall over you. You tugged at your hands, willing them to move so you could just get up. You rolled to the side, trying to dislodge yourself from whatever you were stuck on.

The realization hit you like a truck.

You couldn't move because your wrists were bound.

A feeling of panic crept up your spine. Your head pounded and the trees before you began to wobble. You felt yourself losing grip on reality once again when a sharp, sudden kick at your back brought you back to life. You cried out in pain, unable to hold it in.

You heard voices chatting together in what sounded like Russian. Aching and groaning, you mustered up the strength to make use of your elbow, struggling to prop yourself up.

When you finally managed to sit up, hunched over your knees with your hands tied behind your back, you lifted your eyes to take a good look at your captors. Your sunglasses had disappeared, causing you to squint in order to see the outlines of their white snowsuits. You saw that they were facing you, looking down at you through eyes shielded by sunglasses of their own. Your heart pounded fast, terrified of what was coming next.

One of them stepped forward, grasping you by your bicep and yanking you up like a ragdoll. You stumbled to your feet, your head spinning and throbbing horribly. You swayed, barely able to keep standing as his hand held your arm bruisingly tight.

"Kto ty, chert voz'mi, takoy?" the man screamed in your face, muffled slightly by a thick white mask.

You stared past him, eyes completely unfocused, still dazed and unable to respond. He reached up and gripped your collar in his fist, bringing down his other hand hard and fast to slap you across the face. Your head swung to the side and your legs buckled beneath you. You fell limply down to your knees, swaying to the side until your butt met the snow. He held you up by your collar, crouching down and bringing his face even closer to yours. He crouched over you. Your vision swam with stars.

"Who the fuck are you?" He demanded in English this time.

You could only grumble a pained response as your head, back, and face all stung and throbbed. He shook you violently, only making it worse. "S-stop," you choked out. "I-I can't -" You were interrupted by another one of the group shouting something in their language. The man in front of you didn't respond, only stared down at you for a moment before releasing his grip and letting you fall back into the freezing snow.

"Pathetic," he spat over his shoulder as he plodded back to the group. You struggled to push yourself up to a seated position again, your breaths coming out heavy and strained. You saw one of the men hand something over to the one who had beaten you. He turned around to face you again, taking slow, deliberate steps oozing with authority, gazing down into his hand as he approached. He came intimidatingly close and held his closed fist out in front of you. His head raised to look at you. He tugged off his sunglasses and you stared into cold, icy blue eyes full of malice. A bolt of fear shot through your chest.

"You will not speak to me, ah?" He nodded his head down to his hand, gesturing for you to look there. His fingers uncurled to show you what was within them.