The Vanished

Part Four

     I come to consciousness lying on a cold hard floor. I sit up and reach up to feel a bandage on my forehead, just above my eyebrow. That's probably where I got hit with that damn bat. I'm in a bedroom like area with a closet and everything. It smells strongly of lavenders. 

     I get to my feet and inch the door open slowly. I exit the room and hear a voice behind me, "Hello Anya." I turn around to find a tall man, with green eyes.

   "Mr. Kline" I stutter out. He was my 10th grade science teacher. He grabs my throat and slams me against a wall. "You will call me Jagger." He lets me go, "And your name is Anya, not Alloe, understand?" I try to regain my breath, "I-I understand."

     I avoid his gaze, "We're you the one messaging me?" "And where are Amalia, Hallie, Tom, and Kai?" "Did you kidnap them too?" "Did yo-."

      I'm cut off by a hard slap to the face. He says, "Don't ask so many questions. They're all here, and their names are Alessia, Imani, Kit, and Jericho, understand?" "Yes sir." I respond.

   He guides me down some stairs and into a cellar. He shoves me inside and bolts the door shut, four times. I look around to smell that same strong lavender scent.

     I glance to some cots on the floor to see Amalia (now Alessia), Hallie (now Imani), Kai (now Kit), and Tom (now Jericho) lying inside them, guess they woke up before I did. 

     I run over to Alessia and shake her awake. She opens her eyes and I meet her gaze. She jumps up to hug me in a tight embrace. I am reminded of her warm and gentle touch.

      I look up and her lips meet mine, and just for a second, it feels like we're back home, in her bed, naked and living our best lives. She gestures over to the others and for the first time I take in the sight of them. They aren't bloodied like me, so maybe they didn't get hurt as badly.

     Alessia sits me down and begins to explain things to me. "Jagger is a germ phobe, and he has ocd. At exactly 5:30 in the morning we need to wake up, shower, and get ready for breakfast at 7. When he leaves for work, we are expected to keep our room clean, and stay in the basement."

     "When he comes home at 6, he unlocks the door and we prepare dinner for ourselves and him. After dinner we get three hours of free time in the house, then 9 comes and he locks us down there again. We have to wipe down every surface in the house with a lavender scented spray, I think that's his ocd. He basically wants us to be a happy family, which is fucked up." 

    She looks over to me and I burst into tears, my own teacher, who I trusted, kidnapped myself and my friends, and now we're supposed to live out some sick fucking twisted fantasy with him? 

     I had a good life, I was athletic, smart, and I had so many friends, and a girlfriend! And now I was supposed to throw it away?

   Eventually I stop crying and I look up to see Imani, Kit, and Jericho awake and looking at me concerned. I tell them that I'm okay now and ask them if there's anything else. 

     Kit tells me, "Jagger can get... aggressive sometimes, if we don't use the spray, if we're not ready on time, he can get really aggressive. All the missing kids in our area, this is where they've been, and they were never seen again."

     "So we just die in here? No one looking for us?" Kit responds, "Pretty much, I mean he's a teacher, no one would expect him, especially since Imani, Hallie, and Jericho aren't even in any of his classes."

    "So either we live in his sick fantasy, or we get killed?" He responds, "Yeah."