Sianna and the Soulweaver

Chapter 2 - The Reality

The driver's guttural voice sounds anything but human and he starts up the ignition, exiting the parking lot of the bar and whipping the car out onto the open road without looking back at me once.

••••••••••••

The drive from the bar to our hauntingly unknown destination can only be described as...disillusioning.

I feel like I'm in a waking nightmare, the dream-like quality of the assumed drugs poisoning me pretty much shattered by the pile of puke on my lap (accompanied by two terrifying men keeping me trapped for inconclusive but presumably grim reasons). My sobbing continues relentlessly until the driver finally breaks and barks at me to "shut my trap," huffing the order in such a menacing tone that my tears stop falling immediately. The men have the two front windows slightly cracked open to aid with the stench, although I can vouch for everyone in this damned car when I say it isn't helping much.

The heavy tint on the windows, specifically the back ones, is done on both the inside and out. Visual access to the outside world proves impossible and I could be anywhere, our collective silence stretching longer with every passing minute. After a period of time I start to notice that the effects of whatever poisonous hypnosis these people have me under has begun to wear off, my body gradually returning to somewhat normalcy. Briefly I wonder if they have me child-locked in...

I might just have to go for it.

Eyeing the door handle as inconspicuously as I can manage, my brain attempts to map out a plan that doesn't result in dying on the side of the road. The strange men play no music and definitely aren't participating in small talk, leaving the car deathly quiet with little wiggle room for tomfoolery. To succeed, I'd have to accomplish the sneakiest and quickest lunge that I can-and that's if I can even get the door open at all.

What if I just end up pissing them off and making things worse for myself? Maybe I should try honey instead of vinegar with these people?

Hold on a minute...what am I even thinking? I can't just roll over and die! I won't be easy pickings for these creeps, not today, not ever. I was raised to fight and dammit, I am going to fight; even if it inevitably gets me killed.

I'll countdown from five, starting from the top for good luck. A silly superstition I learned from my dad, but at this point I'll take any luck I can get. I'll start from five and when I get to one, I'll try the handle and go for it. I take a literal and mental deep breath, preparing myself for what may be my final moments.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

Two...and a half.

Ugh, fuck it.

One!

My hand flies to my target and I hear a loud curse the moment I make the move, the man's voice barely audible over the blaring pulse consuming my eardrums. I am astonished that the door miraculously opens when I pull the handle, a gasp of genuine surprise leaving my lips involuntarily.

"In the name of Abyssin, you didn't lock all the damn doors?" The man calls to the other in disbelief, the sound of his obvious fury making my panic even more debilitating. What is he going to do to me now that I've caused trouble?

"She had two lungfuls of lenota, it never wears off this fast!" He sounds absolutely pissed and more than anything else, he sounds confounded. What the hell is this "lenota" they're freaking out about? Is that the drugs? Or some kind of poison to temporarily paralyze me?