Fear

4

I don't remember the rest of the journey.

I don't know where they took me. Not then, not now. That part is missing from my memory.

When I woke up, it was nothing like I'd ever imagined. I jolted upright with a gasp, my chest heaving, breath sharp and erratic.

For a second, I hoped I was back in my bed at home. That this was just a nightmare spun from too much vodka and an overactive imagination.

But no.

This was real.

Squinting, I tried to make out my surroundings.

I was in some kind of clinical room. Small. Bare. Cold and windowless. The walls were a sickly off-white, drained of colour by a flickering fluorescent light on the stained ceiling above me. Splatters of an unknown substance and mold.

Medical equipment lined one side of the room and something buzzed incessantly. The air smelled like antiseptic and the metallic tang of blood.

My arms and legs were strapped to a metal table by thick leather restraints, buckled tight across my wrists and ankles. I wasn't gagged, but my mouth was dry as dust. I could barely swallow.

I shivered violently, not just from the cold, but from the overwhelming fear creeping up inside me.

The dim lighting cast eerie shadows on the walls, highlighting the strange, ominous equipment surrounding me.

My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to process the horror of the situation.

I glanced down at myself, only to find someone had changed my clothes. The realisation made my stomach twist. My dress had been replaced with an oversized black sweatshirt and jeans. The fabric did very little to keep me warm in the freezing room.

I stared up at the ceiling, trying to focus on breathing. Tried not to panic.

In.

Out.

In.

Out...

But it was impossible. I was terrified.
The edges of my vision were still fuzzy. My limbs were leaden, like I'd been drugged.

I didn't understand where I was or why.

I don't know how long I lay there before they came for me. I lost any perception of time the second I entered that place.

-

I suddenly heard footsteps.

Loud.

Echoing.

Deliberate.

Coming closer from behind the door.

A new wave of panic surged through me. My breath hitched, chest rising and falling in sharp gasps. I wriggled desperately, trying to loosen the ties that bound me, but it was useless.

My eyes widened as the large iron door unlocked and creaked open, sending a chilling echo through the hallway beyond.

A tall black man stepped into the room, wearing a mask and a grey formal suit. His presence was imposing, his eyes cold and emotionless as he glanced at me. His presence was clinical, detached. Everything about him said, I don't care what happens to you.

The second man... I recognised instantly.

Dylan.

He smirked when he saw me. That same casual, offbeat grin that had unnerved me the first time. It unsettled me more now. Like this was a game to him.