Fear

5 • D2

I stared at the ground in a trance, trying to focus my eyes. My head was throbbing in pain and it felt like I was high. I tried marihuana when I was 15, only once, but this felt different. I was spacey, eyes dilated and heart rate slow. I didn't know what they'd given me, but I felt absolutely dreadful.

I was also terrified, which added to my pain and distress. I was just about conscious enough to hear noises in the hallways beyond the door. A cacophony of desperate shouts, screams, and agonising cries surrounded me.

As I finally came to after what felt like hours in a drowsy, trance-like state, I looked up and gazed around at the room I was in. It looked almost like a cellar or basement. It was dark, lit only by a single lightbulb that hung precariously from the ceiling. The walls were bare brick, and the concrete floor was cracked, stained, and dirty.

I realised I was sat on something. I looked down. A chair. My arms were tied around the back of the chair by rope, and my mouth was taped. I was more than scared, I was terrified of what they were going to do to me.

But for now, more than anything, I was exhausted. The long journey to heaven-knows-where, the fear and the distress I was in that I'd been kidnapped, was all keeping me awake. I'd now been awake for more than 48 hours, and I was feeling the effects. I hung my head in exhaustion. I just wanted to go home.

Just when I thought I was alone, my head snapped towards the door as I heard it unlock.
A brown-haired man walked into the room, wearing a black suit and tie. He looked familiar.
My eyes widened as I realised it was Tyler.

He smiled briefly when we made eye contact and I instinctively tried to shuffle backwards, but I was tied to a chair in the corner of the room with nowhere to go. It was stupid of me to try to escape.

He noticed my attempt to move, and in response, he raised his hands in a gesture that meant he was coming in peace. I didn't trust him for a second. The man was dangerous, and that was an understatement.

"Emily." He greeted me, a trying-to-be-genuine smile on his lips.

I kept my glare on him firmly as Jack came through the door too. Tyler sighed, a frown momentarily crossing his face. He looked different. It was his hair, it wasn't the platinum blonde that I'd seen in the club. It was now a medium brown. I shifted my gaze as I stared at his hair and he seemed to notice. His voice drew my attention back to him.

"I dyed it blonde to hide from the police, incase you were wondering."
He smirked and slowly walked closer to me, before crouching down to my eye level. I gulped.
He examined my face, his hands resting on my knees.

"You look scared, Emily. Do I scare you?"
The way he said it, as if he took pleasure in my reaction. I shivered involuntarily, mostly because I was cold, but also because I was scared, and he took that as my answer. He frowned, clicked his tongue, and stood up, before turning to Jack.
I watched their exchange in confusion.

"Jack, why were you late? You were supposed to follow me in here."

"Sir?" He tilted his head, his hands behind his back.

"What were you doing before you came here?"

Jack cleared his throat and bowed his head. My confusion worsened by what he said next.
"226973 was acting up, Sir. I had to... take care of her."

Tyler hummed in response and turned his head slightly to gaze at me as he continued.
"Do remind me what she's here for again?"
His eyes were fixed on mine, gauging my reaction to every word.

Jack replied,
"Erotophobia, Sir. The fear of... sexual intimacy."

I was terrified. That poor girl. I had so many questions, but all I could do was watch on helplessly. Tyler chuckled sadistically and nodded.
"Thank you, Jack. I remember now."