The Abduction of Stephanie

Chapter 25

Light Bulb. Maybe If I pretend I’m in love with him, he will let me go. The more she thinks about it, she realizes it’s a ridiculous idea, so ridiculous that it just might work. I’ll wait until he lets his guard down and then I’ll stab him right in the heart and make my escape. It’s surprising how much a person can change after a month in captivity, the things they will consider to achieve their freedom.

Stephanie tugs at the dog collar, why she keeps doing this she is unsure, she knows it’s not going to come loose. Her palms are sweaty from repeated attempts to free herself of this particular restraint. The pit in her stomach is growing stronger; she is starving, desperate now for a real meal. Ray had left her some food in the doggy dish but she finished that last night and you could hardly call what was in it a hearty dinner.

Where is Ray anyways? Thinks Stephanie as she lies back on the mattress, trying not to soil herself. Where the hell is everyone? This is a recurring thought that has been crossing Stephanie’s mind for days. It’s not that she wants to see any of her captors but she finds it strange that none of them have come around to check on her lately, not Ray, not Agnes and not that crazy old woman with the crooked teeth. At least no one has been torturing her lately, too bad in all those days alone she hasn’t found any way out of here. Stephanie can hardly bear the smell of her own body, the hair in her face that lacks Pantene is nearly enough to make her pass out, but she must remain strong. She must overcome the hand she has been dealt.

Stephanie laps up the tiny bit of water that is in the doggy dish marked Whore and tries to regain her strength. She tugs at the leash, moving the bed just slightly. What this will accomplish she doesn’t know. She is becoming delirious, almost crazy. She keeps tugging at the chain and the bed keeps moving towards the television set. No reason to check those tapes again, on those things Ray is a perfect gentleman, if only the other people on the tapes could see him for the monster he really is.

Stephanie changes her mind and decides to check out another one of the tapes just in case she missed something. She brushes her dirty hair from her face, missing the days of spending an hour or more blow-drying and styling her perfect golden locks. She reaches for tape number sixteen but just before she does she is nearly blinded by a bright light as Pythia returns with a rather terrifying message. “Stephanie, you must hurry. At the seventy-third hour the darkness will come.”

Pythia’s message is brief and doesn’t make any sense to Stephanie, how could things possibly get any darker than they already are. “What does that mean? Please. Answer. Me.” Again Pythia ignores Stephanie’s question and disappears back into the old television set. When Stephanie hears Pythia speak of the darkness she can’t help but to think of her friend Raine, that girl was always speaking of things like that. Stephanie misses Raine, her quirky smile, her gothic attire and even her weird little analogies. At times Stephanie could have sworn she was a witch, not a bad witch though, more like the wicked witch of the east, a witch with a heart. Stephanie wishes Raine could cast a smell and get her out of this dingy basement.

The stairs begin to creak and Stephanie hurriedly moves the bed back to where it belongs. “Did you miss me?” says Ray approaching Stephanie. “No one would ever miss you.” “Such a large mouth for such a tiny girl. Mind your manners young lady.” Stephanie opens her mouth as if to speak but doesn’t respond, she wants to get out of here alive. Ray sits on the old orange couch after popping in a video cassette of his wedding day, holds his hands to his face and begins to cry as the image of their nuptials comes across the screen.

Stephanie is thrown off by his sensitivity; she has never seen a grown man cry. Seeing a man that lacked a heart practically brought to his knees in sadness shows Stephanie that every man has a weakness, for some it is speaking to large crowds, others fear getting fat and yet others fear small spaces but the greatest weakness any man can have is love.

Stephanie is curious as to what would bring such a powerful man to weaken the way he does and looks on as Ray continues to ball his eyes out. She contemplates comforting him, still unsure of the issues at hand, still hating his horrible guts but this could be her chance to put her plan into action.

Stephanie continues to look on as Ray watches video after video of his family. By Ray’s actions, Stephanie knows some sort of tragedy must have occurred, maybe even the loss of a family member. “Why? Why?” shouts Ray as the camera zooms in on Helen, whose green sundress gently hangs over her young curvaceous body and smiles as Ray comes up behind her and lifts her thin body high into the air. It is at this moment that Stephanie realizes why there has been no sign of the Bumgarner family in days; it is now that she realizes Helen has passed on, succumbing to her disease.

Stephanie never really cared for the old bat but if she had to pick her favorite out of her three captors, Helen is definitely the one she would have picked, the only one who showed even a hint of kindness, except for that soap bar incident. Stephanie can see now that Ray must have loved his wife very much. Odd for a man lacking values.

“You must have really loved her,” says Stephanie. “You mind your own business. Nobody asked you.” “It’s hard to lose a loved one. She must have been very dear to you.” “What would you know about the subject? Sit down and shut up!” “It’s okay if you’re hurting, it is a natural reaction.” “I said sit down and shut up before I hurt you.” Stephanie slides back onto the mattress and leans against the wall, no longer afraid, knowing Ray is vulnerable.

Stephanie sits pondering her next move, knowing she has him right where she wants him; this is her best opportunity to escape. She has to get out of here soon though as if what Pythia said is true she only has seventy-three hours left until the darkness claims her. She yanks at the dog collar once again trying to break free as Ray still sits with his hands covering his face, ignoring Stephanie’s attempt at freedom.

With sweaty palms and tousled hair, Stephanie creeps her way off of the mattress and crawls behind to old musky couch that Ray is sitting on, the leaky pipe drowning out the sound of Ray’s whining. A water droplet falls on top of her head as she hunches down behind him with her leash extended to the max. She sits waiting like a tiger on the prowl for the slightest opportunity to eliminate Ray and make her escape. Ray sobs for half an hour with his hands to his face, only taking them away for a few seconds, not long enough for Stephanie to make her move.

Stephanie meanders upon the area behind the couch until Ray is through watching home videos. She looks and sees Ray pick up the remote control to turn off the videos. She quickly rises to her feet, grabs the chain of her leash and wraps it around the throat of her captor.