Her mouth was dry. The kind of dry you get after going to the dentist and having had the saliva sucked from your mouth for too long. Her lips were chapped and cracked, feeling rough when she ran her tongue over them. Her eyelids open and then squeeze shut, burning from the bright light. A soft buzzing is heard from the light that hangs over her head. Once her eyes adjust to the light, she looks around the room. She tries to move her legs to sit up but is surprised when they are kept back. She looks down and sees restraints not only on her ankles but also on her wrists and one across her waist.
She looks around again, her breathing becoming rapid. She seems to be wearing a hospital gown and she is lying on an uncomfortable metal table. To her right is a tray with gloves, pliers, and a couple more tools that Vera can't recognize. The rest of the room is bare aside from a door to her left. Just concrete walls all around her.
The door opens and the man from the car walks inside wearing a surgical gown that is covered in blood stains. He smiles softly when he sees her, making her shiver.
"Good morning." he says, walking toward her. He reaches to her and strokes her cheek.
"You're so pretty." he whispers. She turns away from his touch, squeezing her eyes shut. He begins to undo her restraints and she thinks of different ways to escape. But once all the restraints are undone, Vera can't seem to move any muscle in her body. She glares at her limbs, feeling angry tears form in her eyes.
"Can't move? Yeah that's the drugs. I knew you were a fighter from the very first time I saw you. You didn't think I would just untie you, did you?" he asks with a smile.
"You're a sick fuck. And you're not going to get away with this. They're going to find you." Vera says through gritted teeth.
"Yeah?" he asks, leaning toward her. "Who? Your little husband? Your kids? The lady at the store who occasionally says hello? Face it. No one is looking for you. You're just like every other person." he says. She looks at him with confusion. Does he not know that she is famous? Does he not recognize her?
He picks her limp body up, carrying her out of the room. The door opens to reveal a hallway filled with cells. Inside of the cells are at least ten other girls who lay on their beds, also drugged. Some watch her as they pass by but most are asleep.
A man is waiting in an open cell and watches Nick set her down on the stiff bed. Both men walk out, leaving Vera unable to move in her bed.
Nestor had been waiting for her in her dressing room for 45 minutes now, not wanting her to be late to work. But if he waited any longer, he would be late himself. It's not like he could call her either since her phone was left in her dressing room. So he grabbed his things and left to the studio. By the time he arrived, things were almost ready on set and Kerry was frantically looking for Vera and Nestor both.
"Oh, Nestor! There you are. Where is Vera?" she asks. Nestor looks around for her, thinking he might have just missed her.
"I haven't seen her. She was supposed to meet me last night for dinner but she never showed." he says, becoming more worried as the words leave his mouth.
"Has she contacted you?" Carlton Cuse, the other director, asks.
"No. I mean she wouldn't be able to anyways. Her phone was left in her dressing room. I....I'm really worried."
"Okay. It's okay. I'm sure we are jumping to conclusions. I mean this is Vera. What's the worst that could've happened to her?" she asks. They stare at each other in silence until Kerry breaks it.
"John, could you drive up to the diner and tell us if you find any trace of Vera?" she asks. He nods and grabs his car keys, running to the parking lot.
"You look at her house and I am going to contact the police." she says.
"About what?" Freddie asks, walking up to them.
"Vera is missing." Kerry says, earning the attention of a few others actors including Max and Olivia.
"Missing?" Olivia asks.
"We don't know that for sure yet." Nestor says, trying to calm the situation down.
"Well what do we know?" Max asks. Kerry looks to Nestor as well as everyone else.
"Vera and I were supposed to meet at the diner to eat last night after filming but she never showed. She said she was going to get gas and then go. She didn't answer my calls or texts and now she isn't here." he explains.
"She never misses work." Freddie says.
"Yeah. Remember that one time she was like really sick and puking but she still came?" Olivia asks.
"We have to find her." Max says.
"Guys let's calm down. We don't even know for sure if-"
"I found it." John says, running back in. Everyone turns to look at him, yearning to know what he found.
"Her car. It's on the side of the road just before the gas station." he says.
"Well let's go! Maybe she tried walking or something." Olivia says.
"I'll stay back and call the police." Kerry says, grabbing the phone. Nestor grabs his car keys and runs to his car. Olivia, Max and Freddie all jump into his car as well and stare out the window as they drive to her car. Once they stop, everyone gets out and begins to look for any sign of her. They walk all the way up to the gas station and stop just after passing it.
"It's hopeless." Freddie says, looking around.
"Wait." Max says. "What's that?"
He points to a break in the trees where a dirt path veers off from the main road. Nestor leads the way down the path, searching for anything. As far as he can see, there's nothing but tire tracks in the dirt. And then he sees it. It's nothing but a black mark from a distance but as he continues to walk toward it, it forms into a shoe. Her shoe. He runs to it, grabbing it in his hands and holding it to his chest. He can feel the hot tears run down his cheeks as he looks down at the shoe.
"What is it?" Max asks. Nestor turns to face them, still staring at her shoe.
"Is it hers?" Olivia asks, her voice trembling with emotion. All Nestor can do is nod.
"Oh my god." she whispers, her hand covering her mouth.
"Oh my god." she sobs out, her body shaking. Max pulls her into his arms while Freddie looks helplessly at the shoe.
"We need to get the cops down here, fast." Max says, hiding his pain by focusing on plans.
"I'll call Kerry and lead them down here." he says, grabbing his phone. Nestor looks down at the tire marks, trying to make something of them.
"Can I see it?" Freddie asks, staring at her shoe. Nestor slowly hands it to him, watching him inspect it. He scratches at a yellow spot on the toe of the shoe.
"I wonder what this is." he mumbles. He lifts the shoe up to his nose, sniffing the spot a few times. Suddenly, he falls to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Freddie!" Olivia shouts, rushing to him. Max looks at him and then at the shoe.
"It must've been the spot he sniffed. What do you think it was?" Olivia asks. They all stare at the shoe in silence until Max and Nestor answer in unison.
"Chloroform."
