Elixir

Chapter 33

           

9th December, 2017

2:40 am, KST

Somewhere outside the Seoul city boundary,

The pain woke her up. As soon as she lifted her head, it stuck hard on a metal rod, everything felt numb again. She shook it hard, there were stars all around. She whimpered in agony and tried to figure out what body part was exactly throbbing. Her hands and feet were tied back and she was strangled on a cold chequered steel floor that shook the senses out of her. She was dumped in a vehicle trunk, legs folded and a thick rag tied in her mouth that was now drenched in her hopeless attempts of screaming.

She managed to sit up straight and drew her knees closer, she felt the small tracking device on her stomach and exhaled... its still there.

There were bruises beeping horribly over her calves and her temples were red, she was drugged to lose conscious and was hit hard on her head. The truck wobbled and the floor made her jump painfully each time it hit any pothole on the road. She felt helpless, it was steel wires she was tied with, escaping them was impossible for her feeble condition. She tried to hold up her eyelids and rethink on her past- what happened a few hours ago? She eyed herself, her clothes seemed fine, the only thing was that she felt beaten up rashly and being searched upon for something. And to a worrying dismay, her gun wasn't with her. They had one bullet anyway, she kept all the ammo in her belly pockets inside.

She recalled the concert, the location where she stood, the black ramp, the sea of glittering army bombs, the song that played behind, and the mesmerizing hollow voice of Taehyung... she broke down. Her hands couldn't wipe her tears that trickled irritatingly from her cheek and fell on the floor that shook them away. She shivered, the trunk was dry and cold, it was too dark to see. The only thing she managed to peer into was a dense fabric that covered the window to the driver, but it was at a great distance for her to reach. She couldn't get up. There was only one option left- keeping calm and waiting for the right opportunity to attack. She tilted her head, she could hear two- or probably three muffled voices at the other side of the cloth talking.

After an hour of mental confusion and physical torture, the vehicle stopped. The breaks squeezed in on rowdy suburban soils and three strong thumps told her that a rash trio of men was approaching the rear of the vehicle. She held her breath and pretended to be unconscious again. She heard nothing... no movement. After fifteen petrifying minutes, the door of the truck snapped open and two pairs on strong hands pulled her out, letting her fall on the soil outside. The chilly breeze ruffled her cheeks, and a straight burn made her realise that there was a huge vertical cut on her right cheek.

She lied doggo and eavesdropped the men with full concentration. There were two pairs of boots standing right on front of her and another crouching beside. She suddenly felt two strong hands flip her over and run on her body to check for more weapons. She tried not to squirm, that was the shittiest feeling she's ever had. The man stopped harassing her and placed a hand on her lap, looking at the other two men who stared squinting.

"Nothing" his grungy rough voice said, "What are we gonna do of her now?"

There was no reply, and Helena fluttered her eyelids to catch a blurry glimpse. She shut her eyes with shock- there were barren hillocks and trees around. She saw the line between the dark soil and the starry sky. There were no sounds of vehicles, or people around, nor were there any signs of settlements. The area casted a huge peril on her.

Where am I? Will they be able to even track me down here?

One of the persons standing started talking on the phone, "Yeah, she's still insentient" he said, "Shall we really get her there? But aren't we supposed to- okay, okay fine. We'll get her there." She heard him tap hard on the phone and slide it back in his jacket.