Nihil Evadere

1- The Bathroom Kidnapper

     "Are we nearly there yet?" moaned Thalia.

Her mum turned in her passenger seat and placed a hand on her daughter's knee.

"Come on, dear," she said. "Please, I know you don't like visiting gramm-"

"She's creepy," Thalia muttered.

"She isn't, she's just old. Please, Thalia, try to be polite to her, it's only for the weekend, and yes, we're nearly there," her mum reassured her, before turning back to face the window.

Thalia sighed dramatically and turned to face her window. She tried to focus on the acres of woodland that zipped past her, but she could only think about her beloved home. She hated her Grandma Helena; she was old, creaky and creepy. She was blind in one eye, so she had one piercing, icy blue eye and one glassy, misty eye. Sometimes, Thalia got the feeling even that one was staring right through her soul. Her snowy-white hair was like a bundle of kniting wool, sitting atop her pallid, wrinkly face. Another thing, was that Grandma Helena knitted- a lot. Thalia would get all kinds of her bizarre artworks: an ugly jumper, mismatched socks, a pleated skirt for winter and even a terrifying teddy bear with one eye falling out. Thalia shivered every time she passed it. Why must we visit that old woman? Thalia privately wondered. And why does she insist on giving me ugly gifts whenver I see her? After contemplating her strange relative, Thalia closed her eyes and slept.

Not too long afterwards, she was awoken by the bumpy jostling of the car. She turned to look outside her window, and saw miles upon miles of luscious green grass. It stretched out as far as the eye could see. The fileds were littered with an abundance of sheep, cows and even a stable of horses in the far distance.

"Woah," Thalia gasped. They were in the countryside.

Her dad noticed that she was awake and peered at her through the rearview mirror.

"You need to go to the toilet or anything, Thal, there's a stop coming up?" her dad asked.

"Okay," the girl replied. She didn't have to go, she just needed to get out of the car to stretch her legs. Her dad nodded and they pulled into a giant shopping centre. The family jumped out of their car and made their way to the shopping centre, unknowing that this would be the biggest mistake of their lives.

"Go on then, we'll be right out here," her mum said, leading Thalia to the bathrooms.

With a weary look towards her parents, Thalia cautiously entered the bathrooms and into the stalls. As she sat in the empty bathroom, anxiety washed over her like a sudden wave. She felt like there was somebody else with her. Her eyes swivelled around the room at a rapid pace, following any slight movement. She finished up as quickly as she could and rushed to the sink to wash her hands. Her breathing quickened as she felt a presence behind her. It felt ominous. Like the person wasn't there, only their presence was. Thalia squirted the soap onto her hands and rubbed them together as fast as possible. The foamy soap flew in all directions in her haste, covering her arms, the mirror, in her hair. Finally, she couldn't take the suspense- she looked up.

Standing directly behind her was a woman. A woman with a plain black beanie pulled right over her face with holes messily cut through. Her mousy hair spread out along her shoulders from under the mask, and she wore all black clothing. A steel, rusty gun was pointed right at Thalia's head. Her eyes were manic and bloodhsot, like she hadn't slept in weeks.

With an audible gasp, Thalia spun around and stared in horror at the psycotic eyes. Without hesitation, she sprinted to the bathroom door, not caring to notice that her hands were still covered in soap, which was flung across the room. Immediately, the woman pointed her gun to the floor dangerously close to Thalia's sprinting feet, and she fired. Deafening and heart-stopping, the noise made Thalia halt suddenly, and she nearly slipped on the damp floor. Whimpering, she turned back to the evil woman, her hands in the air in defeat. Surely my parents heard that, Thalia thought. They'll come through any moment, I'm sure. But the door remained closed.

"Come here, girl," the woman whispered in an eerily soothing voice. With a mind of their own, Thalia's feet made their way to the woman, though her mind was begging them to stay put.

"Very good, I was hoping I wasn't going to have to do this the hard way. If you were in school, I'd give you a gold star. But we aren't in school, darling, are we?" she asked in the same manic voice. Slowly, with tears dripping down her flushed cheeks, Thalia shook her head.

"Clever girl, now...come closer," the woman drawled. Her brain wanted so badly to run away, to crumple to the floor and cry, but her legs brought her forward. The woman's wide eyes were almost hypnotic. As soon as she got close enough, the woman's hands grasped out wildly, and pulled the thrashing girl towards her. For some strange reason, Thalia felt calm, and like there was no reason to lash out. That she was safe in this woman's arms. Then she saw why.

Glancing at her shoulder, Thalia's face turned pale. A syringe, full of clear, glistening liquid protruded from her skin, a pool of deep red blood surrounded the cut. Forcefully and almost hungrily, the woman pushed the foul liquid into her, her eyes wider and crazed. All of a sudden, her head began to pound, her eyesight went fuzzy, and her arms dropped to her sides like useless jelly. No matter how much Thalia grasped at the syringe, desperately trying to pluck it out, her arms were practically boneless. Her knees felt weak, and she sank to the damp bathroom floor, the woman carrying her to the ground, hushing her "soothingly". Feeling suddenly heavy, her eyelids began to droop, but Thalia determinedly held on to what little consciousness she could muster. However, the liquid was too strong, and the last thing that she saw before she passed out, was the woman's greedy, menacing, masked face.