Misery Business

Chapter 4: Mercy

'Its the drawing of the line, it's my ghost you're gonna give up' 

My neck hurts. My head is pounding. My ass hurts. What the hell happened last night? This is by far the worst hangover I have ever experienced. Why did I drink so much? And then I remembered that I had only had one drink and the hangover disappeared when my eyes shot open.

I was handcuffed to a metal chair in the middle of a concrete room. There were year-old bloodstains on the floor and a metal table sat on the other side of the room that I knew would have typically held various torture devices. The fluorescent lights flickered and buzzed as I tried to remember the night before. All I could think of was the pain in my ankles when I landed on the alley asphalt in heels. Why did I land in an alleyway in the first place? The alley and the club.

"Oh, you motherfucker." I finally remembered everything all at once. Ace and I dancing, realizing I was in trouble when the bodyguards started closing in on us. Running and escaping through the bathroom window, getting hit on the head with the butt of a pistol. Looking up and finding Ace standing over me with an evil glint in his eye that resembled that of Mr. Gold. The syringe in my neck, fear.

Fear was not something I usually felt. The only person who ever elicited that kind of reaction from me was Mr. Gold. The fact that this man had also pulled me to that point made me very wary.

I quickly thought of a way to get out of the room, I knew I would be able to break the cuffs, but the lack of door handle on the only exit point was the issue. I would need to pick the lock but with what? I noticed my jacket, shoes, phone, and knife were in a plastic bin under the metal table. I had a safety pin on my jacket and my credit card in the back of my phone case.

"Okay, decent plan." I nodded and checked for cameras. When I figured it was all clear I started my escape.

I pulled my knees to my chest, planted my feet on the edge of the chair, braced my wrists up and stood up as quickly as I could. The chains on the handcuffs snapped from the upward force and I hopped to the floor. I pulled on my jacket, grabbed the credit card and knife before starting on the door. Just as I felt the lock start to click open, I heard footsteps coming towards me.

"Shit shit shit shitty shit." I breathed. "Plan B."

I ran over to the metal chair and held it by the outer bars of the back. I stood next to the door on the locking side with the chair raised above my head.

The lock clicked and the door swung open, I tightened my grip on the chair and as soon as someone stepped into the room I brought the chair down on them. I swung right at face level and knocked the first bodyguard unconscious immediately.

"What the-" The second guard panicked. I took the element of surprise and jumped into his line of vision, jabbing the legs of the chair into his stomach and knocking the air out of him. He slumped to the floor and I raised the chair back behind my head and brought it down on the top of the last guard's skull. The defining crack of bone was sweet to my ears and I finally took in deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I turned to the guard I had hit in the stomach and found him reaching for his headset. I sighed, dropped the chair, and roundhouse kicked him in the jaw, his head flopping to the side. Picking up the headset, I hung the earpiece around my neck and listened carefully to the guards communicate with each other.

"Stephen, how much longer are you going to be with the girl? Boss is starting to get annoyed." Someone announced. I froze and quickly looked down the hallway I was in for an escape. I ran to my left in the direction that the guards had originally come from and watched every corner I rounded.

"Stephen, come in." The guard repeated. I bit my lip as I came to a long and open landing with marble stairs and family portraits lining the walls. I recognized Ace on the wall with the short guy from the bar. I was just about to go up the stairs when I heard multiple sets of feet descending towards me. "All guards to the basement, now!"