Page 2 of Encounter

Idiot.

I barely stopped myself from bursting into tears once I realized sayingyesfor once could have saved me. Saying yes to Zola instead of giving in to my comfort would’ve prevented me from being picked up on the streets and being taken god knows where to be killed. Or worse.

The stomach-twisting fear started gnawing at me again, so I tightened my fists and tried to suppress it.Don’t throw up in this bag. Don’t throw up in this disgusting, stupid bag.

No matter how hard I tried, there was nothing but regrets to think about.

If I wasn’t irrationally anxious about driving and didn’t back out of the lessons no matter how many times Dad pushed me, I could’ve driven home instead of walking. I wouldn’t have been picked up by these people. Whoever they were...

If I hadn’t put my headphones in, loudly playing my piano music to separate myself from the outside world, I could have heard the car stopping next to me. I could’ve run away, maybe, though it was pretty unlikely I would’ve been able to do anything but freeze as I did.

I remembered the last concise thought before everything turned into a nightmare—I wondered about how I was going to repay Zola for getting me that LP.

Now, I became incapable of picturing it.

I barely noticed when they put the bag over my head and pushed me into the van, dropping my bag and phone on the ground. All I could recall was the hard, cold mouth of the gun pressed against my temple.

“Don’t do anythin’, and you’ll live. That clear?!” someone shouted as they closed the sliding door behind me. The kidnapper’s voice was domineering, harsh. Knowing he still sat in the car with me right now made my whole body shiver violently.

Low sobs escaped my mouth—my subconsciousness was quick to put together what happened to that precious gift. It probably laid there on the street, waiting to be stolen. Lost forever.

Lost? Like I’m ever getting out of here. A dead man can’tloseanything.

The trembles passing through my body grew more powerful. The darkness, with only a few faint streaks of light passing through the fabric, seemed everlasting and overwhelming.

I heard a faint piano melody at the back of my head. It was the only thing that brought me comfort, so I bit down on my lip to stop the sounds coming out of my throat. The sharp pain helped tense up my body, forcing it to focus on my teeth pressing against the tender skin instead of anything else.

Sounds like Mom’s playing... Is she with me, guiding me?

I wholeheartedly wished something like that was possible.

?

Someone’s hand squeezed my arm and pulled. I was thrown around and dragged somewhere.

I didn’t even realize the van stopped.

I foolishly attempted to get away, but the knife on my neck quickly reminded me it was pointless, so I let them push me around until I got put on a chair and—

Lights.

They blinded me once the bag got pulled off my head. The brightness of everything around me sent sharp pain throughout my skull, and the cold air which hit my face made my cheeks burn.

My mind slowed, registering everything with a delay, and my vision returned sluggishly. All I could see at first were dancing shadows, shifting around like some hellish demons. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to see anything. If I wanted to know what was going on.

The light turned out to be less bright than I initially thought—nothing but a naked bulb swinging from the ceiling.

The room they dragged me into was barely that—with the incomplete drywall, concrete on all sides, and floors covered in filth. Dust, cigarette butts and other clutter built up near the corners. The gross-looking smears everywhere were likely blood or some other bodily fluids. It made my guts twist.

This sort of place isn’t one you leave alive, is it?

Searching for windows to the outside and failing, another wave of panic washed over me. Still scarily out of touch with my body, I didn’t resist when they tied my hands behind my back, confining me to the heavy metal chair. The brief touch of the cold blade against my neck from before still lingered, reminding me to obey. Only one door led into the room, and I couldn’t see much of the dark hallway past it.

Still dazed, I clung to that comforting, fading melody in my head until a tall figure stepped in front of me, waving a knife close to my face.

Widening my sore, blurry eyes, I began hyperventilating in such a way that almost made me choke. I knew pain—I could imagine the blade slicing through my skin, a million times worse than anything I had ever experienced.

“Hey there.” The man slapped me over the head, his tone mocking and his gaze too tough to allow me to look away. The smell of cheap cigarettes was the same as in the van. How many people are here?He wore a balaclava ski mask, concealing everything but his rough, dry lips and heavy, sunken eyes. “Wake the hell up!”

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