Page 83 of Then She Vanished

All shouting did was make it worse.

She grabbed the material of her top at the neck and stretched it, hoping that she could inhale better, but it didn’t help one bit. The slight wheeze coming from her throat and chest was concerning.

The thrumming of her heart created a sickening feeling in her gut. She thought of Gary and Eric, and her house. Both of them had treated her badly in their own way. Her heart sank.

She had no one left in the world. First she lost Elissa, then her marriage had broken down, and Eric was a married man. All she had was her job. Just a job and nothing to show for her life. She banged on the door again. Again, nothing.

The loudest click ever made her withdraw from the metal door.

A speaker crackled and a robotic voice filled the room, disorientating her even more. ‘Open the door.’

She had been trying so hard to find a way out, now she wondered if the metal door was the entrance to her death. Didn’t she need to go upwards? ‘But…’ she stammered. ‘No, I err…’ she whimpered. ‘I want to go home.’

‘Open the door,’ the speaker yelled.

She placed her hands out and felt for the door handle while gasping. ‘Where does it lead?’

‘To your future.’

‘Don’t make me do this.’ She couldn’t help but half sob.

The loud booming barks of a dog came through the speaker. ‘Get that fucking thing out of here.’ Seconds later a door slammed, the barks had stopped.

There was someone else involved because her kidnapper was talking to them. They had a dog. Who did she know that had a dog? Only the farmers that Gary worked for. Hand lingering on the handle, she hesitated. ‘Is that your dog?’

‘You don’t get to ask questions.’

She was sick of the game. It was time to confront her captor. ‘Why are you doing this, Gary?’

There was a long pause. Had he gone?’

A slight snigger filled the air and the robotic voice made it sound demonic. ‘Because this is what you need. This is for you, and if you open the door, you’ll see. All this, Ruth, I did it for you.’

‘What I need is to go home,’ she said with a quivering voice.

‘What you need is for somewhere for all that love to go. All these years, I’ve seen your sadness, and now I give you what you long for. I am the answer to your prayers. You can thank me later.’

‘What?’ she rasped. ‘Keeping me here in this dark hole isn’t the answer to my prayers!’

‘Go through the door. She’s waiting for you. She needs a mother.’

‘No.’ He was lying. It was a trap, just like those messages he sent. If he wanted her to go through the door, he’d have to come down those ladders and drag her through it.

A piercing screech filled the air. She held her hands over her ears. It got louder and louder and kept going until she could bear it no more. ‘Stop, stop,’ she gasped.

‘Door, door, door,’ he kept yelling as he turned the volume up.

The continuous tinnitus-like torture kept blasting out until she could bear it no more. She pressed the handle and pushed, only to be faced with more darkness. Deeper she stepped into the bowels of the structure, or was it just the beginning?

She imagined a dark maze behind the door, where she’d be trapped forever until she froze to death. It was probably nothing more than a giant tomb.

Had there been others before her? Had he brought Elissa down here and left her to die? The screeching got louder.

‘Stop,’ she croaked as she held her hands over her ears. Light-headedness made her unsteady on her feet. Her chest got even tighter as she inhaled the stench of human misery. ‘Gary, please, you have to stop this.’

‘Close the door.’

She reached out and slammed it closed, then the screeching stopped. The door clicked again. She went to go back, but it was locked. ‘Where am I? I can’t see. Please, Gary. I did what you asked. I need to be able to see and I’m cold.’

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