Page 25 of A Storm of Nightmares

I fell asleep on a hard, cold table, not a plush bed. I blink a few times as I scan my surroundings. I’m not in the surveillance room anymore.

Tears are building in my eyes, and I feel bile rising from my stomach. I’m in a strange room, chained to the bed, and the last thing I remember is falling asleep in Keith’s arms. This has to be a nightmare. “Hello?” I call out, peering around the dark, dull room for any sign of movement.

“Hi, Kat. I see you’re awake, finally.” I hear a man’s voice respond, but I don’t see anyone.

“Where am I? Where’s Keith?” My voice is shaky, and tears are starting to fall down my cheeks. This isn’t a dream. I’m screwed.

“Shhh, don’t cry. I don’t like it when my girls cry... As for Keith, I won’t have you say his name again. I saved you from him. You see, I thought you were trouble, looking into my identity like a pest. But then I heard that wretched man defiling you, and I understood everything. He was trouble. He was corrupting you. You needed me to show you the right way of life. So, I rescued you. My sad angel.” A short man with flaming red hair and brown, hollow eyes finally steps out from a dark corner of the room. I already knew who it was from his little speech, but it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.

“Rick,” I spit, my voice filled with venom. “I’m not your angel, you sick bastard!” I pull at my restraints again and wince at the pain.

Rick makes a tsk, tsk sound and shakes his head at me. “Your sister was a vile little thing too when first I saved her. You’ll learn to behave, as she has.” He turns to leave the room without any more explanation about Betty.

“Wait! Please, Rick!” He stops right as he’s about to step through the open door. He doesn’t turn back to look at me, but I can tell he’s waiting for me to speak. “Is Betty alive?” There are thousands of things I want to say. Questions I need answers to. But the most important thing right now is Betty.

He cocks his head to the side and sighs. “Of course, she’s alive. Jess is too. I’m not a monster, Katherine.” And with that, he leaves and slams the door shut behind him, cloaking me in darkness yet again.

I scream at the top of my lungs for him to come back. I scream for anybody to help me. I yell Betty’s name and Keith’s name and pray that one of them can hear me and will find me. Once I can’t scream anymore, I cry. I sob hard and choke on my breath as I gasp for air. I have no sense of time, and my head is still foggy. I thought when I woke up that I was just groggy from sleep, but I doubt that very much now. Rick must have drugged me somehow to get me here.

You’ll learn to behave, as she has. The words have been circling in my brain since Rick left. Betty has been here for four years. An alarming thought crosses my mind. What if she’s brainwashed or something? What is that thing called when kidnapped victims fall for their captors?Oh!Stockholm syndrome... God, I hope Betty is still the same big sister I knew four years ago.

My mind wanders back to Keith. We had shared such an intimate moment, and I fell even harder for him, only to be ripped away by a lunatic. I hope Keith is alright, wherever he is.

Rick said he’s not a monster. Well, he is dead wrong about that. Only monsters kidnap people and are delusional enough to think they’re doing the right thing. At least he insinuated that he hadn’t killed anybody.

He didn’t mention Dan at all, though. I can’t help the chill that spreads through my bones. Dan was supposedly Rick’s friend. If Rick isn’t a killer, then what’s he done with Dan? He keeps his stolen girls here because somewhere in his sick, twisted mind, he thinks he’s saved us. But what does he do with the boyfriends?

I drift into a fitful sleep. I try to toss and turn but with my hands bound, I am rendered motionless. I find myself dreaming about Keith. My sweet Keith. He’s locked in a room like mine, but he’s free to move about. The lights are out, but the room is dimly lit from the small window in the door. Keith paces the room frantically, and then he begins banging on the door, yelling my name.

It seems as if hours pass, and he still hasn’t given up. Rick bursts through the door, tired of Keith’s yelling and pounding, and he takes a small black gun out from behind his back and shoots Keith right in between the eyes. His lifeless body slumps to the ground with a thud, and Rick’s face breaks into a malicious smile.

I wake from the awful nightmare drenched in sweat, with tears pouring down my cheeks. Instinctively, I try to lift my hand to my face to wipe my eyes, but the chains stop me, digging deep into my skin. I hiss in pain and look over to my wrists. I must have been writhing in my sleep because both wrists are bruised, and the cuffs have started to cut the flesh. My breathing picks up in pace as panic starts to wash over me. That was such a fucked-up dream. What would I do if Rick hurt Keith? I think I would just die.

The door to this hostage room swings open, and Rick rushes inside in a hurry, flipping the lights on as he goes. I flinch and blink my eyes several times to adjust to the sudden brightness. Rick sits at the edge of the bed and sweeps his rough fingers down the side of my face. “I saw you were having a nightmare. Are you alright, my angel?”

Oh, fuck off.I roll my eyes, “No, Rick. No, I am most certainly not alright! You kidnapped me and have me chained to a fucking bed. Look at my wrists!” I nod with my chin to the hand closest to him, and his eyes become wide as he takes in the sight.

“Jesus,” he mutters under his breath. He digs into his front pant pocket and a moment later pulls out a small, silver key. He narrows his eyes at me as he thinks. “I’m prepared to unlock you from the handcuffs, on one condition, Katherine.” He pauses for me to ask what his condition is, but I have zero interest in playing his stupid game. I raise my eyebrows at him to signify my growing impatience. “I’ll take the cuffs off, and you can walk freely around your bedroom. If you scream and cry and try to escape, I will chain you back to this bed and leave you in the dark as punishment. Do you understand?”

The thought of being locked up in here in the dark for much longer is terrifying. I’ll go insane if this continues. I slowly nod my head in agreement to his rules. Rick sighs in relief and smiles at me. “There’s my angel.” He reaches his hand up and traces his index finger along my bottom lip. The intimate gesture from him disgusts me, and I fight back the tears as they start to well up in my eyes.

He must notice my impending sobs because he pulls back from my face so fast, I would have thought he burned his hand. Rick looks down and shakes his head. He seems to be upset with himself. “Alright, I’m removing the cuffs now, but remember the conditions. Don’t make me regret showing you my kindness.” He slowly unlocks the restraint from my left hand, and then he leans over my body to do the same to my right hand.

I’m freed from the cuffs now, but I’m too afraid to move a muscle. I stay completely still on the bed and close my eyes, waiting for Rick to stand and leave. He doesn’t, though. I can feel his eyes on me, and I can’t help myself from looking. “Don’t be scared of me,” he whispers. That wasn’t what I was expecting him to say. He sounds so sad and broken, and I have to force myself to remember how twisted he is.

I swallow and make direct eye contact with Rick. “Can I ask you something?” Rick nods, and a small smile falls onto his lips. I take a moment to think. There’s so much I want to know, but I have to be careful with my wording. I don’t want to piss him off and be locked right back up. “Can I see my sister?” I ask and immediately bite my lip to keep from crying. I need to know that Betty isn’t somewhere in this building, brainwashed into thinking she loves this man.

Rick’s face falls for a second, but he recovers from whatever emotion swept over him, and his smile returns. He shakes his head, “Not yet, Kat. I’m sorry. I know you want to see Betty, but you’re not there yet.”

“What does that even mean?” I finally sit up. My fear is subsiding, and anger is taking its place.

“Just give me some time. I need to make sure you’re mine before I let you see the girls. I can’t have you being a bad influence on them. They love me. You will too. I saved you, and you’ll not leave this room until you learn to be thankful.” Rick’s voice raises slightly as he sputters out his last few words. Oh god, I hit a nerve. I stay silent and nod. This is a sick man. There’s no point in trying to reason with him. Maybe I should play along...

I reach out and brush his hand with mine. His eyes flick to my face in shock. “Thank you, Rick,” I mutter nervously. His eyes search mine for a moment, and then they narrow and become dark. He rips his hand back from my touch, and with one swift movement, he slaps me across the face. Hard. I gasp in horror and reach for my throbbing cheek. The skin is already hot, and I can tell it’ll bruise.

“I’m a fucking genius, Katherine. Don’t play me for some idiot. I only just rescued you. I know you’re not thankful yet. But you’ll learn. I’ll forgive this slip up of yours, but just this once. Next time you’ll be locked in here with the lights out for a week. Do not test me.” His voice is filled with venom, and each word physically hurts me.

I’m so stupid. I know how smart Rick is. Of course, playing along wouldn’t have worked. He stands up in a heated rush and stomps his way out of the room. He turns and gives me a sickening glare before shutting the door and locking me in here again. At least this time, he left the lights on for me.

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