Page 4 of Fear and Desire

Melissa cocked a skeptical eyebrow. “Mmm hmm. I bet he would have waited. I’ve seen you dump every boyfriend you ever had, but this guy seems to always be there in the background. Maybe it’s time you looked a little closer to home for what you want.”

“Oh, God, Mel, please stop. I’m just too tired to come up with witty counter-arguments tonight.”

“Okay, but you just think about how nice it would be to go home tonight to a steady, reliable man who’d have dinner made and probably give you a foot rub.”

“Yeah. They don’t exist. Now please let me finish, so I can go home to my cold, dark apartment, which might or might not have leftovers in the refrigerator.”

The older nurse reached over the counter to give Laura’s shoulder an affectionate pat before she vanished into a patient room. Laura put her face in her hands for just a moment as Melissa’s words sparked a fantasy in her mind. The front door would open as she arrived home, and silhouetted against the light would be a figure of someone she loved. He’d pull her inside and kiss her hard, causing her to drop her purse and everything else on the floor. Then he’d pick her up in his arms and carry her to the bedroom, where he’d efficiently remove every piece of clothing, despite her feeble protests that she was too tired for sex. And then he’d carry her to the shower, where he would wash and massage her from head to toe before tucking her in bed with a promise that he’d claim her in the morning after she slept.

Laura woke with a start, her dream gone. She sighed and clicked on the last item to fill out.Taken to ICU room 3. Report given to oncoming nurse.Done.

She drove home through the empty and silent streets. Mel was right—Laura’s relationships never lasted. She would date one guy for a while, then tire of him and gradually stop answering the phone. A few just drifted away; one or two begged and pleaded to know what they’d done wrong, but she didn’t know what to tell them. She longed for someone—just once—to fight back, to make it clear to her she meant enough to him that he wouldn’t let her push him away.

Dan was the only long-term ‘relationship’ she’d ever had. When they were kids, they’d spend long summer days playing in their adjoining back yards. He always had the best ideas, and she’d eagerly gone along with all of them.

One time they’d played cops and robbers. He’d caught her ‘stealing’ and ‘arrested’ her. He tied her up, and she was having a grand time, until her mother came out. With horror, she demanded that Dan let her go immediately. Laura had been really mad that the game had been interrupted.

They remained close during high school, but went their separate ways for college—he to study business, and she to study nursing. Both moved to other states for a while, and both came back home after a few years, to pick up their friendship right where it had left off.

For a few years, their meetings were irregular, and she’d go long periods between hearing from him. That was when he’d started to look like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. A year ago, he told her he was home for good, and they started meeting for coffee every few weeks after her Saturday evening shifts. He was evasive about what he was doing, and she didn’t think he was in business anymore. She suspected it might be some kind of clandestine law enforcement. She knew him well enough to know what he wasn’t saying. Sometimes they just sat in comfortable, tired silence until he’d look at his watch and announce he had to go.

The reverie she’d fallen into on the quiet trip home flew away when she pulled into the parking lot behind her apartment building. The damn security light was out again. She’d nagged maintenance to fix it for over a month, and as of yesterday, it had been working. She’d call them again tomorrow.

Mindful of Dan’s cautions, she looked around before she got out of the car, then held her keys sticking through her fist as she hurried to the locked door. As she unlocked it, a shadow rose from the bushes next to her. Instinct made her turn to flee, but a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her backwards. Another hand went over her mouth as she tried to scream, and something sickly sweet filled her nostrils. In her fear, she breathed hard. A moment later, everything went dark…

3

Laura:

Forawhile,therewas only a shadowy confusion of darkness, a splitting headache, a feeling of not being able to move her arms or legs, and a sensation of traveling. What was happening? The sickly sweet smell returned, and the world faded away again.

At last, consciousness seeped back in. Pain danced around the inside of her head like exploding fireworks, and nausea swelled like an ocean tide, but the hard floor she lay on was cool and soothing. She blinked and opened her eyes to the light. Her breath quickened as she took in the small concrete room with gray walls and a door.

Her arms were bound behind her and attached to her ankles, and the pain of her cramped limbs was becoming intense. Something stiff was wrapped around her throat.

She was in big trouble. She’d been kidnapped.Oh god oh god oh god,her brain chanted as her breathing sped up and she hurtled towards a panic attack.

“Help me,” she whispered. “Someone help me, please…” It was less of a cry for help than a prayer, and calling any louder might attract the attention of whoever had brought her here.

Her headache was growing worse, so she closed her eyes against the light. Losing her shit wouldn’t help. With her eyes closed, she tested the strength of her bonds and found no give.

The time wore on—it could have been five minutes, or five hours. Her headache lessened while the pain in her arms and back increased.

Suddenly, the heavy door burst open. She shrieked and shrank back as much as her bonds allowed. A man entered with equipment that he set up in silence. Another man followed, and he advanced on her with a smile that looked like a jackal about to take down its prey. She tried to wiggle away as he bent over her, his foul breath bringing her nausea back, but the wall behind her prevented any escape. Suddenly, the tension on her wrists and ankles released, and she cried out in pain. With no control over her stiff limbs, she wasn’t able to fight back, so she merely followed his movements with wide eyes.

He motioned to the other guy, and the two of them hauled her to her feet. Now she struggled, her attempts pitifully weak. She tried begging. “Please, let me go, please, don’t hurt me, please, please, don’t hurt me…” Tears of fear ran down her face.

They ignored her entreaties as they backed her against the wall. Her legs refused to hold her steady, so Bad Breath pressed himself against her to hold her upright. She tried to bite him, but his large hand covered her throat and pushed her head back into the wall. The other man raised her left wrist, now adorned with a black cuff, and clipped it to a hook on the wall above and to the side. She struggled as they fastened her right arm the same way. Then the equipment guy moved to grab her ankle. Without thinking, she kicked out, catching him in the balls and dropping him to the ground in pain. To her utter surprise, Bad Breath started laughing.

“That’s what you get for letting your guard down. Next time you’ll remember. Never go at ‘em by yourself and straight on. Now get up off your sorry ass so we can finish this.”

The guy on the floor struggled to his feet, looking daggers at Laura, who was regretting what she’d done. The two of them pounced simultaneously, each grabbing an ankle, and she lost her balance as they spread her legs wide and fastened them to hooks protruding from the floor. She got her weight on her feet again, but now she was stretched tight.

Bad Breath turned to her. “I’m Master 3. And though what happened to Master 5 was actually pretty funny, youaregoing to be punished for that.”

A wave of fear rose and threatened to cut off her breathing. This was more than just a run-of-the-mill kidnapping, if there was such a thing. “Why are you doing this?” she implored, her voice tremulous.

He ignored her question. “Master 5 is going to get the camera going. In the meantime, do you have any health problems or allergies?”

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