Page 4 of Taint My Soul

I’m supposed to be in my apartment.

I’m supposed to be dancing to the constant thumping of the local nightclub in the vicinity whilst working through the files I haven’t sorted at the office.

The two men take me out of the building, but thoughts of what’s happening around me send a surge of disorientation through my blood.

Is this what my life has turned into? After nearly seven years of freedom. Of having to look over my back constantly. How am I going to get through this?

The two men hand me over to the same group that had kidnapped me and brought me to this auction house in the middle of nowhere.

They toss me back into the van, and the shortest of the three climbs in with a dark, thick fabric wrapped firmly around his fist. “Hold still.” He grunts.

He slides the blindfold over my eyes, and it swallows the light around me.

The world vanishes, then a second later, metal snaps around my wrists.

The engine revs low, sending a chill through my spine.

Where are these men taking me, and what do they want?

Almost seven years of freedom, and I made sure never to come close to anything that would make me a scapegoat. I have a decent job, and I live in a decent apartment. I have led a quiet life with minimal friends and a home in a discreet neighborhood.

But somehow evil still finds me.

The van jerks forward, and my back slams against the bodywork. Then the driver follows the path, tires rolling over asphalt.

I count turns out of instinct, holding onto the minute hope of survival.

Left.

Right.

Right.

A long stretch of straight tarred road. Tires hum against asphalt, then grind over rougher terrain as the auction house slips away behind us.

The driver navigates the vehicle for almost an hour.

No traffic. No horns. Nothing.

The hope in my chest slowly withers into something lifeless when the sickening truth sinks into my bones. I might never escape where they’re taking me. Is it something worse than the auction house? Am I going to be killed? Everything I think of ends up with me dead or in captivity.

After a while, the vehicle slows, and the brakes groan as we roll to a stop.

The door opens, and night air floods into the space with a tinge of the forest, rust, and stagnant water. Hands grab my arms again, hauling me out of the vehicle. Boots scrunch against gravel and dead leaves, then solid concrete. My steps become uneven as they drag me through a heavy metal door.

The hinges protest as it slams, the sound bouncing off my ears. A metal chair scrapes against concrete, then my captors force me to sit and strap me down with chains. Their steps shuffle as they leave.

Silence sinks into my bones, sending an uneasy chill through me.

It isn’t too long, and the same men bring someone else in. I can tell he’s been here before by the way he begs for mercy. His voice comes out breathless every time the words splutter out of his lips, but his pleas are unmet with care.

These men do not give a damn how much you beg.

They must be cold-blooded monsters.

“The boss is here.” A deep voice echoes in the void just as more footsteps reverberate over the harsh concrete floor.

When one man pulls off my blindfold, pale yellow light spills over me like liquid silk, flooding my vision. My eyes adjust to the mild intensity as the men who had kidnapped me position at the corners of the room, the other two who had just arrived closing the distance.