Of all the days I could have walked home, it had to be the one where the sky was the darkest it had been in a long time. Dark clouds covered the sky, and the air was chilly and humid, waiting for water to start pouring from the sky. It was bound to rain eventually, so I tried to hurry home as fast as I could. My mom had to work, and my boyfriend Kody was on vacation with his family. Apparently, they were visiting some relatives in Alaska. Usually he drove me home or to his house after school. We spent a lot of time there. I loved snuggling up in his side on the couch and talking about whatever. Nevertheless, here I was waiting to feel raindrops on my head at any moment.
As I walked, I looked at my surroundings in the ominous silence. There were pretty flowers in some people's front yards or big, leafy trees. A lone car passed me, but otherwise, it was empty. Everyone had already rushed home to avoid the impending rain. The scene was almost peaceful with its quietness and emptiness.
Suddenly, I heard the slamming of a car door and took a glance behind me. Before my head could even turn around completely, a man grabbed me and started dragging me towards the car. My heart started pounding, and I freaked out. My mom had always talked about people being kidnapped off the street on the way to or from school, but I never thought it would happen to me. I struggled and tried to hit the man holding on to me, but he had an impossibly strong grip. I managed to get a good elbow into his stomach, but it felt like I hit a metal wall; I'd definitely have a bruise later. With the last of my strength right before reaching the car, I gave the loudest scream I could, but of course there was nobody around to hear it.
Despite my efforts, I was thrown into the back of the car and tied up with a blindfold on. I continued trying to escape, but it was hopeless. There was nothing I could do. My backpack was ripped off of me and thrown back onto the sidewalk, so I didn't even have my cell phone to call for help.
For the longest times, I tried to struggle out of the restraints, but it was impossible when I kept falling over. The car would take sharp turns causing me to fly across to the other side and slam into the opposite wall. After an especially rough move, I hit my head and blacked out.
When I woke up, I was in an empty room with metal walls, floor, and ceiling. There weren't even any lights; if it weren't for the sliver of light from beneath a door, I wouldn't have been able to see anything. With a dull ache in my head and bruises all over my body, I stood up and went to the door. There was no doorknob or even any hinges to be seen. It was probably some kind of electronic door that slid in and out. Whatever this place was, it was highly fortified. No one could ever break out. Out of frustration, I started pounding on the door anyway.
"Hello?" I called out not really expecting an answer.
"Oh good, you're up." A voice echoed around the room causing me to jump. It seemed to come out of nowhere.
"What's going on?" I asked. I figured the single question encompassed everything I wanted to know.
"You've been randomly selected to join my special army; however, you seem to have some friends, so we're waiting to make sure they're not looking for you before you start." What was this guy talking about? This was so weird.
"Why would I want to help you and who are you talking about?" I was completely alone when they took me.
"I will give you the greatest gift known to mankind. As for your friends, I was hoping you could tell me, but apparently not." Why was this guy being so cryptic?
"What gift is that?" I yelled into the air. Apparently, the guy had decided he was done explaining as I didn't receive a reply. I sat down against a wall unsure what to do. At least this guy wasn't planning on killing me directly although he did want me to join what I'm guessing was a gang which probably would end up in my death anyway.
I didn't know where I was or how to get out. It probably would be a while before anyone realized I was gone. Had they figured out yet? I didn't even know how long it had been. I started breaking into sobs knowing how hopeless this situation was. I was never going to get out of here. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep.
I woke up to a beep and swishing noise. When I looked up, the door was open and a guard was waiting expectantly in front of it. Bright lights were flooding into the room from outside causing the guard's face to be cast in shadow.
The guard took a couple of steps inside, placed down a tray of food, and left swiftly. I walked over to it and took it back to where I was sitting in the far corner. The food didn't look very appealing, but at the sight of it, my stomach grumbled violently anyway. I ate the bland food, hoping it wasn't poisoned, and then noticed that the door was still open.
Did they forget to close it? They couldn't have randomly forgotten. Is this a test? Do I get punished for leaving my room? Not caring about the consequences, I left the half-finished tray where it was and fled out of the room, heart pounding in anticipation.
I was in a hallway similar to my room - the floor, walls, and ceiling all made of the same metal were absolutely plain. There were, however, blinding lights and doors similar to the one I walked through that stretched down the seemingly endless hallway. One side ended in a door that was open and the other in an opening to a large room. I ran to the end with the open door and found a bathroom. My bladder suddenly felt extremely full, so I quickly made use of the room because it wouldn't help to escape on a full bladder. When I travelled to the other side, I was met with the strangest sight.
The room was huge but empty. Half the room didn't even have a floor. Instead, it abruptly ended in a cliff that dropped down to another large room about a hundred feet below which had numerous doors in it. What the heck? What was even the purpose of this? Not only was this completely useless without any stairs to get down, but it was also extremely dangerous. Anyone could easily fall over the edge and plummet to their death.
I backed away from the edge and walked around. There wasn't much to do, but it was better than staying in that small, dark room. I wondered what was behind the other closed doors - other holding rooms, stairs or an elevator to get to the bottom. After hours of doing nothing, I was ordered back to the room by the sourceless voice, and a guard walked in with more food. Eventually, I fell asleep in the room.
When I woke up, the door was closed again, and I groaned in frustration. I laid there completely bored and wishing someone would come save me. In the silence, my ears picked up a sound, but I couldn't make out what it was. When I pressed up against the wall, I heard it again. It was a higher pitched sound. As it continued on, I realized it was someone screaming. Were they torturing someone? My initial thoughts were that it was some enemy from their gang, but then I remembered that guy's weird statement about "the greatest gift to mankind". Did it involve that somehow? Whatever caused someone to scream that much didn't sound like any gift to me, but that guy's mind was obviously messed up.
For a couple days, or what I called days based on the food schedule, my door was always kept shut except for when a guard brought food or escorted me to the bathroom. There was no more freedom to walk around.
With nothing else to do, I listened in the dark to the poor soul that continued screaming for days on end. Finally, it stopped and was replaced with large thuds. I couldn't imagine what could cause sounds that loud and resonating, but it was enough to cause my own walls to shake. When at last, the man was released or killed or gone, my door was kept open again.
This pattern repeated over and over. Sometimes I was allowed to go about as I wished while other times, I was kept in my room with another person trapped in a nearby room being tortured. Eventually, when the doors would open back up, I didn't even have the motivation to leave my room unless necessary. I quickly lost track of how long I had been kept in this lonely prison and with it, the hope of anyone saving me. The only thing I knew was coming now was whatever this 'gift' the guy promised me. Assuming it was what caused everyone else to suffer for days on end, I was absolutely dreading it.