Prologue

She knew she was trapped. The walls looked thin, but there were no windows and the only door in and out opened directly into his room. She could hear the low noise of the television and occasionally he would chuckle softly. She had absolutely no idea what he was watching. It sounded like a stream of gibberish to her, interspersed with over the top exclamations of what she assumed was surprise. She could catch one sound that was being repeated over and over. It sounded like "Hairrrrrrr" and was inevitably followed by squeals of high-pitched laughter. It all added to the realization that this place was as foreign to her as anywhere she could ever have imagined.

She thought back to when she'd first ran into him. He had seemed so friendly, a regular guy. Everyone here had been friendly in fact and so she had just assumed he was yet another product of a culture that prided itself on its politeness and enthusiasm for welcoming guests to their land. All the years growing up with the importance of personal safety constantly being rammed home to her, had been thrown out of the window as she had found herself entranced by this supposedly safe land and succumbed to a false sense of security, that had tricked her into believing she was in no danger. So she had gone with this stranger, never once suspecting an ulterior motive. He had offered her some tea and she had gratefully accepted. Of course now it was something she would regret for the rest of her life. How could she have let her guard down?

She sank back against the thin mattress which was laid over the strange straw matted floor. There was a curious smell in the room. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was a significant reminder that she was extremely far from home right now. The pillow was rock hard too. It actually felt as though it had stones in it. She wondered if this was standard fare or whether it had been specially designed to give her as much discomfort as possible. The duvet was odd too. Well it was more the cover. It had a huge hole in the top. The edges were all tucked inside the white fabric, as was the underside which rested against her body, but on the top, the duvet, which incidentally was covered with a particularly garish flowery pattern, was mostly completely exposed via this rounded large gap in the fabric of the cover. She wondered if it was possibly intended as a airing method. Summer nights were certainly hot and humid here. It was a completely different type of heat to that of New York.

Suddenly the noise of the TV disappeared, interrupting her musings, and she realised he must have turned it off. She froze. Would he now finally make his move on her? So far he had done nothing except keep her effectively locked up in this room. He had silently brought her food and water and escorted her to the bathroom at regular intervals and had even allowed her to shower but he hadn't as yet laid a finger on her. When she had first woken up and her grogginess and disorientation had helped her realise she must have been brought here after being drugged, she had resigned herself to the certainty that his intentions were unlikely to be good. The fact that she had been here for two whole days now and he still hadn't touched her bothered her immensely. It was torturous waiting. In some ways she wished he'd just get it over with and end the constant anticipation and fear.

She waited nervously, but he didn't enter her room. She heard the shuffling of feet, the sound of running water, the rough scraping of a toothbrush against teeth and then a few moments later the sound of a toilet flushing. Then she heard the shuffling seem to grow closer again, followed by the sound of him nestling under his own covers. She realised that once again he was obviously going to go to sleep, still without revealing his true intentions towards her.

She felt the tears welling in her eyes as she acknowledged the absolute hopelessness of her situation. She was trapped somewhere, it really could be anywhere, in a foreign country where she barely knew a word of the language, with a stranger; a man whom she feared yet at the same time reluctantly recognised as being her only lifeline. Even if she could escape this place she had no idea where she was or where to go, let alone the fact that this guy had removed her wallet and passport and all her clothes besides the ones she was currently wearing. He would hand her a fresh change of clothes every morning and evening and leave her to change alone. He would later return and scoop up her old clothes and take them away to wash. It made her wonder how long he planned to keep her here if he was going to the trouble of washing her clothes.

If only she could get to a phone. She had seen this guy had a cell phone but he kept it in his back pocket and she couldn't see how she could possibly get it from him without his knowledge. Her situation was truly hopeless. Her tears rolled down her cheeks unchecked as she thought of what everyone might be doing back home right now. She wondered if anyone even realised she was gone yet.