Chapter 1

Constant Nightmare

Sitting in the corner of the room they kept her in, after three days-without food and only one bottle of grimy water a day, she was thinking would die here. Running her fingers over her body she examined the countless tender bruises and deeps abrasions. As she arches her back slightly she winces in agony as the lacerations on her back brush against her filthy shirt. They were continuously abusing her. Using knifes to cut her, canes to whip her, and worst of all, repetitively bashing her head with whatever they had- rocks, rods, fists, bricks, the ground, etc. It didn't matter to them.

The constant headache, dizziness, blurry vision, and ringing in her ears told her that she probably had a concussion. She was bloody all over, but for now the blood had stopped flowing from the wounds. Each night they left her in a locked shed. If she had had the energy, she might have tried to escape, but she was simply drained of all energy. She shouldn't sleep due to a probable concussion, but she had to; exhaustion simply overtook her.

It was day four and she woke to yelling. She knew what was next. The first day they held her captive she had tried to fight them of, but they only laughed at her attempts and beat her more. Afterwards they still had their way with her and took more time with her.

Today, she wouldn't try to fight them off. The three men once again each take turns forcing themselves onto her. They hold her face demanding she look at them as they make her do one demeaning act after another. They pass her around like a piece of meat, enjoying her over and over until each of their needs is sufficiently satisfied. Each man requires her to touch, kiss, and pleasure their body one by one, before finally forcing her to let them inside her as he slowly caresses her body.

After they are all satisfied, she is finally left alone for several hours. When they leave her by herself, she recalls the passionate experience she had with Ben on a beach in Sri Lanka. Allowing her mind to escape to a different time was the only reprieve from the pain she was experiencing. She had met Ben during her travels. She quickly fell in love and thought everything was perfect, until he skipped out in the dead of night with simply a note to remember him by. It was a world wind three week relationship, but she had loved Ben very deeply. Now she blamed him for her current torture. If not for him, she would have never have embarked on a two year journey to Africa building schools. If not for him, she would not now, a year and a half into that journey have been kidnapped by rouge villagers, and forced to endure endless torment. At the same time, if not for him, she would not have the amazing memories of their time together that now kept her from losing herself.

Later in the day, the men come back; they continue to question her on where the money for the schools was. Her fuzzy mind is struggling to keep up with what they are saying. Despite not being as fluent in their language as she was many other African languages, she could usually keep up. However, the intense pain permeating from her head is not allowing her to concentrate. Her vision is going in and out. Considering she has not eaten in four days and the water she has been given is probably full of dangerous bacteria, the vision problems did not alarm her. It was only a matter of time before she was knocked unconscious again. Her kidnappers would wait for her to regain consciousness and then continue beating her, yelling at her to give them the money. Only, she did not have the money.

When she does not give them the answers they desire, they command her to stand before them as they slash a couple long shallow cuts into her abdomen with a knife. Warm blood began running down her torso and dripping to the ground. She instinctively brings her hands over her stomach just as they whip her with a rope several times until she falls to the ground. Their laugher pounds into her head as if it were hammers. Two of the men kick her several times. As she tries to move into a fetal position and cover her head, she is quickly picked up and thrown into a chair. Perhaps they know she cannot stand any longer. They tie her legs and torso to the chair and chuckle again as she struggles against the chair and punches at them. They smash her head with a rod yet again and with that blow she loses all fight in herself. As she just sits with her arms dangling beside her and head down the men strike her again demanding that she look at them. But is it is impossible for her to raise her head. Once more, they each take a swing at her. As the swings collide with her head she vaguely feels herself falling to the ground, while still strapped to the chair. Her head smashes for the final time on the ground. As she struggles reaching for help, she feels the cold, wet nose of Silke, which brings her back to the presence.

Upon hearing her discomfort, Silke was immediately by her bed, whimpering softly to let Annie know where she was. Annie reaches out her hand to pat her best friend's silky smooth coat. Annie moves slowly in the sea of sweaty, tangled sheets she finds herself in. It was only a nightmare-the same nightmare that plagued her every night since she woke from a coma almost six months ago. Her breathing is shallow and labored. She sits up in bed slightly and begins to take slow, deep breathes in and out before allowing herself to open her eyes, this time knowing what to expect. She was finally getting used to the darkness.

The first few months upon waking in the thick vast darkness she would panic, but now, she had Silke. Annie needed Silke, for guidance of course, but more importantly for support. Annie would never admit it to anyone other than Silke, but she was terrified of being alone. Her guide dog was everything to her. All rationality aside, she was still terrified of the men that had left her in the desert to die and caused the eternal darkness that she now called home.

As for right now, she needed to, somehow, get back to sleep. It was going to be a big day, a day that deserved a well-rested night's sleep-the first day of her new job as Head of the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University.