Chapter 11: The Stages of Captivity

Stage 1: DENIAL

The van carrying Olivia and Stephen sped along the highway, destination unknown. Olivia's brain was reeling. Huck was possibly dead and she and Stephen were now being held hostage in a strange land. This can't be happening. No, this isn't happening, she thought.

"Stephen," she whispered.

"Olivia," he replied. "Are you OK?"

"Stephen, I'm so sorry…"

"Sssh. Don't say another word," Stephen replied. "We don't know who these men are or what they want."

"They are going to kill us," Olivia said.

"No, they definitely want us alive. They killed one of their own just to get to us" Stephen said, referring to the earlier scene where the kidnappers shot their driver Muhammad. "Olivia, don't say another…."

In that moment, both Olivia and Stephen could smell a sticky, sweaty odor. One of the kidnappers had climbed over from the passenger seat into the back area of the van where Olivia and Stephen were slumped against the vehicle's walls.

Stage 2: ANGER

"No shoot, no shoot," said the male voice, in heavily accented broken English. Neither Olivia nor Stephen could see the face of their kidnapper because their heads were still covered with coarse burlap sacks. But Olivia could sense that the man behind the voice was coming closer toward her because the smell, or rather his stench, was becoming stronger.

Then she felt a rough hand groping at her chest. Olivia screamed. "Don't touch me! Get the fuck off me you fucking pig!" she screamed.

Stephen called out, "Leave her alone! You touch her and I'll kill you!"

The sweaty, stinky man paid neither one of them any mind. It was clear he didn't understand English. He continued to paw Olivia's body.

Olivia squirmed and continued to yell. She began kicking her legs out in wild directions hoping to eventually make contact. The sweaty, stinky man began to laugh but continued to touch her body through her clothes.

From the front of the van, from the driver's side, came a shout: "NABIL!"

The speaker's tone was angry and loud but he was speaking in that foreign language that neither Olivia nor Stephen understand. The groping stopped.

Stage 3: BARGAINING

After what seemed like a couple of hours, the van finally pulled to a stop. The side door slid open and the kidnappers dragged Olivia and Stephen out of the back. With the hoods still over their heads, they were escorted inside a crude, mud house and then put in a small room that was surprisingly cool, considering the rocky, desert like landscape surrounding the house. But the smell inside the house was dank and moldy.

One of the kidnappers took off Olivia's hood. After having her face covered for several hours, it felt good to feel the moist air on her face even though it smelled bad. She inhaled deeply and tilted her head up to look at her captor. "Please, can I have some water?"

The man looked down at her with no indication that he had understood what she had just said. "Please, I'm thirsty. Can I have some water, please" she said again.

The man turned to Stephen and was about to take off his hood when he seemed to reconsider and instead turned and left the room.

Olivia jumped up and jiggled the door handle. It was bolted from the outside. She banged on the door. "PLEASE, WE NEED WATER!"

After a few minutes of kicking and banging on the door, a different man entered the room. He looked different from the other men. Although he physically looked like he was from the region, there was something about his demeanor that seemed Western. Olivia suspected that he spoke English. "Please, do you have water? My friend and I, we need water. We're very thirsty," she said.

The man just looked at her. Olivia decided to take a gamble..."I know that you speak English. Who are you? Why am I here? What do you want?"

The man walked around Olivia in a circle as though he were admiring a museum piece.

"I'm sure this is all some huge mistake. If you're hoping to get a huge ransom for my friend and I, I'm sorry, but our families don't have any money," Olivia said. "Please, let us go. We're worthless to you."

"Worthless?" said the man finally speaking, stopping in his circular tracks. "There couldn't be anything further from the truth."

STAGE 4: DEPRESSION

And before Olivia could say another word, the man placed a gag in her mouth and forced her to sit down on the dirt floor. He took off her hiking boots, removed the shoelaces and then used the laces to bind her wrists together. He then turned to Stephen, who had been sitting silently in the corner, and repeated the same steps. Olivia and Stephen looked helplessly at one another, unable to speak.

STAGE 5: ACCEPTANCE

Day 1 in captivity was now over.