The Wine Cellar

Nancy couldn't feel the left side of her face when she awoke. All she could remember was lying in her bed next to Slash, but it was to drafty where she was to still be at home. She shivered a bit, reaching for what should have been her covers, but they weren't anywhere to be found. Shooting up, she realized that she couldn't see two inches in front of her. Like a bad drug incident, her vision was blurred beyond repair. Wherever she was however, it was dark, and it was cold. She had no recollection of this place at all, as if it were merely a fragment of a child's dream gone unmistakably wrong. It smelled musty and old like a boot that was meant to be thrown away five or six years ago. Nancy felt around her arms and legs to discover she was lying on cement. "What?" she thought out loud while moving her hands around the damp floor, scanning the ground for anything that would spark a memory or two within her mind. Her palms splashed in puddles of mystery liquid on floor that smelled a lot like wine. Suddenly, accompanied by a bright light, Nancy heard the door open and shut. A strange aroma wafted into the room, straight to Nancy. Rubbing her puffy eyes, she suddenly recognized the cologne she smelt. "Dimitri…" Nancy growled.

Dimitri only laughed, the way a maniacal bastard would laugh. "Where am I? Where is Slash!" Nancy demanded. She felt his slimy, snake-like hand graze her cheek. As Nancy tried to slap it away, something yanked on her fragile wrists. She pulled again and again, but it was no use. "You chained me here?" she asked in disbelief, "Like some dog?"

"I prefer the term bitch thank you." Dimitri mocked. Nancy felt nauseated, knowing that somewhere in Dimitri's mind, his sick fantasies were coming true.

"You never answered me." She pointed out. He laughed again, and Nancy spat on what sounded like his shoe, still unable to see anything. Dimitri growled and forced Nancy's face to the ground, smashing her cheek into her own saliva.

"Don't you ever do that again!" he screamed, "And Slash is still in Snowboard Town, which is far behind. You're in Seattle now bitch." He lifted her head, straining Nancy's already weak neck " I suggest you be nice to your future husband, or there will be consequences." He threw her back on the ground. She coughed a little, but sat up, looking him dead in the face.

"I'll never marry a despicable boy like you."

"I am a man, just as you, are now a woman." Saying this, Dimitri reached around Nancy's waist, laying one hand on each hip. Nancy sucked air in through her teeth, clenched with anger. "I don't know why you fight so much. You gave that pathetic excuse for a nineteen year old everything. I'm everything he isn't and more, so you need to just relax, and love me…not him." As the word "relax" slithered off of Dimitri's forked tongue and between his lips, he slipped one of his fingers into her pocket. Nancy felt around the ground for something….anything to ward him off. She found a shard of broken glass. As he leaned in to kiss her, Nancy, with one fluid motion slit his cheek, just below his lower eyelid.

"Slash, will always be seven times the man you could only dream of being. Touch me again, and I swear to god, I will cut off something that you will miss."

Dimitri sat up and laughed.

"Funny…ha…Slash." Without warning, he slapped Nancy on the face, listening to the echo throughout the Wine Cellar.

"I said to behave….pussy." Dimitri grimaced as he walked out of the cellar, each thump on the ground from his boot bouncing off the walls. The door opened, and a pool of light spilled onto Nancy's face, and then evaporated as he closed the door tight. As soon as he was gone, Nancy began tugging violently against the chains, hoping they would brake in two. She pulled her left wrist back so that the chains hung taut. With her right hand, she followed the iron rod-like chain to the wall. Feeling each damp and cold brick, she tried to locate the hook in which the chains were attached. Her hand grazed a square piece of iron with what felt like a hook. "Bingo," she whispered. She engulfed it with her hand, trying to identify it, just to be sure. The lock and hook was definitely on it. Nancy's vision was still heavily impaired, but she held the lock in her right hand as she searched her head for a bobby pin. Dimitri, it seemed, had already anticipated her attempted escape, for there were no pins left in her hair. "Damnit," she whispered. Placing the lock so that it stuck out, she crawled to the limits of her movement and began scanning the damp floor for anything that could help her. What she found was broken glass, a thick stick, and a small stone. What good could these do me? She thought. Then it hit her.

She placed the stone on the floor, and then the stick on top of the stone, peeling away at the stick with the piece of broken glass. She missed a few times, scraping a few chunks of skin out of her hand. They bled onto the stick and glass, making it sting with every movement. Eventually, she had crafted a toothpick-like, wooden device which she inserted carefully into the lock. As she manipulated the gears, she listened intently for any sign of Dimitri's return, hearing her heart pumping in and out of sync with her throbbing head. As the lock fell to the ground, and the chains loosened, she flung them off as quietly as possible, opting not to bring attention to herself.

Dropping the wood, she kept the glass and stone as a form of weapons system. Her vision was getting slightly better. She could see well enough, missing only simple details. She tiptoed quietly up the stone stairway to the door, hoping that Dimitri was not on the other side. She lifted the door slightly, checking out the scene. Two men stood about five or six feet away from the door with their backs turned to her. From what Nancy could hear, they were talking about Dimitri's plans with her and what he was going to do about Slash. She climbed out very quietly and walked down the hall behind the door without making a sound.

Nancy tried to identify where she was, but couldn't. It was all new territory to her now. After all, this was Seattle, not exactly her home turf. She now found herself in a long, dark hallway. Taking great caution, she followed it to a light down at the other end. Hopefully, she would find herself in the streets, where no one could easily detect her presence. The hallway ended at a reception desk. While someone was sitting there, Nancy got the feeling that she didn't know Nancy wasn't supposed to be out of the cellar. Nancy was able to slip away, out the front door. Dimitri wasn't outside, and Nancy laughed a little, thinking she had just escaped disaster, stress free. She looked up, hoping to see the cloudless sky. Instead, she was looking directly into a security camera. Her jaw dropped, and she took off in a full speed sprint. When the alarm sounded, she turned around to see about five different secret police and Dimitri chasing after her. The chase had begun.

"Get back here Nancy!" Dimitri yelled, seeing Nancy turn a sharp left. Nancy was running faster than she had ever run in her entire life. She wasn't far enough ahead of the police to seek shelter in a nearby shop, but couldn't keep up like this. If only I had a…Nancy stopped. "Snowboard," She thought out loud. Running inside the tiny shop and throwing all the money she had on the desk, Nancy grabbed a board and some gear.

Dimitri turned a corner, followed by his guards. "Well…where'd she go? FIND HER!" He ordered. All of the sudden, Nancy burst out of the board shop and began boarding down the snowy streets of Seattle. "After her!" Dimitri screamed, grabbing a board and some gear of his own. People in the streets and sidewalks jumped out of the way of the chase as Nancy and Dimitri zoomed by. Thinking quickly, Nancy tried to find a place to hide, but nowhere was good enough. She knew what she had to do…

…

She was just afraid to do it.

"Is she getting on the freeway!" A guard yelled in confusion.

"Nancy's bold," Dimitri answered, "But not that bold."

Nancy however, was that bold, and as she hit mainland traffic, Nancy began to wonder if taking the freeway was such a good idea. Dimitri and Nancy weaved in and out of traffic, but Nancy was gaining distance against him. After almost getting hit by a Volvo, Nancy decided it was time to get off. She sped onto the off-ramp, praying for an open intersection at the other end. As she zoomed through, she saw the giant letters OMNICORP ENTERPRISES perched atop a giant one hundred and seven story building. That was her place to hide. She did a front flip, unhooking herself from her board while in the air. Landing on her feet, Nancy ran inside Omnicorp, formulating a plan.

Dimitri zoomed off of the ramp. "Damnit! We lost her!" he screamed. Then something caught his eye. It was the snowboard Nancy was using. Dimitri smiled a very evil smile. "Everybody. Inside Omnicorp…now!"