Taken

I woke with a sandy taste in my mouth. It was dark and my eyes could only make out a few shapes in what little light was in this cold room. Goose-flesh prickled my skin as I realized just how cold it was. I rubbed my bare shoulders and held my knees to my chest in an attempt to conserve what small amount of heat I had left. 

Panic started to set in as I realized I have no memory of how I got here or where I was.


As my vision cleared I searched my mind in an attempt to remember. Slowly, my memory began to sharpen. Bits and pieces fell into place, colorful lights, the smell of alcohol... That explains the tiny, red dress wrapped around my body.


Once my vision finally cleared, I looked around the room. What I saw made me sick. There was a dirty mattress in one corner with a thin blanket balled up at the foot of it. In the other corner, a large bucket. That's when I realized the stench of urine and feces in the air. I choked down vomit.


In front of me were a set of concrete stairs that led to a metal door. Small amounts of light flickered in through the cracks between the door and the wall. Still a bit dizzy, I crawled up the stairs to the door, ignoring the stinging pain in my knees as my flesh scraped against the concrete. There was no handle. I slammed my fist against the door and screamed for help, the more I screamed the more I felt the hysteria in my voice. Tears filled my eyes and I wailed against the door until my fists became numb from the pain.


Where was I? Why wasn't anybody coming? I pressed my cheek against the concrete floor and peered under the door. The bright, green color of grass burned my eyes. I couldn't see more than that so I sat up and peered through a crack on the side of the door. Fields stretched out across the land, only a few tiny specs of buildings within view. Nothing was familiar. I was in a small town, alone.


The panic was in full, agonizing force now. That's when I remember his face. His charming smile and menacing dark eyes. Ignoring my gut, I let the alcohol take over. We danced and he offered to take me home. What a mistake I made. With my back to him, we walked in the dark to my car and then suddenly my world went black. I knew what this meant. I didn't want to accept what my eyes were telling me. That's when I realized, I'd been taken.