Reduced to Ruin

Chapter 4

It was pretty dark when I awoke. I could see a couple body shapes and moving shadows as we drove along the highway. Maybe if I closed my eyes I could leave this nightmare and go back to my normal life.

Then the pain hit me—my left eye and shoulder were killing me. I touched my face where Dan had had hit me and felt the swelling. I reached up with my right hand, but it suddenly jerked to a stop. My wrist was chained to the side of the van. The handcuff was on so tightly my pinky finger was tingling.

"She's come to."

I recognized Dan's voice and glanced over. In the night reflections I could barely make out Dan's and James's silhouettes. Dan inched over to my side, and I inched closer to the wall of the van, letting out a little puppy yelp.

"I warned you about cooperating. You don't want to push us." Dan caressed my bruised cheek, and it stung like deeply embedded splinters. I moaned from the pain.

"How about some ice for that?" Dan pointed to my face. I shook my head. What a caring bastard.

"Suit yourself."

I glanced at the rear windows, and it was already getting dark. It must've been at least ten hours since I was kidnapped, being it was early November and getting dark so much earlier. I assumed it was the same day. I had lost all bearing and felt nauseous from being out of control. I estimated that if we were still going east through Arizona, we would be in the New Mexico area by now.

I made a gagging sound and turned to my left side. Before I knew it, James lifted my face up a bit, supported my body, and placed a plastic bag in front of me. I tried vomiting but was only dry heaving. It sounded and tasted terrible—acid was the only thing that came up.

"I think she needs to eat," Tyler chimed in from the front.

"Maybe some 7-Up will settle her stomach," Dan added.

Nothing was going to help my stomach, though, except a nice nap in my own bed. And that dream was fading to black.

Dan reached into the cooler, pulled out a 7-Up, and popped it open. James nudged me to sit all the way up, against the wall of the van. The pain registered in waves as I slowly pulled myself up. My feet tingled and burned. My hands still burned from the skin scraped off on the wall—so long ago.

"Here, sip some of this. You're probably sick from nerves and not eating all day."

His voice was soothing and paternal, and I wanted to spit in his face. I took the can with my shaking free left hand, but I couldn't bear to drink. Just the thought of it made me sicker. I held the can in my lap.

"Thank you," I said. What was it about manners that became so automatic people said them even when they didn't intend to?

Dan and James kept staring at me, waiting for me to drink. As if to follow their every command, I took a small sip, trying to steady my hand. I could feel every drop go down my throat, and the carbonation felt surprisingly soothing.

"You really threw us for a loop earlier, Corrine," James confided. I stared at the soda can.

"I know you're having a hard time grasping all of this, but the sooner you accept where you are, the better off you'll be," Dan added.

"And where am I, exactly?" I inquired, with a hint of sarcasm. I hadn't meant it to come out that way, but it did.

They glanced at each other for a moment. James reached over to the cooler, grabbed a Coke, opened it, and took a big swig, masking a carbonated burp that inevitably followed when one drank that fast.

"Well, let's just say you're on your way to a new and better life," James said matter-of-factly.

"What life? I have no life. You took that away from me this morning," I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

"I know it seems like that," James replied. "But believe me, as long as you cooperate and don't cause us any problems, then there won't be any for you, either. Understand?"

They were a broken record. I didn't buy it for a second. I was sure they were going to rape and kill me, or worse. I wiped the image from my mind of my body cut up in pieces and left all over the desert.

"Now, sip your 7-Up and try to relax. It's dark now. And you've had a long day. We can talk more when we get home."

When we get home . . .

I sat there, sipping my drink and trying to block out everything. I focused on the white noise of the engine, closed my eyes, and thought of home. The pain kept tapping on my eyelids, though.

It was dinnertime. People must've known I'd gone missing by then. I was normally home by five-thirty at the latest, and if I hadn't appeared for the deposition, my boss would know as well. Surely, someone would notify the police. If luck was really on my side, Lisa had seen my car still parked this morning. That would give the police an early jump. Hell, they could be right on our tails at this very moment.

But I was kidding myself. No knight-in-shining-armor was coming to save me. Probably no one saw me abducted. Lisa probably didn't notice my car still parked. And even if Lisa did, the police didn't do anything about a missing person for at least twenty-four hours.

No, if anyone was going to save me, it would have to be me, myself, and I. Somehow, I would have to find my happily-ever-after all by myself.

Hi, everyone! Thanks for finishing Chapter 4. Please feel free to make any comments/feedback, and I'd appreciate any votes.