Sold My Soul

Baldie and his friend didn’t move towards me, but I guess there was no reason for them to do so. They were standing between me and my only way out, and I was sure the guy I left in the bathroom would be showing up momentarily. Only one thing to do - scream as loud as fucking possible, and pray someone outside heard me.

Baldie spoke again just as I was about to open my mouth. “Don’t make a sound, or my pal here will blow your brains against the wall.” I didn’t doubt it, so I stayed quiet. “Now, yer gonna be comin’ with us, got it Princess? No fuss, and I promise no one will lay a finger on ya. Ya might even be back here by morning. Sounds like a plan, right?”

Fuck that. I’d rather risk being shot. Luck was not on my side though, since as I was about to yell the guy from the bathroom grabbed me from behind, clapping a hand over my mouth. “You sure aren’t making things any easier for yourself. Just knock her out or something, we gotta get going.”

The third man pulled a handgun out from inside his jacket, holding it by the barrel. The last thing I thought before being pistol-whipped into unconscious was how much it sucked that Jimmy’s condo had a front and back door; no one would see us leave.

***

I noticed three things immediately as I slowly came to, God knows how many hours later.

One, my head felt like it was split down the middle. Understandable, I guess. I could feel dried blood all down one side of my face. Why couldn’t kidnappers ever be gentle?

Two, my hoodie was missing, which was mildly disturbing. However, since all my other clothes were still where they should be, I supposed nothing much could have happened. I should count my blessings, I guess, no matter how small they are.

Three, I was tied by my hands to a pole, in a sitting position, in what seemed to be a rundown old basement. My feet were tied together as well, and a piece of cloth acted as a makeshift gag.

All in all, a pretty fucked up situation.

Whatever this building was, it had definitely seen better says. The basement had never been finished from the looks of it, and the concrete floor was cold and damp. It was almost pitch-black, the only light coming from under a door at the top of a wooden staircase. The entire place was pretty cold and I shivered, wondering where my sweater had gotten to. Better question though, what the hell was going to happen now?

Well, obviously this was Brian’s fault, one way or another. So hopefully he’d show up soon, kick ass like only someone immortal could do, and we could forget about this whole unfortunate incident.

Like that would happen. I wouldn’t be forgetting this any time soon. Not to mention, if I was still alive by the time he got here. If he got here...

I had been sitting in silence for awhile, when the door opened and light flooded down the stairs. “Are you awake yet?”

Are they fucking stupid? Since talking really wasn’t possible, I mumbled something unintelligible. Apparently he heard me though, since a moment later a light switched on, illuminating the entire room. Baldie, the would-be rapist, and two other men wearing ski-masks all came down the stairs, and I did my best to glare at them. Now that I was here, if I was going to die I was going to do it with whatever dignity I could.

Baldie reached down and pulled the gag out of my mouth. “So sorry ‘bout all this, Princess, but ya wouldn’t cooperate. What could we do? Now, let’s try to be as civil as possible, right? I’m Chris, and this is Todd.” he gestured to the bathroom guy. “My other two friends would rather not give their name’s away, hope ya understand.”

I sneered at him. “How fucking stupid do you think I am, Chris, to think that those are your actual names?...and, where’s my fucking sweater?”

Todd scowled, but Chris just laughed. “I kinda like her, ya know? Sucks that we have ta get rid of her. We had to use your hoodie to stop yer head from bleedin’ all over the car.” Oh, how chivalrous.

“Whatever. I’d love nothing more than to shut the bitch up.” Todd growled. Great, he had some kind of grudge against me. Understandable, I suppose, but it’s not like he didn’t deserve it.

“Not yet. Now that she’s awake we need to call Mr. Haner.” one of the masked men pulled a cell phone out of his pocket.

“”Mr. Haner”? What’s with the formalities?” I asked, knowing full-well I should just shut up. “It’s not like you guys are exactly gentlemen.”

They ignored me as the man dialed a number, putting it on speaker. We all listened in silence as it rang...again...and again...this definitely didn’t bode well.

“This is Brian, since I didn’t answer that probably means I don’t like you. Leave a message if you want, but I’m not sure if you should expect me to return the call or not...”

“Well well well, doesn’t this put an interesting little spin on things.” the man holding the phone chuckled, then began to speak again when the phone beeped, signalling to leave a message. “Mr. Haner! Pity you couldn’t pull yourself away from the party; we have something of yours you may want back.” he signaled to Todd, who moved closer to me. Pulling a switchblade out of his pocket, he grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. I couldn’t help but whimper a little from the pain. With my neck exposed he held the blade up; I could feel it barely resting on my throat.

“Best say something...convincing.” he whispered in my ear.

“Um...well, Brian, I’d kind of appreciate it if you’d swing by and pick me up soon.” I said as calmly as I could, deciding not to give these men the satisfaction of seeing me cry and plead.

Chris laughed loudly. “She’s got guts, I’ll give her that.”

“And I’d like to see them all over the goddamn floor.” Todd scowled and let go of me, but not before slamming my head back into the pole. Dazed, I was finding it hard to concentrate on what else they were saying into the phone.

“So it’s three in the morning now. We’ll be here, at Todd’s place, until seven. However, he’s...relocating tomorrow, so if you don’t show up before that, well, I wouldn’t expect to find much left of your girlfriend. You have four hours, Mr. Haner, so we hope to see you soon!” with that the man ended the call, and instead began speaking to the other men in the room. “We should go get ready. God knows if he’ll actually show up or not, so we need to be prepared to leave either way.”

Without another glance towards me, of which I was actually grateful, they headed back towards the stairs, turning off the light on their way up. Surrounded by darkness and alone once again, I finally let a couple tears fall.