CHAINED EPISODE 2

I was really afraid. And felt some rage. At the same time I was troubled by unpleasant thoughts about what was going to happen to me. I detested this helplessness. This nightmare. No matter how hard I tried to concentrate on something else – to pass the time and to distract myself from the situation I was in – the fear came trickling out. It hovered like a cloud of gas around me, threatening to penetrate my pores and poison me. I had discovered that the most effective method of keeping the fear at bay was to fantasize about something that gave me a feeling of strength. I closed my eyes and conjured up the smell of gasoline…

“….I burned her. Yes. She was sitting in a car with the window rolled down. I ran to the car fast enough, with a small jerican and poured the gasoline through the window, and lit a match. It took only a moment. The flames blazed up. She writhed in agony and I heard her screams of terror and pain. As I walked away. I could smell burned flesh and a more acrid stench of plastic and upholstery turning to carbon in the seats….”

I must have dozed off, because I did not hear the footsteps, but I was wide awake when the door opened. The light from the doorway blinded me. He had come to check on me, or is it to check me out at any rate?

He was tall. He was in his early thirties. He was also handsome. He smelled of aftershave. I hated the smell of him. He stood at the foot of the bed and observed me for a long time. I hated his silence. I could see him only in silhouette from the light in the doorway. Then he spoke to me. He had a dark, clear voice that stressed, pedantically, each word.
I hated his voice. He asked how my day was. His tone was not unfriendly or ironical. It was neutral. I thought that he was smiling. I hated him. He came closer and went around to the head of the bed. He laid the back of a moist hand on my forehead and ran his fingers along my hairline in a gesture that was probably intended to be friendly. Or so I thought. I hated his touch.

Episode 3.

I saw his mouth move, but I shut out the sound of his voice. I did not want to listen. I did not want to answer. I heard him raise his voice. A hint of irritation at my failure to respond. He talked about mutual trust. After a few minutes he stopped. I ignored his gaze. Then he shrugged and began adjusting my leather straps. He tightened the harness across my chest a bit and leaned over. I twisted suddenly to the left, away from him, as abruptly as I could and as far as the straps would allow. I pulled up my knees to my chin and kicked hard at his head. I aimed at his Adam‟s apple and the tip of my toe hit him somewhere below his jaw, but he was ready for that and turned away so it was only a light blow. I tried to kick again, but he was out of reach.

I let my legs sink back down onto the bed. The sheet slid down onto the floor. My dress had slid up above my hips. He stood still for a long time without saying a word. Then he walked around the bed and
tightened the foot restraint. I tried to pull my legs up, but he grabbed hold of one ankle, forced my knee down with his other hand, and fastened my foot with a leather strap. He went around the bed and tied down the other foot.
Now I was utterly helpless.

He picked up the sheet from the floor and covered me. He watched in silence for two minutes. I could sense his excitement in the dark, even though he did not show it. He
undoubtedly had an erection. I knew that he would reach out and touch me. But he didn’t. He quickly turned and left, closing the door behind him as he bolted it, which was totally unnecessary because I had no way of getting free from the bed.

I lay for several minutes looking at the narrow strip of light over the door. Then moved and tried to feel how tight the straps were. I could pull my knees up a bit, but the harness and the foot restraints grew taut immediately. I relaxed. Lay still. Staring at nothing. Waiting. I thought about the gasoline can and the match again.

“….I saw her drenched with gasoline. I could actually feel the box of matches in my hand as I shook it. It rattled. I opened the box and selected a match. I heard her say something, but I shut my ears, did not listen to the words. I saw the expression on her face as I moved the match towards the striking surface. I then heard the scraping sound of sulphur. It sounded like a drawn-out thunderclap as the match burst into flame. I smiled a hard smile and steeled myself. I had become heartless. Before I knew it… Milly Juma was up in flames….”

Episode 4 (The Kidnap)

Clutching my belongings close to my chest, I made my way down the chipping sidewalk. It was late and dark out, the only production of light coming from the moon. Which isn’t a very dependable light source when it comes to roaming the streets at nearly midnight. Sauntering through the deserted streets, I slowed for a moment and took in my surroundings. There were no streetlights at all. And no pedestrians besides myself walking the sidewalks.

Just something about the emptiness of the streets made me become slightly nervous of being out here alone, walking home from my late night shift I had. I was a journalist at an high end media house. And I had dirt that would destroy empires. Dirt on the people who literally own the country. If what I had came out, lives would be destroyed. And houses would crumble.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my friend Tony’s number, it rang a few times as I waited impatiently for him to pick up. As the answering machine began to play, I hung up and groaned, proceeding down the sidewalk in the direction of my neighborhood.

The farther I walked, the more I began to feel this subtle uneasiness rise in me. Not enjoying the feeling, I picked up my pace as I trudged along, my feet smacking against the sidewalk.

As my shoes echoed loudly off the concrete, the erie silence contrasted with the heavy sounds, making me become more alert to the area around me. And the more I listened to my own footsteps, I could have swore I heard another pair moving in sync with mine.

Quickly turning around, I looked around and saw nothing but pitch black darkness. My eyes furrowed in confusion as the duplicant steps ceased as I had. I shook my head, clearly hearing things as I hesitantly turned around and kept going. My pace picking up another notch in hopes to make it home faster.
It wasn’t long before I heard the second pair of footsteps again, nearly sure that what I am hearing can’t be my imagination. I felt so nervous and scared to the point I thought I was going to throw up, a feeling my mere mind can’t just force upon me.

Episode 5 (Still on the Kidnap)

Almost instantly, I heard a crashing noise behind me causing my breath to hitch in my throat. My breathing became shallow as the first thing I was ever taught to do in situations like this crossed my mind.
I ran.
I ran as fast as my legs would allow, nearly tripping as I went. I glanced across the street, noticing the only light pole I have seen in this neighborhood. I rolled my eyes at the irony of the situation, finding it funny somehow. I had found myself walking home from work alone. Tony had been picking me up and dropping me off since forever. Though tonight, plans had obviously changed since he had a date with this girl named Mary, who he had been wanting to take out for a while. And being the good bestfriend I am, it left me with no other choice but to walk home that late.

Sighing, I kicked a couple pebbles on the side walk, watching my breath visualize in front of me. Taking any thoughts of me being followed and pushing them back as I continued with my normal routine. I hugged my jacket closer to me, looking around again. Being extra careful now that I have this newly developed fear in the back of my head. Goosebumps had risen on my arms as the uneasiness that came upon me and I shuddered. And of course, my trophy of clumsiness had to asset its proclamation of victory as I had caught my shoestring under my shoe and stumbled to the ground. Dropping my purse and the viscera falling out. I bent down and began to pick up my essentials when I felt I a shiver run down my spine, making my eyes flutter closed from the chilled sensation. I stood up quickly, placing my purse on my shoulder before I had bumped into a hard object. I looked up in surprise as I was met with a man standing in front of me, his height towering over mine. I opened my mouth to scream but a hand clapped over my mouth muffling me to silence.

He quickly pushed a damp rag over my mouth before I could let out any sound of protest for him to just simply let me, no matter how stupid that may have been. I began to squirm as he held me in place, tears falling from my eyes as I did everything in my power to attempt to escape his hold. I slowly began to lose my senses as he lifted a hand from my mouth and caressed my cheek, my body becoming frozen by his touch.

“Shh, shh.” He spoke giving me chills, as my eyes fluttered from the chloroform laced in the rag, “Sleep tight, lady. Sleep tight.”