“Let’s go, please,” Reina begs, tugging at my sleeve. She doesn’t like when people are drunk. My cup makes contact with the person in front of me and drops to the floor. Red liquid pools beneath our feet.
“Just… wait, okay?” I say in my defiant, drunk voice. “A little bit more.”
“I really have to go now,” she pleads, and once I look away from the curly-headed boy dancing in front of me, and see that her eyes are filling with tears, I sigh. I turn and shove my way through dancing, singing and kissing people. Reina follows closely behind.
“Why’re you such a baby?” I taunt. “Just live a little. This is the first party you ever attended this whole year, and I had to drag you here.”
“I don’t like crowded places,” she says in a small voice. “I told you.”
“Let’s just go home,” I say in frustration, pulling out my phone that’s on 3%. “I’ll call an Uber.”
Our driver arrives a few minutes later. We climb into the car, sitting shoulder to shoulder. The man looks in the rearview mirror, his green eyes filled with irritation.
Not only was the car tiny, but it was also slow and made weird sounds. Every time we passed over a bump, me and Reina would practically hit our heads on the roof of this stupid goddamn car.
I don’t remember what happened, but I suddenly began feeling ill to my stomach. A terrible headache tortured me, so I leaned against the cool glass of the window.
I fell asleep. Or maybe unconscious. I don’t really know.
I remember waking up at a dark place that definitely was not my bedroom. My mouth tasted funny, and I smelled something strong - cleaning chemicals, maybe.
I got up in a state of panic, but was forced back down because of the throbbing headache, and the fact that my arms and legs were tied together. I felt as if I was on the verge of vomiting.
I turned my head slightly to see Reina a few feet to my left side. Her mouth was taped - then I realized mine was, too - and there was a cut on the side of her forehead. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she made eye contact with me.
I would have screamed if my mouth wasn’t taped so tightly. My body felt like it was floating - not in a good way. My brain seemed to be setting off alarms - Danger! Danger! Danger!
Then I forced my eyes to look around the room to find any clues on where we were. We were in a small, cold room with cement floors. The room had a tiny window near the door, which was locked shut.
There was no furniture, only a cardboard box near the front door. No sound. Just the strong smell of acid and rot.
I looked through the window. It was definitely night time. Around 2 am, maybe.
I looked back at Reina, alarmed and horrified. Was this some type of stupid joke, or were we really…
That’s when the driver walks in. The Uber driver. I curse myself mentally.
My heart seems to be jumping about in my chest. Reina seems to be really panicking, because she starts making these wailing sounds that puppies make. Her chest goes up and down with her deep breathing.
On the inside I was screaming. Panicking. On the verge of tears.
Shut the fuck up and focus, I tell myself. You need to be calm in this situation. But my body refuses. My eyes begin to pool with tears and I feel my throat close in.
The driver smiles down at us. For such a tall man, he sure was skinny. His hair was dark with a few white strands. His green eyes looked down at us with irritation once again.
I watched in panic as he made way towards the box at the corner of the room. He lifted it with difficulty and brought it over to us.
Then he produced a gun from his pocket. My heart dropped to my shoes. Reina sucked in a breath and began screaming.
“Be quiet,” the man hissed. He put the gun away and smiled again.
“You’ll do as I say so,” he begins slowly, his voice raspy. “Or I shoot. Deal?”
I can’t even nod my head. I’m in shock. Reina doesn’t either.
“Sweet.” He sighs, but his smile is still on. “Oh, and,” he takes my phone out of his pocket. Places it under his foot. Stomps on it.
But it doesn’t break.
He doesn’t care, though. He ignores the phone and licks his lips as he looks at me and my friend.
“Now,” he says, turning over and opening up the box. He produces, with glee, pieces of pine boards and a bunch of other tools. “I’ll give you time to play.”
A chill runs down my spine. Reina is thrashing like a crazy animal. I’m a second away from doing the same.
“You can do anything you want with these,” he gestures to the tools in the box. My brain doesn’t comprehend.
Through talking, he never once stops smiling. “Well,” he says in a low tone, as if playing with a kitten. “You can build anything you want, but what use is that? Maybe you should build something more… practical. Usable.”
He eyes the gun and caresses the trigger with his bony fingers.
I don’t understand anything he’s saying. For a moment.
Until it hits me. He wants us to build our own coffins.
A wave of nausea washes over me. I thank the lord I don’t vomit because if I did, I would have died from pulmonary aspiration.
I pull against the tape, but it’s tied too hard. Through his grin, the man gets up, the gun in hand, and unties me and Reina’s arms using large scissors, but that’s it.
We can move about, but we can’t get up. Our feet are tied, and I would need something like scissors to cut it through, but this guy was smart enough to not include that in the box.
Reina sobs and heaves noisily. I suck deep breaths in and out and watch the kidnapper.
He turns to the door and gets out into the cold night. I catch a glimpse of trees and the moon and the faded sky.
“The door is locked,” he whispers before shutting it. “Have fun.” For a moment I see his eyes watch us through the crack.
Once he disappears, Reina screams, “What are we going to do?” she sobs, taking large breaths. “I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. Please.”
I wipe my face and begin thinking of a plan. My eyes swat over to my screen-smashed phone in the corner. Never mind. He’s not smart at all.