Chapter 4
Gemma
After what seems like hours, the van finally grinds to a halt. Dizzy with pain, I sit up a bit and crane my head, trying to see out the front windshield. Instead, all that gets me is another whack to the head.
“Unnh,” I grunt through the gag. “Rrrfff.”
“Shut up,” says my attacker. “You’re nothing but a fucking gash.”
The men have since taken their masks off again, and suddenly, one of them pops the back door open, letting in a glaring ray of sunlight. It’s hard to believe that the robbery, assault, and kidnapping all happened in the bright light of day, but there you go. Clearly, this crew isn’t afraid of being caught.
One of the men grabs my elbow and drags me out of the van, my knees and elbows getting scraped along the way.
“Rrrrh!” I protest.
“Shut up,” he snarls before jerking me to my feet. The bright glare of sunlight makes me squint and I look around, expecting to see … well, I’m not sure what. I suppose I expected a clubhouse of some type with a pirate flag and some skulls on bloody spikes for good measure. But instead, I see a diner called Sal’s. It’s really normal looking, with a faded blue awning and deserted parking lot. It looks like the type of place you might go for brunch with your family.
But then I look more closely and see that in fact, there don’t appear to be any people inside. There are no cars in the parking lot either. Other than the cement structure and the black asphalt sizzling in the desert heat, there’s no one here but us. It’s just acres and acres of sand all around. Where the hell are we? It’s the middle of nowhere. But who comes to a diner in the middle of nowhere? Wouldn’t Sal’s be better off located near some gas stations and maybe a highway entrance?
Squinting in the light, I see a faded red “Closed” sign in the window of the restaurant, and my shoulders slump. My kidnappers clearly aren’t taking me to lunch. Something nefarious is going to happen, like me being murdered in this lonely place and my body left in a giant dumpster in back. Oh no. What do I do now?
But before I can formulate a plan, one of the guys grabs my elbow and drags me, stumbling, to the front door of Sal’s.
“Open it,” he grunts at one of his friends.
“This isn’t my fault,” the smaller man whines while unlocking the door. “I didn’t ask to bring her. It all happened so fast, and no one knew where the hospital was except her!”
“Shut up,” my captor grunts. “Come on,” he says.
We step into the interior of Sal’s, which looks like the set of a diner from the fifties that no one’s set foot in for years. The leather upholstery on the booths is faded and cracked, with foam stuffing popping out in some places. The counter’s the kind that makes a U-shape, with bar stools placed along one side, and in back I can make out an ancient refrigerator that’s long stopped working. Dust an inch thick covers every item of furniture, not to mention the floor.
“I have asthma,” wheezes one guy. “We need to get out of here.”
“Shut up Wiz,” says my captor, “Just shut up. Fuck, you guys are like schoolgirls instead of a crew. Damn.”
He hustles me to the back of the restaurant and through a set of doors. We move down a hallway with peeling linoleum floors and paint cracking off the walls.
“Come on,” he says, stopping before a gray door.
“Rmmm?” I grunt through my gag.
“Someone take it off her,” he says tiredly. “There’s no one here. No one’s going to hear.”
Invisible hands tear my gag free and I cough at first, bending over and hacking. There really is a lot of dust in this place.
“Where are we?” I manage in a hoarse whisper, tears smarting my eyes. “What is this place?”
“You’ll see,” says one of the guys dryly. “It’s no place you want to be, but I guess it’s too late for that now.”
Suddenly, the door before us whisks open and I start in shock. It looked like a normal door, but in fact, it hid an elevator. I’m hustled into the small cube with three of my grimy attackers, and then the door shuts once more before locking with an ominous click.
“All the way down,” says my captor grimly, still grabbing my elbow for good measure. “We’re going deep for this one.”
One man presses a button on a box he has in his hand, and with a jolt, the elevator begins to move. Or more accurately, it begins to descend into the bowels of the Earth. How is this possible? I thought we were at Sal’s Diner, which should have a kitchen, a dining area, and maybe a rest area for the staff. Plus, a basement where they keep supplies and whatnot. But instead, we’re descending at light speed, so fast that we must be a few miles beneath the surface. What is going on?
I shrink into the corner of the elevator, warily eyeing my captors. The three men are weak-looking in their black outfits, their balaclavas pulled up to their foreheads. They’re stringy and small, with rough hands and dirty fingernails. Can I take them? I’ve heard that when you’re kidnapped, you have to fight your hardest at the beginning, otherwise you risk being dragged into even more danger. And clearly, that’s what’s happening. I’m being escorted into some underground dungeon, where escape will be even more difficult if I don’t act now.
So despite my curvy shape, I give myself no time to think it over. I have to try, or risk even more danger to myself. Lifting my elbow, I smack one guy in the face with simultaneously kicking his friend in the balls.
“Aaaagh!” he screeches, grabbing at his crotch while doubling over in pain.
“Eeee!” screams the other as he grabs his face futilely, blood spurting between his hands. That leaves only one man left. I tackle him and push him to the ground, our limbs tangling in the small space. Desperately, I try to wrench the box from his hands. The box is controlling this elevator, and I need to go up and out, not down to wherever we’re headed.
“Which button gets us out of this hellhole?” I scream, my face red with fear and exertion. But I’m not waiting for an answer, because taking advantage of the situation, I knee him in the groin before reaching one hand down to grab his balls and twist. His face goes white, then purple, and he lets out a burble of pain.
“Eeeef!” is his high-pitched squeak. “Fuuuuck!”
“Out!” I scream again. “I have to get out!”
I snatch the box from his hands and begin pressing every button on the surface. One of these has to do something. But it’s too late because the elevator’s already grinding to a halt, and I scramble to my feet. My three captors are lying on the floor, howling and groaning in pain as they clutch various body parts. I’m ready to attack whoever shows their face once this door slides open.
But when the doors finally hiss open, the man standing on the other side makes me go still with shock. He’s gorgeous and huge, dressed in an immaculate black suit with a white button-down underneath. He’s got coal-black hair, piercing blue eyes, and cheekbones that could cut glass. He definitely doesn’t look like the type to mix with the men who just kidnapped me.
And evidently, the sight that greets him isn’t what he expected either. One black eyebrow raises as he takes in my curvy, panting form holding the controller as the three lowlifes grunt and moan with pain on the ground.
“Well, well, well,” the tall man remarks. “Looks like she got the best of you, huh fellas? Come on in, Gemma. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Oh my god. How does this man know my name? How does he know what happened? I stare into his amused gaze and swallow. Somehow, with this man, I know I’m in more danger than ever before.