ALICE

I screamed as loudly as I could. The zipties around my hands had been hooked onto something so I couldn’t get the bag off my head. Whoever was driving didn’t take kindly to the noise as I shouted for help. We came to a halt and I heard someone moving towards me.

The bag was lifted from my face just enough for me to make out a torso and an arm. Then a rag was shoved into my mouth. I almost choked on it as the bag was yanked back down. Then something was tied around it, holding the cloth in my mouth.

“Save your strength,” a man’s voice said while I tried my best to lash out at him with my bound feet. “There’s a long way to go yet.”

We started moving again. What had I seen when the bag was lifted? Think. There was the interior of a van, the metal shining and new. The torso, the man was wearing a brown jacket. That was all I’d seen. Did it help? Not really.

It’s a funny thing about fear but it can only last so long. No matter how terrifying a situation, your body just can’t keep you scared indefinitely. So, frightened to death as I was, the longer the journey went on, the more I was able to think clearly.

Was this some kind of roleplay? Had I given Ethan the wrong impression? Did he think I wanted to play rough with him? That I would like this?

It didn’t make sense but it was a better thought than the alternative. Because if I thought I was actually being kidnapped then terror would race through me and make it impossible to think. And I needed to think. I needed to think about what I was going to do when we stopped.

It was hard enough just to breathe in the bag let alone think of how to get away. I was sure I’d read somewhere that if you yank your hands apart in just the right way when they’ve been ziptied then you can break free. I tried it but just hurt my hands, nothing else happened.

I squeezed and twisted my ankles but there was no getting them free either. The man’s voice. It had an accent to it. Where was he from?

I found out when the van finally stopped. I had no idea how long I’d been in there but it felt like days. The fear came and went in waves. My wrists and ankles hurt terribly from where I’d tried to free myself and if Ethan was behind this, I had some very strong words planned for him. Roleplay was one thing. This was too much.

“Welcome to Birmingham,” the man said, pulling me out and yanking the bag from my head. I blinked in the light, confused at what I was seeing. It looked exactly like Club Darkness.

So Ethan was behind this. He had to be. Was he a member of this club too?

I spat the rag onto the floor. “Where am I?” I asked as he grabbed my arm. “What’s happening?”

“You’re new workplace,” he replied. That was the accent. Birmingham. How did I not realise?

“My what?”

“Come and see for yourself.”

He took hold of the zipties around my wrists, pulling me over to the door. I thought about fighting him but hopping across the car park told me I wouldn’t be able to run, not until my legs were untied.

He swiped a card and then we were inside. The corridor was painted a different shade of red but otherwise it was just the same as the club in London. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Please, talk to me.”

The man shrugged. “I was just paid to get you here and get you in there.”

“Who paid you?”

“In.” He pushed a door open and I saw a dark room, lit by a single bulb on a table in the corner. There was no carpet, the walls stark. In the centre was a steel cage hanging on a chain, the bottom of it solid metal, the rest vertical bars curving together at the top, like it was designed for a giant bird.

“What the hell is that?” I asked.

“Your new home,” he said, pulling a lever behind him. The cage clanked slowly downwards to the floor as I tried to turn and get away. He grabbed me at once. “Not so fast.”

The cage hit the floor with a thud, the door to it swinging open as he dragged me over. I fought, trying to bite, scratch, anything to stop it. I didn’t care if Ethan wanted this, I didn’t. I was fine with most things but being put in a cage like it was some kind of zoo? That wasn’t happening.

“Let me go,” I screamed. “Let go of me.”

“Each time you complain, you get another hour in there,” he replied, his voice calm as he pushed me through the door. “Now if you’re good, you’ll get those removed.” He nodded to the zipties on my wrists. “If you’re bad, well, someone will enjoy punishing you.”

“Do you mean Ethan? Is this him doing this? Where is he?”

“Ethan can’t help you now.” He slammed the door closed on me, turning the key in the lock before pocketing it. “Enjoy your stay,” he sneered, turning and heading out of the room. Then I was alone.

I looked around me. The bars were too close together to escape but I could get my arms through them. I tried rubbing the zipties on the metal, hoping to wear through them. It didn’t work.

I slumped down and then let out a cry when the cage suddenly started rising up. The chains clanked slowly and I swung slightly in the air. It stopped when I was two feet up. That was when I started to cry.