ANNA

 

I'm in a small dark room with only a solitary light hanging above my head. It hangs from the ceiling, swinging gently to a light breeze from an air-conditioner unit overhead. I look around the room and I don't see anyone here. The last thing I remember is looking at the steel door in the safe room and seeing that it was cracked open.

Everything after that is blank.

I don't know if I was drugged or if it's just something else. I've heard stories about people blacking out in times of great stress, and maybe that's what's going on here. I don't know. I don't care. I just have to figure out how to save myself because right now I'm relying on Zane saving me and I don't want to be a damsel in distress.

He's already taught me so much today. He's taught me how to be strong. He's taught me so much more than that, though; he's taught me things about myself that I didn't even know. But somehow he knew them. That's the touch of an amazing man, I suppose. That's the touch of someone special in this life and he is special. Very special.

He’s someone that I'm going to hold onto.

Before today, I never knew how strong I was. And maybe I just became stronger today or maybe I’ve always been strong. It doesn’t really matter either way.

Tears try to fight their way out of the corner of my eyes, but I suppress them. Who knows who could be watching? One of the things Zane told me was to never show any weakness. And I have no plans on showing them anything other than what they want to see.

No matter how dire the circumstances, I refuse to let them inside my head. I refuse to give in or surrender. I refuse to wave a white flag in the air. Maybe that's who I used to be, but it's not who I am anymore.

Today I'm a different Anna Lewis than I was yesterday. No matter what happens next, there's no way I could ever go back to being the same girl anymore. There's no way I could go back to living a sheltered life after having experienced what I've been through today.

Zane was right.

Things like this change people. And for the first time, I feel a little bit of sympathy for people like Mitch and his cronies. Because I imagine there was a time when they weren’t completely consumed by their evil hearts. There was a time when they weren’t so jaded and focused on hurting others. They probably used to love people other than themselves but somehow, somewhere they took a wrong turn.

Maybe it's stupid to feel the slightest bit of sympathy for my kidnappers, but that's just who I am. I have a good heart and I can't change that. Nor would I want to. A good heart is the one thing in this world nobody can ever steal from you. You can only give it away. You can always sell it. But nobody can ever, ever, ever take that away from you. Is the one thing that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

And with this heart, I think I'm falling in love with Zane. That's why I can't bear to go out this way. If I'm going to die today, then I want to die in his arms. But that's enough thinking like that.

I force myself to think positive, which is a little difficult given the circumstances. But I don't allow myself to think negatively anymore. I don't allow myself to get caught up in whatever or to even think about the prospect of dying.

"I'm not going to die today," I mumble under my breath, and I mumble it again until I actually believe it. And when I do believe it, that's when I start to fight. That's when I become a warrior.

With my hands tied behind my back and hooked around the back of a chair, I am defenseless. But that doesn't mean I have to stay that way. I look around my surroundings once more and there’s nobody in front of me, that much I know for sure. So I crane my head over my shoulder and take a look behind me and I don't see anyone there either.

I began to struggle. Struggle against the ropes tying me in place and struggle against the wooden chair. The wooden chair scratches against the rough surface beneath me. Though I'm wearing shoes, I can estimate that the surface beneath me is concrete. Maybe that means I'm in the basement or maybe it doesn't. I don't know.

All I know is that I have to free myself because I can't count on anyone saving me. Not even Zane.  I throw all the weight of my body to the right, causing the chair to wobble on its feet. I throw myself to the left and it wobbles again. I finally throw my weight all my way backwards, sending the chair down onto the concrete with a loud thud.

While I'm groaning out loud in pain, it escapes my mind that the chair is now broken until I'm able to wrangle my hands out from behind me and slide out of the ropes. It takes me a good few seconds to climb to my feet, and though my arms are sore from colliding with the concrete, I'm more than ready for the action. With my eyes zoned in straight ahead at the door in front of me, I'm a woman on a mission. I rip open the door and rush outside without even checking to make sure the coast is clear. Because what difference does it make? If there are people out here in the hallway, then I'm screwed either way. I'm unarmed and unskilled with my fist and body.

Thankfully, there’s nobody out here with me. It's just me, myself, and I. And given the dire circumstances, the Anna Lewis I woke up as today would not be okay with this. But now I'm more than okay with this. Because I have to be, because I don't have a choice, not anymore. These men have ripped away any choice I've had in the matter. And though I never would have killed someone before, if it comes to it I am more than prepared.

As I make my way down the long length of the hall, I begin thinking about how odd it is that there is nobody down here watching me. When we first came into this tower and made our first escape, there were at least fifteen men in this building with us. My question is—where are they now?

I suppose Zane could have taken care of them and if he did, I would be cheering him on. But the last time I saw him, he was slipping away into the bathroom. For all I know, he’s still locked inside the safe room. There are a thousand different scenarios that could've happened between the time I blacked out and woke up downstairs. Hell, I could have woken up in this basement days later for all I know. However, I feel as if I would probably be a little hungrier than I am and a little more dehydrated too. Although my throat is dry, I think I would know if it had been more than 24 hours since my last sip of liquid. I come to an intersection in the hallway and peek my head around the corner. Now is the time I need to start being stealthy.

I've managed to make it too far on my own to get caught now. The coast seems to be clear so I jump out into the intersection and make a beeline for the elevator. I reach the steel doors and press the up button causing the light to light up behind it.

I tap my fingers nervously against my jeans as I wait for the elevator to descend. On the digital monitor beside the elevator, in red letters, it says the elevator is now descending. And it's coming from the top floor.

I weigh my options in my head. By anyone's calculations, taking the elevator would be the quickest way to get to the top of the building. And since somebody is coming down from that particular floor right now, I feel as if that's where I need to go. However, there are other variables to take into consideration. For example, anyone could stop the elevator at anytime and get on.

There is always the choice to take the stairwell. Now while I'm not in horrible shape, I don't think I'm active enough to be able to run up seventy flights of stairs. I don't know many people who are. In fact, the last time I tried running a marathon, for charity nonetheless, I didn't make it past the first mile.

It's a difficult decision but I resolve myself to wait for the elevator. I figure I'd rather take my chances on the elevator because at least I know I stand a chance of actually reaching the 70th floor. Just as a shadow passes over my back, I feel a quick breeze of wind. I twist around on my feet instinctively but there's nobody there. My spine runs cold and shivers go down my arms. Goosebumps appear all over my body. Suddenly, it's like a temperature has dropped twenty degrees.

"Hello?" I call out as low as a whisper and then instantly school myself mentally for behaving like a cliché girl in a horror film. Everyone knows the last thing you should do when you feel like you're being watched or stalked is to call out hello.

I try to convince myself that it's just my mind playing tricks on me. I am in a dark space and I am facing terrifying circumstances, so it wouldn't be unjustified to be afraid of the tiniest things even. I twist around to face the elevator once more and see that it is now on the 32nd floor.

This is taking way too long. I second-guess my choice to take the elevator.

And then again… A shadow passes over me.

I spin around on my feet once more, readying my fists so that they are square with my shoulders. My eyes search all around me, looking in every crack and in every corner. But there’s still nobody there. Nobody that I can see anyways.

I take a measured step forward to try and get a better view. I take a few more steps until I'm back at the same corner I just rounded, the same corner I just came from. With one hand held steady against the wall, I crane my head around the corner to look to see if anyone's there. But again, there's nobody. I know they could be hiding in the shadows or they could be hiding behind anything and that's the thought that terrifies me.

I retreat backwards towards the elevator, taking slow careful steps backwards. And then there it is again…

The same shadow passing over me and a quick gust of wind. And then a hand closes over my mouth. The hand is calloused and rough and for a split second I almost believe that it's Zane. And in those brief moments, I sigh from relief against the man's hand. But as he starts dragging me backwards roughly, I quickly realize that it is not Zane.

My heart just about breaks out of my chest like it an inmate breaking out of prison. My eyes search around the room, looking for something, anything that could help me out of this position I found myself in. But it's just me and this man and there’s no one here to help me, and I have no tools available at my disposal. All I've got is my body. The palm of his hand somehow slips into my mouth enough so I'm able to chomp down with my teeth.

The man curses under his breath and groans out in pain. He recoils slightly so that his grip on my mouth loosens a little bit. I take this opportunity to make my next move. I jab my elbow backwards landing against his chest with a crack. And then I do it again.

This time, I manage to free myself from his grip as he stumbles backwards. I spin around on my feet and arch my leg back and then kick it forward to land right at his privates. His hand drops to cup his dick and I want to feel sorry for him, but the girl who would feel sorry for him went out the window the second these people decided to kidnap me. Everything that happens now is a consequence of their very actions.

I rush forward and knee him in the face as hard as I can. His nose cracks and blood splatters onto my knee first and then the concrete floor next. I may not be a doctor but I'm smart enough to know that he's probably going to be out of commission for the rest of the night. I drop down to my knees and search over his body, looking for anything that I could use. I find a gun, a locked phone, and another walkie-talkie.

Knowing that his phone is probably useless unless there is an inbound call, I shove that into my front pocket. I do the same with the walkie-talkie, pushing it into my left pocket and then scoop the gun up into my hand.

And just as I rise to stand, the elevator doors peel open.