The smell of saltwater dragged my eyes open to nothing but darkness. I gasped and shot up from the soft, creaky surface beneath me, cringing immediately as a shooting pain lanced through my head. My groan of protest echoed off the walls around me and it was only then I realized just how silent it was. All that could be heard were sporadic droplets of water as they dripped to the floor, one by one.
Where the hell am I?
My heart raced into overdrive, jackhammering violently in my chest as panic seized me, my breaths coming out fast and strained. The lack of light was screwing with my head. If I could just see where I was, perhaps I could calm myself enough to remain levelheaded. My hands shook as I reached into the back pocket of my jeans where I usually kept my phone, but it wasn't there, rising panic to fear in seconds. The danger this situation presented was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, especially when everything began rocking from side to side. I inhaled a deep breath, and again the smell of saltwater attacked my senses, leaving no doubt I was on a boat or a ship of some sort.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I scrunched my eyes by default and hugged my knees up to my chest, trying my hardest to think back on what happened earlier in the evening. But I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember exactly what happened, much less how I got here. Everything was an ambiguously blurred and I wasn’t sure if the bits and pieces I could see were real or just a figment of my imagination. But then it hit me like a bucket of ice cold water...
Dimitri.
It had to be. There was no other plausible explanation. That's when the images flickered in a horrific reel; Me leaving the dressing room. A strong arm pulling me back into the hallway as the sting of a needle pierced my neck. I felt weaker and weaker, unable to defend myself as everything faded to black. Then the backseat of a sports car faintly came into view, along with mumbled conversation I barely heard amidst the fog. I was so tired, my eyelids heavy. The last thing I saw before succumbing to the darkness once more was Maya passed out beside me.
And then, I woke up here.
Maya…
Another frightful gasp escaped me. What the hell had he done with Maya? As afraid as I was for my own life, every burning instinct within me told me I needed to find her before it was too late. But how? Aside from being on the water, I had no idea where I was, what was around me, if she and I were even on the same ship... What if he’d already…
No.
I couldn’t bring myself to finishing thinking it. She couldn’t be dead. She just couldn’t.
I need to find her.
Swallowing down the terror that engulfed me, I swung my legs over the edge of what I presumed was a bed, expecting to set my feet down, but they immediately touched the ground. There was no bed, no box spring...just a mattress. That’s what he’d thrown me on, a mattress on the floor of an obscure room. This place had to be a dungeon of some sort, deep in the hold where the light couldn’t touch. Where it'd be easy to forget someone, and let them die…
If I couldn't find a way out, is this how I was going to die?
I don’t want to die.
Tears stung my eyes as a shiver jarred me. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want anyone to die. But how the hell were we going to make it out of here alive?
I had no clue. I wasn’t even sure it was possible. My only plan was to find Maya. Find Maya and keep us alive.
Rising to my feet brought on instant vertigo from the sway, my arms coming out reflexively in search of support. There was nothing, though, and as I stumbled a bit, I found myself actually scared to tread blindly into the dark. But I refused to let fear hold me back. Maya needed me as much as I needed her, and I was intent on finding her. Taking small steps, I kept my arms out in search of a wall because a wall would lead me to a door. There had to be a door, right? Not that I thought said door would magically be unlocked, but I’d cross that bridge when I got there. I just needed to find a way I could possibly get out. It felt like I’d been shuffling around a never ending black hole for ages when my hands finally hit a rough surface in front of me, allowing me to use it as the guide I needed. Sidestepping to the left, I followed the wall only a short ways before I felt a knob.
Yes…
It was locked, obviously, but knowing there was in fact a door sparked an idea.
“Hello!” I yelled, slamming the sides of my fists into the iron exit repeatedly.
And I kept at it, over and over again, hoping to catch someone’s attention. Certainly Dimitri wasn’t the only other person aboard. At first, I’d thought my efforts were feeble, but after several minutes, a sliver of light finally creeped under the doorway. Footsteps resounded just on the other side and with my stomach trapped in my throat, I took a few steps back of my own as several locks came undone. Then the door flew open, followed by the blinding white light of a flashlight. Shielding my eyes, I watched a shadow inch toward me wordlessly, the sound of his breaths increasing as he made his way closer.
“Where’s Maya?” I asked, trying to sound far more brave than I felt.
Shadow man chuckled darkly, the wicked sound raising the hairs at the nape of my neck. “You ask Dimitri when you see him.”
That was all the Russian offered as he wrapped a large paw around my arm and yanked me out of whatever room they’d locked me in.