SIXTY: DANGEROUS GAME

It was him. I hesitated before taking the call because my hands were shaking again. Even if I was to meet him, how possible would that be seeing that I was grounded? I didn't want to risk anything but then I received the call and waited. "I'm waiting for you" he said. "Where?" "Dunfermline. By the waters there. I'll lead you there. Be on the phone" "Huh?" I asked, startled. He thought I didn't hear him, so he repeated his words. "Stay on the phone, I'll guide you towards there. We are going to meet tonight. I am waiting for you" Visibly frightened, I hung up and dropped the phone in my pajamas pockets. He called back almost immediately and I ran into our room to talk to him. "Is this really you?" I didn't know if it was excitement or fear but I was overwhelmed with one or both of those. "Yes" he said, scoffing. "Did you think I was lying to you?" "Give me a proof that it is you" I whispered. Just then, Miranda barged into the room, and totally ignoring me, she sat at the dresser and trimmed her hair. She was dressing up. She picked up a small blue gown from her wardrobe. It looked very new and simple, but beautiful. It was obvious she was hellbent on starting a pool party. She was intentionally ignoring me. "Hello Ariana, are you out yet?" His raspy voice came off raspier, for the second time that evening. "Give me a proof it is you or I won't come out" I said. I had to be anything but reckless because my mind chose not to accept it was he, despite that this voice was so familiar and sounded, more like tasted like honey in my eardrums. "Come out first" he whispered. I heard a scoff, then a giggle and a sigh. "Come out" he said again. How was I to come out? Everywhere was locked. If it was him, he should be able to read my mind, shouldn't he? I thought. "Hey?" "I can't come out" I responded. "I can't" This time, Miranda stared at me blankly. She looked like she'd yank off the phone from my ears. She was making herself look pretty ready for the occasion. I watched her slip into her bathrobe and walk into the bathroom, not without giving me a smirk. She thought I was up to something or that I had a boyfriend or a secret stranger I liked and talked to, because she said, "So much for thinking me a whore and a weirdo. What are you?" He didn't ask me why, instead he told me why I couldn't come out. "Your front door is tightly locked. Can't you jump down your window? Pull the shutters up and jump. I'm sure the building is not that high" he said. "Right?" I shivered within me. How did he know that? How could I have not thought about it? Thatw as probably Miranda's plan, when she insisted she'd be going to the pool party still. I heard her on phone with someone while in the bathroom. "Make reservations for six of us, Mash" I thought I didn't hear well until she said again, "Mash, I want to have the best fun ever, tonight. If it's going to send me away from home, I'm going to resort to staying at your place, okay, boyfriend?" I heard him laugh on the phone. What? She called him 'boyfriend'. She called Mash boyfriend. Did she mean... She still talked to Mash. I didn't know if it was okay for me to jump down the window, I mean, was it okay for me to even secretly leave the house at almost 9pm to meet someone who called me at a place I've never been to. I was both scared and curious. Well, my curiousity was dominant. Without giving it a second thought, I pulled the shutters up slowly, I did it so the ripples from Mira's washing would drown out the noise of my efforts. Usually, the windows were heavy to pull or move but it was easy for me. Just one pull and push, it obliged. "There!" I said to myself, grinning. When I made enough space for my body to pass through, I looked down. It didn't look too bad down there. The streetlights were still on. The ground was not too low or high. Whatever. Breathing in and out successively, I shut my eyes and jumped down. It was such an easy jump. I was still in my pajamas and the air was warm. I picked out my phone from my pockets because it rang immediately I got down? "Now take your left route. Go straight down... He started to give me directions. With my voice clattering and my heart dancing in my chest, I moved rhythmically to his voice. My steps followed his every word. I wanted badly to see him but, I was dead scared. Whether I was running or walking, I didn't know, but I didn't stop moving. I hoped Miranda had not noticed me walking away; I had not drawn back the shutters. "Come closer, yeah, towards that place..you're almost here" he said. He sounded like he was panting. Was he running after me? Or following me closely? I waited and swallowed. I was out of breath. When I looked around me, I found out that I was in a street I've never been to. I was actually on top of something large and in the middle of nowhere. I sighed and sat on one of the broken rocks there. It was an open woodland and there was no water anywhere. "Can you see the body of water now?" His voice came on, again with the pants. "What are you talking about? There's no water here. Who are you? Who the heck are you?" I screamed into the phone. "Are you tryna deceive me into your den?" I barked. "No, listen, Ariana, it is me. This is the only way I can talk to you for now" "Why didn't you come and fetch me instead if it's indeed you? Huh?" I wanted to cry. The sky was starting to darken and there was no sign of a road anywhere. I seemed to be lost. "I am sorry," he began, "I can't do that anymore. I wish I could but this is the only way now" he said. I gasped for breath. There was something about the way I was suddenly feeling. It was not only exhaustion, it seemed the atmosphere sapped my breath. I couldn't get much breath in. Where I was looked like a very big wide mountain. I could barely breathe. "Do you still trust me, Ariana?" He asked, his voice breaking. "I don't know anymore. I'm about to pass out now" I said and the line went off immediately, as if on cue. My palms were watery and I was very thirsty. I had been walking and maneuvering around for close to forty minutes. I thought I'd die that day, because I've always known that if anything killed me, it will be curiousity. I started to terribly regret coming there. I dialled the number again but there was no service. There was actually no service in that area. I was in for it. I badly wanted to cry but it was of no use. The best thing to do was find a solution as soon as possible or I might be lost forever here in the woodland or mountaintop with no food or water or shelter or humans to help, and probably surrounded by animals. Beasts, that is. If it was indeed him, he should have appeared before me and picked me up very easily, like he usually did. But he did say "I can't do that anymore. I wish I could but this is the only way now". What did he mean? I was too exhausted to think straight. If you were dead tired, shouldn't you get some energy after resting awhile? No I didn't get any energy, instead my retained energy reduced drastically and I could feel strength slipping out of my body. Oh my God! My body would become prey to the beasts here. I started to run around the dry leaves. There were trees around me, tall trees and rocks. That's all I saw. Trees and rocks. Where's this place? Was it ever okay to be dumb or do dumb things, like follow someone's call to a place just because they sounded like someone you knew, someone you missed so much? The more I ran around, the more I got weaker. Along the line, a call came in. It was not him. It was mom. The only thing on my lips was, "Mom I don't know where I am. I am lost" but immediately I took the call, I could not join the words I heard together because they were fluctuating. I could hardly hear her. "Mommy ,can you hear me? I can't hear you, but can you hear me? I am in the middle of nowhere mom. Please help me. I don't even know where I am..." Cut. The line went off. I tried again but it would not go through. "Dammit!" My voice was jittery. The more I tried finding my way, the more I got lost and got deeper into that dark, uninhabited area. I started to cry. And scream. "Help!!" My voice was so loud, yet no one heard me. I hoped against hopes that he would call me again but there was nothing forthcoming. It was almost 10pm. I was alone. When I got exhausted, I resorted to climbing a tree. The branches were thick and you could see what was in between. I used my flashlight as illumination because the streetlights were nowhere to be found. Like I said, I was in the middle of nowhere. At least if a wild animal came, I would be safe on the branch of a very tall tree. Thank goodness I could climb trees. It was one thing I learnt from Miranda. She's a very good climber. As soon as I was on the branch and I was sure no insect or reptile was with me, I laid down on the thickest branch and prayed. "Robin, please call me back" I prayed. "God, please make Robin come for me". "I can't breathe. I need water. My throat is dry!" I cried because I really was losing it. What kind of place was this that sapped your energy and left you breathless and dehydrated? I gave up calling my loved ones because it'd not even go through not to talk of ringing. I just kept praying and hoping. Then a thought came to my head before I passed out. "If any animal or human or whatever comes to attack me, I'll lift one of these huge trees and hit the animal with it". That was my superpower. Robin had made me know. That should save me, I thought. Then, I passed out. Cut. SIXTY ONE: THE COLD STORAGE ROOM, AND THE DEAL When I got conscious again, I found myself in an enclosed space, and not on the tree or the mountaintop. It didn't take me too long to realize that it was the boot of a vehicle and when I listened quietly, I realized that there was a man at the wheel and he was riding the truck or whatever it was towards a vicinity in the dark. There were tall gates in there, that covered the view of the house he drove in, and its surroundings. It was very dark outside. I was sure it was midnight because we were on the main road and there were few vehicles and few streetlights. I must have been unconscious for close to three hours. My phone was not in my hands, or in my pocket. I tried to stretch my aching arms in the boot, but I was so uncomfortable. I was not bound but I felt pains all over me. What happened? I sat on my knees, but my knees hurt. I realized that my pajamas was cut on the knee and there was bruises on the open skin there. It still bled. My head too, it was hurting so much. I must have hit my head on the ground or something very hard. I tried to remember my surroundings but it didn't look familiar. Besides I didn't know whether it was okay to shout and hit the boot, shouting for help, especially when there was a few minute-traffic on our way. "Oh. What's going on? Where am I? Who's this man?" I thought. It didn't look like mom's car. Neither did he look like Jack or Cameron or Mike or any adult man I knew. So he was definitely a stranger. My phone was nowhere to be found. How would I be saved today? I didn't even know where I was. As soon as the truck parked in the premises of this building, I recoiled back into my original position. I wasn't going to let him find out I was awake yet. He might be violent with me, or at the worst kill me. Whoever he was, he looked like he didn't like anything short of silence, because he drove slowly and was silent throughout the ride. I coughed quietly and shivered. I wanted to sleep because the headache was getting worse. "I wish I had stayed back at home" I thought. There was this lump at the back of my throat. It came when I badly wanted to cry, just like that moment. I remembered my first kidnap, I had survived it because the man , who was allegedly their master, didn't want 'a girl below eleven and especially one without grown breasts yet' , 'Alpha Martinez likes them eleven up", I had heard them say, so I was lucky to get out, since I was only seven, but would I be lucky this time around? That was my thought. "Mom where are you? Look at me, I'm dying of curiousity right now" I started thinking of how life would be in Kangaroo estate, without me. How life would be at Mrs Harley's when they don't find me in a day, two weeks, two years... "Robin, why are you doing this to me? Can you hear me? Please come just this once. I promise not to disobey you anymore. I sincerely promise. Just come, please. I'm in trouble" I cried "Where are you Robinson? Where?" I cried yet again After a while, I got too tired of crying and just sat in there, waiting for the man to come down the truck and pull me out of the boot, but it seemed he had forgotten me there, because when I looked up carefully, he was still at the wheel and I could see he had a lighter and cigarette in his hands, preparing to light it. He turned on some solemn music as well and vibed to it. I knew because I saw him nodding his head. It was some old countryside music. The gates were still slightly open. I wished I knew what the time was. If it was , let's say 4am in the morning, then I had the chance of getting a cab on the main road in two hours' time, never mind that I had no money on me. I could roam around for two hours until commercial taximen came alive. But if it was 12am or 1am in the midnight, there was hardly any chance of me making it out safe. My case was pathetic because no one would come looking for me, at least not yet. Mrs Harley was not returning home that night , neither was Peter. Miranda herself was going to the pool party at wherever they wanted to hold it? She'd probably just smirk after realizing that I was nowhere around. She'd be a bit worried for sure, but not to the point of calling Mrs Harley rightaway to inform her. Not in a million years would she consider the thought of me getting missing. Besides, even if she told someone, no one would be able to find me, probably not until morning. It was really dark. This man could kill me or use me all night if he wanted. I waited about twenty minutes but this man still sat in his car, smoking and nodding to the music. I couldn't make out his face in the dark neither did I hear him talk. It was frightening. When I realized he wasn't coming anytime soon to fetch me from the boot, I slowly lifted the boot, carefully so he'd not hear the sound. I was successful with my third attempt, because my first two were so lousy I had to stop a while. When the boot opened, I let out my left leg first, and looking back every now and then, I slowly let out all of my weight. Now the biggest issue stood before me: Where was I to run to or hide? I knew nowhere here. It'd even be more dangerous for a kid running around or roaming about in the dead of the night and in a strange place. I crawled back into my compartment and hoped for a saviour. Just then, the man at the wheel looked back, alighted and came to the boot. He touched my forehead and my neck slightly and said very coldly, "I got you tonight, you idiot" Chills went down my spine. Of course I was neck-deep in trouble. "Robin, save me this one time and I'd never be curious for anything. You brought me here literally, Robin! Come and save me!" I prayed deep within me. He found a cloth from wherever and wrapped me in it. Then he lifted me in his arms and walked towards the front door. He stood there and I think he clicked something because I heard the gates bang against each other. Locked firmly. He unlocked the front door and carried me in. He shifted my weight every now and then in his arms because I was heavy. I considered the thought of biting his wrist because my mouth was pretty close to that part of his body, but what if he had a weapon that he used to hit my head and blood began to gush out of my head? How would I survive then? "No, I'd rather stay discreet, until I can see his face at least" I said to myself. We soon got in and he opened another door, where he dropped me on the cold, hard floor carefully. No , I'm not just saying this. The floor was extremely cold. The temperature in this room was different from outside. It felt like a freezer because it was very cold and uncomfortable. I felt it immediately we got in. It must have been a Root Cellar, that's a room, located in the basement or under the front porch of a building, that as the name suggests, has a lower temperature than the rest of the house. As soon as he laid me on the freezing floor, he took off the cloth I was wrapped in and said, "Hey little girl, I have you with me now. Can you hear me?" I didn't know if it was okay to respond, so I kept quiet. "Can you hear me? I am not going to kill you, okay?" With that, I slowly started talking "I'm sorry , please don't hurt me . I don't know how..." "It's okay. I'll tell you who I am. You already know me" he said, flipped a switch on the wall and the lights came on, just like that. It took my eyes a while to adjust, and then it dawned on me that I was in a cold room, a place where fish was frozen and vegetables and seafood were kept for preservation or what did they do there? It felt better that he left the lights on, as he talked to me, because I could now see his face- the man from the other time. The man who visited me at home and requested that I helped him research something and that he'd pay me. The news that had excited mom instead of creeping her out. That same man at Meteors Contention Camp who commanded me to eat alien wings. What was his name again? Quendia.