Chapter 3- Dark
I want to shout. I want to cry and throw things and yell about how unfair the world is. I want to lay down and quit. I want to not have to go through life anymore, because I never seem to find any enjoyment in it anyways. My current situation is just another reason I want to die. I want and I want and I want. But the world doesn't care.
We've entered some type of underground parking garage. We are one of 20 cars here, amongst hundreds of designated parking areas. Hundreds. Who would ever fill all these?
The more I learn about these murders, the more I wonder- Who the hell are these people?
I'm pulled from the car by Neil. My brave streak has vanished, and fear is inflicting tremors on my small body. I hope they don't notice. These villains sense fear like snakes.
The air is filled with dark, dank smells of concrete and stilled water. Cold cement surrounds me in an eerie box, and the erratic flickering of LED bulbs on the ceiling is equally daunting.
The man I punched stands just feet away from me, his dark glare boring into me. His hair is a glossy dark brown, his nose long and his features distinctly Italian. I wonder briefly when these people will kill me- I've seen a surplus of Datelines and read far to many true crime novels to believe I will survive this.
"Rixon, help Neil with her. He obviously can't handle her," the killer man says, but he's watching me while talking to them. He's speaking in English. He wants me to understand. He wants to see the fear on my face when I realize I'm never leaving this place. He's a monster.
Rixon. The name feels like a blow. The killer man addressed him right before I fainted. That son of a bitch is the one who stopped me from my freedom. I want to glare at him now, but I'm to afraid. To fearful of the consequences the small action could conclude. Fear has recaptured my heart, it's icy hand holding tight on the bravery I had just moments ago. I have become a slave to the sadistic chains around my soul.
I'm being pushed. Both Neil and Rixon are forcing me to follow the killer man into an elevator that looks like it belongs to a time capsule. I'll probably die from the cables snapping on our way down. Rixon will be disappointed, I'm sure he wanted to be the cause of my death.
"Who are you people?" my timid voice takes flight from my mouth, settling into the breezy air of the elevator chamber, all without my permission.
The killer man answers first. "You'll see, soon," an ominous tone rides his words, vibrates the elevator, and I'm chilled. A cold fire has lit the gasoline in my veins.
I seal my mouth, forcing away the rebellious questions fighting on my tongue to be asked. I don't want to be annoying. Being annoying gets you hit.
We finally clank to a stop, and a ominous hallway eagerly greets us. Small lights on the side of the wall do little to light our way, but I keep my eyes trained on the warm glowing light at the end we are venturing towards. The scuffles of our feet on bleak concrete are my only company, and this journey feels endless.
At last, I'm surrounded by the warm glow. The room is significantly warmer than the winterish hallway, and I welcome it. The whole room is wood. Oak wood on the floors, on the ceiling, on the walls. There's a bar lined with shelves of alcohol, all of which are strange and foreign. There's tables with wooden chairs, some of which are occupied. Its a very strange room, and with every further step I take in all of this I feel like I'm sinking deeper into a odd dream.
A girl bounds towards us. She's very small, petite and very pretty. Her curly blonde hair is down past her waist, and her eyes are strikingly blue. She runs to Rixon, squeals his name, and jumps at him. He smiles and sets her down, then kisses the top of her head. She looks at me, clearly curious to my identity.
The killer man clears his throat, and the full attention of everyone in the room is instantly on him. "Hello everyone. I suggest you all be nice to this girl, because she may very well save one of your lives some day." He turns to Neil and Rixon, "La prenderò da qui." (I'll take her from here.)
My mind is in disarray. Who am I supposed to save again, and why?
Both men nod, and killer man is dragging me out a door on the other side of the wooden room before I remember I'm confused. Where have Neil and Rixon gone? I look back and try to see them, but instead see the little blonde girl. "Hey, did you punch my boyfriend?" Her voice is high pitched and bubbly, but she doesn't seem pleased. She squints her eyes at me, searching for an answer like I'm a crossword puzzle.
"I, I um..." I stumble dumbly. The killer man has stopped now, letting me have a conversation with this girl.
"It's cool, he probably deserved it. I just wanted to meet the one person who actually managed to hit him," her whole demeanor lightens, and I know she's not mad. She sticks out her small hand. "I'm Cidney, with a C."
"Annabella," I draw hesitantly, and meet her hand.
She then looks up to the killer man, sass printed on her face. "Take it easy on her, would ya Lusso?" And with that, she proudly prances off. The killer man's name is Lusso. Lusso. I imagine how the name would feel on my tongue. I've always liked the name Lusso. I think I've become delirious. He rolls his dark eyes, and continues to pull me down the scarcely lit corridor.
We halt in front a heavy door. Moss grows at the corners. "So Annabella, want to make my life easier and give me your last name?" His deep voice is laced with a thick accent, and I suddenly make the connection of it's origin- Italy. The men have been speaking Italian.
My bones are cold from the environment and multiplied by fear coursing though me, and I can only bring myself to give an honest answer. "I don't have one."
He huffs, and it echoes around us. "Okay then. I'll find it myself."
"You do that."
He chuckles a little, and it unnerves me. He doesn't strike me as the type of guy capable of laughter. "Alright, in you go." He opens the unknown door with a key, and gestures for me to go in. The door reveals nothing but pitch blackness. Hell to the no.
I look at him like he must be crazy. He sighs, and with one sudden jerk pushes me into the dark abius. I hit the ground hard, my knees feeling the impact first, then the rest of my body raining down.
I turn to see the door shutting, sealing me in this treacherous place, robbing the room of the precious light it had been gifted. I see a small sliver of Lusso's face, and am able to see one of his eyes through the shrinking crack. Something that one may mistaken for remorse resides there. What a talented actor.
When all light is lost from the space around me, and the clinks of locks shifting surround me, I shatter. I completely unravel as the shadows of the dark close in on me. I have no light to find sanctuary in, not a flashlight to scare away the demons of my head. I'm not safe to be alone with my own mind. Its a vicious minefield of ticking bombs on timers.
I will not sleep tonight.