p! She fainted!!”
Seconds later, one of the supervisors, Steven, rushes in, “What happened?”
“She said she wasn’t feeling well. I think the heat was too much for her and she passed out. Call 9-1-1!”
Steven walks over to us and takes Layla from my arms and walks out of the bathroom.
I hurriedly follow after him, “Wait!”
I exit the bathroom, but all of a sudden my vision is blurry and I feel extremely light-headed. My body sways and I try to find the closet table to lean against. I place my palm on my forehead and wipe away the sweat as I start to feel woozy and my body temperature suddenly goes up. My mouth goes very dry and I feel short of breath. Everything starts to fog up and I see spots, causing me to panic. A blurred shadow approaches me, closer and closer.
I whisper, “No, don’t—”
I struggle to keep my balance but I feel my body falling. Then everything goes white.
Raya
It feels as if I’m floating through the air. I’m not outside or maybe I am. There is a soft breeze, but is that from fresh air? Everything is so foggy; I can’t get my bearings on anything. I try to open my eyes but can’t find the strength. My legs and arms are completely numb. They feel non-existent. Where am I? What is happening to me? I try to think of the last thing I remember, but come up blank. Everything is a complete blur. I begin to panic as I try to focus on what’s going on. My instincts start to kick in and they are screaming at me, run…run as fast as you can.
Desperation sneaks up on me as I try to get a hold on my surroundings. Focusing on my senses, I feel strong hands on me; several hands, actually. They’re lifting me and moving me somewhere. Where are we going? I hear them whispering to each other but can’t make anything out. Dread and terror are all I feel at this moment as I realize what’s happened. I was drugged. Shit, I need to get out of here.
I don’t want to cause too much attention so I slightly open my eyes. Okay, Raya, where are you? All I see is a dark tunnel with wall lamps guiding the way. Two men have their hold on me—one holding my legs and the other holding me from my underarms. I’m still wearing my outfit from the interview. Thank God I wore pants. My body begins to tremble as fear seeps into my soul. My heart pounds against my chest and I begin to hyperventilate. Tears threaten but I stop them from spilling.
The men take a left and enter a dark room. The room contains a bed with metal chains, one wooden dresser, and a toilet in the corner. There is no light, except for a small lit candle on the dresser, no windows, and the walls are made of pure cement. I must be in some sort of basement or something. The men jostle me around, so I quickly close my eyes to hide the fact that I’m awake and alert.
One of the handlers states, “Hurry and buckle her before she wakes up.”
They move toward the bed and begin to lower me onto it. I take a deep breath. Now or never.
Remembering everything that I’ve learned, I fight with all of the strength I have. I quickly bend both of my legs and then kick the guy holding them as hard as I can. I feel my heels dig into his chest as they push him a few feet away, causing him to fly into the hard wall behind him. The man holding my underarms is completely stunned, so before he makes his move, I instantly stand upright and slam my right heel into his foot. He screams as the pain sets in. He lets go of me so I jab him three times in the face and left kick him in the stomach, resulting in him stumbling backward and hitting the floor.
From behind, the other man grabs hold of my hair and pushes me against the wall. I yelp in pain but won’t let it stop me. In a flash, I slam my elbow into his lower stomach, causing him to sag over. I duck under him and spin around to face him. As he turns, I coil my right leg and give him a swift roundhouse kick into the chest, knocking the air right out of him. As he falls to the ground, I side kick him in the face, rendering him unconscious.
I look back at the other assailant to see him coming up fast. Before he can grab onto me, I dash out of the room and slam the door shut behind me. The gloomy tunnel is cold, murky, and dim. I try to remember which direction we came from and take off into the tunnel. I run as fast as I can and look behind to see if I have any followers. Coast is clear, so far. I hear one of the men scream, “Get back here, you fucking bitch!”
I run and run for what seems like forever. My heels pound against the cement floor as I take twists and turns around the corners throughout the tunnel. As I’m running, I see a door with a dull light seeping through the small barred opening. I stop at the door and peek through the bars and see a naked girl tied to her bed. She’s crying while staring at the ceiling. My thoughts immediately go to Layla. Fuck, I have to find her.
Leaving the girl behind, I make my way deeper into the tunnel to find Layla. The panting in my breath grows faster as I rush to find her. I hear the echoes from the men behind me and know it’s only a matter of time before they find me.
Realizing I won’t be able to find her like this, I shout, “Layla! Layla, where are you?” I make my way around another corner, shouting for her.
I hear other female captives scream as I shout for Layla, “Save me, please! Save me! Help me!”
Tears run down my face as I race to find her. “Layla! Where are you?”
“Raya?”
I stop dead in my tracks, “Yes! Where are you?”
“In here at the end of the corridor!”
I break into a sprint as I make my way to the last door in the corridor and come upon her door. I peek in through the bars and see her chained to the bed.
“Layla!”
She lifts her head and cries out, “Raya, help me!” She struggles to get free from the chains. I twist the handle on the door but it’s locked. I pull and pull as hard as I can, but there’s no luck. It’s a lost cause.
I sob, “Layla, the door is locked. I can’t get it open.” I hear the echoes from the captors approaching fast, their footsteps getting closer.