Caged By Them (Descent Into Darkness 1)

Lizzy

“Hey there, beautiful. What’s your name?” I heard a voice coming from my left and I turned my head to see a man leaning out the passenger side of a van that started to slowly roll along beside me as I walked.

“I’m not interested.” I tried to give him a friendly smile, but not one that would inspire him to keep hitting on me.

“Come on, I just want to know your name.” He shifted his weight so that he was able to get more of his upper torso out of the can. “After I get your name, I want your phone number.”

“No.” I chuckled under my breath and kept walking.

Men. They think they’re entitled to everything. He’s not bad looking, I guess—but I’m just not interested in dating anyone—nor am I interested in what he obviously wants.

“Fine, break my heart then.” He sighed and started rolling up the window.

He gave up easier than most of them do.

I was walking on Sycamore Street, and once it intersected with Maple Leaf Drive, I would be within a block of my apartment. I usually didn’t stay out that late—but, I got busy and forgot that I needed a few essentials until the sun went down. Apparently, my penance was getting hit on by a stranger. The van rolled to a stop as it approached the intersection and waited for the red light to turn to green. I focused my attention on the sidewalk and shifted my groceries around so that the heavy bag was in my left hand instead of my right.

As I reached the intersection, the van suddenly accelerated, turned the corner and came to a stop. The sound of the tires screeching against the pavement startled me and caused me to look up—then the door opened. A man in a black ski mask hopped out and started walking towards me. I felt panic immediately. I looked around for help—I was all alone on Sycamore Street. There would be people on Maple Leave Drive—but I couldn’t get there.

“Leave me alone!” I dropped my groceries as he picked up speed and I turned around to run in the opposite direction.

My knees were wobbling from fear—at the one moment in my life when I needed them to support my weight and carry me away from the situation, I wasn’t going as fast as possible. I stumbled as I spun around, and that was all the time he needed. He closed the distance between us, grabbed me around the waist, lifted my feet off the ground, and started dragging me towards what I could only assume was the van I saw him exit.

“You should have just told me your name.” I heard his voice in my ear, and it sounded like gravel being rubbed together as he spoke.

“Let me go! Help! Someone! Hel—p.” His hand clamped over my mouth and my voice was muffled.

He was wearing a thick glove, and as it stopped me from screaming, I smelled something— something that I could only describe as chemically sweet. The smell was resonating from his glove, and I knew I shouldn’t breathe it in—especially when the first whiff made my head spin and my vision blur. I felt my muscles getting weak as he continued dragging me towards the van, but I continued to fight. I threw elbows back against his mask, kicks into his shins. He ignored them all except for a slight grunt that echoed in my ear.

“Go to sleep, sweet Lizzy.” His voice was followed by a brief chuckle.

He knows my name. Oh my god, how does he know my name?

That was the last thought that went through my head. All of the fighting used up the oxygen in my blood before and then my lungs involuntarily sucked in another breath of chemically sweet air. My head spun harder. My vision blurred until the lights on the street looked like I was seeing through a kaleidoscope. My muscles got so weak that I didn’t have the strength to do anything but slump forward in his arms. I was vaguely aware of my surroundings when we got to the van—then I was floating—no, I was thrown. I landed on the floor of the van and the door slammed shut.

Then it was just darkness. Darkness in the van. Darkness in my mind.

Absolute darkness.