It was a bright sunny late afternoon when she left her 2 story walk up and headed to the north west end of the city. He had told her to be in his office no later than 6:43 pm and not to be late. She had found the time to be a bit off wondering why 6:43 instead of 6:45 thinking that maybe it was a mistake on his part as maybe he had much on his mind. She chalked it up to that deciding that she would be there promptly at the time he said, 6:43 pm and not a moment too soon or too late.

She hailed a cab, got in and gave him the address then sat back her mind racing on what he had said about the position, that it was a full time service position, meeting clients and tending to their needs. To her if was a perfect fit as she had been in customer relations several times in her career and found she enjoyed, meeting the people and helping them out and judging by what Mr. Soames had said that is exactly what she would be doing. For Bethany Ann it was perfect.

The cab pulled up to the rather dingy old 3 story building, she paid him the fare but no tip, got out and stood there looking at the building as the cab drove off, her heart racing a bit a she looked for the door marked Unit 15. She walked along the side of the building feeling a almost naked a she searched for the door then finding it at almost the far end of the building a considerable distance from the street. Reaching up she rang the bell then waited a few seconds only to hear a loud click as the door opened in front of her slowly, then a voice telling her to enter and take the stairs on her right down to the sign marked office. She hesitated for a what was a split second then stepped in looking around seeing the stairs that led down, turned and started down as the door closed with a rather soft yet loud click. She proceeded down, her heart still racing partly in the mystery of the place she was in and her new employer and his somewhat odd ways. She came to the bottom saw the sign that said “office,” smiled then started to walk to the door at the end of the small corridor. It was on her third step that everything went black for Karen Hughes and her world as she knew it changed.

It was the cramping that she felt to her that seemed a great distance away and as her soft brown eyes fluttered open, vision blurred, her head pounding as she looked around at her immediate surroundings. Her first inclination to the mounting horror she was feeling in her breast was the fact that she could see a pair of heels in front of her, her heels to be more precise. She blinked a bit more then felt the coldness of the steel cuffs about her wrists as she tried to move her arms only to find that they were pulled up rather sharply behind her. As her senses cleared more she looked around her seeing that she was in what appeared to be a basement, dingy & dank, the smell of decay & urine wafting into her nose.

She blinked again and struggled her sense more alert now seeing that she was naked and in a cage, something in her thinking that did not fit. She tried to speak but all that came out was gurgling gargling sound telling her something was in her mouth forcing it open making her unable to speak, along with a very bitter taste. It was then she heard the voices from across the room, looked and saw two men their backs to her talking. She let out a gargled yell and one of them turned and looked at her, smiled then walked to where she was, stopped and looked her as she was in the cage, smirked then said, “ So, your awake now eh it seems, “ he said reaching in to caress her cheek, smiling as she tried to move away, “tsk tsk now that’s no way to act. “ he said as he stood up and called to the other man, “ The cunts awake now, might as well get her loaded into the van and make the delivery eh?? Got to make our money back on her somehow.” He said as he moved to the front of the cage and picked it up, the other man doing so at the other end.

Karen heard their words, felt the electric shock of them through her body as she felt them lift her and carry her to the open back door of the van. She tried to struggle, let out horrible gargling gasps as she was lifted and carried across the room, looked wide eyed at them both as the cage was shoved into the van a smelly tarpaulin draped over it, footsteps receding, the sound of doors opening and then slamming shut, words spoken, crude laughter, the bitter taste in her mouth now apparent then the sound of the van starting up, the acrid smell of exhaust in her nose, the quick jerk as the van pulled away, stopped, the sound of a automatic door being opened, then a sudden lurch up a ramp and out into the daylight and a destination for her the now utterly terrified Karen Hughes a she felt the sharpness of the cage on her knees and arms as the van bounced down the road to some unknown place and fate that made her weep and shudder. It was supposed to be an interview??? What had gone wrong?

M. Wryter
Hamilton, Ont.
Feb.7/011

Much thanks to “Spookie “for her great art, it's appreciated.