Chapter 2 - Am I Dreaming?👽
{Anara}
All of her body ached.
As she regained her consciousness, she went over her memories. In her line of work, she was used to being in less favorable situations. Her body lacked the energy to lift a finger but she needed to open her eyes and see what hard cold place her body was laying on. She didn't remember making it to her bed last night or putting on her MSD.
Gathering all her the strength, she opened her eyes but squited at the brightness of the room she was in. Once her eyes adjusted to the light she noticed that the room I was more of an empty cell with a metal door on the opposite wall and a hanging lamp in the middle of the cieling.
She tried to get up while checking herself and realised that she was wearing the same clothes as before getting there. That made her think, how did she end up there? It seemed oto real to be a dream and unlike her usual dark nightmares. She took a few minutes to recollect her thoughts and checked her pockets. Her gun, ID, and wallet were gone along with her car keys.
"Can't do much with a cop car or gun. They're easier to trace." She muttered frustrated and took in her surroundings. She couldn't notice anything that could be remotely used as a camera. There was no window to be used as doublesided view into the room.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to get out of the room and face whatever was on the otherside. She knew she could hold her own even if she was outnumbered. Being top of her traning class had it's perks.
She didn't, even for a second, entertain the idea that what happened with the light beam was anything more than her imagination. The only logical explanation she reached was that the men she had encountered had drugged her somehow and brought her there. But for the type of men they looked like, why was she untouched and only missing her things? And why did she feel drained of all her energy?
Refocusing herself to get out of the room first and get answers later, she twisted the doorknob and swung the unlocked door open. She was confused as to why would her kidnappers leave her in an unlocked room because she was ready to kick her way out. What she saw next confused her further. Her cell was attached to another room that looked more like an underground facilty under construction than anything else. Though places like those were great hideouts for criminal activities.
What bewildered her was not the absence of any locks or her kidnappers, but the things dispalyed in the second room. There were steel tables set around the room that was slightly larger than her initial cell. To elevate her suspicion the tables were full of random stuff. One was serving desserts, another savoury foods, another one had drinks. One of the tables had different types of garments neatly folded. Another table held cutlery, making Anara pocket a fruit knife instantly. The aroma from the dishes made her realize how hungry she was. That made her think how long had she been unconsious for?
There were a few different types of duffles, bagpacks, and totes hanging from hooks on the walls. What made her stop before using the exit door quickly was the table near the door. It was full of weapons Anara had only seen during her training and being used by special ops. She glanced around suspiciously. What were her kidnappers up to? None of it looked like any criminal lair that she had ever seen before, except for the illegal weaponary. What kind of criminals don't lock the cop they kidnap and present sophisticated dishes from around the world on tables, along with dangerous weapons?
She turned around taking in the whole room once more thinking over her next course of action. That is when her eyes went to the sign on top of the metal door which she had used to enter the second room from the in which she had woken up in. 'Inventory' it read in bold letters. That made some sense. So, this was the room where her kidnappers had stored everything they had. It still didn't make any sense why there was forty-year aged wine on the drinks table, Turkish delights on desserts table, and Mutton nihari with garlic naans on the savory foods table. Did the kidnapers have personal chefs trained with cuisines around the world? How much money did these guys have to afford all of that?
Not wanting to get caught while trying to escape, she decided that she had wasted enough time. She exchanger her fruit knife with a bunch of throwing knives and a dagger. She grabbed the cop gun and realized it was hers and had all the bullets. "What kind of idiotic assholes kidnap a cop and present her gun on a table?" She mused and placed it in her belt before gabbing a couple more carriable firearms. On last thought, she grabbed brass knuckles from the corner of the table and wore them as well. Now, she felt ready to fight her way to either a vehicle or a phone.
She opened the second door and was surprised to find that it was unlocked as well. 'Careless bastards,' She thought feeling confident of her odds but stopped in her tracks at what awaited her on the other side of the door.
There wasn’t another room, neither a hallway nor corridor, no path even. The door opened directly into a thick jungle. The ground couldn’t even be seen due to weeds and herbs and shrubs, along with the lichens on it while all the rest of the thick foliage of trees blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground, though I could see it was day time. What instantly hit her as supicious was how eerily quiet it all was. Not to mention, how impossible it would be for her to be at such a place.
"What the h-?!" She felt speechless as her brain went to overdrive. She lived in upstate New York, how did her kidnappers get her to Amazon? And more importantly, how was she going to get back?
Things stopped making any sense.
She looked at the room behind her and then back at the forest in her front. She back traced her steps and went to the hanging bags hoping to find any satellite phone since she doubted there would be any regular cellular services available.
The bags were dissapointingly empty. Except for a bagback that had a rope, an amateur sewing kit, and some hygience products. She scanned the room as her inner cop told her to gather evidence. Even though she was parched and hungry, she didn't dare take a bite or sip of anything. It was too risky. She decided to take a few things from each table as evidence and placed them all in the bag that had the rope and other stuff. She took a random pair of clothes, a couple of bottles of water and an old bottle of whiskey. Then, she took a few different portions from the different dishes which were suspiciously presented in carriable tupperware. Finally, she grabbed a few more weapons along with as many magazines she could carry before stepping out into the warm and humid jungle.
She had barely taken a few steps when the door behind her closed shut with a bang. She whirled around to hear electric wirring coming from the inside of the room that she had just been in. She noticed that there was a red blub blinking on top of the door that She had just used to enter the jungle. Suddenly, it turned green and she heard something like locks being turned on.
She waited a few moments before cautiously reaching at the door knob to realize that there was no going back in. The door was locked.
That immediately put her on high-alert. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she had assumed herself to be. She was clearly being watched. Now, she was glad that she hadn't eaten anything and had taken the weapons. She looked around for any signs of her kidnappers or danger.
"Fuck!" She exclaimed and looked at the jungle. That was now her only choice of path.
She took a deep breath and a plan of action started to form in her head. She needed to get to civilization as soon as possible and hand over the evidence to the local police before she passed out due to dehydration or hunger given her unusual physical weakness since she woke up.
She walked a little far from the rooms and then set up a solar compass using a stick she found on the ground. In fifteen minutes, she had found North and thus, her trek began.
**Author's note:
What would you have done in Anara's place? How long would you have waited in the first room? Would you have trusted the food? Would you have risked changing clothes?
Share your ideas in the comments <3