Kidnapped

Every part of her body ached. Liana rubbed her eyes, wondering how she'd been able to sleep in such a formidable condition. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable tightness of the ropes used to tie her onto the icy metallic chair. Instead, she focused on the dilapidated room. It was bare, the only furniture being the chair. The wooden floor was littered with waste composed of cigarette butts, empty soda cans, torn clothing and food wrappers. It surprised her that it didn't smell as bad as it looked.

A splitting headache assaulted her when she tried to remember how she got in the room. One thing was clear, she'd been drugged and kidnapped. But why? She yearned for a bed, to lay her head on a soft pillow and drift off to sleep. She had never felt this uncomfortable.

A man came into the room, wearing a black mask. He was tall and had lean muscles. He wore all black clothing and carried a stool. Liana watched him put the stool down and close the door. Picking it up, he went placed it in front of Liana then sat on it, facing her. Liana figured his heart was dark as his eyes. There was a certain familiarity with those eyes but she couldn't remember where exactly she might have seen them. She wanted to ask who he was but the gag wouldn't let her. In any case, he probably wouldn't reveal his identity unless he wanted to so there was no point in asking.

"Oh wait!" He said, standing up. "I forgot something."

He left the room and came back a minute later holding a batch of keys in his hands. Gina's keys. He sat down and placed them on the ground.

"You're probably wondering who I am," he said. "And why you're here. I won't tell you who I am but I'll tell you what I am. A person who'll stop at nothing to get revenge."

He pulled out a gun from the pocket of his jacket. He turned off the safety and cocked it, pointing it at Liana whose whole body was shaking. "I want to ask you a question and I expect you to be honest. I've been watching you and your best friend for a while. I have to admit I was shocked when I realized you just steal keys for the sake of it. You don't use them. You just wanna mess with people's lives, huh? Do you know how that affects them. You may think it's just keys but losing a batch of keys can ruin a person's life but you don't care about that, do you?"

Liana looked away. She'd always warned Gina that her obsession would cause them trouble. Gina's love for keys was normal in the beginning. She bought and collected them and it was fun. Then one day, Gina had seen a woman holding a very unique and beautiful set of keys. She'd admired them so much and ended up stealing them. From that day, Gina did all possible things to get keys and had turned to some kind of key freak. Liana was the only person Gina had told this. Gina was suffering from cagophilia.

The man lowered the gun. "Tell me, did you steal keys from the Corian hospital last November?"

Liana remembered how hard it had been to get those keys. They'd gone to the hospital in a nearby town for five days, having a different excuse each day. Finally, one the fifth day, they'd managed to get into the head nurse's office and sneak out with the keys unnoticed. Most of them were identical so they'd taken only two from the bunch. Liana had convinced Gina to return the rest since the hospital was a sensitive place. The keys probably opened important rooms. Liana didn't want to be the cause of anyone's death.

"Come on," Gina had said. "The head nurse can't possibly have very important keys. Besides, they have other copies."

In the end, Gina had changed her mind. She'd returned the keys and remained with only one. She was still human, after all.

"Answer me," the man said.

Liana nodded.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't want to punish the wrong person. I have a heart, unlike you and Gina."

Liana nodded again, looking at the man's eyes. They seemed to have become even darker and they had some sort of shine to them. She had never seen eyes like that.

He turned on the gun's safety and put it back into his pocket.

"My girlfriend and child died that day," He said, his eyes getting wet. "It all happened because of you. That story is for another day, though. What you need to know is my wife would be alive if you hadn't taken that key. My child would be three years old now.

I've spent three years looking for the person who took them away from me. I'd never have found you if someone hadn't mentioned that he knew a cagophilist in this town. A thief willing to do anything just to get her hands on key."

Liana wondered if he'd also kidnapped Gina. She sighed. If she hadn't been a reckless thrill seeker, she'd be at school with her friends. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She'd only been helping her best friend and having some fun. Would he kill her?

She desperately wanted to tell him she was sorry, that it'd all be okay. She knew nothing would take away his pain. Her eyes became watery as she looked at him staring at the keys. He looked up abruptly.

"Don't pity me you idiot," he slapped her across the cheek. She winced, turning away. "You should feel pity for yourself because I'm going to make you suffer until your last breath."

Liana froze. She tried to talk in vain and looked at him, silently pleading. She noticed that the veins in his arms had just become more prominent but they reverted to normal size as soon as he noticed her staring. First his eyes had changed and something had happened to his arms. What kind of man was she stuck with?

"Just so you know, your friend is free and she's been telling people you went to see your parents,” he informed her, mockingly. “She doesn't care about you. I know that'll kill you before I do."

Liana's eyes widened. She shook her head. It wasn't fair that she was paying for Gina's misdeeds while Gina was out there acting like nothing had happened.

"That really got you worked up, didn't it? Don't worry, we can make a deal for your freedom. Are you in or not?"

Liana thought about it. Gina hadn't even bothered to look for her. It made her furious.

She nodded.