One Dark Night Part One

One Dark Night

One thing was certain: she had to get the hell out of there, the dark damp room she found herself in. But she was chained, like a dog. Worse. Her feet, her hands —

He was going to kill her. He was a complete maniac. This was no dream: this was something out of a horror movie. If she survived, she knew, she knew! she’d never watch another.

Footsteps. Closer. Closer. Closer, still. They mocked her racing heartbeat, letting her know whatever was coming was going to be bad.

It would be a miracle if she got out of this room alive.

Rats. They surrounded her. They crawled over her, noses questing in her ears, her nostrils, nibbled at her lips, her fingers, her toes. They climbed into her shirt — ! She was afraid to scream, in case … no. She couldn’t think of that.

Someone had died here before, by the stench. Old blood, urine, fecal matter, rotting flesh mixed with an undercurrent of something … evil.

This guy had to be a serial killer. Of that, she was certain. If not, a demon.

She hadn’t believed in demons, but. That was before. She was determined not to let him sense her fear, because this monster took too much pleasure in that. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction, if she could help it.

But the darkness! And the rats, the rats, the — and the overwhelming stink —

She moved her bare feet a few inches. It was all the chains would allow her to move.

She felt filthy, she was filthy, and the monster took pleasure in her filth. When would this hell ever end? When would she wake up from this nightmare?

She could only take it for so long, before she broke, and he knew it. He was taking great pleasure in waiting for the moment she’d lose it.

The footsteps neared even closer, and a stink even worse than the one surrounding her assaulted her nose. It was HIM.

Tears stung her eyes and ran down her cheeks, tracing patterns in the grime on her face. And she couldn’t even swipe them away. That’s what made her mad. Because he’d know he was getting to her. She gagged, but there was nothing left in her stomach. That was puddled in her lap, on the cement floor of the basement.

What was he going to do this time?

She felt herself shivering in the chill air and heard his menacing laugh until she blacked out, mercifully blocking everything out. …

When she awakened, she was lying on her back. She was one big bruise from head to toe. Everything hurt.

But for now, the rats were gone. One small blessing in this hell. Another was a tattered blanket thrown haphazardly over her. And her hands were free.

She tried to unchain her feet, but the links wouldn’t give.

Her thoughts pulsed like a migraine. How had she gotten mixed up with a psychopath? So many questions and not enough answers.

She knew that he had her right where he wanted her. And as long as he had her, he was going to torture her until she lost her usefulness. And then she’d be like the others.

Dead.

The only thing she was certain of was the fact that she had to escape. She had to find a way to get out of there, or she’d be the next to turn into a pile of bones.

She had children at home, two little girls, a husband who loved her, but she went to work knowing the dangers. She was a respected member of the BAU, a wife, a mother, a daughter. Someone had to be looking for her, right? But she knew if they got too close to this monster, he would have no problem killing them.

Killing was his game, a sick thrill, but she was beginning to think he took more pleasure in making his victims wait, torturing them, until death seemed preferable.

Right now, though, she was not the profiler, she was the victim, a victim of a mad man, who would continue torturing her, forcing her to do things, sick, twisted, perverted things she’d never thought of doing.

She wanted to get back home and put this whole living nightmare behind her, but of course she couldn’t, she couldn’t!

An FBI profiler, she knew how this would play out, and she knew she had to get out of there, find out where the rest of her team was.

Funny she had not thought about them until now.

Are they dead, too? God forbid.

He was not going to let her go, though. It had been days since she was captured. She lost all track of time. The days were melting together.

All that remained constant was the darkness, the chains, the rats and the unspeakable stench.

Even if she did escape, the memories of what happened here would haunt her for a long time to come.

She couldn’t focus on that though. She had her family to focus on. They had to be crazy with worry. Her parents. Her team.

She had to get away from this hell. This horrible hell.

He kept coming back. Almost hourly, figuring out new ways to torture her, this arrogant psycho who cared for nothing or no one but himself.

Surely he would kill her, but she was not ready to die. She had a family to go home to. A career she loved, a career that had gotten her into this situation to begin with.

Her job was to get into the minds of serial killers. Now, she was face to face with one.

She had to be careful now, she had to play by his rules, even if they went against everything she believed in, if she wanted to get out alive.

‘Give me strength, Lord, Your courage, to know what to do to get out of here. Forgive me of any sin I’ve committed against you with this man, known or unknown, remembered and forgotten. Have mercy. I have a family who needs me. I have friends who need me. I know someone has to be missing me by now,’ she prayed.

She could only pray that this monster had not gotten to her family. Her daughter was staying with her grandmother for a few days, while her husband was recovering from a job related injury. Her husband was a cop, and now she was almost certain that the same man who kidnapped her was the one who shot her husband …

To be Continued

Written by Michelle R Kidwell

Edited by Karla Dorman