It didn’t hurt to be civil to my captors. At least, not at first.
But there was no response.
“I know you’re out there,” I said firmly. “If you let me go, I won’t tell anybody. I won’t do anything. I’ll forget this whole thing ever happened.”
Yeah, right. I’d be having nightmares about this place for the rest of my life. It wasn’t much different from being buried alive. The only difference was I had a little more elbow room.
I was greeted once more with silence.
Was I just talking to myself? Was I imagining this whole place? I didn’t think so. Alice was the one with the imagination. I just built things.
“Please!” I cried. “Let me go! Please! I swear I won’t tell anyone anything!”
No one would believe me anyway.
The silence was deafening.
If I had a little noise, a little music in the background to keep myself distracted the way I did back home, things wouldn’t seem so bad. The TV, radio, podcasts, anything to drown out the silence.
I hummed an inane tune. No rhythm, no lyrics—for the moment, they’d completely fled my brain and I couldn’t think of a single one.
I paced up and down. At least I could do that much. I could still exercise and stay in good shape. When the opportunity to escape presented itself, I’d be ready.
But without food, how long was I going to last?
I stopped pacing and peered around my room. Maybe I was missing something. It might be an elaborate escape room and I had to figure my way out of it using the most common objects.
The bed was the centerpiece of the entire room. I dropped to my hands and knees and checked under it. The entire frame stuck out from the wall. There were no legs or struts to keep it in place.
And no escape hatches or air vents underneath it either.
The dining table stuck out like a rasping tongue too. Surely it would break if I put enough weight on it? I hopped on it. It didn’t wobble and felt very sturdy.
Beyond it was a slight recess in the wall, about the size of a microwave. I stuck my hands in it and touched each of the sides. Nothing happened. Then I stuck my head in it and checked to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
I hadn’t.
There were no hard edges or corners for me to grip or yank.
Then there were the other furnishings. A simple desk with two drawers in the front like buck teeth. I opened them. Something rattled in one of them.
Aha!
I scooped up the contents. It was a thin pad of notepaper and a red pen. I flicked through the notepad, hoping to find a clue to the next hint. There wasn’t a single mark on the paper. When I checked the pen, there was nothing unique about it. At least I could write or draw something.
But I wasn’t much in the mood for art.
“Is anybody there?” I said. “If you can hear me, just make a noise. Let me know you’re there. I don’t want to be alone in here. I don’t want to be here at all.”
If someone was there, they didn’t say a word.
I was trapped.
And I was alone.
Time passed slowly in that room. With no distractions, you felt the weight of every single second that passed. I managed to take a couple of short naps during the day but never for long.
Was this it? I wondered. Was this going to be my life until I starved to death? Living alone in this room with nothing to keep me entertained?
I rubbed the silk material of the negligee I wore between my fingers. At least I would be a sexy corpse.
Things would get better, I told myself. They had to. I couldn’t live forever in this little room. Alone.
I drifted to sleep again and dreamed fitfully. Nightmares took shape and haunted me.
And they weren’t only confined to my dreams.
I was about to meet them face to face.
I suffered from a recurring nightmare. I fell into a bottomless pit without end. I was starving hungry. As I sailed ever downward, food floated past me. I was always too slow to snatch it.
My stomach growled and it started me awake. I pressed a hand to my stomach. I needed food soon. I was very hungry.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.
It was the middle of the night. The only way I could know that was because the lights had automatically dimmed. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but they must have gradually risen and fallen throughout the day.
So this was it. I was going to starve to death and that would be the end of me. No one would know I was here. No one would know I was dead. I would die here and I would rot. Then maybe those who put me in here would come for me.
And that’s when I had my plan.
I would pretend to suffer a heart attack or fall over and hit my head and just lay there. That way, they had to send someone in to check on me.
I’d have to make sure I fell over into a comfortable position. Maybe on the bed. I would lay there without moving a muscle.
But that meant they would have cameras. Were there any on me now?
I hadn’t seen any. I didn’t think so.
I shook my head. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel with my idea. I would do it, but only when I didn’t have any other option.
I wracked my brains for another solution but came up empty.
Agitated, I rolled onto my side with my eyes shut, trying to think through the situation.
There was always a way out. You just had to think harder.
I strained myself and…
Nope.
Nothing.
I
