New Reality (short story)

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT!

As I wait in line at the grocery store, I roll my eyes at the absurdity of the conversation ahead of me. Two other shoppers are waiting to check out; a young man dressed in clothes that I would only describe as “quirky” and a woman about his age dressed in an outdated Goth style. The topic that had them so intrigued and me losing hope for future generations was, of all things, the Kardashians. I’d honestly thought they’d been long since cancelled. I mean really, who cares?

The young man seems to have more to say on the topic and the woman with him just nods at everything he says. I'm not even sure she's listening until she finally pipes up with “ I know, right?” That, apparently, is the entire content of her vocabulary and mind. For several more minutes I listen to him blab about this unreal reality TV family and once in a while I hear her chime in “I know, right?” What an asinine phrase.

Eventually, they check out, pay, and thankfully leave. I look up at the cashier and sympathize. No telling how many people just like this he has to listen to day in and day out. He has the look of a semi-bored zombie, so I guess he’s used to it. Loading my groceries onto the belt, I look behind me at the man next in line. He's staring at me. Assuming that he's just as spaced out as I had been while waiting, and not actually looking at me, I continue loading my things. The cashier gives me a monotonous greeting and begins swiping my purchases and setting them aside for me to bag. I miss the days of grocery store baggers. Its a convenience that died out long ago and will likely never return. Lost in thought, I gaze around me. Again, I glance at the man behind me and again he is staring at me. I look over my shoulder to see if there is something or someone he could be looking past me to watch but there is nothing but a wall and occasionally passing shoppers leaving the store. I begin to feel uncomfortable, but I’m not ready yet to get nervous. Maybe he’s just odd, I think. There are a lot of weird and even mentally ill people who are harmless. He probably doesn’t mean anything by it. I bag the last of my groceries. The cashier mumbles my total and I swipe my card. Waiting for my receipt, I look back yet again. He’s still watching me so I decide to speak to him. I want to say something casual that one might say to a passing stranger. What I really want to do is call attention to the fact that I’ve noticed him staring. “Hey, there.” I say, somewhat lamely. He just looks at me with an odd expression on his face and says nothing. Deciding he’s harmless, I turn away and take my receipt from the bland faced cashier.

I push my shopping cart loaded with bags of various canned vegetables, crackers, meat, eggs, and bread out the door. I’m always careful to walk with a confident air, never looking like a vulnerable victim waiting for an ambush. I move straight to my car, unlocking the doors with the push of a button. I load my bags into the back seat and as I turn around everything goes black! Something is over my head and I try to scream but panic makes my breath leave me with a whoosh! I inhale hard to try again and a hand outside the bag quickly smothers my mouth. I feel another pair of hands lift my legs as the first person lifts my body, holding my arms pinned to my sides. We move around and I’m laid down in what feels like a vehicle seat and I smell a noxious chemical near my face. I'm unable to avoid losing consciousness.

When I wake up, I’m no longer in a vehicle. Terror paralyzes me for several minutes as I realize that no one has any way of knowing where I am. Even if my car is found it won’t help to locate me! I look around, taking in my surroundings. I’m in a small room. It’s dingy and empty and there is only one door, no windows. I don’t have to check to know that it's locked. How did I go from living my life normally and happily to this? With no idea of what will happen to me or if I will ever go back to my life again, I start to cry. I’m not injured and that gives me hope because if whoever took me wanted me dead, I would be dead. Trying not to think about what else he might want with me, I stand up and dizziness threatens to overcome me. The after-effect of whatever they used to knock me out slows me down, but I still make it to the door. I foolishly grab the knob, knowing that it won’t turn but unable to resist trying. I find myself doing what all movie characters do in my exact situation; I pound the door and scream to be let out. It doesn’t work for me any better than it worked for them. I eventually give up and pace the filthy floor of the tiny room. I try to stay calm and think. Someone will eventually come to the room. Staying sane was becoming more and more of a challenge. Hours seem to pass when in reality it could have been much less. I have no way of knowing how long I was unconscious and no way to tell what time it is. Is it even the same day? I eventually cower down in a crouching position in the corner, waiting for my fate to reveal itself.

Just as I begin to doze off from sheer exhaustion, the doorknob turns. The door opens slowly, as though whoever is on the other side is waiting for me to rush to try and escape. I don’t because I'm not on my feet and I instinctively know he's too ready for me. Finally, a man emerges. It's not the same man I saw at the grocery. This man is over 6 feet tall, has shaggy unwashed brown hair, and shades that conceal half his face. I'm terrified of him and can’t bring myself to speak. He watches me for a moment and then nods, turning to leave. It was as though he was just making sure I was awake and alive. I have to stop him from leaving! I need to know what he wants! “Please!” I cry, “Let me go! Why did you do this?” He just looks at me again so I scream at him, “LET ME GO! Who do you think you are? You can’t just kidnap me! What do you want?” Finally he opens his mouth to speak. His voice is raspy but calm. ”You are being sold at auction in two days.” He says this as casually as I would say that I’m going to the movies. My mouth hangs open in shock and the next thing I know, the man is gone and the door is once again closed and locked. I'm so afraid that I lose control of my bladder.

I have bigger problems. In two days, this evil person is going to sell me to the highest bidder at an auction like livestock! Only I'm pretty sure I would be treated worse than cattle. I had always heard there was a hidden but thriving sex slave trade in the US but to be confronted by it in my real life was too much to absorb! I had to get out of here, but how? I pace the room again, thinking hard. There is nothing to do BUT think! I don’t know where the auction will be held, so I can’t plan an escape route, but I have to keep my wits and make use of any available opportunity! I know better than to think my captors would let their guard down completely, but I decide to seem cowed and meek so that I can take them by surprise at some point. When food is finally brought to me, I eat. Every kidnap movie and TV show I’d ever watched depicted captives as defiant, throwing the food across the room. How stupid! I have to keep my strength up and try to get my captors to feel complacent. When I'm finished eating, I'm given water. I ask for clean clothes but am denied. The man leaves me again and I struggle to keep from getting lost in my fear. I have no way of knowing how much time has passed. No one checks on me except to feed me, and that doesn’t seem to be very often. I wonder if I am the only prisoner here or if there are more in other rooms. Unable to help them or myself, I fight a constant battle with self-pity. I think about everything I have ever done and the things I still want to do; anything to keep from focusing on what my future will be like. I spend my time pacing, sitting, and lying down on the cold hard floor. I haven’t been able to sleep since the man came in and told me what was going to happen to me. I had wanted to know so badly, but now I know it was cruel of him to tell me. It would be better not to know. I would have found comfort in thinking that they were asking for a ransom from someone I know or that they had the wrong girl. Knowing that I had been chosen by a spotter and picked up purposefully in a well thought out plan was sickening. They were obviously professionals and would have been careful to approach me when there were no witnesses. Why hadn’t I been more careful? I hadn’t looked around me and I really have no idea if anyone had been in the area! Even a chance witness wouldn’t give me much hope. The vehicle would have to be identified and tracked and that seemed a herculean feat at this point. I have been here long enough that I’m sure I’m on my own.

Startled by the door opening, I spin around to face the visitor. It's the man from the grocery. It’s the spotter who has doomed me to this fate. Full of outrage I glare at him; so angry I’m not even sure what to say. He closes the door behind him and eyes me with lust. This turns my rage to terror and I cringe away, backing up. “Time for me to collect.” He murmurs. “C-collect wh-what?” I stammer. “My fee” he says with an evil kind of glee. “I get you first, before the auction.” My legs buckle with fear and I stumble to the wall, grabbing it for support. “Y-you can’t do this, “ I beg. “ Please, please no.” He simply grins his awful grin and begins to approach me, fumbling with his belt buckle.

Hours later, I’m lying on the floor, still dazed with trauma and pain. Tears leak silently down my face and I want to die. I don’t want to face anyone and I definitely would rather be dead than to go to auction! My clothes are so badly torn I can’t even cover myself with them and I’m so cold I shiver uncontrollably. I have no way to shield myself when the door opens again, and in horror I watch the other man, the tall one from the first day, enter the room. He hauls me up by my arm and looks at me. “Damn it! He wasn’t supposed to bruise you up! That’ll hurt your price.” I begin to sob as I realize his only concern for what had been done to me was the money he would lose. “Shut up, bitch!” He slaps me, obviously feeling like it wouldn’t add any worse damage. I stop crying but the shaking goes on. He lets go of my arm and I fall to my knees with a yelp of pain. He leaves the room and I watch the door close yet again, wishing more than anything that I could find a way through; a way out of this hell and back into my world.

Later, I slowly come awake, only just then realizing I had slept. The tall man was back in the room and I blearily realize something is about to happen. He has a long robe and he hands it to me and helps me up. He leads me to the door and in a stupor I let him guide me through it. We walk down a hallway and into a bathroom. He tells me to shower and put the robe on. I know it’s time. They’re taking me to be sold and I don’t know how to stop them. Crazy things begin to run through my mind. I'm supposed to meet my friend Tiffany for lunch on Thursday. Was it Thursday yet? I'm obviously not going to make it and I can’t even let her know. She'll be worried and rightly so. I think about the groceries left to ruin in my car, my purse left on the seat. Someone would have stolen that by now. Knowing I'm a little out of my mind, I let the thoughts run their course as I wash. It's better than facing the direness of my situation. I finish my shower, absurdly grateful to be clean, and don the robe. It's threadbare but it covers me from neck to knee and that's such a relief that tears start again. I’m pushed forward from behind, being guided back down the hall and past my prison and I can see an exit just ahead. Hope blooms through my whole being as I imagine walking outside and just running away from all of this! We approach the door and I can barely quell my excitement. I keep my head down, hoping that by appearing docile I can get the advantage and make a surprise break away. The tall man reaches around me and opens the door and my hope bursts in a painful explosion in my chest. Just outside the door, three other men are waiting next to a van. It’s parked in a blind alleyway with no possible witnesses. The windows are covered completely with flowery curtains, obviously meant to look less suspicious. The van door slides open and I am thrust inside. There are four other women right behind me. They are all dressed in robes and looking as terrified as I feel. Once we are all inside the van, the men shut the door and our freedom is permanently lost.