Ramona sat shivering, not from the chill but from fear. She didn’t let the fear cripple instincts. The counting never stopped in her head. Her hands were tied behind her back, headed covered in a dark cloth, but she focused on the senses she still had control over. The floor was covered in a carpet of some sort. Zoning in on her hearing, Ramona took into account that the people in the vehicle with her weren’t saying a word. She was up to 1008 when the automobile began to slow. Once the vehicle came to a complete stop, she heard what sounded like a van door sliding open. Within seconds, someone was pulling her from her position and she soon felt the coolness of outside air.
After 50 steps, there was a pause, a door opening then they pulled her inside. Another 76 steps, she was seated on a chair and the shroud lifted from her head. Ramona squinted while her vision came into focus. She looked around. They were in some kind of machine factory. It wasn’t in operation at the moment but it had the appearance that it could be. She counted 5 men in various positions around her.
“Where is the colonel?”
Ramona looked up the man standing in front of her was tall, husky, bearded and had dark eyes. The expression on his face was stoic.
“I, I, I, don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ramona stammered.
{Slap}
Ramona’s head snapped to the right with a burning sensation on the left side of her face.
“Let’s try this again. Where can I find the colonel?”
“And I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ramona responded in a small voice.
This time, Ramona dodged the slap by throwing her head back. The man chuckled.
“Who are you?” Ramona asked.
“The man looking for the colonel,” he responded then walked away.
Ramona tried to look over her shoulder. She began looking around for anything that would help her out of this. The man was talking to someone, several someones in the distance. Their words weren’t clear, she strained to hear what they were saying to no avail. Ramona tried to loosen her hands. She looked down at her bare feet and cursed to herself.
Of all the days to run out of the house in house shoes and no weapon, Ramona thought. She’d taken what she thought would be a quick trip to the corner store just to grab some snacks. Jerry the store attendant had seen her, surely he saw her get snatched on the security monitor. He would call the police. Ramona just needed to stall until they found her.
“Hey!” Ramona yelled.
The stoic man took his place in front of her again.
“You ready to tell me where the colonel is?” He inquired.
“I still don’t know who the colonel is.”
“Maybe if you told me what he looked like or what you want him for, I could help you find him.”
“Cut the shit! You know exactly who the colonel is. And I will find out what you know.”
“I’m telling you what I know already.”
“That’s what you want me to believe. I don’t. But I’ll get it out of you.”
Another man came over pushing some sort of machine in front of him.
“Here you go,” he said to the dark eyed man.
The other man was smaller in stature, he looked sad maybe worried even. He looked at Ramona, shook his head then walked away. The dark eyed man turned a few knobs on the machine. He extended some wire leads with adhesive pads affixed to the ends from it then headed towards Ramona.
“You don’t have to do this. I told you what I know,” Ramona yelled.
Ramona tried to force herself loose. She bucked and twisted as much as she could in the chair. As much as she moved, freedom never came. The dark eyed man attached small adhesive pads to Ramona’s temples.
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Where’s the colonel? We need his research.”
“Colonel, who?”
“Colonel Abraham.”
“I don’t know a Colone,” before Ramona could complete her answer if flipped the machine on.
Her body convulsed, she went rigid and couldn’t speak. She couldn’t breathe for a second. He stopped the machine but only for a second then flipped it on again. Ramona clinched her jaws while she foamed at the mouth and he switched it off again. Only a moment passed then he flipped it on again. The dark eyed man continued this pattern for quite some time.
Ramona tried to speak but her voice was barely audible. She tried to catch her breath.
“What did you say?” The dark eyed man asked.
She again made a statement he couldn’t hear. He moved closer to her, placing his ear near her mouth.
“Where is the colonel?” He asked again.
Leaning forward slightly she spoke.
“He is wherever the fuck he is, whoever the fuck he is,” she spat before head butting the dark eyed man.
Wiping the blood from his lip, he smiled as he glared at her. Ramona huffed as her chest heaved, she looked confused as he chuckled.
“You’re a piece of work. I will get his location out of you.”
The dark haired man walked away again, spoke to someone then returned to his place in front of Ramona.
“I’m giving you a last chance to tell me where colonel Abraham is Celeste then things are going to get really ugly.”
Ramona’s eyebrows wrinkled, she smiled nodding her head.
“You find that funny do you?”
“What I find funny is my name is not Celeste.”
There was a loud bang, they heard shouting and feet scampering. The dark eyed man pulled his weapon and began to look around frantically. Ramona began laughing. He pointed the 9mm at Ramona’s head.
“Tell me where the colonel is now or you won’t be here for anyone to save.”
“My name is Ramona Isabelle, I don’t know Colonel Abraham, his research or where he is. But what I do know is, you won’t make it out of here alive. Celeste doesn’t respond well to people kidnapping her sister.