Reasoning those mind games

Chapter 2

Slowly she fought to open her eyes, only to be blinded again. Her head was throbbing with pain and the smell of old wet rags was acting as perfect couple with all to induce a slight nausea. She tried to shield her eyes from the bright illuminance with her hands , but something pulled her arms back down causing a burning sensation across her wrists . Grunting with a mix of pain and anger she tugged against the force holding her down, only to realize that her arms were restrained with a nylon rope. Her heart started to pound and her veins began to freeze.

Squinting, she looked at her surroundings. The room was aged with its dust-covered floors and rusted windows. The floor was littered with boxes of old relics from the past. The only thing that stood out was the clean hospital bed she was laying on and an end table with doctor's tools.

As she tried to comprehend all this, panic started to set in. Am I sick or hurt? Have I been taken captive? Her mind began to wonder, making her feel even more nauseous.

The sudden creaking sound of the stair floorboards above startled her. She wasn't alone. Someone else was there as well. As the footsteps got closer and closer until they finally halted in a little distance. Tracy’s body stiffened and her breaths started to break. Laying back down she tried to make it appear that she had yet to awaken. Although her heart was pounding at a million beats per minute, she tried her best to remain calm. There were two faint squeaks of door hinge as the person walked in closing the door behind.

"Ah, buttercup you know you can't fool me... I know you're awake." a silhouette addressed in a familiar voice, almost singing...

Gulping to clear her throat, she opened her eyes again slowly and cautiously , and turned all of her attention towards the man standing before her. The man dimmed the lights to let Tracy see more comfortably.

"Who are you?” She whispered as the man strode out of the shadows revealing his face. Tom stood there with lips curled up into a smirk. Was her mother right all along? Her husband was a dangerous man? Trying to breathe Tracy looked around again at the shacked surroundings they were in.

"Where am I?!?"

Tracy demanded tugging hard on her restraints. But it only caused the binds to tighten and pain to escalate. The panic started to worsen making her hyperventilate. The room began to spin around her.

She felt her husband's firm hands grasp her shoulders, lightly squeezing them. Panting, Tracy tried to make another futile attempt to resist but her body collapsed. She was too weak.

"Honey, listen to me. You aren’t in great shape, you have to calm down or you'll end up hurting yourself further."

The more she tried, the firmer his grip became, and her dizziness increased. Soon she was exhausted. She gave up on struggling. Images flashed through her mind. A church, Her husband, room full of faceless mannequins , running from something or to whom? Her mother…

"MY MOM!! Where is my mom? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!!"

She wanted to scream but her throat was too sore to even try. She started thrashing again with all the energy left in her. It was getting harder to breathe. She could feel the sinking taking over with every gasp of air, reinforcing more flashbacks...

Tom’s cynical tone interrupted her thoughts; "I was hoping that it wouldn't have come to this."

He reached for a vial from the medical table and tapped the syringe filled with a clear mysterious liquid. He flicked the cap off the syringe with a fingernail, and pushed the plunger slightly, causing a drop to hit the floor. Again, he reached for his bride's arm as she struggled against his advances.

"No Stop! Why are you doing this?"; She screams... But He holds her down with all his weight and jabs the syringe into her arm. The fluid immediately started to act. Placing a soft kiss upon her forehead for the last time before letting go he whispered;

"It's for your own good my dear."

The old worn stairs creak as he ascends back upstairs. The room again goes dark and all that is left is the faint sound of dripping. She feels herself slowly fading away.

Drip..Drip...Drop.

....

..

The next she opened her eyes she was at the hospital. The real one! With real doctors and police around. And her mother.

WAIT!! MOM?

"What ..Wh...How.." Tracy gasped, trying to get up. Her arms were now free.

"Calm down sweety. I'll explain!"; Her mother cupped her face and held her firmly until her breathing stabilized. When Tracy had calmed down, her mother let her go and began to narrate everything .

Her mother had called the police and rescued her. She also told Tracy how she found the empty syringe, and knew she must work quickly to save her daughter from the influence of the lethal drug injected in her.

With a shocked face, she hugged her mother as tight as she could. Breathing heavily.

She had just woken up from what seemed to be a daydream, or in her case a terrible nightmare. She peered down at a glass on the side table with a sense of confusion, the tension of the surface of the water vibrated and she was reminded of the delicacy of her own state. The memories her mind held were still fresh and the demands of the crazed voices became deafening. The feeling of overwhelming dread took hold so tight that it was unbearable. Claustrophobia sets in, and a need to escape grows stronger.

Her mind still felt the noise, the sound of laughter and cheering still seemed to be echoing around the halls, but she knew it was only the halls of her mind. The lines of a poorly rehearsed wedding toast,as they were expressed to the newly wedded couple. The room stood to applaud. She was stuck in that moment, and like a sheep following the herd, she found herself mimicking the others only to find that her arms were no longer restrained.

The man from her nightmare was standing right behind her mother. My husband! Wait no my husband no more.

"NO NO NO! TOM ... "

She gets up shrieking as her mother hugs her to keep her calm.

" It's ok love! he's in lockups"...

PLOT

Courtroom. Tracy stands before the prosecutor in a state of utter shock. Dark circles around her eyes, hair uncombed with her mother standing beside her answering questions for her. She wouldn't utter a word. Didn't even show an expression.

The court, looking at her condition and medical proof, orders no contact between both bride and groom and allows the bride to keep a gun for her protection. Her face doesn't change in the slightest. She could hear her mother screaming " He tried to kill my daughter" .. and her husband defending repeatedly begging for Tracy to say something.

" Please, believe me, it wasn't me I didn't do anything ... Buttercup say something.. Tracy please..." but he was left in his cuffs and taken away.

Tracy looked up to glance at her husband's helpless face for one last time. His eyes were screaming clearly that he was innocent. But she had already seen too much to believe. She sighed and turned her gaze away as her mother lead her out of the courtroom, completely ignoring everything.