His Hostage

A House Without An Exit

"Ughh..my head! Why does it hurt so much?"

My whole body feels so surreal as if I've been climbing mountains. The room is pretty dark, only soft moonlight is piercing through the glass window illuminating the room. My eyes adjust to the darkness giving me a better view of my surroundings.

"Strange..." I mutter as I sit up and silently soak in my surroundings. I have been lying on a soft bed with a night stand beside it. On the nightstand there are few fruits and a glass of water.

I skim through the room and see a large window, a couch ,beautifully decorated walls with paintings and an wardrobe.

I jog my mind through the past happenings. An electric shock runs through my body as the realisation sinks in. I rush to the window.

Its snowing.

Which is even more alarming because in my country it never snows as I'm a resident of south- asian continent. The architecture is completely different.

Panic sets in. Its getting hard to breath. My mind is a roller coaster right now. I sit on the bed and try to calm myself down.

Breathe in.....breathe out....breathe in ..... breathe out....

Mom always said, "Never panic, always try to find hope in your darkest times".

"I have to find my way out, no matter what!" with that thought I start to find something useful in the room. This room is giving me dejà vu. A lot of things feel familiar. This wardrobe ,I had the same one but golden colour but this one is blue. The bed is also same but a bit different.

Maybe I had a nightmare about getting kidnapped.

Just then my eyes landed on a small note on the nightstand.

"Please make yourself at home ,little rose. I will visit you soon. Till then feed yourself.

Take care, love."

My whole world crashed.

This is real. My fear turned into reality. I was kidnapped, imprisoned and being held - Hostage.

Without thinking I chugged down the glass of water. I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and a flash light I found on the couch.

"It's time to explore a bit",I wisper, voice trembled but determined .I move out of the room to find an exit. The walls of this long corridor is decorated with large photo frames. Most of them are aged men and women- perhaps past generations. My eyes got stuck on one particular photo.

His eyes.

Dangerous yet beautiful.

Suddenly something clicks. He is the same man who spoke to me on that rainy night and whom I saw before passing out!

He is my abductor.

Somehow stabilising myself I move forward.

At the end of the corridor I reach a room which appears to be a study room. It is filled with books, a study table, chair, bookshelf and a photo -of me- sticking out of a drawer.

I yank it open.

The drawer is full of pictures. Of me. Leaving college. Entering the library. Having coffee. Smiling. Walking. So many moments—captured without my knowledge.

The amount of details these photos hold is disturbing.

I suddenly feel a chill running down my spine. Someone has been stalking me this whole time leaving zero hint.

I bolt out of the room and start running without having any clue about where I am going.

I stumble across another room but this time I hesitated while entering the room.

The room smelled pungent. The room feels unusually cold. I run my flashlight through the walls. They are filled with blood stains!!

I gasp,"Oh my gosh! This room looks like a slaughter house". Without a second thought I leave the room and close the door behind me.

"Where am I? And who was that man?"

My mind spirals with more and more questions.

"I've to get out of here and soon".

I again start walking and reach a staircase leading downstairs. I again start running and keep on running until I reach a glass door.

This room seems a bit different as if it is attracting me. Keeping all thoughts aside I push open the door and find myself in a room where walls are made of glasses. Under different circumstances i would have admired the room but somehow this feels scary now. I walk straight and reach a diversion.

Two different paths, two different choices , two different circumstances.....

I make my way towards right. Panic settles in. I am back to the spot from where I started. This time I go to the left path meeting the same outcome.

Now I start running in random direction and find myself in a separate room. Finally realisation settles in that I'm stuck in a maze!

Suddenly it is difficult to breathe as if the walls are closing in making the room smaller and smaller.

I almost jump out of my skin and come to my senses when I hear a voice behind me.

It is a female voice.

"You have got courage to enter the glass maze all by yourself".

I turn around. It is the same woman I encountered during my abduction.

"You? Who are you and what do you want from me?" I scream.

"Not me but our boss. And don't try to play smart here and do as we say."

Another man emerges beside her. I am so panicked that I did not even notice him. Suddenly the man approaches me and attempts to tie both of my hands.

"What are you doing? Leave me alone."

"We will take you to our boss so cooperate otherwise things will take an ugly turn and you can call me Zoe."

I struggle but they are too strong. At the end I am left with no choice but cooperate. The man ties both of my hands on my back and blind folds me.

"Why b-blindfold me?", I stutter.

"We can't show you the way out of this maze, now move", Zoe holds my hand and leads me to the unknown.

I may sound crazy but somehow I feel safe with Zoe. She acts tough but somehow gentle with me. Gathering up all my courage I ask, "Zoe?"

"what?"

Gulping I ask, "Why couldn't I find any exit?"

A sigh..

"Because there is none. We are passing through an underground passage which is known to limited people".

Horror seizes me. "And what about the room having blood stains all over the walls?'

"You ask too many questions. That is the punishment room. Now no more questions. we are almost there."

Punishment room? What have I gotten myself into? Will I even survive?