The Ring of Fire & Serpents

Chapter Twelve - The Ring Of Fire

Sophia’s POV

“Hey…hey you…wake up!” a female voice calls out.

My eyes open wide; I blink a few times as my blurry vision comes into focus. Did I just dream that? I reach up and touch my forehead gently, grimacing as I run my fingertips along my scalp. Ouch…my head is pounding. As I pull my fingers away, I’m alarmed to find blood covering my fingertips.

“Hey…” a female voice whispers in the distance. I turn my head in the direction of the voice to find a girl around my age crouched down in a large steel cage; she has her fingers laced around the bars. I notice that her face is covered in dirt; her hair is disheveled and piled on top of her head, and she’s wearing a dingy old hospital gown. She looks up at me with tears welling in her eyes.

I quickly sit up so that I can run over to her, but I’m immediately stopped. I glance down at my lap to find a strap holding me down at my waist. What is even more disturbing is that my legs are strapped in stirrups. I use all the strength I have in me, pulling and tugging, attempting to break free from the stirrups, but I’m unsuccessful. I can’t help but notice that I’m wearing the same dingy hospital gown the other girl is wearing. How did this happen? Did someone dress me? Where are my clothes? Why am I strapped down? I feel like I’m at the gynecologist. I have a feeling I’m not going to like the answers.

I scan my surroundings briefly. It’s dark…like a dungeon. The only light in the room is one light bulb in the ceiling fixture that flickers above my head.  I inhale deeply…it smells like an ashtray in here.

I turn to direct my attention towards the young girl, “Wh…where am I? What is this place?” I ask; my voice is raspy.

She begins to sob quietly, “It’s hell…I’m sure of it.”

I reach up to rub my eyes so that I can get a better visual of her.  She’s trembling as she gazes up at me, her eyes glisten as they are wet with tears, “How long have you been here?” I ask.

“I…I…I don’t know…a few weeks, I guess.” She replies.

The hair on my arms stands to attention as fear sweeps over me, and I gasp, “A few weeks?!” I belt out.

She raises her hand, “Shhhh! He will hear you!”

I scan the room looking for this person that she speaks of, “Who? Frank?”

She nods, “Or worse….” She stops suddenly as a loud bang is heard across the room as the door slams.

I turn my head to look in the direction of where the slamming door came from, but I’m not able to see who is coming. All I can hear is the sound of their footsteps on the cement floors.

The young girl hurriedly crawls across the floor to the back of the cage and pulls her knees to her chest.

Panic sinks in, and I begin to anxiously tug on the restraints as if it gives me a chance in hell to break free; Realizing I’m not able to free myself, I quickly cover my eyes with my hands. A wave of nausea sweeps over me as they lace their fingers around my wrists to pull my hands down, but I force my eyes to remain shut. I can’t bring myself to open them; I’m too terrified of what I’ll see standing before me, “Well…hello there.” A male voice whispers.

As I slowly open my eyes, I look up to find a man standing next to me, smiling ear to ear. I don’t recognize him, but I do notice that he’s a tall, muscular man with salt and pepper hair dressed in a police uniform.

I belt out a sigh of relief. “Oh my God! Officer, please help me! My name is Sophia Carmichael. My mother’s boss took me! Please get me out of here!” I plead with him.

He reaches out to pat my hand, “Oh no! Who is your mother’s boss?”

“His name is Frank Schumacher. He owns an insurance company in town. Please take me home, officer! That poor girl across the room in the cage has been here a few weeks. She needs help as well.”

He shakes his head and begins to chuckle, “Let’s play a game, shall we?” He asks.

I remain quiet for a moment while staring at him as I attempt to make sense of what he just asked me. Does he honestly think I’m joking right now? “What do you mean, play a game?” I ask with a snarky undertone.

He pulls his gun out of his holster and points it directly at my temple. My ears begin to ring as I tremble with fear, “You ever heard of the game Russian Roulette? I have just one bullet in the chamber. I will shoot you three times, and if you make it without getting your head blown off, then I’ll take you back to your Momma.  Do we have a deal?” he asks.

Once I realize exactly what kind of cop he is, I curl my lip in disgust, “You are one sick son of a b***h!” I blurt out.

He belts out a maniacal laugh that sends a shiver down my spine. I immediately regretted my response. Once he releases the safety on the gun, I immediately cry out and attempt to block the gun with my hand, “No! Please don’t shoot me! I’m begging you!” I plead with him.

“Aww…come on, sweet cheeks. It will be lots of fun. Maybe not for you, but I’ll certainly enjoy it.”

I reach up and cover my eyes with my hands, “No! Please stop!” I cry out.

“No! Please stop!” He replies in a mocking tone.

As I’m sobbing uncontrollably, he howls with laughter and purposely mocks my cries. I am so terrified that I can feel urine run down my leg, so I abruptly close my legs to stop the stream.

Suddenly, the sound of another man’s voice echoes all around the room, “Butch! Back away from the girl!”

 I turn my head to look back in the direction of where the voice came from to find Frank standing in the doorway with a white sleeveless shirt on and blue jeans. His mousey brown, balding hair is slicked back, and he has a large brown belt with a silver buckle. He doesn’t even look like the same person.

He flashes an evil grin while the man next to me begins to back away, throwing his hands up exasperatingly, “You owe me, Frank! I cleaned up your mess; you better give me my time as you promised!” He yells.

Frank charges over to him, puffing his chest, “I told you, you’d get your time. Now leave!”

The two men are standing face to face for a moment, sizing one another up. The cop places his hands on his hips and stands to attention before Frank, “Best not forgot the one who saves your ass every time! I’m gonna hold ya to this one. If it weren’t for me, you’d be in jail. Remember that!”

Frank crosses his arms in front of his chest as he sneers at him. His face is three shades of red, and his nostrils flare as beads of sweat roll down his forehead. The cop gives up the fight and quickly turns around to storm out of the room. Frank glances briefly at me before turning back to a makeshift table in the corner. It has an old record player situated on top. I watch as he places the cartridge on the record, and the sound of static plays initially before the music starts. Then a deep masculine voice echoes throughout the room:

Love is a burning thing.

And it makes a fiery ring.

Bound by wild desire

I fell into a ring of fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire

I went down, down, down, and the flames went higher.

My stomach turns as I watch him move across the room. He reaches up to grab a rope hanging on the wall and slowly approaches me with an evil grin. I turn to look at the girl in the cage; she is sobbing and holding her ears while the music plays. My heart begins to pound out of my chest as I attempt to break free from the restraints by thrashing my arms and legs wildly as he moves closer to me; he bends down to whisper into my ear, “I’ll be sure to tell your Momma hello Monday when I see her.”

His words cut through me like a knife, and I begin to wail, “Oh God, No! Please no! Ahhh!”

He chuckles as he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a syringe, “No, Frank! I’m begging you; please let me go!” I plead.

He pops the cap off with his thumb before reaching down to hold my leg in place. I attempt to fight him off, but there’s no use as he is much stronger than me. He jabs the syringe into the side of my thigh before removing it and pulling the safety. I cry out in pain and reach down to hold my leg as it throbs, “Shhh… just relax, Sophia.” He whispers as he reaches out to stroke my hair.

Desperate to break free, I flop around on the table that I’m laid out on and scream as loudly as I can in hopes that someone would hear me, but whatever poison he has injected me with is coursing through my veins. I try to fight through it, but my eyes get very heavy as fatigue sets in. He looks down at me with an evil grin and watches me closely as I slowly close my eyes. Before I realize what hit me, I completely pass out.