• The light flowed down into the dark room. For the first time in days, the sun gifted me with it's presence, I could finally see the place where my captors held me. The light came in from a small, barred window, the little beam flooding the room with definition. The room was dank and grim, with grime holding itself against the wall, hanging on for what looked like it's life. The grime was at home here; this place was a haven for it, the outside world being very unforgiving. It fit in with the spotted gray walls, on which the wallpaper peeled to reveal an even danker concrete, spotted with holes from erosion. The ceiling was rotten insulating foam, with electrical wiring and wooden beams running across it.

    A stank wafted up into my nostrils, a heavy, deep, suffocating malodor. The smell attacked me, and I jerked my head up in response, nausea setting in. I tried stopping myself from smelling, clogging my nose up, but it didn't work, the smell stayed, as if someone shoved it into my nasal cavity. It made me dizzy. I was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, with nothing but the grime to accompany me. I looked around some more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a set of stairs, going up.

    I was kidnapped about 4 days ago (it's hard to tell time without any light), when I was walking home from the store to buy my aging mother a pint of milk. It was a normal route, one I made every other day, my mother sending me out on some kind of errand. “Natasha dear, would you like to do me a favor?” was a common way she'd phrase it, making it sound as if I really had a choice in the matter. So, out I was, with 5 dollars in my pocket, and the burlap sack she always used for groceries. She didn't believe in plastic bags. It wasn't about saving the environment, though. I think one of her cats strangled itself in one, or something.

    I was about 2 blocks from the market, when a beat up black van pulled up next to me. It made a screeching sound as the brakes were hit, skidding next to me. I jumped back, and yelled some profanities at the driver, I guess he took it bad. The door of the van slid open, and about 5 men, in suits and ties, with ski-masks on, jumped out of the car. They ran the 3 feet that separated us quicker than I could react, and they grabbed me, putting a piece of cloth soaked in a sweet-smelling liquid over my nose and mouth, and I collapsed. Next thing I knew I was in this room, with no lights to greet me.

    I was gagged, and not the simple cloth gag either; I had a ball stuck in my mouth, and a piece of duct tape over that. I was tied down with both duct tape, and rope, wrapped around my stomach, wrists, ankles and legs, all of which were to the chair. The chair was nailed and taped down too, for good measure. Whoever did this, it was pretty well thought out. I wonder if they had selected me beforehand, or I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, right now I really didn't want to be me.

    I could hear some chatter above me. I looked up, straight into a lamp dangling above me. It was off. I closed my eyes, and listened. It was pretty muffled, so I couldn't hear details. It sounded as if someone had just entered the building, and was talking to someone. Some footsteps went towards the door to the room where I was being held. I opened my eyes as the door did. Light from the lamp filled the room with a glaring, piercing white. I winced at it, squinting my eyes. Two sets of footsteps trotted down the stairs, and then turned towards me.

    “There she is, Tom, what do you think?” one of the men said. One set of footsteps stopped, the other continued towards me. A shadow loomed over my squinted eyes, and I looked up slightly. A tall man stood in front of me. Tom, I presumed. He wore a black tux, and a red tie, with a white dress shirt underneath. His hair was dark brown, and short-cut. He wore shades, so I couldn't see his eyes. He put his hand underneath my chin, and I squirmed in protest. “How much did you say she was?” He said to the other man. My eyes widened 'I'm going to be sold?!' I thought. “60,000$, take it or leave it.” The man said, with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice. 'For 60,000$!?' I couldn't believe that this was real. Tom still had his hand on my chin, and he turned my head to one side, then the other, seemingly inspecting me. I wanted to bite him, I wanted to escape, and tears welled up in my eyes, streaming down my cheek. Tom, who was holding my head in his hand looked up, towards the other man, who I assumed was one of my captors, or their boss. Tom said “You really think this is worth 60,000$?” I didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved. “I'll give you 40,000$ tops.” The relief went away, replaced by fear and loathing.

    My mind was screaming, “F*ck! F*ck! F*CK!” One part screeched, another thinking about all the horrible things the man could do it me if I was sold, another was coming up with increasingly improbable scenarios that would lead to my escape. I squirmed and wriggled in my chair, rocking back and forth. My captor snarled, and stormed at me, raising his fist and striking me in the cheek with the force of an anvil. My head snapped to the side, blood seeping into my mouth, around the ball. My cheek stung and throbbed, and tears streamed down my face. “KEEP STILL AND SHUT UP! Stupid b*tch.” My captor said, spitting on my face. His spit stung on my face, mixing in with my tears. He turned to his customer. “Tom, look, I'm not going to haggle, this b*tch is top quality, I promise. I mean, look at that rack!” A muffled scream came from behind my gag when I heard this. My mind was on fire, rage burning up inside me.

    My captor glared, and my scream died down, sputtering out under his icy stare. This was bad. This was worse than bad. This was the worst scenario my mind could come up with. He walked slowly up to me, each footstep making my heart skip a beat. My lungs were in my throat, and my eyes were full of tears. He lowered his head to my eye level, and I looked away. His hand grabbed at my chin, and jerked my gaze forward. His eyes were brown and seething with rage, and I just stared at them, his gaze fixed into my eyes. His lips moved slowly, his teeth clenched behind them “What... Did... I... Just... Tell... You?” he said, each word becoming more icy than the next. Fear shook my body, and a punch came from underneath me, knocking my body, chair and all, 3 feet up into the air. I landed hard on my back, my head slamming into the floor, consciousness flowing out of me.

    I woke up in the back seat of a speeding car. jostling about with a man next to me. He looked down when he saw me move, and laughed “Heh, you have your folks ta' thank fo' this. They din't pay up tha' money they owed us.” I looked at him, eyes filled with fear and befuddlement. “Tha' only way dey' can pay it off is trooh you, little girly. So we's sellin' yas, we gots da buya' all ready and willin'. Yo' folks din't even try ta' contact us. Youse screwed girly, youse screwed.” He chuckled after he told me this. I wanted to protest, but all that would come out through the gag were murmurs. This turned his chuckle turned into laughter, which grew in volume until he was slapping his knee, obviously thinking my position was hilarious.

    “Vinny, shut up!” commanded my captor, who turned around to hit Vinny. “We're here.” the driver said, just before the hand reached Vinny's face with a resounding clap. “Now get out, and bring the girl.” Vinny frowned, muttering “Yes boss.” while rubbing his cheek. Vinny cut off the rope and tape from my legs and ankles. He dragged me up into a sitting position by my arm, and then dragged me out of the car. I could feel the silhouette of a pistol in his jacket. He led me from the car, across a parking lot, into a dirty old warehouse. It was packed, filled with old crates, except for the 15 foot wide path that we followed. About 150 feet in, the path split off in a T. In the group that was escorting me there was Vinny, the Boss, and 5 other men, who I assumed were goons.

    We walked slowly, I looked around at the dusty crates. Light seeped in from cracks in the ceiling, making little swords piercing onto the ground. The dust in the air was visible in the rays of light, and we shuffled through. The ground was dirt, and my bare feet hardly got to touch it because Vinny was constantly jerking me forward. He was annoyed with my presence, apparently. We walked about 100 feet before a group of 7 men came from behind the corner. The man from the basement, his name was Tom, I remembered, was with them, in the back.

    The Boss yelled across to him “You got the money Tom?” Tom tapped the shoulder of a man who was with him, who was carrying a case. He opened it. Inside it were a bunch of bills, I couldn't see what amount they were from here. “Good!” the boss yelled to Tom. “You Bring the money over here, and we'll bring the girl! On the count of 3.” The boss looked nervous. He started the count. “1”. Tom yelled “2” and the Boss replied “3”, and nudged Vinny. Vinny walked forward, dragging me along with him. The man carrying the briefcase began walking at the same time, and we crossed each-other. I noticed a slight smirk on the face of the money-carrier.

    Vinny reached Tom at the same time as the Money-carrier reached the Boss. Vinny said to Tom “Here ya' go, ya' pervert. You always liked em' feisty din't ya'?” Tom smiled and said “Yeah. I still do. Goodbye, Vinny.” And, in a fluid motion, pulled a gun out of his shirt, pointed it at Vinny's Forehead, and shot him. I didn't even have time to blink as Vinny's grip loosened, blood spurted from his head onto the back of mine, and he crumpled to the floor. The world had slowed down, as Vinny's hand slowly flopped off me, as Tom raised his gun towards the Boss and his men, and the rest of Tom's men followed suit. I turned around, and saw the Money-carrier dive into the boxes, as The Boss and his men pulled out their guns, and pointed it at Tom and his men.

    The bullets flew, and the world around me was thrown into chaos. I just stood there. I saw a bullet graze Tom's arm, as he kept firing at the Boss and his men. Tom's men all had machine guns, which were turning the air to lead at a fantastic rate. The beat from the blasts was intoxicating, the world slowed to a pace where I could point out each bullet leaving it's chamber in a flash of light, where I could see each bullet going through the flesh of these men. The Boss' men were shooting back, taking cover behind crates, leaving behind 2 of their men, who were bloodied from the rain of bullets. Tom's men were taking cover themselves, Tom standing beside me, shooting the deadly projectiles into the fray.

    I don't even know who was the one that shot me, or where it came from. I heard a bang that was louder than the rest, and time slowed even more for me, as Tom stood there, shooting at the Boss. I could see the bullet twirling slowly out of his barrel, the flash of flame sending the hot piece of metal out at incredible speed. I saw his men cowering, shouting obscenities at the Boss and his men, which were drowned out by their own gunfire. Each shot lurched their shoulders upward, as if punishing them for trying to kill another person. I saw all this, turning my head for what seemed like an eternity to face a rounded piece of metal, flying towards me. I don't know who shot it, or the gun it came from, but I know the bullet. The bullet was twisting, it gleamed and sparkled in a ray of sunlight that it passed through, as it came ever closer.

    They say that you see your life flash before your eyes before you die. I didn't. All I saw was the bullet, slowly creeping towards it's inevitable place in the middle of my forehead. It spun further, the air parting at it's tip. It inched forward. Inched is probably too fast for how slow it was. It's spin was heavily prolonged, yet unyielding, each twist bringing it ever closer to me. I could see every bit of it. As it passed through another beam of light, a strange feeling came over me. I thought it the bullet was beautiful. In fact, it was more beautiful than anything I'd ever seen before. The light glinted off of it, shining a halo behind it, as the metal spun through. I fell in love with it as it came, and suddenly I accepted my fate, so long as it came from something this magnificent.

    It came. In a slow, foreboding, yet tranquil process, it reached me. I accepted it as it pinched my forehead. There was no pain, as it drilled in through the center of my head, digging into my skull, each spin sending it further and further into my brain, until it burrowed out through the other side, back into the light where it gleamed red in the sword of light behind me, my life making it's beauty even greater. Darkness came before I hit the floor. It enveloped me, and took me away. Mom would never get that milk.