How long Amy lingered in the dank, stygian darkness of the basement, she wasn’t entirely certain. Time passed with an agonizing slowness here, the windows sealed up so she could not even determine whether it was day or night, while her kidnapper had yet to make an appearance since she awoke from her drug-induced slumber. Her only companions were the feel of the cold metal shackles biting into her wrists and ankles, the awful taste of the sponge still filling her mouth and of the duct tape bound around her head to complete the gag, and the fear that kept her heart pounding like a kettle-drum at her breast. Had the ransom note been sent? Did her bosses at the First National Bank even know she was kidnapped? For a brief and terrible moment, the pretty brunette accountant was struck with the notion that her plight had simply been dismissed, preferring to let one of their employees come to harm rather than part with a single cent, and panic sent a fresh scream bubbling up. “Mmmmmpppggghhh! MMMMPPPGGGHHHH!"
If someone heard her plight through the thick walls of the basement, they were in no hurry to do something about it, and Amy slumped down onto the thin mattress, despair eating away at her like a canker. She was a woman of numbers, of protocol and procedure, and to be kidnapped, bound and gagged like this was nothing she’d ever experienced before. Her struggles had only succeeded in further exhausting her, neither the metal cuffs nor the chains connecting them showed any sign of giving way. Worst still, for all his claims of poverty, her kidnapper had somehow managed to find the time and funds necessary to construct an impromptu cell in the basement, the stout metal cage that surrounded her another great obstacle between her and freedom, its bars clean and bright even in the cloying darkness. He certainly hadn’t bothered to properly insulate the space, and Amy shivered, her white formal blouse and knee-length black skirt, both soiled with sweat and dust, doing little to stave off the cold. There was nothing she could do but lie there, wait and pray that her fate would be a kind one, and a helpless moan seeped through the gag to hang in the dank air like morning mist. “Mmmpppgghhh…”
Then metal hinges, clearly unoiled, gave a screech like the wail of the damned, and grey eyes widened as the kidnapper trundled down the basement stairs, face grim as death. “Delivered the ransom note, girl,” he said without any preamble as he made his way over to the bars of her cell. “With any luck, I’ll get my money soon, and you can be on your way. Course, until then, this is where I’m gonna keep you, whether you like it or not.”
“Mmmmpggghh!” Amy shouted in protest, wrists flexing helplessly in her cuffs. “MMMPPPGGGHHH!”
“Now, don’t be like that, girl. Like I said, this is all to help my wife. If you really want someone to blame, it’s your stingy bosses that deserve it, not me.”
“MMMPPGGGHHH!” There was plenty of blame to go around as far as Amy was concerned, but for him most of all, and the fear gave way to anger. She was not some trophy to be passed from hand to hand, a point she made clear, even through the stifling gag. “Mmmmpgpgghh, mmmpggghh, mmpggghhh!”
“There ain’t no call for that,” the kidnapper proclaimed coldly, rising and turning back the way he came. “I was going to offer you some food, but maybe a bit of hunger will teach you some manners. I’m saving my wife, girl, and if that means kidnapping some stuck-up banker like you, then so be it. You just lie there and don’t try anything stupid, and this’ll all be over before you know it.”
His footsteps retreated up the stairs, the basement door closed with another ungodly shriek, and Amy was once again left in darkness, heart becoming as hard as the metal that surrounded her. Yes, she would get out of this, and when she did, well, she’d be levying a payment of her own upon him…