Vacation Nightmare

Chapter 10 - Welcome Home

ALICIA

As I opened my eyes, the first that hit me was overwhelming nausea. I felt my stomach turn and put a hand over my mouth as if it would stop my stomach from rejecting whatever was still left inside. Of course, it didn't help, and I threw up mercilessly on the green mattress where my dreamless sleep had come to a sudden end. My anxious stomach then decided to calm down, and I scanned the room with my eyes. White soggy walls, a chair, a table with a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, and the mattress I was on. No windows. Not a ray of sunlight anywhere.

Where am I? What happened?

My head was pounding with a headache that was enough to bring back another wave of nausea as soon as I sat up.

As I struggled to stand up, little memory fragments started to play in my brain.

Oh my god! The phone call! The tall man, the laundry room!

I looked around me, panicking.

I need to get out of here!

But what hit my eyes was still the same plain room. No windows, no escape route. My head was pounding with such intensity that I could barely see where I was walking as I staggered to the door and knocked.

I don't know who's out there. But the only other alternative is to stay here, and that's out of the question.

I didn't wait more than seconds before I heard footsteps outside and the sound of a key unlocking the door. The door slowly opened, and I stepped back.

"So, sleeping beauty is awake." The deep, slightly hoarse voice made my blood freeze in my veins, and I took another staggering step back as the enormous man I had seen at the hotel earlier, stepped inside pointing a gun at me.

"No more running, Alicia. If I must put you down again, I'll make sure you don't wake up until we're in Colombia." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

Colombia? What is he talking about? A wave of fear ran through my body as I stood there just staring at the man. Where am I? Where is Danny?

"Please let me go. I won't tell anyone what happened. Just let me go." My voice was unsteady, and the headache made me feel unfocused.

The man took another step inside and looked around, smelling the air as if he was looking for something. Once his eyes landed on the mess on the mattress, he made a face.

"Fucking smell. Clean it up." He walked over to the table in the room, grabbed a box of tissues, and threw it at me.

My brain wasn't registering what was happening fast enough to catch the box, and I watched as it fell on the floor, then looked at the man again.

"Please, sir. PLEASE. Just let me go home. This is a big mistake. Danny, my parents, my friends, they will all miss me. They will notice that I'm gone. The police will look for me." I don't know why I thought these people could be reasoned with, but it was my only chance. I was too weak to run, and the gun was still pointed at me, following my every move.

The man rolled his eyes and sat down on the lonely chair in the room.

"Look, I won't let you go. Stop asking because I fucking hate to repeat myself." I opened my mouth to answer him, but he saw it coming and kept going.

"You will come with me. We're going to leave this place and go somewhere else. I won't tell you where we are going. That would ruin the surprise, right? He snorted as if he said something hilarious, and I felt the anger rise in my chest.

"NO! I'm not going anywhere! Where is Danny?! You can't do this! I want to go home!" Having a fearless moment, I walked up to the man and raised my voice.