Must Date The Chef

|| 29.

My whole body aches, my limbs weigh a ton, as if they belong on someone else. I try to move my hands and legs only to wince in pain as what I assume are ropes cut into my wrists. My head rolls to the side, I groan in discomfort at the weight that seems to settle on my neck. The throbbing in my temple intensifies, muffled but painful moans slip past my dry lips with me hoping the people using my skull as a golf ball will stop.

Every breath I take is painful, a struggle and a prayer for strength to keep breathing, to stay alive long enough for help to come. Help I can only hope is on its way. Inhaling slower doesn't make it hurt any less, I wheeze, trying and failing to keep calm.

My eyelids flutter open but the blackness is all I see. I blink twice but the blackness doesn't ebb way, instead, it glares, mocking me and my predicament. No. I shake my head and blink fast, something must have entered my eyes, it happens all the time.

This is not real, I try to remind myself. This cannot be happening to me. I close my eyes and inhale feverishly. I have had a long day, the stress is taking a toll on me. This is a bad dream, an episode from a horror movie and I happen to be the protagonist. It will be over once I open my eyes and that's what I do. My eyes open slowly but it remains, the darkness that is determined to befriend me.

Am I blind?

My heartbeat quickens, dread rears its ugly head and chills run down my spine. Blind people don't see anything, they feel, right? I can't be blind, I see the hole, the black hole, the darkness. I can't live the rest of my life without seeing the blue sky or Awele's face. God, please. What of Nnabuike, Mma? How will I gauge their reactions to my pranks?

A door opens, my head jerks and I am back inside the moving vehicle but with my legs and arms free from the ropes. Every little sound I make causes the gag to grow tighter and a blood-curdling scream escapes my mouth the moment I am ungagged. My ears ring at the sudden contact of a solid object against my temple and I am instantly overwhelmed by the metallic taste of blood.

My blood.

Licking my bleeding lips, I wait for the pain to subside before spitting in all direction.

"Bitch," a voice beside me murmurs. I yelp when someone yanks my hair and I can only hope the spittle landed on the person.

"What do you want?" I ask when I finally find my voice. "How much do you need?" My head moves left and right as if I can see through my thick blindfold. "I can give you whatever you want, name your price."

As if on cue, they all start laughing and I lost interest in the bargain. I am not the best person in the world but I don't deserve this, I mind my business and do right by God. I am not a bad person, this shouldn't be me.

"The only thing you can offer us is your body," another guy says and I freeze. I know that voice, it belongs to the guy who took me to the car. On instinct, my hand moves to my side and I sigh. "Luckily for you, we are not interested in that." My chest falls, I gulp and try to focus on the fact that I will not be gang-raped. "So be a good girl and be quiet."

"Why are you doing this?" I ask and sniff when the car stops moving. "I have not done anything to you. I don't even know you," I scream when someone grabs me by the arm. Where are they taking me? "Please."

My head spins as they pass me around like an overused toy, I grunt when someone lifts me over his shoulder, thankful playtime has ended and we start moving again. We stop, I hear the faint sound of a door opening and I am lowered to the ground. No, a chair.

"We can talk about this," I mutter once the blindfold comes off and my gaze lands on a man with a facial covering that leaves only his eyes visible. "You don't have to do this, I can," I swallow, "I can double whatever amount you are getting. Name your price."