The Bodark

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

-
-
I aplogize for how long it took me to get this out. Real life has got pretty busy these days, and I had to really stop and think about what direction I wanted to go with this story before I moved forward. The next chapter should go much quicker.
-
-

Chapter Ten


I came awake with a splitting head ache, the kind that relentlessly pounds into the top of your skull and causes your ears to ring. I was lying on something soft, yet underneath that softness was a distinct lumpiness.

My eyes fluttered open slowly and disoriented I observed gray cement in my line of sight. 'A ceiling?'..

Cautiously lowering my gaze I took a first look of my surroundings.

I appeared to be laying on a small cot made up with blankets, which explained the lumpiness. It was shoved up against a wall also made of gray concrete.

Next to the cot was a small wooden night stand, and on the other side of that was a shiny green plastic chair, the kind that almost any lawn a garden center sold.

Clean and partially covered by an area rug, the floor was made up of some type of natural stone.

As I began to scan the rest of the “room”, I froze.

My eyes widened in alarm as I took in the ceiling to floor bars where there should have been another wall, or perhaps a door. I gasped out loud as comprehension hit like a mac truck. This was no room, this was a jail cell! 'Where the fuck am I!'..

As the reality of my situation began to sink in, I fought the waves of panic that began to build. 'You have to stay calm Rachel..think through this. '

Sitting up slowly, and I say slowly because my head felt like a lead balloon, I swung my legs to the side of the cot.

Now upright, I could just see into the room beyond the bars. With only a single light bulb burning from the ceiling, the lighting was dim at best, but I was still able to make out several boxes and what appeared to be shelves of some kind lining the walls.

My eyes quickly zeroed in on a darkened doorway right across from me, and within it I could barely make out a set of stairs leading upward and out of sight. 'Ok..theres one way out'...

Carefully standing to my feet, I half walked half staggered to the bars and with a shake of my hands confirmed what I had already guessed. They were solid iron and they were firmly locked against me. Mentally shrugging I thought, 'Well, I had to try.'.

Now closer in proximity, I could make out more of the outer room. The shelves that I had noticed before held wine bottles, rows and rows of them, and from them deduced that I was being held in some kind of basement or cellar.

Holding the palm of my hand against my aching forehead, I walked back to the cot and sat down with a sigh. 'Why would someone want to kidnap me? What could they want?'..

Struggling to piece together what little I did know, I absentmindedly chewed on my lower lip in contemplation.

The woman from the hospital was obviously one of my kidnappers, and perhaps the man who had been with her earlier in the day was her accomplice. 'Bet he was the one who stuck me with the tranquilizer'..

That kind of answered the who...but certainly not the why.

Half an hour later I was abruptly distracted from my thoughts by the squeaking of door hinges. Whipping my head up and looking toward the doorway that held the staircase, I held my breath in anticipation.

Deciding that I much rather be on my feet to face my would be abductors, I quickly hurried to the bars and grasped them within my fist.

Light footsteps swiftly descended the stairs and soon a figure skipped through the doorway into view. It was a woman judging by the long flowing skirt that floated around her legs as she moved straight toward the wine shelves. I assumed she was searching for a bottle of wine.

Clearing my dry throat to gain her attention I began, “Uhumm....excuse me.”

Pivoting around at the sound of my voice, she put her hand to her chest and exclaimed, “Oh...You startled me!”

Taking a step closer toward me and into the light I could now see her a bit more clearly. Tall and willowy, she might have been somewhere in her mid to late thirties. Soft delicate features were framed by a short blond bob that complimented her face. This was a woman that anyone would consider lovely.

“We didn't expect you to be awake yet.” She said in bemused tone as she gave me a small smile.

Encouraged by her amiable air, I opened my mouth to ask the first of a thousand questions that I desperately wanted answered.

However, before I could say a single word she put up her index finger and said, “Uhhh..hold that thought.”

And with that she gracefully spun back around and stepped toward the wine shelves again. Hastily retrieving one of the bottles of wine, she spared a glance over her shoulder before swiftly making her way toward the staircase.

Watching her abrupt exit I called out desperately after her, “Heeey!”

She neither looked back or slowed down as she ascended the stairs and went back out of the squeaky door that was beyond my eyesight.

Terribly frustrated, my shoulders slumped in disappointment as I stared at the doorway in which the woman had disappeared.

Several more minutes ticked by and I was just about to go back to the cot and sit back down when again I heard the subtle squeaking of the door above.

Straitening my spine, I again watched the doorway closely, waiting.

This time the steps were slow and heavy as they came down toward me, and I felt my pulse pick up in apprehension.

A large burley shape appeared at the room threshold and paused. Shadows cloaked him from the waist up, and I could only make out the clothes he was wearing. A pair of distressed jeans with a button down plaid shirt, both sleeves rolled up a pair of bulging forearms.

Stepping forward out of the doorway and into the light, the features of a face slowly revealed itself, and it was a face that I recognized.

In shock I gasped out, “Detective Smith?!”

My face twisted in bewilderment as I gazed at the man whom I knew as William Smith, a NYPD detective, and consequently one of the two detectives who had questioned me the day before.

His expression was cool giving nothing of his inner thoughts away, as he simply looked at me and said calmly, “Hello doctor.”

“I..I..don't understand...” My mind swam in confusion as I stammered.

William raised a hand to halt me there then said in a soothing voice, “Doctor..I know you're confused, and I understand that you are probably upset, but I need you to remain calm and listen to what I have to say.”

For the first time since waking I felt something other than panic, as anger began to course through my veins. I had been kidnapped from work, drugged, and placed in a jail cell. Now this man who I thought was a police office, someone who was supposed to protect me, insisted that I stay calm. 'This has got to be a nightmare'..

Sudden ire brought color to my cheeks as I bit out, “Your damn right I'm confused and upset William Smith...or whoever the hell you are! Your asking me to stay calm while I stand here behind a set of bars in some kind of basement!!”.... “Tell me how the hell would YOU feel?!”

My hands had tightened down on the iron bars during my tirade, and I could feel them biting into the soft skin of my palms.

Several heartbeats passed, in which his eyes bore straight into mine. Refusing to look away was difficult, but with the help of my self righteousness, I managed to remain steady.

Finally with a shake of his head and a light scoff the silence was broken by him.

“Well....anger is better than panic I suppose.” he said quipped.

To that I just raised an eyebrow.

In a long suffering voice he said, “Look, just grab that chair over there and let me say what I need to.” he gestured toward the green plastic chair set just behind me against the wall.

With that he turned and disappeared behind a large stack of boxes. Within seconds he returned with a matching chair, and set it down center of the bars only 2 or three feet away. Reluctantly I did the same with mine.

We both settled in our respective seats, him with a bit more difficulty due to his much larger frame. Finally he said, “First of all let me introduce reintroduce myself. My first name is William but my last name is not Smith, and I'm not a police detective.”

At that I scoffed and rolled my eyes, but he ignored me and continued, “I apologize for the deceit, but I'm afraid it was necessary. You see it was the only way we could get close enough to access the condition of your health.”

Perplexed by what was being said I interrupted, “I don't understand.... my health? What are you.....”

With a shake of his head he cut me off, “Rachel..when you were bitten earlier this week in the emergency room...” he shifted his weight forward, leaning closer to the bars, “you were infected by a type of....virus.”

“We had no choice but to take you before the”....He seemed to change his mind about what he was going to say, “before it's out of control.”

Annoyed by the cryptic explanation I said, “That makes no sense! Why kidnap me? I'm a doctor, I know how to deal with viruses.”

Shaking his head at me he simply said, “Nothing in your medical training has prepared you for this doctor, that I can guarantee.”

“How do you even know I have this virus? I'm not sick, hell I feel great! That still doesn't explain why you had to kidnap me.” I implored.

He seemed genuinely apologetic as he said, “I'm sorry that's all I can tell your for now. Any more and you wouldn't believe me anyway.”

“We're not going to hurt you Rachel.” he said lifting his hand, palms up. “As a matter of fact, our goal is to keep you as healthy as possible and to make sure you get through this intact.”

Scowling at him I said, “This whole thing is insane you know.” Then added for good measure, “There are people who are going to who are going to freak when they realize I'm missing.”

Nodding his head in agreement, “I know this seems crazy now, but it won't a couple days from now. As for people looking for you...they won't trace you to us. We'll talk about that later as well.”

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between us as I took in what he was saying to me. 'I'm dealing with a bunch of loons.'

Clapping his hands together loudly, which startled me and caused me to jump he said, “OK! I bet your starving so how about I send something down for you to eat.”

Standing to his feet he looked down at me and truly smiled for the first time, he suddenly looked 10 years younger. “My wife Maggie is an excellent cook, wait till you taste her veal.”

Slightly taken aback by the abrupt change of subject and the offer of a good meal, I suddenly realized how hungry I actually was. 'Ohhh..veal sounds pretty good.'

However one other matter couldn't be ignored any longer and as I looked around I realized I had no other option but to ask, “Um...William...I have one important question for you.”

He looked back at me expectantly, “And that would be.....?”

I won't lie when I say I took great satisfaction in the look my next question brought to his face, “Where the hell am I suppose to pee?”


-
-
A/N: Thanks for the reviews and ratings guys..Rachel is soon in for a rude awakening :) lol
-
-