"Where are we?" I ask.
"In Chile. In my house, kitten."
"Chile?"
"Yes, we took a little trip. You'll soon remember everything. Lie down a little longer and give the drug time to leave your system. I had to give you more during our travel, or you would have gone on a rampage on the plane."
"I don't understand."
"You will. Lie down and rest. I need to go downstairs and tell the cook that we'll eat dinner soon. I'll be back in half an hour."
Hesitantly, I allow the stranger to push me back onto the bed and stare at him in confusion. If only I could remember what happened. Who is he? Is he my boyfriend? There's something between us. I can feel it. He's god looking. Hell, he's fucking gorgeous. I can imagine falling in love with him. Then why can't I remember? Did I have an accident that affected my memory? – No, he said I'd remember when the drug wore off. Why did I take the drug? Or did he give it to me?
Meanwhile, the stranger had gotten out of the chair in which he was sitting and is on his way to the door.
"What is your name?" I shout.
He turns around and gives me a big smile.
"My name is Alic, but you call me Master."
I frown with irritation.
"Master? I do not think..."
"You will. We'll talk later," he replies and leaves the room.
I don't know how much time has passed since the man left the room, but gradually the memories are coming back. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, as if one memory triggers the next. My heart races. The man who said his name is Alic is a serial killer. He seduced me. They put me in a Safehouse, but somehow he found me. I remember the fight in the bathroom. The syringe he jammed in my neck. That must have been the drug he was talking about. After that, my memories are fuzzy. The guards lying motionless in the basement. A ride in a car. A friendly lady at passport control. The approach of a panic attack on the plane when the drug had worn off. Another syringe. After that, I can't remember anything until the moment I woke up here in this room. Chile! He said we were in Chile. Oh, my God. If he kills me here, they probably won't even find my body. With a scream, I sit up and jump out of bed. My heart is racing, and my stomach feels like it's filled with cement. I need to get out of here. I have to escape before the killer – Alic – comes back.
Alic
I hear her quiet steps on the stairs and smile. I am sure she will try to escape. That's the plan. She will find out how impossible any escape is. I could simply tell her, but she will understand it better if she tries once. That way, I prove to her she cannot escape me. I close the door to my office until only a small gap remains open through which I can look into the hallway. I've long since turned off the light in my office and she won't see me. She sneaks past me. I give her time to leave the house. Then I take my cell phone out of my pocket and call up the app to locate her. I planted five trackers under her skin. They're the latest technology, and they're tiny enough that they can be placed under the skin with a tube. Even if my kitten finds and removes one or two of the trackers, I can still track her. She will never find all five. Especially not the ones on her back and neck. According to the app, she is moving at a fast pace down the narrow road that leads from here to the next village. It's a five-mile stretch. It'll take her a while, so I'll have plenty of time. I doubt she'll move off the road. She won't dare cut through the darkness in the forest framing the road on either side. What my kitten doesn't know is that there is another way into the village. It is a little further and more impassable, but with my jeep it will be a small thing.
Heather
My heart is galloping a hundred miles an hour, and I have stitches in my side, but I am not slowing down my pace. I need to be as far away from the house as possible before Alic finds out I'm missing. Afterwards he will follow me by car. So I listen intently into the dark night. As soon as I hear a car, I will have to cut into the bushes. I don't like that, but whatever is hiding in the dark forest can't be worse than my killer. For now, however, the road behind me is silent. I can only hope that this damn road leads to a town soon. And hopefully there's a police station. If not, I have to find a phone somewhere. Once I'm in police custody, I'll be safe. For the moment, at least. Alic will try to hunt me down, but he won't be able to go back to his house here in Chile. If he tries to leave the country they will catch him. Now that I saw him, I can give a good description, so they can make a sketch of him. I also had the intuition to take the glass he used to feed me the water. His fingerprints are on it. I’d stored it safely in the jacket I found in the bedroom. And I know his name. I am sure that he gave me his real name. He had no reason to lie to me, because he assumed I wouldn't survive to betray him. Yes, I gathered enough evidence and information for the FBI to catch him. It'll be my pleasure to look him in the face when they lead him to his execution. I don’t doubt that he will be sentenced to death. I ignore the tiny sting in my heart when I think of Alic on death row.
I slow down. My breath is so heavy that every breath hurts, not to mention the really nasty side stitches. And my poor heart is about to collapse. I don't know how long I've been on the road. How many miles I've put between the house and me so far. But no car has appeared behind me yet. Is Alic looking for me on foot? Does he think I escaped through the woods? Or did he first turn the whole house upside down? I don't believe for a second, that he doesn’t care about his victim being on the run. He knows I will tell the police everything I know about him. He can't afford to let me get away with it. So why is he still out of sight? Not that I'm complaining. I prefer to walk on the road where the light of the crescent moon at least gives me some visibility. Stumbling around in the dark undergrowth of the forest is really not something I'm particularly keen on. When I make out lights in the distance, I give a soft cry of joy. A town. Probably not big, but people live there who have a telephone and maybe even a policeman. Safety and rescue is so close. The idea gives me new strength, and I speed up my pace again. The first building in sight seems to be a local bar. Behind it are just a few dark shops and further away more apartment buildings. I doubt there's a police station in a place this small. So the bar is my best bet. Sobbing, I run even faster until I reach the door with the flaked blue paint. I stop for a moment to catch my breath before I reach for the handle and open the door.
It is dim inside the bar. At a table in the corner sit two older guys. A chubby woman my age is standing by their table, where she just served dinner. A man with a big belly and a mustache is standing behind the bar. I step into the stuffy taproom and take a step towards the bar. A hand leaps out from a table next to the door which I hadn't seen, and grabs me by the arm.
"Hello, kitten."
I scream out in horror. Alic! How is this possible? How could he have gotten past me? Or did he leave the house before I escaped?
Alic gets up and pulls me closer. Fear paralyzes me as I stare into his dark eyes. A mixture of humor and triumph, with a touch of malice, is written in them.
You are among people. He can do you no harm if you draw attention to your situation, my inner voice argues.