I’m laying flat on my face, on something cold. I groan and try to roll over, before I feel the leather straps holding my ankles, feet, and neck to whatever I was laying against.
A surge of panic ripped through me, my heart almost stopping.
“Breathe Callie. Call for help.” A voice said in the back of my head.
“Help! Help!” I called.
“She’s awake! “Somebody calls.
I twist my head to see three people. They all wore surgeon masks and plastic gloves. Their beady eyes stare at me, as if I had come back to life.
Well if I had, this was most certainly not Heaven.
“What do we do, Harrison?” One asked, a woman, turning to the other.
“Continue with the operation.” The man replied. My heart skipped a beat. Not because of the dark room, the metal operating table, the table lined with knives and hooks just out of my view. I was afraid because this man spoke cold, as if kidnapping me was nothing, every day stuff. These people wouldn’t care whether I died or not.
“I’ll go get more anesthesias.” The third surgeon said, turning to go. Harrison grabbed him by the arm. He looked strong.
“We’re all out.”
“What?”
“We can’t put her under.”
The woman’s eyes looked upset. “Then, I suppose we can post-pone until-“
“No.” Harrison said. “He wants results today.”
Harrison looked at me, as if thinking, without any compassion. He looked into my eyes. He had the most beautiful, cold eyes; green, with flecks of orange, like the trees before fall.
“Get the rope.” He said. I could almost see his smile at my fear.
“No! NO!” My shouts were muffled as they shoved rope into my mouth. I tried to scream as they tied it too tightly, pulling my lips back and pulling my hair.
“Please, please no!” I tried to say, but they ignored me. I watched as the man went to the small table. He looked at the long sharp knives before choosing a thin, jagged edge.
A million thoughts spread through my mind, like spilled files. Why were they doing this? How could they do this? Why me?
My thoughts turned to dust. Pain shot through my back, driving down my spine. I screamed through the gag, my entire world on fire.
Suddenly my hands were free. I flailed them wildly, trying to get up and run towards the door, warm blood dripping down my back, staining my torn shirt. I reached for the handle, but the door was locked. I screamed again, shaking it. I spun around just in time to see the flash as the gun in Harrison’s hand went off.
The pain stopped. At least, the pain in my shoulder. I looked down at the gun wound slowly, staring at the blood. I looked back up, and then fell. I hit the ground hard, I could tell from the noise, but I couldn’t feel anything.
“Get her back on the table. Hold her down.” Harrison said, He seemed far off, almost on a different world.
Hands picked me up and carried me to the table. My sad attempt of a struggle was my limp arm twitching in their grasp.
They laid me down. I hardly felt the leather as they strapped it back on. The edges of my vision started to go black. Before I passed out, I heard a voice in the back of my head. Seething, almost laughing at me. It said “See you on the flipside, Callie.”
Callie burst awake, a loud scream escaping her throat.
“Not again.” She moaned and rolled over beneath her covers. Morning light flitted through her apartment window, revealing clouds of dust. The sun seemed especially bright today.
Callie moaned again and stared at her red ceiling. These dreams had seemed to stop a long time ago, but lately…
The sun seemed really bright. Callie twisted her head so that she could see the clock.
“Crap! I’m late for work!”
Ten minutes later, Callie was out the door heading for the bus stop, trying to eat a dry half-cooked waffle.
The bus door opened to show a small man wearing a beanie hat and suit, with a large mustache.
“Callie!” The man said spreading his arms wide. “What a pleasant surprise! Now we have plenty of time to talk about those four thousand dollars you owe me.”
Callie swallowed the last piece of waffle. “Actually, Mr. Schmidt, I just need to talk to the driver.” She tried to sound kind, but her voice was harsh. “Plus, I’ve already paid double what I owed you.”
The man kept babbling while Callie spoke the bus driver about her missing car keys. Luckily he had found them, so hastily she grabbed them and ran down the road towards the restaurant, shouting quick thanks behind.
Finally the Mr. Schmidt’s rambling came to much for Callie to handle. She stopped and turned on her heel.
“Look, I’m late for work, and I really need you to go away!” She hissed.
The he smiled. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
Callie rolled her eyes and began walking to her job again. The man didn’t move, thank goodness.
Callie burst through the door to the kitchen tying on her apron. “Sorry I’m late!” She shouted above the noise of cooking food and washing dishes.
“Don’t be.” Another waiter said walking up to her. “You’re fired.”
“What?” Callie stopped mid-step. “I can’t be fired! I need this job-“
“Well forget this job. We already hired someone else. Beat it.”
Callie stared for a second. She ripped off her apron and stomped out the door, leaving it on the dirty ground.
This was not turning into a good day.
* * *
Fall leaves crackled underfoot. A dark figure walked through the forest, snow just barely beginning to fall from the night sky. The red and orange trees seemed an eerie blue from the moon, peeking its head from the clouds.
Light shone up ahead, dim, moving, but still there. The dark man walked towards it swiftly, dodging the moon light as if it was poison.
“Mr. Schmidt.” The figure said.
The portly man turned, trying to hold back his fear, masking it with a smile. “Hello, sir. I have some very good news.”
“You’ve found her.”
Schmidt looked upset. “Well, yes. Who spoiled the surprise?”
“Nobody. Don’t forget I can be wherever I want.”
Schmidt gulped and stroked his mustache nervously. “Uhh… Where’s the…money?”
The man tossed a duffel bag. Schmidt caught it, unzipped it, and gave a wide grin, his nervousness falling away.
“Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.” Schmidt looked up, but he was too slow. A shot sounded, and he fell instantly.
“The pleasure is all mine, surely.” The dark man said, you could almost hear his sneering, but all you say were his eyes; green, with small orange flecks in them
Points:
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125,018 Literary Works • 672,861 Reviews
Hi there!
From the first section about the dream, up until the very end, I was captivated. Now I want more!
My mind has wandered to the point of what appears to be no return! Please continue with this version of your story!
As far as I could tell, grammar and spelling was good!
Overall, everything was described very well and the emotions tied in were precise and accurate. I look forward to reading more soon!
Happy writing
-Briggsy
Well the dream sequence was horrifying. I assume that's the point? Already you've got me deeply concerned about what will happen when "they" find her.
One criticism I have, I think the poor girl getting fired was a bit sudden and a little unnecesary. I think you could haveestablished that things are not going well for her by making a bigger deal out of the interaction with Schmidt. I mean, getting threatened by lawyers can be pretty upsetting. So now she might be getting sued, supposedly for something that's not her fault, and late for work on top off that. Sufficiently bleack in my opinion. And that would make the revelation abotu Schmidt and who he's working for all the more shocking.
YOu can ignore me if you like. This is just my random suggestion.