The car drew to a halt and Emily jumped as she heard the clunk of the doors unlocking. For the first time since she had been dragged out of the police station, Emily’s captor turned round and looked her in the eye. His face was deathly white and his piercing eyes a shade of unnaturally light blue. The darkness cast deep shadows across his face and Emily looked away in fear. In a deep, gruff voice he barked ‘Get out!’
She complied immediately.
Emily opened the door and stepped outside. She regretted removing her shoes in her cell that afternoon, wincing as her bare feet met dirt and sharp rocks. Looking around, all she could see was grass and patches of dirt stretching into the never-ending darkness.
‘What are we doing here?’ she asked as the pale man got out of the car and slammed the door. The rocks underfoot crunched as he took huge steps towards her. He reached out and gripped her tightly. Emily stifled a scream as he pulled her close to him.
‘Hey, what the hell are you doing? Why have you brought me here?’
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. ‘Hold on.’
‘What?’
Before she could protest any further, the pale man leapt into the air. But instead of dropping back down to the ground, they kept rising and rising, soaring high above the dirt road. No matter how much she didn’t want to be within a hundred miles of this man, let alone holding on to his belt as he dragged her screaming into the sky above them, she clung on to him for dear life.
With the harsh chill of the night air rushing past her face, they arced high in the air and started heading back towards the ground. Emily screamed at the top of her lungs as they passed over the car and over a ridge that had been obscured from view by the darkness.
They plunged into pitch black for what seemed like an eternity. Emily’s body tingled all over, awaiting the inevitable impact at any moment.
Then without warning, they started to slow down. They slowed down until they were hanging in mid-air. Emily felt her body shaking all over. The pale man whispered in her ear again.
‘What’s wrong? Never flown before?’
She didn’t reply and the pale man laughed.
‘Do you want to try it again?’ he asked and let go of her.
Emily felt gravity take hold of her body and screamed once more, louder than she had ever screamed before. Her fingers clawed for grip on the pale man’s body as it rose above her and she caught hold of his boot. His blue eyes looked down on her. Before she could plead for him to spare her life, he shook her loose from his leg like she was just something stuck to his boot.
She screamed once more, with what she thought would be her final breath.
After falling not even a metre, her bare feet hit a wooden floor. Her legs buckled and she crumpled to the floor. Emily’s whimpers of fear and humiliation were drowned out by the hearty laughs of the pale man, who lowered himself onto the wooden floor. He stepped over Emily’s shivering body and banged on a huge wooden door.
The sound of a metal bolt echoed around the narrow cavern and the wooden doors were flung open. Emily looked up and saw Roxy limp out from the doorway and onto the wooden platform where she lay quivering. Roxy addressed the pale man.
‘Is this the wife?’
The pale man nodded.
‘Good work, Jackson,’ she said, ‘Get her inside.’
The pale man grabbed Emily’s arm and dragged her to her feet. He marched her through the entrance hall and down a long corridor. She cried out for help but no one came to her aid. The pale man slammed the heavy wooden door shut and locked it, ignoring Emily’s screams from inside as he pocketed the key.
Job done, Jackson thought, That was too easy.
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