Soul Imprint

I try to lift my head and then my body but my hands are restricted, tied up behind my back. I feel coldness beneath my body and I jolt against the hard surface as the vehicle bumps along the road. I’m inside a van. What’s happening? I start to panic and try to writhe out of the restraints. I give up because all I can feel is the pain emanating from my head, my face and my arms and wrists. I listen carefully, hearing muffled voices coming from the cab of the van. Two male voices. As hard as I try, I can’t figure out who the voices belong to. I push my legs in front of myself and slide up against the metal barrier that protects me from the men in front and rest against the cold corrugated panel. I stare out of the back tinted window at the still dark and gloomy sky and I see trees lining both sides of the road and then a sign. I sit up as straight as possible and my eyes widen in horror. Black Bear’s Landing. All the air in my lungs escapes me and my head suddenly feels faint. Quietly I use my legs to drag myself back toward the door. I try to find a latch or something that will open the door, but the whole inside of the door has been ripped apart, leaving all the remaining pieces unrecognizable in the dark. I push myself back up to where I woke and I lay there, crying silently, allowing myself to slip back into the empty darkness of unconsciousness.

My eyes open reluctantly and despite the darkness still surrounding me, I can see that I’m in a small room. There are no windows and only one door that has no handle on this side. My hands are no longer tied behind my back, though they ache where the rope burn now bites into my skin and I’m lying on a foam mattress on the floor, I have only a thin scratchy blanket to keep me warm, and no pillow. I sob uncontrollably into the mattress and pray that Roman will find me. I imagine him talking with my parents and asking for their blessing to marry me, I imagine them saying yes and how happy Roman would have been, his smile, his warmth, and then I imagine how angry he would have been when he arrived at the diner and I wasn’t there. Koda and Tate will be in an unsurpassable amount of trouble for leaving me at the diner alone. And now all of the fuss about my having security makes sense. Them leaving isn’t entirely their fault, I didn’t want them there, and I expected Roman to be back before I closed the diner. I sigh at how the whole day unfolded. Roman was running late the moment he left the diner. Could that just be a coincidence?

Suddenly there are noises outside the door. An immeasurable amount of locks are being unlocked. My breathing becomes faster and uneven, I don’t know what to do, do I pretend I’m asleep or do I stand and prepare to fight my way out? I decide on the latter. I scramble to my feet and brace myself against the cold concrete wall, ready to lunge myself at whoever walks through the door. The heavy door creaks open, a ray of light peeks through and the silhouette of a man stalks into the dark room. My eyes adjust blurrily and recognition hits me like a wrecking ball. It’s him. Of course it’s him.