Sofia lay terrified, flat on the basement floor, her hands tied behind her back. He was nearby, sitting at a computer desk, but his eyes were on something else. A TV was mounted against the wall, and he stared at it intensely. It was the news he was watching, coverage of the girls found on the beach. He had been watching it for hours. It was all taped footage from different channels that he had prerecorded. Every few moments, he would pause it, scribble something down on a pad of paper, and then fast-forward.
It was as if she wasn’t even in the room, and the unknown of what he was doing and what was to come next only heightened Sofia’s fear. She felt as if she had been lying there for a lifetime, even though it had only been a matter of hours, but how long exactly she did not know. All she knew was that she had awoken in the basement alone, untied, until he heard her and came downstairs. She had tried to make a run for it, but he had stopped her. He was too strong for her to overpower, and he quickly tied her up, duct-taped her mouth, and took a photo of her. Ever since then, he had been sitting at his desk.
Sofia’s heart still pounded. Her parents were probably worried about her by now. She hoped that someone would find her, that the cops were already searching for her. But as she looked up at the news he was watching, as she saw each dead girl’s face pop up on the screen, a wave of hopelessness crashed into her, and she sobbed. She wanted her mom’s home-cooked meal. She wanted her warm bed. She wanted to hear her parents say goodnight. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
A warm liquid trickled down her pant leg, and she looked down to see her urine leak out onto the floor. Her eyes welled; her body shook with sheer fear. Her body hadn’t even given her warning, and it only signified the reality of her situation. Even her body knew how terrified she was.
Sofia broke out into sobs. She wanted to plead with him to let her go, but her mouth was duct-taped, and all that sounded was a muffled cry. She thought of her school, of her future, how she wanted to be teacher, how she was soon supposed to be applying to colleges. Terror flooded her body at the thought that those things would never happen. She had no way out, nowhere to go. She was completely at his mercy. Her cries grew louder.
Eventually he could no longer ignore her, and he finally stood.
At his movement, Sofia quieted, but he had yet to speak a word. Is he going to let me go? she wondered as he moved closer, as he bent down next to her, as he stared at the puddle of urine on the floor.
“Don’t be scared,” he whispered as he looked from the floor to her face.
His words were almost reassuring, and for a moment, Sofia wondered if he was going to listen.
But then he raised a string in his hands—the same string he tied her hands with—and terror flooded once again through her body. “It’s your time,” he added. “It’s almost over. And I know exactly where I’m going to put you.”
He sat atop her legs so she couldn’t move. He placed the string around her neck as she tried to plead with him once more. But then she felt the pressure as he pulled, and the words couldn’t leave her throat. She thrashed about, but it was no use—his weight was too heavy for her petite body—and eventually her movement slowed as she gasped for air she couldn’t find, and the room darkened around her.