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Sally tried to figure out why she was so cold. Maybe the air conditioner was set too low. When she went to move, she hit her knee on a hard surface. She opened her eyes and found that complete darkness surrounded her. A blanket of ice covered her. Feeling around, she swore she was stuck inside a large ice chest.
She panicked. Now was not the time to be scared out of her mind. She forced herself to take deep breaths, and tried to relax. She needed to keep her wits about her and think if she wanted to escape. She attempted to force the ice chest open, but it wouldn’t budge. As the cold seeped into her bones, she felt herself losing consciousness once again.
Her mind felt funny, as if she was hung over. As she forced herself to wake up, she couldn’t put the pieces together. What happened to her? She had an uncomfortable feeling. Her head lolled back and forth as she continued to focus on her surroundings.
Sally slowly opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness. She shut her eyes tight hoping to remove the sleep out of her eyes. When she opened them, total darkness still enveloped her. Maybe it was early. She looked at her alarm clock on the right only to find complete darkness. She tried to take in her surroundings. She was not in her room. Where was she? Fear jolted her system; she was awake now.
She remembered strong arms wrapping around her, forcing her to breathe into an old rag saturated with a drug. She remembered waking up covered in ice, but she was no longer cold. She must have been moved once again.
She tried to move her arms and realized her arms and legs were both restrained. She listened for any sounds that may tell her if anyone else was around, but silence greeted her. The odor of the room made her nauseous, from the smell she was probably on a shrimp boat. Funny how that smell didn’t wake her up, how it was just now permeating her senses. By the gentle swaying of the room, she knew she was on a shrimp boat.
She tried to remember how she wound up here. The last thing she remembered was running down by the dock.
As panic set in, the surrounding darkness became oppressive and thick. The air grew heavy. Her breathing became labored. She was having a panic attack. She must remain calm and rational, but it was hard to do under these circumstances. She had never liked the dark.
Then she saw a movement in the shadows. As he came closer, she cringed in fear. She knew this man, yet there was a sinister look about him that she’d never noticed before. His smile made her skin crawl. Whatever he had planned for her couldn’t be good. If he had intended on letting her live, he would have hidden his face.
As he began his torture, she felt the blood oozing down her skin. She wasn’t sure how much she lost, but it wasn’t enough to kill her yet. He was still waiting for her to confess her sins. She wished she knew what sins to confess to, and she would do it to stop his toying with her. She was ready to die, to escape this unbearable pain.
***
HE WATCHED THE LIGHT fade from her eyes. The life slowly left her body.
The thunderstorm came in hard and fast. It was pitch black outside. The rain came down in sheets as the thunder shook the cabin of the boat. He needed to make sure no one else was anchored nearby so he could dispose of her body. He prayed he didn’t upset God. This one never confessed to her sins.
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HE SAID A QUICK PRAYER over her dead body, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I release you my child. Your soul shall soon be cleansed. Go in peace.”
After ensuring no one was near, he tossed her over the bow of the boat and prayed God allowed her into his Kingdom.