For days Alec Ward waited in the dark.
Intermittent light came into the black from the far corner; not enough to illuminate his world, but enough to convince him days were passing. Days or lifetimes.
Try as he might, he remembered nothing about this nightmare. He didn’t know where he was. Didn’t know how he got there. He recalled school and walking home…and that was it.
He couldn’t cry anymore. His throat was raw from screaming. When he shouted now it came out hoarse. He couldn’t stand because some kind of harness was locked around his waist, and the restraint coupled to a chain that bolted into the floor. His hands were bound too. He tugged until his wrists were slick with blood. He pulled at the chain long enough to know it would never budge.
Soon after waking he’d blindly explored and found a plate of peanut butter sandwiches, two water bottles, and an empty bucket. He resisted as long as he could, fearing poison, but boredom and fear and thirst had won. Now, days later, he starved and ached for water.
Alec hadn’t been hurt. Yet that was part of the problem; there was nothing and nobody. His existence was a void. Underground, he thought. A small room, based on acoustics. Smelled like musty earth.
He understood death came soon. He’d seen enough movies. This wasn’t a basement people got out of. But on screen, it always happened to idiots or people who deserved it. Not to…
Not to him.
The void was complete. He didn’t know when his eyelids were open or closed.
Until at last the light erupted. He hadn’t heard footsteps but suddenly the sun filled his enclosure. The sun or a flashlight. Instantly blind, he writhed backwards and whispered, “No! Please! Whoever…please, I need—”
“You need water,” said the voice. A man’s voice.
He did need water. His tongue was swollen and thick.
“Please, sir, my name is Alec Ward, and my parents will—”
“Won’t be much longer.” A gloved hand patted his head and Alec shuddered. He couldn’t back up anymore without the restraints pulling. “Depends on how things go.”
Alec tried opening his eyes. Near him, inside the agonizing light, two big bottles of Smart Water and more sandwiches.
He started crying. “Please let me go home.”
“Maybe. That’s not up to me.”
Who was this, Alec wondered. Did he recognize the voice? It belonged to a man.
“Drink the water. I’ll come back.”
“No, please, don’t go.”
“Be over soon. I hope.”
“Please!”
Footsteps. A heavy door closed. Soundproof.
Alec’s cries couldn’t escape the black.