Now

“Are you hungry?”

Was I? My first thought wasn’t Who said that? or Why am I so cold?, it was instinct to just think about the question I’d been asked. The answer was yes, ravenous actually, but I couldn’t find the energy to say it, so a weak, hoarse grunt came out instead.

“Here, it’s not as hot as it could be but it should still warm you up a bit.”

I took in more about the voice this time, it was soft and light; gentle, as though it wanted to look after me. I couldn’t quite remember if I’d heard it somewhere before, but it both comforted and worried me.

It was dark enough, wherever I was, that I couldn’t see the face belonging to the voice clearly enough yet. I was slowly adjusting though, and started to take in my surroundings. Something about the way I’d woken up meant I wasn’t surprised to find myself on a concrete floor. I didn’t think I’d slept for very long, but it was apparently long enough for the hard surface beneath me to radiate its cold into my body and stiffen my joints. I pushed myself slowly into a sitting position and found that while I did have a slight headache, I didn’t seem to have any obvious injuries.

So how had I gotten here? Maybe this puzzling voice could shed some light. As they handed me a rustic wooden bowl, I croaked “Where am I? What’s going on?”. I was reluctant to dig in to the stew in the bowl just yet, despite the smell and the warmth emanating from it making my stomach groan for it.

“Believe me, I wish I knew. To take in what I do know though, you’re going to need some strength, so eat up. It’s good….the food isn’t what you need to worry about, I promise.”

I really shouldn’t have trusted them that quickly, but I needed food. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in weeks, but the furriness in my mouth, and the tightness in my stomach muscles gave me the feeling I’d probably thrown up whatever I’d last eaten in the recent past.

That made me start to wonder…what was the recent past for me? Where had I been before this dark, dank room? As the stew - which was pretty good but very plain and simple - began to settle my stomach and my thoughts, I tried to think back to ‘before’.

Before

We’d had a rare Saturday night off together, so we’d decided to do date night - we kept it simple and chose dinner and a movie. Dinner had been nice and laid back - a chain restaurant that felt better than just getting a takeaway, but hadn’t broken the bank. Splurging on a dessert each, rather than sharing one, was as extravagant as we could get.

The moment we left the warmth of the building though, it wasn’t just the chill in the air that got my back up. Something didn’t feel quite right, as though there was something sinister lurking in my peripheral vision. I took a look around and felt ridiculous as I took in all of the normal people out for the evening. You’ve been listening to too many true crime podcasts I told myself. The guy dressed all in black with his hood up was probably just cold, not a serial killer. The couple looking around eyeing everyone up are probably looking for their friends, not the most suitable kidnap victim. It’s never the obvious ones anyway, is it? They blend in, and they look normal, so what’s the point in looking for someone who’s not going to stand out?

We walked on through the paved entertainment park, passing the other restaurants and dessert parlours and mini golf places, and into the cinema. I always feel like a kid again when the smell of sweets and popcorn and fizzy drinks hits me. Like I’m about to go watch the newest Disney movie with about 12 of my friends from school for someone’s birthday party. There’s just something nostalgic about watching something on the big screen surrounded by strangers.

As we bought our tickets and ummed and ahhed about which snacks to get, my skin prickled again. There’s all those quotes about trusting your gut, but what about all the times when your gut is wrong? Your instinct usually turns out to just be overthinking, right? Oh, how I wish I’d listened to my gut at the cinema.

Now

I must have looked a bit more with it because the food bringer had me move over to a pile of grubby pillows so I could brace myself a little better for what was to come.

“So far, he’s done it to me quite a few times times. I couldn’t tell you when, it’s always dark down here and there’s always a bare light bulb right outside the door, so I can’t tell what time of day it is.” They took a breath and gained a look of realisation. “Oh! Do you know what day it is? I feel like it’s Thursday by now, am I right?”

“Well, I remember it being Saturday, but it feels like I’ve slept a bit, so it’s most likely Sunday by now.”

“Sunday already…wow. I’ve lost more days than I thought. But at least that means he hasn’t been doing it every day.”

I was getting a little tired of the vagueness already. “Doing what exactly?” I asked.

“That’s what’s strange. I don’t know! He comes in, does his thing, and by the time I come back, I don’t remember anything. There are no marks or bruises anywhere as far as I can see in this light. Nothing hurts, and I’m in a perpetual state of feeling just a little bit grimy, but not dirty yet. Y’know how you feel at the end of the day, but know you can wait until morning to shower? Like that, but constantly - never fully clean, but I’m also not getting any dirtier.”

The obvious thing should have been to ask who this offerer of almost no information was, but I had so many questions about what they’d just said, that’s where my focus went first. “What do you mean by ‘does his thing’? That sounds as menacing as I assume it is, seeing as I’ve woken up in what…a basement?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing it’s a basement too. The door over there leads up some stairs, and there are no windows that I’ve found, not even boarded-over ones. There’s not much here at all really - I’ve explored it as much as I can, there’s nothing but these pillows and a couple of blankets just here.” They pointed a little further along the wall. “It’s just a big, empty room. I think it’s so he can do it more easily.” These last words were quieter. “So there’s nowhere to hide.” A hand moved up to the side of their neck as they said this, but in the dimness, I couldn’t make out if this was a nervous movement, or if it was an impulse to cover something up.

I was about to repeat my question, as I still didn’t know what this ominous man was going to do. But a rectangle of light highlighted the door on the other side of the gloomy space, and I finally got a better look at my companion. They were gaunt and pale but did look in surprisingly good health considering our conditions. Then I noticed the denim dungarees over a plain white, long-sleeved t-shirt, and the curly blonde hair. “I know you…you were on TV, you disappeared didn’t you? You’re Alex Walters…but that was ages ago…they did your one-month appeal on Saturday…”

Alex’s eyes went wide with the understanding that it hadn’t only been a few more days than they’d thought, but a few more weeks. I didn’t have time to say any more though because the door opened wide, I caught a quick glimpse of a small handgun, and with the faintest of clicks and whips through the air I felt something hit my neck. And then I was falling.

Before

I couldn’t tell you what we saw that night. I think we’d just picked one at random because we wanted to spend time with each other more than anything. But I do remember that the creepy feeling stuck with me.

We sat one row from the back. It wasn’t overly busy but there are always people who still decide to sit closer than necessary when there’s a whole theatre of seats to choose from. A trio of ladies sat directly in front of us, so I couldn’t put my feet up on the chair. A couple then sat next to me but left a one-seat gap. A guy came in on his own, and I had to move my coat and bag so he could take that gap. At least he did the apologetic smile and little ‘I’m so very sorry’ wave. A group of lads sat directly behind us, and even I could tell which one was the clique leader and which was the tag-along who always had to take the middle seat in the car rides - despite them being in their mid-twenties, they still had that teenage dynamic to them.

I’ve never been able to make it through a film without having to take a toilet break part-way through. I usually time it to go in a particularly dull scene, if I can tell they’re about to have the undying love proclamation that everyone saw coming, or the car chase that we all know will never harm the hero, I’ll go then because I won’t mind missing it. I noticed this time that a few others followed my lead - I tried to quietly pass the man next to me, but he got up too and I followed him past the bent knees squeezing out of our way. A few individuals I couldn’t see in the dark room, along with one of the boys behind us made their way out too.

It can’t have been a very good film if everyone got up like I did and I can’t remember what it was…or I’ve just forgotten it because I can’t remember anything after going into the ladies.

Now

When I came to again, it was just like Alex had said. I could tell that quite some time had passed, and it felt like I’d been manhandled somehow, but I didn’t feel any pain anywhere and I felt slightly cleaner than I had done, but not like I’d just showered.

As I repeated the process of trying to adjust to the darkness and get my bearings, Alex came over again and wrapped one of the blankets around me.

“How do you feel?” they asked.

“I’m not sure…confused and scared I supposed. I just can’t seem to grasp what’s going on. It’s all happening so fast!”

“I get it, the first time he takes you it feels like you’ve been, well…taken all over again.” Alex looked at me with sympathy, and I started to recall more details about them.

“You are Alex aren’t you? You went missing from the bowling alley in town?”

“That’s right…I take it there are people looking for me then? That’s good to know I suppose. But if it’s been a month, they’re not doing a very good job, are they?” Alex had seemed to be putting on a brave front up until now, maybe just for my sake, but they finally looked defeated.

“From what I recall seeing, they just couldn’t see who’d done it and they had nothing to go on. Whoever it was, they knew where the cameras were and must have avoided them when they did it. How did they do it? Can you remember?”

“Not really - I was on a work’s night out, and my girlfriend rang me so I nipped outside to get somewhere quieter. But when I got there, I realised I’d gone out a back door rather than the front, and the signal cut out. After that…nothing.”

“And then you were here? It must have been terrifying to be here alone.”

“Oh I wasn’t alone, Terri was here then too. I didn’t want to tell you right away because it’s bad enough waking up in this hell hole. But one day, he took Terri as usual - he only takes us one at a time - and Terri just…didn’t come back. He never talks to us, so I have no idea what happened. I thought it was only a couple of days before you arrived, but my sense of time is apparently way off.”

“We have to get out of here. I don’t know what he does to us out there, but it can’t be anything good, can it? Why didn’t you rush him when he came to get me? Or even just try to run out?”

“He’s too clever for that - he has a second gun. They’re tranquillizers, of course, one for the one of us he’s taking - that one must last a lot longer because the other one is for whichever one of us is left here. It only lasts a little while, because you’re here alone then for hours…I think.

And he just sort of, rolls you back into the room when he’s done. Gently, but quickly enough that he’s barely here, there’s just not enough time, and he always has that dart gun aimed and ready.

I’ve tried, I swear, I just don’t know how to do it. I really don’t!”

The desperation and terror were coming through clearly now, and I could sense that this outburst had been a long time coming. It was starting to filter through to me now…this couldn’t just be how it was now, surely? We needed to make some kind of plan.

Before I could even start to contemplate where we’d begin though, that halo of light around the door shined bright again. I tried to make a run for it, to hide somewhere, but that was why the room was so empty, there was nothing to cower behind, nowhere to shelter. I heard two clicks this time, and saw Alex go down first, before I went into oblivion once more.

I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep this time. But the face I woke up to was plumper and fuller, and didn’t yet have the palour of someone who had been down here for however long it had been now.

The sleepy eyes under the fringe of shocking red hair started to blink open.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

The Daily Star

The body of Alex Walters, 27, was found last night at Bedrock Bowl after disappearing in August of this year in the same location. Walters was said to have been on a night out with friends and wasn’t seen again after taking a phone call alone. Witnesses who found the body confirm that Walters was wearing clothes that mirror those of a set of dolls popular in the 1970s, and had various obvious puncture wounds to the neck. The cause of death is still to be determined, but an inside source has speculated that high amounts of tranquillizers were found in the victim’s body.

Local police are yet to give a statement, however, early comments suggest that this could be linked to the discovery of the body of Terri Howard. Howard had also been found dressed in a replica of a doll’s outfit, in the car park of the Leisure Centre where she’d been last seen. There have been two other disappearances of local residents in the last few months and it is recommended that everyone should be vigilant and avoid going anywhere alone until the perpetrator is caught.

If you know anything or saw anything on the days of the disappearances or discoveries, please contact the police with any information.