FicWad

When Paulina opened her eyes, her eyelashes brushed against the material of a blindfold. In her half-asleep state, her heart raced and her mind spun. Where was she? Why couldn’t she see anything? She sat up, looking around frantically, reaching her arms out and grabbing for whatever she could feel.

“Paulina, Paulina,” came a voice, followed by a hand that brushed the stray bangs away from her forehead, which was plastered by cold sweat. Paulina gulped.

“Frank?” she whimpered as he set her down beside him. Her leg bumped another leg, which she reached out and felt.

“Hey, hey! Watch the hands, sunshine!” came Mikey’s voice.

“I’m here,” said Frank from her other side. She felt the warmth of his hand on her knee, his thumb smoothing back and forth over her jeans. Jeans? She’d fallen asleep nude, as she remembered.

“Now that you’re up,” Mikey’s voice came again. A warm, fluffy weight dropped into Paulina’s lap. “Take your stupid rabbit. He’s been chewing a hole in my jeans for the past hour.” Paulina began to stroke Al’s fur, still confused. He was wearing the harness reserved for when Paulina felt like taking him out into the fenced-in backyard to stretch his legs.

“What’s going--”

“Stop,” Frank said, a hint of…panic in his voice? “Don’t ask questions. We had a long way to go, so we decided to get an early start. You didn’t stir once, and I didn’t think it was necessary to wake you.”

“Oh,” Paulina said, settling back in her seat. The attitude in the car was tense and stiff, and Paulina didn’t even have the courage to ask where they were going. She simply sat back and bit her tongue. For hours. And hours. And hours. It was a long time. It crawled by.

Paulina began fiddling with the blindfold, running her fingertips over the material and trying to guess which color it was. There were many. Frank favored a white one that had to be folded over multiple times so it wasn’t see-through, while Gerard never failed to employ a blood-red one that made her see in magenta for hours after wearing it. This didn’t seem like either. Perhaps it was the blue one. Or yellow. She wasn’t any closer to figuring it out when the car finally stopped, and she was ushered out, one arm clutched by Frank.

“Here,” he said, steadying her to a stop with a hand at her waist. “Just wait here,” he told her. Paulina heard his footsteps get farther and farther away, and then another pair of footsteps slowly approaching. She could tell just from the long-legged lank that she could hear with each step that it was Mikey.

“Paulina,” he began, patting the top of her head. She snapped her head back, hopefully out of his reach. No such luck. However, he withdrew his arm, but stepped closer. “You--Well…” He cleared his throat. “Well, what do you think of me, having lived with me for six months?”

Paulina hesitated. She had no idea what was going on, and the scarf on her eyes still had her blinded. She bit her lip and faltered. “Well…ah…You’re…an asshole,” she admitted, pushing her hand through her hair, which seemed to be growing out a bit. “But…not. You’re not always awful, Mikey. When you’re trying, you can be very pleasant.”

Mikey chuckled and sighed. “I like that,” he told Paulina. “I’d say the opposite about you; you’re sweet, usually. When you want to be, though, you can be…mega-bitch. But I like that about you, kid,” he added, ruffling her hair once more before walking away. Again, footsteps approached soon after Mikey’s had disappeared, but this time, Paulina couldn’t tell who it was until he spoke.

“How’re you feeling, Paulina?” Bob. Robert. About three months into Paulina’s stay, Robert had become Bob. The kind, sweet man wasn’t as kind and sweet as she’d been led to believe in the beginning. As the days had passed, he had become more and more like the other men: cold, manipulative, impatient. Less so, perhaps, but not by much. Still, Paulina couldn’t help but feel just that much closer to him because of the initial bond she’d felt they’d had.

“I’m fine, I suppose, if not a little confused at the moment.” This was Paulina’s way of hinting at the fact that she wanted answers.

“I know.” It wasn’t a guarantee that she’d get answers, of course, but it was always worth a shot. “But…that’ll be over soon enough. Trust me.”

“Might as well. It’s not like I’ve got anyone else to trust.” Paulina smiled, a rare occurrence, and reached out to touch Bob where she hope was his arm. She ended up brushing his elbow before giving up and letting her hand dangle by her side once more, the other still clutching Al’s leash, connected to the harness around his body. He stayed close to his owner, not venturing away from her heels.

“You’re a special kind of person, Paulina.” Bob cleared his throat. “You…Well, you’re a good kid. I…I really do like you, whether or not you’ll believe it.”

“Thanks, Bob,” Paulina said, the confusion beginning to take hold again. “I--uh--like you, too.” She heard him sigh, then retreat.

The next man to approach didn’t speak when he got close. He kept walking until his toes were touching Paulina’s, his face hovering directly above the top of the girl’s head. The scent of nicotine, coffee, and minty soap was all too familiar to Paulina.

“Hello, Gerard,” she said, taking a step back.

“Good afternoon, lovely. You know, I’ve always maintained that you, mon cher, are a work of art. The finesse of your features are, as of yet, unparalleled.” Paulina felt a hand cup her chin tightly, not bothering to squirm away. She was too bewildered by what was happening. What could be going on? “Frank specifically forbade me from touching you,” he said, hissing the last two words under his breath, his face getting closer to Paulina’s. “But I just can’t resist.” Paulina was not surprised to feel his lips press against hers then, his skin cold against her. “Ah, bonne nuit, darling,” Gerard said once he’d pulled away. Good night? What did he mean by, “good night?” Paulina’s mind was still processing this information when it was Ray’s heavy footfall that she heard approaching.

“Do you remember the night we met, Paulina?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

“Very well,” she replied in a murmur, mind turning to six months prior.

“I asked you about your beliefs in God. Remember?”

“Yes.”

“I still think about it…every day, actually. And what I told you about falling, do you remember that?”

“I do. You said I’d only just started.” Paulina began to nibble at the index nail of her free hand.

“Yes. Well, here’s a heads up: you’re about to hit the ground.”

Paulina’s stomach sank at this. She wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but it didn’t sound good. What could all this mean? Why were they all doing this? Why were they here? Why was her rabbit here? Where were they, that they’d driven so far to? Paulina’s mind reeled, racing as Frank’s familiar footstep came back into earshot, stopping a few inches away from the former.

“Paulina,” Frank said, his voice deep. He cleared his throat a couple times, swallowing thickly. “I--” He took a deep breath, placing his hands on Paulina’s shoulders and pulling her closer. “I need you to know that I love you.” Paulina nodded, frowning. She wanted answers from someone, but even Frank didn’t seem to be any help. What was wrong? “I need you to say it. Please.”

“I know that you love me.” Frank sighed, slipping one arm around Paulina’s waist. The other hand went to the girl’s face, thumb brushing across her lower lip. His face hovered into hers, radiating warmth between their skins before pressing his mouth into Paulina’s. She smiled and sighed. This was right. This was reassuring. Frank pulled away all too soon, removing his hands from her altogether. He cleared his throat again.

“Alright. Here, hold your hand out.” Paulina did as she was told, feeling two pills being dropped into her palm. She closed her fist around them securely. “When I walk away, I want you to start counting backwards from one hundred. When you get to fifty, take the pills. Don’t remove the blindfold; don’t get scared. Okay?” Paulina nodded. “Alright.” Without another word, Frank’s footsteps began fading away, and Paulina began counting, heart racing.

“One hundred…ninety-nine…ninety-eight…” Paulina felt like she couldn’t breathe. She continued counting, concentrating on breathing evenly. Her hands were clamming up. She tied Al’s leash to her belt loop as tightly as she could so that it wouldn’t slip out of her sweaty grasp. She wiped her palms on her jeans, her nerves shaking. “Fifty-two…fifty-one…fifty…” Shakily, Paulina knocked back the two pills, struggling to swallow them through the lump in her throat. Her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t make a noise. When she could no longer stand it, Paulina wrenched the blindfold away from her face, wrapping it around her palm before examining her surroundings.

She was in a park. A very secluded area of the park, but definitely a park, due to the screams and laughter of small children she could hear from far away. Al was nibbling, care-free, at the grass at her feet. All of a sudden, everything clicked to Paulina.

“The end is nigh,” she recalled from just a few days ago. This nigh? This quickly, the end had come? No. No, no, no. Paulina’s hand flew up to her throat, clutching at it as it seemed to be swelling shut. She clamped her mouth shut and breathed slowly through her nose, trying desperately not to think of what was happening. While her breathing techniques worked, her mind wouldn’t comply with her wishes, and she continued to panic. What had she just swallowed? Were they killing her? Poison? Arsenic? Something?

This had never seemed possible. Not six months ago, not six weeks ago, especially not last night. Even now, Paulina was convinced that at any moment, the car would come coasting up the little road, ready to take her back. This must have just been another game. Another sick, twisted game. Paulina hoped, wished, prayed that this was a game. That she’d wake up and just be angry and not empty. Tears coated her cheeks; she finally found her voice.

“Frank!” she screamed. “Frank, please! I’m sorry! Whatever I did, I’m sorry! I won’t complain anymore, Bob! I won’t! I’ll eat whatever you want me to eat! I’ll stop being a bitch, Mikey! Please! Come back! I’m sorry!” Her sobs filled the otherwise quiet air, though she was certain that no one else could hear her. “Ray! Please! Please, help me! I’ll have sex with you, Gerard! I promise! I’ll love every second of it and it’ll be the best you ever had! Gerard! Mikey! Ray! Bob! Frank! Frank! Please! Frank!” Paulina collapsed, her voice and body spent from her screams and anxiety. Her head was beginning to spin once more, this time with whatever pills she’d taken. Her vision was clouding, and her thoughts were going fuzzy. She fell over onto her side, breathing slowing and deepening, heart rate coming down. Darkness began peeking at the corners of her vision, moving in closer and closer, until her mind and body were completely consumed by the fog of blackness.