The Interrogation

By Beverly Greene

NOTE: This story is protected by international copyright laws and may NOT be reproduced in any form without the author's expressed written permission.

I sat there all alone in total darkness - the kind that you only read about or see in horror movies. But, it was ok really. My eyes had adjusted to the lack of light and somehow I could still almost make out the table that I knew was in front of me, though I wouldn't let myself admit that it was only my imagination that I was "seeing" with.

I sat there as I had sat for the past....I don't know how many hours exactly. Long enough that my legs had long since ceased to register with my brain. I slumped my head, resting my chin on my cool chest hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep, but the piercing pain in my wrists was still burning its way up and down my arms as if they had been set a blaze and I was left to watch with my mind's eye with no possible way to put the flame out.

I wondered what I was doing here in this maddening darkness all alone. I thought back over the past few weeks, then months, then years trying to find some crime, some wrong which could have landed me here. I just couldn't come up with anything that seemed to fit what little I knew about my situation. In the end, I guess all I really knew was that I had had a drink with a friend after work. Upon leaving the bar and heading for the subway station, I was grabbed from behind and forced into the back of a van. I was gagged and blindfolded before I could see or say anything. I could hear cars driving past and the engine of the van. I could feel that I was not alone, feel the spit soaking the piece of rough material in my mouth. I could also feel the ropes being tied around my ankles and wrists. The ropes were pulled so tight that I wondered if I would suffer some long term damage. I was sure that any movement whatsoever could cause a bone to crack right in two.

My eyes closed despite the pain, mostly from pure exhaustion but before sweet rescue in the form of sleep could arrive, I heard thundering footsteps. Closer and closer they came and with each step, another muscle tightened to the breaking point. When I felt that I could not contain the physical pain of fear, a light crashed down upon me with a ferocity few could ever comprehend. My eyes revolted to the brilliant glare, slamming closed against my will, against my brain's command to look and see the face of the person now sharing this tiny space with me.

I sat there for who knows how long, head hanging low and to my left, not from shame or fear but in a desperate attempt to escape the light, that yellowish fluorescent stream that beat down upon me without mercy, without relief. Slowly, my acute awareness of being watched overwhelmed the piercing pain in my eyes and I forced them to open, just a slit so that I could catch a glimpse of my fate.

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