Unhinge Me

by Ann Montgomery

  A couple weeks later, Alex walked into poetry class and sat down. She tried to ignore Caleb standing in the front of the room. It was hard to pretend she wasn’t falling in love with him when she was around him at school. She was glad they had so many places they could go to be alone.

  The rest of the students filed in and class started.

  “Today, we are going to read Storm Ending by Jean Toomer,” he began. Alex’s head shot up. That was the poem he had quoted to her under the willow tree during the flash rain storm. Alex’s cheeks immediately flushed. Was he crazy? What was he thinking?

  Actually, Caleb was thinking that he was so happy to have Alex back, he was feeling a bit bold… and frisky. Let’s see how long she lasts, he thought to himself, and began reading.

  “Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,

  Great, hollow, bell-like flowers,

  Rumbling in the wind,”

  His deep voice slowly read the words.

  Alex felt a warm shiver run down her spine. Listening to his dark accent still felt like a caress. She couldn’t help picture that day in the meadow.

  “Stretching clappers to strike our ears…

  Full-lipped flowers

  Bitten by the sun.”

  Sun. She remembered how the sun beams had shone through the leaves, sprinkling them with sparkling dew drops. She felt her own dew drops form between her legs and a familiar tingle began. She closed her eyes and felt his touch on her cold, wet skin. Her face felt redder than it had ever been and she was glad to be in the back so no one could see her. She tried to catch Caleb’s eye to tell him to stop, but he was purposely avoiding her gaze. He knew the effect he had on her and he enjoyed it.

  “Bleeding rain

  Dripping rain like golden honey—

  And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.”

  Alex heard the words ‘dripping rain’ and she almost lost it. An actual moan escaped her mouth and it jolted her back to reality. She squeaked her chair to cover the noise, but it was too late. She had gained the attention of those around her. Completely unraveled and mortified, Alex jumped out of her seat, ran down the steps, and out of the classroom. The rest of the students looked at each other curiously. Caleb just smiled.

  When class was over, Alex went back in to grab her things, feeling safe now that the students were filing out while new ones were coming in. As she walked out, she made a detour to get as close to Caleb as possible without arousing suspicion.

  “You know I’m going to kill you for that, right?” she threatened. Caleb quickly looked around to make sure no one could hear him.

  “Don’t worry love, I plan to finish what I started as soon as I get home tonight,” he threatened right back. Alex squirmed and hurried out of the classroom before she blushed again. A smile formed on her face as she rushed away, and she gave her hips a little sway for Caleb’s sake as he watched her go off to her next class.

  Alex gathered everything off of her desk and headed out of her last class for the day. She walked to her car slowly, taking her time. It was a Friday afternoon, but for once she had no plans. Caleb and Graham were going to go over a list of suspects they had made to try to narrow down who could have left the threatening notes. Rachael was out with her parents for their anniversary. That meant Alex had a night to herself, and Bear. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do yet, but she suspected a bottle of wine would be involved.

  She could smell flowers in the air. It was a beautiful day. As she walked past a pond, she saw a big willow tree leaning over the water and decided, on the spur of the moment, to go sit underneath it and watch the water.

  She put her bag down next to her and settled in between two roots, leaning back against the trunk. It felt good to have nowhere to be and have time to just sit and enjoy the quiet. As usual, because it was Friday, the campus cleared out quickly and it was soon silent and serene.

  She looked over the pond. The air was so still there wasn’t a ripple on the water. She looked for swans, but saw none. It made her think of the picnic with Caleb. Looking back, she realized that day had probably been one of her best days ever. They had laughed and cried together. But her favorite part was probably just lying there together in silence. Except for maybe what happened once it rained.

  Alex looked up through the long branches of the willow tree and was once again reminded of that last time she was under one. She wondered how it was that she thought sex was boring before she met Caleb. There was nothing boring about that afternoon. Her body warmed at the thought and she felt her face get hot. Wrapping her arms around herself, she closed her eyes, remembering Caleb’s touch. An unintentional smile broke out across her face.

  She sat there a while longer just thinking about all that had happened to her since she’d met Caleb and how absolutely happy he made her. Suddenly, she realized it was getting dark. How long have I been sitting here? she wondered and stood up, stretching. It occurred to her that she was all alone on the quickly darkening campus and the thought gave her goose bumps. Grabbing her bag, she walked to her car as fast as she could, no longer trying to enjoy the fresh air. She silently scolded herself. Even in the quiet Georgian campus, a girl alone was a stupid idea.

  When she reached her car, she breathed a sigh of relief. Throwing her bag on the passenger seat, she quickly stuck her key in and started the car. When she looked in the rear view mirror, she froze. Instead of her back window, she saw a black shape and a pair of eyes. Her blood ran cold as her thoughts tried to process what was happening. Paralyzed in fear, Alex realized the black shape was a mask and someone was in the car with her. She tried to think, to produce even one coherent thought, but couldn’t even find her voice. Time slowed down in her panicked state but, before she could react, everything went black.

  Alex tried to blink away the fuzzy world as she started to wake up. She felt groggy and couldn’t remember where she was or what was happening. She thought she heard mumbling and the sound of footsteps echoing, but before she could figure it out, she was out again.

  The second time she woke up, things were a little clearer, but not much. She tried to think and place herself, but all she could focus on was the pain. Her head was pounding and her leg was throbbing. She reached down to touch her leg and felt wetness. Blood? She started to pass out again, but willed herself to stay awake. She tried to think of something important. The first thought that came to mind was Caleb. When she thought of him she felt a pang in her stomach. But thinking about him also made her feel awake so she forced herself to picture him. To picture him laughing or kissing her. The pangs in her stomach got worse and she started to feel a little more awake. She tried to open her eyes but her vision was still too blurry.

  She tried to think of the last place she remembered being. Her mind was still incoherent though and, try as she might, whenever she tried to think back, everything was blank. She opened her eyes again and could finally make out some shapes. It was dark wherever she was, but there were shadows from a light source somewhere behind her. She could see what looked like a staircase over to the side and maybe some boxes, but that was it. It was still too indistinct to make out anything else. She tried to feel for her phone when she realized one of her arms was yanked at an unnatural angle above her head. Moving it slightly, she could feel a chain around her wrist. Wherever she was, she was chained to the wall. Panic made bile rise in her throat and she tried to open her mouth to scream. The pounding in her head grew to a shattering magnitude and before she could scream, she passed out again.

  “Would you calm down, mate, you’re making even me nervous.” Graham tried to calm Caleb, who was pacing around his small apartment.

  “It’s just not like her to not answer her phone,” he insisted. He dialed Rachael again and got no answer, again. Irritated, he threw the phone down on the couch and sat down hard next to it. He didn’t know why he had such a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he did and he wasn’t going to ignore it.

  “I’m sure there
is a perfectly logical reason for her not to answer. She is spending the night alone. She is probably in the tub or something,” Graham tried to reason.

  “For two hours?” Caleb half shouted. There was no way he was going to be able to focus on the list with Graham now. He looked out the window. It was really late. Either way, Alex should be home by now.

  He grabbed his keys and looked at Graham. “Maybe. But I am going over to her place just to check. You can come or not, it’s up to you,” he replied decidedly.

  Graham stood up and shook his head. “Alright, alright, we’re not getting anything else done until you talk to her now anyway.”

  Caleb was too distracted to answer him and headed for the door. Graham shut the lights off and locked the door behind them.

  “I just don’t want to hear about it if we find her naked in the tub,” he joked.

  When they got to Alex’s apartment, they could see right away that she wasn’t home. Her car wasn’t there and it was dark inside.

  Walking up to the door, Graham looked in the windows while Caleb searched for a spare key. Annoyed, he kicked at a potted plant. It rolled to the side and shattered, dirt spilling all over the porch.

  “Oy! That’s helpful now, ‘innit!” Graham scolded and walked over to clean up the mess.

  Caleb walked away and pulled out his phone to try Rachael again. Finally, she answered.

  “Whoa, how many times have you called me, dude?” was her replacement for “Hello”.

  “Have you seen or heard from Alex tonight?” he rushed, not even bothering with pleasantries.

  Rachael paused at the tone in Caleb’s voice.

  “No, I haven’t, but I have been out with my parents,” she excused. “Why?”

  “Because I haven’t heard from her all night, and even when she wasn’t talking to me she at least always answered my texts,” he said frantically.

  “Calm down,” she quietly commanded. “I’m sure she is sitting at home with a bottle of wine and a movie.”

  “We are at her apartment now. It’s empty and her car is gone.”

  Rachael paused again, but not for long. “I’ll be right there,” she said and hung up.

  Rachael’s car screeched to a stop in front of Alex’s apartment. She’d spent the whole ride over there trying to get a hold of Alex herself, and by the time she got there she was starting to worry as well. It really wasn’t like Alex not to answer her phone.

  She jumped out of her car and walked up the stairs without even looking at the two men standing there. She stopped when she saw the plant. Her heart leapt into her throat.

  Graham noticed her gaze and quickly reassured her.

  “No, Caleb did that, just now. It’s not from before.”

  Rachael looked over at Caleb, who just shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground.

  “What did the plant do to you?” she asked as she turned and sifted through her keys to find the spare one to Alex’s apartment. Once she found the right one, she opened the door and the three of them rushed inside. Rachael turned on the little light on a table nearby and Graham shut the door behind them. Then they all just stood there, not really knowing what to do next. On the floor, in the middle of the room in front of them, stood Bear. She sat down and looked warily at the three people standing in front of her.

  “Meow.”

  When Alex woke up again, she could tell it was daytime. Her head felt much better, but her leg was still pretty sore. She opened her eyes and could see clearly for the first time. The daylight revealed that she was definitely in a basement. She could see the stair case from last night and the boxes along the wall. She turned a bit to look around, her body protesting. She was sore all over from her awkward sleeping position. She noticed she was lying on a mattress on the floor. There was a sheet on the mattress that could have been really nice once, but now it was faded and stained. The only other thing in the small basement was an old wooden chair. The stairs looked rickety and had nails sticking out in a few places. The walls were cement but were painted white once, a long time ago if the chipping was any indication. There were two small windows high on the wall to her left but, Alex noted, she would not fit through them.

  Not that she could get up anyway. She turned to inspect the chain holding her to the wall. She saw that, although it was old, it was solid, and wasn’t budging. Her wrist was all cut up underneath it, probably from moving during the night. She tried to think of the last time she had received her tetanus shot.

  Getting herself into a more comfortable position for her chained wrist, she tried to take inventory of her injuries. Her wrist was hurt, but other than that her arms were fine. She checked her head for cuts or bruises and found none. In fact, other than being generally sore and stiff, the only other injury she had was her leg. She tried to get a look at it in the light. It looked like she had a long gash down the side of it. She could tell it had bled a lot, but for now the bleeding had stopped. She wondered how she’d gotten it.

  She also tried again to try to remember how she’d gotten there. If the previous day was Friday, then she remembered being in class. After class, she had gone home… no, she had stopped to sit by the pond. It was still a bit fuzzy, but she remembered sitting under the willow tree. She even remembered walking to her car, but then everything went blank.

  Suddenly, she heard a noise and looked up to see someone coming down the stairs, carrying a tray. Alex tried to slink back into the wall as she watched the figure approach. Fancy men’s shoes and a clearly tailored pair of pants came into view first. Then the man stepped out of the shadows and Alex drew in her breath.

  “Mr. Edmunton!” Alex exclaimed, her throat strained and raspy. He smiled a wicked smile and kept walking until he was in front of the mattress on the floor. Putting the tray down carefully, he fidgeted with the items on the tray, arranging them perfectly. It was breakfast. But it wasn’t just a regular breakfast. Eggs, toast, pancakes, and jam were all piled high on expensive china. There was a crystal glass full of juice and even a flower in a small vase.

  Paul turned and walked over to the old chair, bringing it closer to the bed. Before he sat, he turned and wiped the dust off of it. Then he sat gingerly, his back straight. His behavior was so bizarre, Alex didn’t know what to think of it. It was as if he didn’t realize they were in a dingy basement.

  “Please,” Alex begged. “Tell me why I am here.”

  “Not before you eat your breakfast,” Mr. Edmunton insisted.

  Alex looked down at the food. She was afraid of it. Since she had no injuries on her head to explain how she’d been knocked out, Alex could guess that she’d been drugged. She eyed the food. What if it was drugged too?

  She decided she wasn’t going to get any answers if she didn’t eat. Plus, she didn’t know if it was the drugs or what, but she was ravenous. She reached out and took the toast.

  As she ate, he just sat there, watching her in silence. Once she had eaten a little bit of everything, she tried again to talk to the teacher. She barely remembered him. She had seen him a few times across the hall from Caleb’s classroom, but that was it.

  “Please, Paul-” she tried to plea.

  “Oh, now you will call me by my first name, huh?” He smiled, amused.

  Then Alex remembered that day when she’d been running and almost got hit by that car. Paul was the one who had saved her. He seemed so nice that day. But then, why did he have her locked up now?

  He stopped smiling. “Finish your juice.”

  Still trying to figure him out, Alex downed the glass without thinking.

  She tried again to get the man to talk.

  “Please, tell me what’s going on? At least let me call…” she stopped. She realized she was just about to beg to call Caleb, and that wouldn’t make any sense to him. She didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t want to get Caleb in trouble on top of it all.

  Paul laughed a slow, grumbling laugh. He was smiling, but the light in his eyes wasn’t from m
irth, it was from anger. There also seemed to be a little crazy thrown in there too. Alex shut her mouth and recoiled.

  Suddenly, the laughter stopped and the man’s face contorted in anger.

  “You were going to say Caleb, weren’t you?” he sneered.

  Alex’s eyes widened. She wanted to know how he knew, but she was afraid to ask.

  Paul read the look in her eyes.

  “Wondering how I knew about your little love affair, are you?” he sang joyfully. His emotions seemed to switch on a dime.

  “Of course I knew!” he shouted, angry again.

  Alex’s head swam. She realized why he was so insistent that she drink the juice. She had been drugged again. She resisted the oblivion and tried to keep her head up and ask more questions.

  Paul could see the drug was taking effect and picked up her tray.

  “Sweet dreams, my dear,” he sang again and turned to walk away. Almost as an afterthought, he walked back over to Alex, who was leaning over and falling asleep fast. He grabbed harshly at her breast and squeezed. Looking her up and down, he licked his lips. Putting his face so close to hers she could smell his sweat, he whispered to her, “Soon I will have my way with you, and you won’t even remember that British prick’s name.”

  He ran his hand slowly down the length of her body and then walked away.

  Fear didn’t even begin to explain what was going through Alex’s mind. She felt so out of control, losing the battle to the drugs. Knowing she was about to pass out again, her last thought was of Caleb.

  Rachael was speeding again. Ever since Alex went missing, she didn’t seem to pay any attention to the laws of the road. Her only thought was of finding her. That morning, she, Caleb, and Graham had all split up to look for her more in the daylight. It was Caleb who found her car in the school parking lot - empty. He was so beside himself with grief and fear that Rachael was a bit overcome with emotion at what was obviously a real love that he had for her friend.