Ensnared

by I N Foggarty

  “Because silly, if I knew where I was I wouldn’t be an explorer. You can’t explore somewhere that you already know.”

  This time Anna did laugh. The childlike innocence of it all somehow washing away her anger.

  “I like your hair,” the boy then said offhandedly, before wandering off down the new path he had crudely created.

  It was only then that Anna realised that her hair had changed from how she last recalled seeing it. Instead of the long crimson red she remembered, her hair was shoulder length and blonde. When she pulled a few strands through her finger the realisation smacked Anna across the face with a sting that could have come from being hit by the boy's sword. She’d heard that line before too. It may have been cheesy to her now, but for a five-year-old, she had to hand it to him. Anna smiled to herself, her gaze following the head of messy brown hair through the thicket. Only for the brief moment of joy to be dashed with a sense of loss and longing. A tear threatened to form in Anna’s eye as she whispered the boy's name to herself, “Matt.”

  A piercing screech suddenly echoed out all around her. Terror filled Anna and chilled her right down to her core. Like a wave of dark magic had washed over the landscape, everything now looked barren and much less inviting. A gust of wind blew through the grass and up above dark clouds began to gather. She had to get out of here she thought, the first drops of rain matting her hair. She had to get out now.

  The screeching sound echoed again, louder this time, and Anna started to run. Barrelling through the grass her feet began to sink deeper into the mud as the rain began to loosen it. From somewhere inside the thicket a thin and gnarled vine lashed out at her. Dodging to her left Anna avoided it by the skin of her teeth. It hit the ground beside her with a vicious crack. Slipping and sliding in the newly formed quagmire, she scrambled forward only for a second vine to shoot out and catch her on the backs of her legs.

  “Ahh,” she hissed, a stinging pain spreading out across her lower thighs. Forcing herself onwards, she could hear the sharp whistling sounds of more tendrils beginning to slice through the air like scythe blades in pursuit. The pain intensified with each stroke that rained down upon her like a razor blade cutting through the soft flesh of her backside and upper legs. Yet somehow she managed to stay upright. That was until she ran straight into a towering tree. She had not even seen it coming. Her body smashed into the thick gnarled trunk face first with a sickening crunch. She collapsed into the mud. The vines continued to strike her, as though her failure to escape them in itself merited harsher blows. She wanted to cry. Wanted to shout out, to scream at them to stop. Yet somehow she knew that doing anything of the sort would only make things worse.

  Forcing herself to her knees, Anna could just make out a hole at the base of the tree. Was it big enough for her to fit into? The thought came moments before one of the vines caught her across the cheek and left a bloody line in its wake. It did not matter she had to try. Inching forward through the muddy soup, pain coursing through her with each movement, Anna forced herself headfirst into the dark hole at the base of the tree.

  Darkness engulfed her for the briefest of moments before she suddenly found herself tumbling through a doorway and out into what transpired to be the shadowy corridor of the hotel.

  “Was everything to your satisfaction?” a voice asked and Anna looked up from where she lay on the carpeted floor to see the manager standing over her.

  “What the hell was that?” Anna demanded through laboured breaths. She leapt to her feet.

  The pain she had felt only moments prior had vanished, leaving only a lingering echo behind to remind her that it had ever been in the first place. What’s more, her clothes showed no trace of mud or blood. In fact, the only thing to have remained unchanged being her hair, still a shoulder length dirty blonde.

  The manager looked down at her. “Apparently not.” Without pausing to help her up the woman bustled off down the hallway; her heels making an impossibly sharp click on the carpeted floor. “No matter.”

  Like she had been set to autopilot, Anna picked herself up and without uttering a word followed. Approaching the first door on the opposite side of the hallway, the second overhead lamp flickered into life.

  “Perhaps this one will be more to your liking,” the woman said, opening a door numbered 8.

  Anna had no idea how she ended up inside, but one glimpse of the contents caused her to immediately take a step back to try and get out. Only there was no out. Like the first room, the door had vanished leaving only a field of…

  “Grass,” Anna said aloud as she spun around.

  The same grass she thought, a mix of panic and rage slowly building up inside. She clenched her fists; once had been more than enough. On closer inspection, she could see that things were not quite the same as before. This time the blades seemed shorter and instead of a luscious green colour they were now a yellowy brown; dying.

  Good riddance Anna thought bitterly, this time able to move through the thicket with ease. The pain may have gone but the memory of it remained. From somewhere ahead she could hear the sound of voices; she slowed her pace. Stepping out into a clearing she stood for a moment and watched a boy playing with… was that a snake! Shaking her head as though convinced it had been her mind playing tricks on her Anna took a second glance. Her eyes had not betrayed her it was indeed a snake. What’s more, it was not just any boy but the one who she had followed through the grass the last time.

  “Be careful that snake might be venomous,” she blurted out without thinking.

  Both boy and snake turned to look at her, the first with vague recollection the other with one of suspicion.

  “Venomous,” it hissed, forked tongue rasping at her. “How do we know you’re not the venomous one?”

  Before Anna could answer the boy spoke up.

  “She’s my friend too,” he said to the snake. “Now we can all go exploring together.”

  The snake hissed at her before it slithered after the boy, up his leg and draped itself across his shoulders. Anna followed the pair though kept her distance. On more than one occasion she was sure she could hear it hissing in the boy’s ear. A shake of the boys head in response soon confirmed the suspicion. Eventually, they stopped in another clearing.

  “I’m going to see what’s over there. You two wait here,” the boy said cheerfully, pointing down a path of well-trodden grass.

  He set off. While Anna watched him go the snake slithered across the ground and perched itself atop the only rock. Sighing she sat down on the hard mud. What could possibly be the point in all this she mused? All of a sudden out of nowhere and without provocation the snake lunged at her, its fangs bared. With little time to react, she threw up her arms to stop the serpent from striking her face. She screamed, the fangs sinking deep into her wrist.

  Hurriedly she began shaking her arm trying desperately to dislodge it. Eventually, she had to grab it by the tail and yank it hard before it relinquished its hold. Her own grip did not hold either for the creature shot out of her hand and landed on the ground a few feet away. Clutching her blood-soaked arm Anna watched the serpent right itself and prepare for a second lunge. This time she reacted quickly and managed to dodge out of its path. When it flew past her she caught hold of its tail. Hissing loudly the thing snapped repeatedly at her face as she wrestled it to the ground. In one fluid motion, she seized the rock it had been perched upon and smashed it hard against its head. With a sickening crunch the snake’s skull shattered and it lay limp on the ground. Panting, Anna looked up and saw the boy standing there, a look of horror on his face.

  “What have you done?” he exclaimed as he rushed to the snake and cradled it in his arms.

  “I…I…it…” Anna began, slowly backing away.

  “I hate you!” the boy then yelled at her. “I never want to see you again.”

  Unsure of what to do Anna turned and ran. From somewhere far behind her she heard the same shriek from before, only this time it sounded less terrifying,
haggard even. As the feeling of déjà vu set in the vines once more appeared. They flailed wildly at her, but it took little effort on her part to dodge them. Before she knew it, the grass had vanished and she was somehow back in the hotel hallway. Too late did she realise that a figure stood in her path. Skidding to a halt she collided with him, sending him tumbling to the floor.

  “I’m so so sorry,” Anna said hastily. Without hesitation, she bent down to help up a man in overalls.

  Taking her hand, he stood up and brushed himself off. “Don’t worry, Kiddo, I’ll be alright.”

  Anna glanced around the hallway; there was no sign of the manager. Trepidation crept over her skin and she had a strong suspicion that she wasn’t supposed to have run into this gentleman. Like her train had arrived too early and her welcoming committee had not yet gathered, leaving her alone with the insignificant platform attendant who would be bustled off at the appropriate time.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I’m the maintenance man.” Though pleasant Anna could sense that the man’s tone hid a deep-seated sorrow. “I pop by every now and again to fix any problems that occur.” She could detect no malevolence, yet had the uncomfortable feeling that he was not telling her the whole truth.

  “Do you know how I get out of here?”

  “No,” he replied, his voice a mix between apologetic and helpless. “However, I can offer you something you might find familiar.” Like the manager before him, the man did not wait for a reply as he set off down the hallway.

  “What do you mean by that?” Anna called out. She had little choice but to follow.

  The man stopped outside another door and beckoned her to approach. On cue, the light overhead flickered into life when she stepped forward. She stared at the battered woodwork of the door. On its front she could just make out the numbers 3-10, only it looked like the painter had gotten lazy and missed out parts of the digits. From a pocket, the man withdrew a large ring of keys and fumbled around for the right one. Eventually, he found it, opened the door and ushered her inside, giving her a small smile before softly closing it behind her.

  There was no grass in this room. In fact, she appeared to be in what looked like an ordinary run of the mill hotel room. Yet its décor in no way correlated to that of the building in which it resided. Still, all the essentials were there. A pair of neatly made single beds each with its own bedside cabinet, a chest of drawers, a wooden round table with two chairs and a small sideboard that for some reason did not support the obligatory television set.

  Gazing around the room she could see that all the surfaces were covered with a wide assortment of knick-knacks, for lack of a better term. For example on the sideboard sat a blank postcard from Missouri, a ticket stub from a rock concert, a CD copy of one of her favourite albums and a whole host of other things that had a happy sort of familiarity about them.

  What was all this stuff? Slowly she made her way around the room, picking up items here and there in order to inspect them more closely. By the time she reached the round table, it dawned on her. Everything here had belonged to her at some point or another. But what did it all have in common? It certainly wasn’t a collection of her most prized possessions, though some of them were there.

  Anna looked down at the round table, her mind searching for some sort of connection, she gasped. Only one item lay on the surface, a sky blue bandanna neatly folded into a triangle. She looked in alarm at her left wrist only to discover it was naked. Hastily she snatched the piece of material and tied it tightly around her wrist with the point directed towards her elbow.

  What was this place? From behind her, a twanging sound echoed. Spinning around her eyes followed the noise to its source. However, the distinctive sound had been enough to tell her that the object in question was her guitar. Where had it come from she wondered, stepping over to it? Had the sound of its lower E-string being plucked heralded its arrival?

  She reached out a hand to touch the maple neck of the acoustic instrument only to become aware of raised voices on the other side of the door. Though she could only catch a few snippets she knew it was not a friendly conversation. Redirecting her hand from the guitar Anna took hold of the door handle…

  ...She winced as she felt a stabbing pain in the back of her right hand, her eyes involuntarily closing. A cold sensation soon flowed up towards her wrist, washing away the momentary discomfort. Struggling she opened her eyes. Her surroundings were dimly lit and everything looked fuzzy, especially around the edges. Before she got a chance to examine them further, a face, with sharp pointed features and a thin moustache obscured her view. Round spectacles glinted in the dim light and obscured the man’s eyes.

  “Well this is unexpected,” the man said in a nasally tone that made her skin crawl. “You are a very fevered young lady and will most likely have no recollection of this conversation. However, I assure you that you’d rather not be conscious. Now I need to finish my examination of you and for that, I need you to remain still.”

  “No,” Anna breathed, feeling slightly panicked, she tried to move her limbs but found them impossibly heavy. “Have… to… get… out… of… here…”

  “And now you’ve increased your heart rate. Do try to relax,” the man said in a tone that should have been calming but instead made her want to run away as fast as she could. He moved from view for a second then returned, holding something in gloved hands to the light. A sharp needle glinted and some clear liquid spurted obscenely from the tip. “Don’t worry, just a little pinprick.”

  “No,” she whispered. A stab of pain flared in her upper right arm. There was nothing she could do to prevent it. The man watched her, fingers locking around her un-violated wrist with one hand while the other procured a brass pocket watch. Everything turned black as for the second time her eyes closed against her will...

  …Head spinning out of control, the hallway of the hotel slowly came back into focus. In front of her stood the manager and the maintenance man mid-argument. From their heated words, she gathered that he had done something he was not supposed to and had made her exceptionally angry.

  “…I don’t care for your concerns, now go and attend to your duties on the top floor of the east wing or I will burn it here and now,” the woman yelled ferociously.

  Anna looked between the pair.

  The maintenance man did not look in the slightest bit intimidated, though he said nothing in reply as he turned and walked away. Passing Anna, he smiled at her and then said, “see you around, Kiddo,” before vanishing from sight.

  The manager rounded on her. “Where have you been?” she demanded in a harsh tone that almost made her recoil. When she failed to reply the woman added. “Well I suppose it doesn’t really matter now does it. You had better hurry up or we will be late for the reception.”

  What reception Anna thought as the woman seized her wrist and started dragging her down the hallway. The momentary shock of the action was enough to stop Anna from putting up much resistance and she soon found herself being pushed through a door labelled 15.

  When she stumbled through, Anna instantly recognised her surroundings. Stained glass windows, stone columns and two rows of uncomfortable wooden pews filled with people in their most sombre Sunday best, it was all there. Her eyes fell upon the faceless congregation and she recognised each and every one. Her gaze drawn to the front a fearful shiver ran up her spine. She knew exactly where she had ended up this time. To this day every detail of this place, of this event, remained etched in her memory.

  No, she thought. She could not, would not go through this again. Not this day. Turning Anna ran for the sturdy double doors that led to the outside. Seizing the wrought black iron rings in her hands, she pulled the heavy doors open and without thinking darted through. Only to be confronted with the same scene she had just run from.

  “NO!” Anna yelled as she turned again, only to find the exact same thing waiting behind the new doors.

  Everywhere she turned, no matter the
direction, she wound up back in the same congested church. The same faceless congregation staring at the large dark wood casket that dominated the centre of the altar. As though on rails Anna found herself being forced down the aisle. Desperately she tried to grab onto the pews but found her arms unresponsive. When she reached the front she turned her head to gaze upon those in the front row. There sat the manager, now dressed all in black, her red talon-like nails digging into the knees of a tearful man beside her. For a moment she met the woman’s cold green gaze and received a thin smile.

  Violently her body thrust forwards and up the steps to the foot of the casket. Helplessly she tried to cry out but found that her voice had been silenced. In desperation, she tried to close her eyes, to no avail. Her neck jerked forwards and she saw the inside of the empty casket. Yet somehow that was worse. As the invisible force pushed her ever further forward she could see right into the bottom. On the surface of the polished dark wood, she could just make out the image of a girl with crimson red hair, her own reflection. Or at least the reflection of the girl she knew.

  “No… NO!” She screamed as her head was forced forward so violently that it smashed through the wooden bottom. Splinters exploded in all directions and she landed once more on the red carpet of the hotel hallway. Breathing heavily she glanced up and saw that she lay at the end of a now fully illuminated hallway. Exhausted she let her head fall back to its rest position, only to find a pair of slender feet obscuring her view of the carpet.

  “No,” she moaned in defeat, when would this nightmare end?

  “Get up,” she heard the woman say as a set perfectly manicured fingers reached down, took hold of her wrist and hauled her to her feet. “Our guests have arrived.”

  She had no energy left to resist as the woman brought her into line in front of a pair of double doors that were set into the wall at the end of the hallway.

  “Be perfect,” the woman then said, giving her a stern smile.