by Emmy Oakes
*
Cynthia Martin sat upright against a wooden chair. Rough ropes kept her secured to the chair and she had thick tape wrapped around her mouth and head preventing her from making a sound. Her mouth was incredibly dry from a piece of cloth that was jammed in there as a gag.
She kept her eyes fixed on somebody who was standing in front of the room’s exit. She wouldn’t really call him a man, he looked more like a tall snake with arms and legs. His skin was gray and scaly, and he had small slits for eyes. Every few seconds a forked tongue would whip in and out of his mouth. He hissed occasionally and looked rather bored.
Cynthia constantly thought of Alexia and hoped she was safe. She was thankful that Robert and her two other daughters weren’t here when she came to drop off Gina but knew they would arrive soon enough.
When they had arrived the large house was empty. Or at least Cynthia thought it was. Gina was grabbed first. A slithery skinned man had crept up on her and placed a rope around her neck that looked like a lasso. He yanked on the rope and she fell hard against the ground.
Cynthia had no time to react before she was attacked from behind. Scaly, slimy hands wrapped around her neck and pushed her to the ground. The next thing she knew she was tied up to a wooden chair upstairs in a bedroom that belonged to her ex-husband.
Gina sat in a chair next to her. She was also tied up and sported a nasty red mark around her neck from where she was lassoed. Cynthia knew that she was okay though because she kept spouting abuse at the serpent men until she fell into a hesitant sleep.
The man by the door never took his eyes off Cynthia. Her brain was ticking over and over trying to think of a way to escape. But it was useless, she was tied to tightly to the chair, she could hardly breathe, let alone escape.