The Ensnared (8 page)

She raised the spoon to her mouth
and took a small sip. Her tongue instantly tingled as the soup ran all over her
mouth before disappearing into her gullet. She started to eat hungrily then,
not caring whether the soup was poisoned or not. She was being paranoid, she
told herself. If Mark wanted to kill her right now, why would he give her poisoned
food when he still had a gun in his holster?

As soon as she was done, Mark took
the bowl of soup from her hands and put it into a dishwasher. “Why don’t you
lie down and try to sleep?” He said. “I know you have questions, but we can
talk tomorrow morning. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

“Tell me now!” Melissa argued.

“Not now.” Mark said. “I need you
to get as much rest as possible. After what I’m about to tell you may never be
able to sleep easy ever again.”

“I can take it now.” She said. Her
curiosity was roused. What could be possibly more horrific than the events of
last night?

Melissa lifted up her legs and felt
herself getting drowsy. She really wanted to know what was going on and so if
she pretended to be asleep, she could eavesdrop on their conversations.

She laid her head on the pillow and
closed her eyes. She took a deep breath as Mark pulled the blankets over her.
The pillow was soft under her head and the blanket was nice and warm on her.
Nestling further into the cot, she felt herself drifting away.

A gentle murmur near the windows
woke her up and Melissa learned to her dismay that she had fallen asleep even
though she had tried so hard not to. Her plan for learning more about her hosts
had failed only because she couldn’t keep her eyes open for even a second!

 She blinked and spotted the riders
from the corner of her eyes. They were all huddled around a desk and talking to
each other in soft voices. Whatever it was that they were discussing definitely
wasn’t intended for her ears. Melissa closed her eyes again and inched closer
towards the edge of the cot, trying to listen in to what they were talking
about. Last night had been a failure after she had fallen asleep. Perhaps she
could try this time to be discreet and learn their plans?

“I really don’t see a pattern.” She
heard one of them say.

“There must be something we’re
missing.” Mark said and Melissa could hear the frustration mounting in his
voice.

“What are you going to do about
her?” Kevin asked. At least that was who Melissa thought it was. Their brief
interaction last night left her cold and terrified but she was almost sure that
the voice belonged to Kevin.

“Wait for her to get up and then
tell her the truth.” Mark said.

Taking this as a cue, Melissa
shifted restlessly and started to get up slowly. If Mark was going to tell her
something, she couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

“Hey.” Mark said coming towards
her. “Did you sleep well?”

Melissa blinked at him and brushed
the hair off her face. Mark was being so gentle with her that for a moment she
imagined herself in her hometown, six months ago. She had been so happy with
him then and so much in love. There hadn’t been a single waking moment when she
hadn’t seen him or spoken to him over the phone. They had been pretty much
inseparable. But all that was gone now. The feelings, the trust and their love
had changed. She had made the mistake of coming here and now she was stuck in
this never ending nightmare.

“There’s a washroom upstairs where
you can take a shower.” Mark suggested.

Melissa started to ask him what he
was going to tell her and then remembered that Mark would then find out that
she had been trying to eavesdrop on them.

So she got up and instantly felt
her legs wobble. Mark let out his hand for support but she pretended not to
notice it and went towards the stairs, her head still spinning. Once upstairs,
she spotted the restroom and entered it eagerly. The thought of cold water on
her hot head felt tempting and she made her way to the basin.

She expected a lone soap dispenser
and an unclean towel hanging somewhere, but instead she was surprised to find
an array of soaps, shampoos and shower gels lined all over the shelves. On the
top shelf, there were stacks of clean towels and toothpaste and shaving gels
right below it.

She stood in front of her mirror
and frowned at her reflection. Her sweaty hair was matted against her forehead
and her mascara had run in streaks against her face. She looked pale and tired
and almost green.

Melissa covered her mouth and
waited for the nausea to pass. She opened up the faucet and splashed cold water
on her face and neck. It was hot again and the sunlight poured in through the
windows making her feel stuffy.

Melissa picked up a bottle of face
wash and squeezed its contents on her palm. As she washed her face with it,
Melissa wondered if she should take a shower. It was too hot and her skin felt
feverish. A shower was just the thing she needed to invigorate herself. But she
was here in what she believed was an enemy’s territory. Being comfortable
should be the farthest thing from her mind. Still…it was just a shower…

Before she could change her mind,
she stepped into the shower and started to wash herself vigorously with a new
bar of soap. She stared at the bottle of shampoo for a few seconds before
picking that up too.

As she washed her hair she chuckled
softly to herself. This was absurd, she thought to herself. She was probably in
the presence of serial killers and here she was trying to clean herself when
she should have tried prying open the widows and looking for a way to escape.

She dried herself with a towel and
looked at the window. Jumping out of the window wasn’t such a great idea. Where
would she run anyway? If the bikers had wanted to kill her, they would have
done so when she had been sleeping. Besides, Mark had seemed sincere in his
request to hear him out.

“Melissa?” Mark called.

Melissa pulled the towel closer to
her and gasped.

“If you want new clothes, you can
find some in the small cupboard.” Mark said. “Feel free to use whatever you
want.”

Melissa walked over to the cupboard
and opened it to find T-shirts, jackets, jeans and sweaters folded neatly on
the shelves. She stared at it for several seconds before picking out a long
sleeved shirt and a pair of new jeans with the tags still on it.

Melissa quickly put on her clothes
and started to brush her teeth. Mark sure had a lot of explaining to do, she
thought. Everything was so peculiar on this street. Why for instance, did they
have a vast supply of rations? And a flat screen TV? Brand new clothes with the
tags still on it?

After she was done, she unlocked
the door and stepped out slowly, expecting to be pounced on by the riders who
were playing with her after all.

“How do you feel now?” Mark asked
her. She almost jumped and looked at him warily. He was sitting on one of the
tables with a plate of food for her. Melissa shuffled her legs and felt her
hands going numb. Mark seemed the least bit troubled about what was going on
and she hated the way he was being so nice to her. There was something about
him that was making her feel very uneasy. She shook her head. Of course there
was a reason why she felt this way. She had just seen him and his friends kill
two innocents. And what had they done to Keith?

Melissa walked over to his table
and sat down, staring intently at the knife near the plate. She picked up a
slice of toast and took a small bite off it. Mark poured her a glass of juice
and handed it over to her. She flinched as he passed her the glass and her
hands grasped the knife even closer.

“I’m going to tell you exactly
what’s going on.” Mark said and leaned forward on the table. “And I’m going to
begin by telling you that I’m not the bad guy.”

Melissa looked away and sipped on
her juice. Of course he would say that.

“Something happened on this street
three years ago.” Mark said. “There used to be a gang of bikers that terrorized
the streets, particularly this one. The gang consisted of five members.

Melissa chewed slowly on her toast
as Mark continued. Rafe had already told her the story, but she didn’t want to
interrupt Mark. The last thing she wanted to do was rile him up.

“The mayor wanted to put an end to
this and pressured the sheriff to control them. The sheriff tried to do
whatever he could in his power, but the gang was too fast for them and
continued to terrorize the streets. They broke into stores, stole things and
even burned down a grocery once.

Melissa ran a hand through her hair
and felt her nausea returning. She took a sip of juice and was relieved when it
passed away.

“It was when they ran over a
pedestrian that the sheriff came up with a plan that would end this once and
for all.” Mark said. His voice grew strange as he said this and Melissa pushed
away her plate.

“What did he do?” she asked.

“He greased up the roads leading to
this street. He even tried icing the roads but it was the middle of July
and...”

Melissa nodded quickly.

“Anyway, the bikers came in at the
exact same time they always did and started to throw bricks on the store
windows and stink bombs at the people walking by. They were so engrossed in what
they were doing that they weren’t watching where they were going and skidded on
the road.”

Melissa felt her breath caught up
in her throat. “Did the sheriff manage to catch them?”

“That had been the plan.” Mark
explained. “But the bikers had been drunk and weren’t wearing any helmets.
Their bikes skidded and they all crashed into each other. None of them
survived. The sheriff couldn’t let this get out; that he had made such a big
mistake, so he had their bodies buried at the islet.”

“The islet where I was? What
exactly are you trying to tell me?” Melissa asked.

Mark leaned back on his seat and
took a deep breath. “That the riders who died that day were the people you were
with two nights ago. They’re all back from the dead!”

Melissa sat with her head in her
hands and instantly felt her mouth starting to water as the aroma of baked
potatoes reached her nose. Mark put a basket of buns in front of her and a
plate of hamburgers. She eyed them hungrily, wanting to gorge on them so
desperately, but holding back only because it seemed weird that Mark was making
a feast for her. She almost felt like he was fattening her up before a
sacrifice.

Sacrifice- the very words that had
sent cold shivers up her spine when Rafe had used them to explain why the city
had suddenly turned their backs on them. Melissa picked up a bun, sliced it in
half and started to apply mustard on it as Mark put down a bowl of salad in
front of her. It was very quiet in the restaurant and all she could hear was
the soft ticking of the wall clock as it read just after one.

“What about your friends?” She
asked.

Mark took out the tray of potatoes
from the oven and proceeded to put them in a dish. “We’ve had a heavy
breakfast. You need to eat. You look starved.”

Melissa licked her lips and bit
into her burger. “This is really good. At least your cooking skills are coming
to some use.”

Mark gave her an amused glance and
then sat down across her. “I never intended to join this school.” He said,
pouring water into her glass.

Melissa took a small sip of water
and twirled it around her mouth before swallowing the cool liquid. “What do you
mean? When we graduated you did express your desire to join this very school.”

“I only picked this because I
thought you wouldn’t follow me here.” Mark said as he put ketchup into his
plate. “I was trying to protect you from all this.”

Melissa put down her bun and
reached for a napkin. “You were trying to break up with me in High School?” Her
heart beat faster as she waited for his answer.

Mark put his hand gently over hers.
“I had to come here to do this. This is my calling; I was the only one who
could stop this. I was hoping like crazy that you would refuse to come with me
or that your parents would be successful in stopping you, but you were
persistent.”

“Your calling?” And then she
frowned at him as the rest of his words settled in. “Are you trying to say that
I’m clingy?” Melissa asked and tried to pull her hand away, but Mark held on.

“I love you.” Mark said earnestly.
“And yes, this is my calling.” He hesitated and Melissa could see him
struggling to say something else. His eyes flickered away as if he was lost in
thought and she saw the worry lines deepening over his forehead. And then
suddenly his face softened and he gave her a weak smile.

“I would never forgive myself if
anything happened to you. After the semester was over, I thought you would go
back for the summer to visit your parents so that you wouldn’t be here when all
this came down, but when you told me your plans and I decided to pretend to
cheat with another girl so that you would leave.”

“I did leave the dorms.” Melissa
said and took a deep breath. “Jennifer joined a school in this city too, so we
were going to find an apartment together and get jobs.”