A gun. A chair. A death.

She was bored. He was boring her out of her mind. Did he think he was intimidating? She thought. Even with the black bandana tied around his mouth, the angry look in his eyes and the gun he placed around her neck, Brenda did not feel scared, instead she felt the scene lacked some elements.

The room she was placed in wasn't dark enough, he didn't have an intelligent backup—they all looked dumb to her and the rope around her feet was loosely tied. She turned her head up to make a good description of her kidnapper. While exiting a coffee shop earlier in the day as she was returning to her office, she was suddenly pulled into a black tinted van and driven away at high speed.

Instead of being surprised, Brenda began to examine their faces and look for peculiar details in their facial features. Two had brown eyes, one wore sunglasses and the fourth had beautiful blue eyes, the man who she felt wasn't doing his best to be intimidating, whom she singled out as her object of interest. He was probably the boss. He behaved differently. She thought.

"So what are you gonna do next? Cut my throat?" She asked the man with blue eyes. He glanced at her briefly and went back to sit on a chair that was placed at the other end of the room. She was unsatisfied with his answer and also didn't have any interest in her kidnapping. Why would anyone kidnap her? Her parents weren't rich, neither was she. She doesn't have any rich boyfriend nor is she involved with the mafia or any other group.

Another man rushed from a corner of the room. He was wearing a black balaclava and black shirt and pants to match, had a short metal rod in one hand and a gun in the other. Brenda could see him approaching because the lighting wasn't good enough. She had complained earlier to the blue-eyed man, asking him to make the scene more dramatic. He pressed the gun aggressively against her neck and sternly warned her to keep quiet.

"Okay?" She said with an apathetic look, turning her head to look at the man. "Is that all?"

The man was surprised as he had never met such a hostage before. She seemed so uninterested in her kidnapping. He moved back a bit and looked at the blue-eyed man in the corner, probably seeking his opinion on his hostage's behaviour. The blue-eyed man didn't say anything and continued sharpening the edges of a stick he'd found in the corner.

Brenda took a good look at the man. She could see that he was sunburnt and was probably worn out. His golden hair stood out for her so she dubbed him, the golden man. The golden man pulled a knife from his pants pocket and tightly grabbed her neck. He pointed the metal at her neck and brushed it rashly against her skin. Brenda felt the pain, she was sure something was on her neck but didn't feel the need to scream or shout. Instead, she stared at him.

"Okayy?"

The man stopped, wondering what kind of abductee they had brought in. She might not be of any use and considered finishing her off. He wanted to suggest this to the blue-eyed man but he was interrupted by a question.

"You aren't going to do anything next, are you?" Brenda asked.

"You should find more interesting ways to scare someone. Or even kill someone. No creativity here. Haven't you watched Vincenzo?"

The golden man stopped to look at her again and became more interested in knocking off the nonchalant lady. Vincenzo, is it? Vincenzo you shall have, he thought.

Her eyes captured the blue-eyed man getting up. He was done sharpening his stick and rubbed off the wood shaves from a stool he'd placed in front of him. The stick was finely sharpened with a very thin pointed top. She gave herself three guesses, wondering what could possible be his motive with the stick in his hand. What were his options? Her throat, her stomach or her leg, maybe? She thought.

He slowly removed the rope around her legs, shocking the golden man. He tried to protest but one look from the blue-eyed man, shut him off. He wrapped the cord tighter than before, to the point where her blood vessels became constricted. No sound was made. She felt the pain deeply but just stared at them.

"Uh?"

The man drove the sharp stick swiftly into her already numb legs. She gave way to the scream was suppressed for years and was surprised that she had screamed. She stopped suddenly and looked at the man as if asking if it was over. He answered by narrowing his eyes as if telling her that there was more to come.

She was surprised at the way she screamed. Nothing amused her like this before. She used to feel like life was boring but she felt a little bit of excitement at the danger she was in. And a little fear too.

He pulled out the stick from her kebabed legs with speed, and was amused at the decibels at which she screamed, higher than the one before. Her eyes still asked if that was all, not showing fear nor braveness. He stood up and turned his back towards her, probably thinking about something. Brenda's breathing rhythm had changed and you could tell that something had changed in her body's metabolism.

He signalled to the golden man and asked him to do something she could not hear. The golden man exited the room, dropping his metal rod and rushing out.

Brenda became tired and the blue-eyed man sensed it. The stress of the rope tightly wrapped around her legs started to wear her out. He ignored her completely and went back to thinking.

A moment later, Brenda's face was covered with a white handkerchief which put her to sleep immediately. Her hands and legs were untied and she was freed from the uncomfortable chair. Blood flowed steadily into her legs as she was carried outside by the blue-eyed man.

Brenda woke up to the pool of mud her body was covered in. Her white shirt would never be restored to the brilliant white it was even if any Einstein developed the formula for the soap. Her hands were tied and she found a note pasted on the cord that said "Good luck untying me :-)."

She struggled to free herself and after a whole hour of struggling, she managed to free her hands and balanced herself on her weak legs. She soon realised that she'd been dumped in an unknown place. There were trees around her and an expressway was in sight. She cursed the golden man and the blue-eyed man, something she'd not done in a long time.

She stood by the side of the road and called for help. It was late evening and she hoped that someone would help her. Anyone. Luckily, a man in a black Toyota answered her call. She convinced him to take her to her house, stating that her sister, whom she lived with, was a certified nurse which was true to an extent, only that her sister had not yet been certified.

She noticed that the man also had blue eyes. They looked like the blue-eyed man's own and even his hair was similar. That made her feel uneasy a bit but she remained silent and did nothing. Ironically, the man was able find her house and dropped her right in front of it which surprised Brenda because he followed the correct turns before she even suggested. She asked him who he was but he said nothing.

After dropping her at her doorstep, he turned to her with a grin and said, "Did you have fun untying it?"

She stood there shocked and watched as the man drove away after asking the question. Her house was right in front of her. She felt the need for her sister more than ever before. She wanted a big hug. One that lasted more than 15 minutes. Her tears flowed slowly as she reached for the door handle.

Upon entering inside, she saw her sister sitting on a chair, worried sick about her. She broke down when her sister saw her and hugged her tightly. Her sister's expression changed immediately when Brenda hugged her tightly, tighter than she'd ever done before. Her body was dirty but neither of them cared.

She helped Brenda get cleaned up and listened to her stories when she was done. Brenda admitted to being scared, a feeling she was foreign to since a long time. She said she felt alive. She didn't feel so apathetic anymore. She felt determined to protect her sister, hoping that what happened to her won't happen to her sister which made her very happy. So very happy.

By the time Brenda fell asleep, her sister, Kaya burst into my room, disturbing my game. She pulled the controller from my hands and hugged me tightly.

"It worked!" She said, pressing my hands against her chest.

I still felt that hiring hoodlums to cure your sister of her apathy was such a dangerous thing to do. She wanted adventure and you definitely gave her one. You know, what if she had died in the process? I wasn't happy with the methods she used but I was glad that my sister was back. She made me promise never to tell her about it.

Brenda and Kaya were discussing some time ago and Brenda jokingly suggested that maybe if she's in a life and death situation, she'd feel like life still has adventures waiting for her. Unbeknownst to her, Kaya actually considered it and decided to do it. She hired Neil, the blue-eyed man, to help make Brenda alive again. He agreed and promised not to kill her.

I was made to follow them and ensure that Neil didn't break the agreement and was very mad at him for creating holes in Brenda's legs.

I'm glad she back but I hope she never finds out we almost killed her.

Photo by Peter Conrad on Unsplash