Black Tea Leaves

Black Tea Leaves

Match One: Prison, Dark Scare, and Growing Dread:

-Ju-

They are holding me here against my will. I left one prison and ended up in another one. My family is trapped on the other side and I have no way to reach them.

However, I am not alone. Oh no. I wouldn’t be allowed to have such a luxury.

I glared at my captor sitting across from me. That crazy doctor’s polite smile made me want to reach out and slap him.

“Aw, why are you so upset?” he asked. Was he joking? I did my best not to scream at him.

“Why won’t you let me leave?” I asked.

“What are you saying, my dear? You can get up and leave whenever you want to. What’s stopping you from doing so?” he replied. I glared at him. I was not in the mood for games.

“My family is still trapped in that world,” I said. “I can’t leave without them.”

“Are they though?” he asked. I rolled my eyes. Stop smiling at me like that! It’s giving me the creeps.

“Yes!” I snapped. I took in a breath. Despite what he thought, he was holding me hostage by holding my family in that creepy world. The doc could say what he wanted, but it was what it was. Doctor Faust gave me an innocent little pout. I snorted.

“What?” I asked.

“Something wrong, dear?” he asked.

“Don’t call me dear.” There was more under my breath. I didn’t care if my jailer heard me or not. Fuck him.

“Can I get you anything?” this asshole asked.

“My family?” I asked.

“Anything else?” he asked. I huffed and rolled my eyes.

“No,” I grumbled. That creepy doctor shrugged.

“Fine,” he said. The asshole stood up from the table. “I have a bit of work to do.” He walked over to the doorway. Faust slid open the door a crack before looking over his shoulder. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”

I flipped him off as he walked out of the room. Yeah, thanks for the warning, buddy.

I don’t know how long I have been here. Time apparently doesn’t exist here. My phone hasn’t been working for hours now. I doubted that it would do any good anyway. The screen acted funny. I clicked my tongue. I’m just the prisoner here. I wasn’t going to leave without my family. I folded my arms across my chest as I frowned.

I don’t like what I got pulled into.

They won’t let me out of this room. The only times I see anyone is if they come by with a tray of food. I wouldn’t touch it. Who knows what they’ve put inside of it? The plates have been slowly piling up. One by one in the corner. Twelve total so far. I counted. (Yes, I did count. What else could I do?

I dropped my head in my hands and sighed.

What was I going to do? I didn’t have any way to contact anyone for help. Most of everyone who came to the party were trapped in the other world. Does anyone outside know where we are? The only way I managed to escape was because an image of my son led me out of that prison. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know if that was all in my head or where he was now. I fought with my head not to think the worst. Okay, calm down. One thing at a time here. My husband was still trapped over there.

I looked up when I heard the door open.

“Hello? Are you still in here?” that asshole doctor asked. Where did he think I was going to go? I threw back my head and groaned. Dr. Faust stuck his head in the doorway.

“Oh good, you’re still here. How are you doing?” he said. I didn’t even dignify that with a response. Doctor Faust slid into the room. Again with that stupid grin on his face? Please kill me now.

“What do you want?” I asked. If he asked why I was so angry one more time…

“Come on, Mrs. Wang,” he said. “We want to help you here. Can’t you meet us halfway?” Was he kidding me? These bastards were holding my husband and son’s future hostage, and all for what? And I was the one to meet them halfway? I glared at him. I snorted at him.

“Why should I?” I asked. I shouldn’t have asked that. The air in the room felt so much colder. The doctor was still grinning but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of malice flowing off of him.

“We are doing the best we can with you. You weren’t supposed to have left the other world yet. Now, how you got out is beyond all of us. But you are here and we have to work around that,” he said. Each word stung like the bitter cold itself. Despite the pit forming in my stomach, I wasn’t going to show any fear.

“And what does that mean?” I asked.

“I don’t think you want to know the whole answer to that.” His words hung there in the air. I shivered and backed up.

“I would advise you to behave and don’t do anything stupid. I can’t guarantee your safety while you’re in our care.”

“But don’t you need me alive for… reasons?”

The doctor paused for a moment. I thought I tapped into something. Dr. Faust cleared his throat.

“Anyway,” he said in a calm tone. “Try to make things easier for everyone. Including yourself.” Dr. Faust turned and walked over to the door. He paused and looked over his shoulder. “I will be back to check on you later.”

And then he was gone.

I broke down trembling. I sank to my knees, panting. That was too close!

The longer I stay in this room, the more I can’t help but feel this sense of unease building inside of me. I have no idea what is going to happen.

However, the doctor and I aren’t the only ones in the house.

I could hear the footsteps stomping overhead. I’ve counted at least four or five pairs. Whether they are going in or out of the house, I couldn’t tell. Who else was here in this house? Maybe… Maybe…

But how do I get out of here?

I took a look around the room. There wasn’t much of anything around here. I was in a room with no furniture. The only way out was the way that I dragged in. Trust me, I tried to open the door, but they kept it locked.

Fuck.

There weren’t any vents for me to try and pry open to squeeze out. It didn’t look like I had much of a choice but to wait. It didn’t look like there were any cameras around. Still, I wouldn’t put it past them to be spying on me. (Not like there would be much for them to watch. What did they expect? I wasn’t strong enough to rip the door off its hinges and walk away. I wouldn’t be here complaining, now would I?)

However, I found that I wasn’t alone in this room.

I first took notice last night. I sat up straight in the darkness. I couldn’t sleep. Something told me that wouldn’t be a good idea. So, there I sat, watching the door. What else could I do? There was nothing for me to do. I wasn’t going to eat or sleep. I could only stare at the door and think.

On this night, I felt it.

I looked behind me out of the corner of my eye. Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here? I sat there and listened. I slowly closed my eyes.

You want to get me out of here? Okay. But how? I sat there, listening. There was no way that I was saying anything out loud. I didn’t want to take my chances if they were listening.

I took a breath.

Okay. I am in your hands. Just lead the way.

I slowly rose to my feet. My eyes stayed on that door. Okay, how were we going to do this? Footsteps lightly tapped across the floor in my ear. I counted down each one. They stopped before I could reach the next number.

Fifteen steps.

I didn’t know why I counted. I pushed that thought out of my head and focused on the task at hand. The door slowly creaked open. Oh. That was a bold move there. However, I didn’t get time to think about that. I had to go and go now. Right.

I took off running out the door. I was half-worried that someone was going to scream at me to stop over the microphone. But there was none of that. I just took off running out the door.

I didn’t know where I was going in the dark. I think I was touching a wall. Breathe slowly. Beathe slowly. I took in slow, deep breaths. There was nothing around me. I kept looking over my shoulder. No one there, but I didn’t count on it. Anything could happen.

I know, I know.

I closed my eyes and kept walking. Where are we going? He didn’t answer. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He came and went as he pleased. Well, pleased wasn’t accurate. Maybe he couldn’t stay with me long. He was doing his best anyway. Who was trying to help me? How did I know it was a he? There was no time to answer those questions. Something pushed me to keep going. Right, right.

I had to keep going.

So where exactly are we going? I’ve asked that before and I didn’t think that I was going to get an answer. Why did I think that I was going to get one this time? Hm?

I paused and slowly turned my head. There was nothing there. Still, I took a listen around me. The darkness prevented me from seeing a single thing. I had to rely on my ears. I held my breath for five seconds. How long had I been going straight down this path? Should I be turning soon? Would I turn left or right? Would I have to keep going straight?

You’re right. You’re right. I will keep going.

Still, I had more questions. If I was going to get out of here, where was I going to go next? What was I going to do once I got out of this house? What about Yao? Has he even noticed that I have been gone?

I couldn’t focus on that now. I had to get out of here before I could be of use to anyone. I still didn’t know where I was going, but I could only work with one thing at a time here. My head hurts. Still, that didn’t stop me from moving.

I had no idea there would be even more steps ahead of me if I wanted to get out Yao and myself out of this hell to go home.