The Wheel Of Fortune

I release a sigh of comfort and change my position to go back to sleep. I feel as if I am laying on a cloud. Though I have never slept on a cloud but the bed is so soft and comfortable that I don’t have any other words to describe the surface. I reach my hand out to feel the surface while keeping my lids close. I can feel the fabric, I am on a bed. Is this my bed? It doesn’t feel like mine.

The fabric is velvety and it runs easily past my fingers. It is satisfying, I will never get tired of it. This bed is very soft but I don’t remember having this type of bed. My bed is not too soft nor too hard. When did I get this? It is almost like I am at a different place and this bed is not mine. My mind is still hazy, I can’t remember what took place before I went to sleep but I am having a feeling that it was something very important. What am I forgetting? What did I do before I went to sleep?

.... Forgot it. I will sleep, for now, I will think about it when I am not feeling this sleepy. Though I am not sure why this bed is here but I must take the comfort if it is provided. Just when I am closing my eyes to go back to sleep, everything comes back to me. The run, the men, and pain. I remember everything. That’s right, I was kidnapped.

I sit up abruptly and take in my surroundings with wide eyes and alertness. This is not my room! Where am I?

I find myself sitting on a king-size bed, which has a soft pink color sheet. The room is painted with a mixture of light pink and white colors to give it a relaxing feel. But I don’t think it is efficacious because I am far from a relaxed mood right now. All of a sudden, I feel a sharp pain in my neck.

“Aah...aa” I reach for my neck and press on the pained area. Those men injected me right at this place, it must be aching because of them. What did they inject in me that made me lose consciousness? I couldn’t even see the person who injected me because the drug worked instantly. I wonder what they want from me? Money? Or will they sell me?

There is a glass window on the left side on the wall with soft pink linen curtains, long rectangle mirrors on both sides of the bed with one standing lamp and side table on both sides, the bed is in the middle of the room and the headboard is touching the wall, a white wardrobe on left and white clove lighting is done on the wall, near the ceiling. There is a door on the right side which is most probably a washroom and a door in front of me.

Slowly, I get down from the bed and walk to the window. Can I get out of here? I try to find a lock or a handle but there is none. I can’t open it. I bang my hand on the window but it does even make a sound. Despite what it looks like, is pretty strong. The window was solely made to provide light in the room. I can’t get out of here with this. Is there another window?

I turn around and scan the whole room but I can’t find any other window. What should I do now? Should I use something to break it? But I ultimately drop the idea when I notice that I am on the third floor. I can’t get down from here without any support. If I fall from this height, I might not die but I am afraid I will defiantly lose my legs. And the sound of glass might draw the attention of the kidnappers.

It will be more troublesome if they found me escaping or I get caught before I could run away.

It is morning already. I went to get the paints in the afternoon. Which means I was asleep for a day. I sit on the sofa and think about my situation once again. What should I do now? When no idea comes to my mind, I feel the panic and dread seeping in. Since my mind is no longer focused on the idea of getting out, I start thinking about all types of questions. Why did they bring me here? What will they do with me? Will they kill me? But why would they give me such a good treatment, what do they even want from me? Is my family searching for me... As my mind is full of questions, I suddenly remember about my phone.

That’s right wasn’t holding my phone before I lose consciousness. Do I still have it with me? I try to look for my phone but I can’t find it anywhere. Looks like they took it. Of course, they will not be stupid enough to leave my phone with me. After sitting there for 15 minutes and imaging all possible scenarios, I take a deep breath and stand up to walk out of the room. I don’t know what they want from me but I need to find out the reason, to get out of here. I can see that the door is not locked which means either they are prepared for my running or they are confident that I will not run.

Slowly, I get down from the bed and make my way to the door in light footsteps. I don’t want to alert them if they are right outside this door. My current scenario making me feel like I am in a movie, where the leader of the kidnappers, will be waiting for me on the other side of the door. I was expecting such a scene while opening the door but I was never prepared for the sight I am going to see on the other side of the door.

As natural light baths me and the sound of chattering surrounds me, my mouth falls open at the sight, I blink and do a double-take. Am I seeing right? Maybe I am dreaming. I raise my hand and pinch my cheek. No, it hurts, it is real but how could this be?

Just what is this place?

Currently, I am on the third floor of the building, there are four floors in total which are overlooking a big hall, every floor is enclosed by glass railing with escalator connecting one floor to other, escalator is one way so you have to go to another end of the floor to take the escalator in opposite direction.

The whole interior had been designed in black and white. In the hall, black plush sofas with a glass table were scattered around. The Interior is done in hi-tech style. A big screen stretched from the first to the third floor on the opposite side of me and names are being displayed on the screen.

I stare at the screen for quite a while. The names on the screen are definitely not Indian. Why am I having a feeling like I am not in India anymore?

I have never heard of a place like this. Where the heck am I?

Around 150 people are in my sight, some are in the hall talking with each other or sitting and chatting, others going somewhere through corridors, escalators, and lift or they are simply standing and looking at the hall from the railing. These people are foreigners. There are people of different colors and races. This one of the most diverse places I have ever seen.

After looking at them for some time, I notice something is common in all of them. They are all wearing white shirts, slim black jeans for boys and black skinny jeans for some girls, and a black pencil skirt for others, With a white jacket on top and a vertical stripe on the left side of the jacket which is indifferent colors for every person. Some are orange, pink, red, and many different colors, there are also numbers written on the strip.

It looks like my kidnapper likes the black color too much. While I am busy taking in my surroundings, I hear a voice to my right. “Looks like you are up.”

I jump a little in fright. I turn in the direction of the voice to find an old woman standing few steps away from me. She is not looking at me, instead, she is looking down the railing like I was doing earlier.

That scared me, when did she get here? I never noticed her coming. Was I too invested in my surrounding that I never noticed her approaching? I observe her. Her hair is all white, wrinkles are evident in her face and her eyes were emerald green. In India, most of the people have brown, dark brown, and grey eyes so it is not easy for me to get to meet a person who has green eyes.

I take two steps back from her to be cautious. I don’t know if she was the one who kidnapped me but it’s better to be safe than sorry even if she looks innocuous, she still can be someone dangerous.

I wait for her to say something but she doesn’t continue. Is she not going to say anything else? If she knew that I was asleep till now then she must know that I was kidnapped. Maybe she can tell me why I was brought here. This place doesn’t look like a place where hostages should be kept. As I was opening my mouth to speak she cuts me off by speaking first.

“Freshen up first, I have placed some clothes in the wardrobe and then we will talk, I know you want answers and you will get them in due time,” She doesn’t look my way, she keeps looking at the ground floor,” I will send someone to pick you up after you are done, and don’t try to run away because you will not be able to go back without our help.” Saying this much she marches away, leaving me to my thoughts.

So, she really is the one who ordered those people to kidnap me or she might be one of them. Should I ask someone for help or listen to her? There are many people in the hall; one of them might agree to help me.

After thinking for some time, I decided to drop the idea. Seeing how comfortable she is in this place, I know very well, I will not be able to escape this place, this is her territory. Since she brought me here then she might be confident that I will not be able to run away.

Maybe these people are with her, they might report to her that I am trying to run away and it will only cause more unnecessary troubles. For now, my only goal is to get out of here unscratched, who knows what she will do to me if it angers her if I try to run away. I will listen to her for now, at least till I am able to get all my answers.

Going back to the room I slept in, I directly go to the washroom. After freshening up, I open the wardrobe as I hope there would be some clothes in here and luckily enough clothes were already present in the wardrobe.

And strangely, all the clothes in the wardrobe are of my size. How did they know my size? I can see that they prepared it beforehand so was she planning to kidnap me for a long time? Long enough to know my sizes? But if she was, then why is she providing me with such expensive clothes?

They must be keeping an eye on me for a while or they must have guessed my size, these are the only conclusion I can reach after looking at the clothes. I will think about it later, for now, I will use them.

I can’t wear the same clothes I wore yesterday. I change into a blue silk top which has ruffled sleeves and collar, with a black ribbon wrapped around the collar which is tied in a ribbon shape in front, pairing it with black skinny jeans and blue kitten heels.

These clothes are too good for me to ignore, and anyway, they kidnapped me so they must provide me. Even heels are of my size. Now this is creeping me out.

Leaving my black hair flowing down my waist, I walk out of the room with the intention of getting some answers out of that old woman’s mouth.

Please let this end well, I want to go back and of course, with all my pieces intact. Who know they might cut my fingers or chop my legs before I get to leave this place. But that old lady looked sensible, at least from her appearance.