Teelia's Nightmare Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Behind Closed Doors

She woke with a start, opened her eyes wide and gasped. Where was she? Had all that really happened? 

She looked around the closet-sized room that was filled with lots of beeping and whirring machines.

It was real.

She had thought it was a dream, but she was wrong. The proof was right in front of her.

The real questions now are, ‘Where am I? Am I in England anymore? What had they done to her body while she was unconscious?’ And most importantly, ‘What had woken her up so suddenly?’

Then there was a strange whirring sound that didn’t fit in with the rest of the mechanical noise. The sound was coming from the corner across the room from her. She looked towards the corner and barely saw it though all of the machines.

A camera.

It almost didn’t look like one, but she had helped her father disguise cameras to put on the outside of  their house; because it was mandatory for his line of work. But then her mind became fuzzy when she tried to remember anything else. 

‘Who in their right minds would put a camera in a hospital room?’ Then it hit her.

They’re not, nor is this a hospital room.

It’s a prison.

Escape plans began flashing through her mind in an instant. She sat up and saw that the camera was following her every move.

‘Well that changes everything.’ She thought angrily. ‘What am I going to do now? I won’t even get close to that camera to black it with being seen by the watcher. Think fast Teelia!’ She told herself.

She laid back onto her pillow and watched the camera follow her. Then she looked around her room again. ‘What in this little tiny room could I use to escape?’ She noted to herself a pile of cords in the corner beside her, a cardboard box with an unknown content under the camera, and a small rolling table with a ragged cloth and a glass of water on it on her right.

‘Wonder what drug is in the water?’ she thought a small smirk breaking on her face. ‘I bet they can’t wait to get their hands on me again. But I'm not gonna let that happen.’ 

She snickered and thought again ‘I wonder where I am?’

Then suddenly she heard loud footsteps outside her door and the squeak of a cart or perhaps a table, but before she even had time to close her eyes, the door swung open and two big men strode in.

They looked at her fear filled eyes and began speaking to each other in a foreign language, and must have agreed on something, for one of them pulled a syringe out of a pocket in his long white coat. 

As he uncapped the needle, and filled it up out of a little bottle he had produced also, Teelia felt fear grip her while the other man grinned at him evilly.

When he was done filling the syringe, he nodded to the other man and they both advanced towards her, and the one with the syringe bent over her getting ready to stab it into her arm, when she sat up and punched his face hitting his left cheek.

 As soon as her knuckles made contact with his skin she instantly pulled it back and clasped it with her other hand grimacing in pain. It felt like she had been shocked with electricity! 

The man holding the syringe snickered and continued moving his arm to get even closer to stab her. 

She flailed around trying to get away from the descending needle, and the man barked something to the other man that was standing on the opposite side of her bed, and he bent over her, placed his hands over her arms and a knee over her legs.

However desperately she squirmed she could not get out of his terrifyingly strong grip.

Then suddenly she felt a small prick on her left arm, and slowly she fell into oblivion.

Meanwhile in London’s Police Headquarters…

Detective Jaques Thornton was interrogating the Stonewall family that had come in with a report that their eldest daughter had simply vanished in the night. 

Detective Inspector Thornton was trying to get as much information as possible from then, so that could officially send out a watch to police stations all over England. 

“So, you say that you are vacationing here in London?” Detective Thornton asked.

“Yes. We came here because it’s been a plan for years, and also i’ve been saving up my vacation days for months” Said Mr Stonewall.

“Do you know of any particular reason for your daughter’s kidnapping?”

“Um, yes. But I don’t think she’s been kidnapped. I think she ran away.”

“ What proof do you have of this?”

“We had a fight.”

“Many families do. May I ask what the fight was about?”

“ She wanted to go visit some old buildings, but we all voted against it. We went to an amusement park instead.” Mr Stonewall said sadly.

Detective Thornton stroked his chin for a moment then said, directing his face to the Stonewall kids, “ Did either of you hear anything strange the night that your sister disappeared?” 

  “Detective Jaques I don’t th-”

“Speak up boy.” He said looking at the Stonewall son, John. 

John cleared his throat nervously and said quietly, “Yes, I did hear something.” He stopped and looked down into his lap scared to go on anymore.

Detective Inspector Thornton tilted his head and whispered to him “What did you hear that night that your sister was kidnapped?” 

“Well, um… I heard lots of footsteps coming from her room upstairs, and maybe a muffled squeal.” He said not looking up at Detective Thornton, or even his parents. 

Detective Thornton looked at the Stonewall parents and asked them “Now do you think she was kidnapped? Most teenagers don’t sneak off in another country, and even less likely make it sound like she was taken away.” 

Mrs Stonewall had tears filling up her eyes as she asked “Why didn’t you tell us this before? It would have helped!” 

“Now let’s get on with business. As I am a detective, I can’t dawdle all day talking to you folks. Especially since I will have to work on this case of your missing daughter. What was her name again?”

Mrs Stonewall sniffed, wiped her eyes and said “Teelia Arkens Stonewall” 

“And are there any reasons at all for your daughter's kidnapping?” Detective Thornton asked. “Any idea who would have taken her?”

“Well there are two reasons that I can think of that they would have kidnapped her for. 1: For information, 2: For the family sapphires.” Said Mr Stonewall. 

“What kind of information?”

Mr Stonewall cleared his throat and said importantly “I work for the FBI.”

Detective Inspector Thornton rose his eyebrows in surprise.

“Who all did you tell you were coming to London?”

“Oh, plenty of people. There was no reason, at that time, to keep our vacation a secret.”

 “Well, obviously you should have been a little quieter about it.”

Then Detective Thornton stood up. “Well, I suppose I should get going. You can go.” He said pointing at the door. “I will contact you directly if we find anything.” 

Mrs. Stonewall frowned and nodded, the unshed tears growing slowly in her eyes. Mr Stonewall shook his head, and they all walked out the door.

She was awake but she kept her eyes closed, too frightened to open them. She remembered the men coming into her room, but what had happened after that?

Teelia tried as hard as she could to recall anything but couldn’t, so she opened her eyes. And to her utter horror she found a black garbed, brown haired, bright eyed woman standing over her bed. 

She sat up almost instantly, and screamed. 

The woman slapped a hand over her mouth, and said “ I’m not going to hurt you. Please don’t yell. Ok?”

Teelia nodded and the woman pulled her hand away.

“I knew you would be waking up soon.” The woman said calmly. 

“Here,” She said, handing her a glass of powdery water. “Take this to help stabilize your mind.”

Teelia forced herself to drink it because the woman was acting so nice compared to everyone else she had met in this building.

“Do you know where you are Teelia?”

Teelia choked on the water, and spat. “How did you know my name?”

The woman laughed, pulled a ring of keys out of her pocket and fidgeted with them while saying cheerily “Oh, I have my ways. I repeat my question, do you know where you are?”

She shook her head.

The woman frowned, looked at a strange watch she had on and replied quietly “You are in a terrible place, Teelia. They know who your father is, what he does, and the information he probably knows. They think you know some of the military secrets and they will try to torture it out of you.”

Teelia said nothing, her face frozen in fear and shock.

“Teelia, you must not let them get hold of our nation's secrets. You must stand as firm as possible on this sandy foundation.” Then she looked at her watch again.

“Who are you?” Teelia asked timidly.

“ It does not concern you… Yet.”

“Why are you here?”

“To keep America’s secrets safe!” The woman said loudly.

“I don’t even think my dad told me any anyways! Why do they even matter when I am being tortured for nothing! Are you going to take me away?!”  “We do not always get what we want in life. No I am not taking you away, our Corporation believes it would be best for you to find your own way out instead of helping you.” 

“Can you leave?” Teelia said angrily.

“Yes. But first I must give you this.” The woman bent over and picked up a sturdy-looking brown backpack off the floor and set it on her bed. “This contains everything you will need to escape from this… this Lab.” she spat out as if it tasted foul. Then she looked at her watch again and stood up quickly. “Time flies when you're having fun!” She said, picking up her own bulky bag and a black cloak off the floor.

“Well, hope to see you soon. When or if you get out of here go to the biggest hotel that is dark blue, find the service man named Jorge and tell him ‘I hope to live a long time.’ Bye!” The lady pulled open the door and quietly disappeared down the lonely corridor. 

Teelia looked at the brown bag that was sitting at her feet told herself ‘I’ll look through it later.’  and shoved it under her bed, hoping that it would not be found by the ‘lab’ people.

She laid back against her hard lumpy pillow and soon fell into an unmedicated sleep, for the first time in days that she had slept that deeply, from which she did not wake for hours. And when she did wake, she wished she hadn't.

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