“Please,” I begged, my voice shaky and unsteady. All thoughts of staying calm vanished from my mind. I feared death by drowning more than any other, and the mere thought of it had me breaking out in a sweat. I was beyond panicked, as I felt my feet leave the floor. The two men had my chair tilted back, so that my knees were in plain sight. I was so focused on the man with the bucket and towel that I had not noticed the other two had flanked me. The rush of blood to my head made me slightly dizzy as I struggled to try and free my hands. I attempted to move my legs, but they too were securely attached to the chair. Even my waist had been restrained, leaving me with no room to move. “Please. Please, don’t do this. I haven’t done anything wrong. Just leave me alone,” I said, panting, desperately trying to persuade him to stop. He stood beside me, bringing his face close to mine.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.” The scent of his breath was minty and cool. This didn’t seem right. Even though I had not seen his face, his voice was friendly. He had not done anything to severely harm me, and I figured he had some sort of conscience. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who could torture a human being, yet here I sat, immobilized, and at his mercy.
“I’ll pay you more than what you were offered. I’ll pay you ten times more,” I said, my brain keeping up with my hurriedly spoken words, as I thought how this offer could also buy me a little more time.
“Unlike you, I don’t have a price on my life. If I take money from you and let you go, then I will die.” He started to move, and I stopped him with another rush of words.
“You can still kill me. Just not this way. I’ll pay you the money and then you can do what you like with me. Just not like this. Please,” I begged, fighting hard to prevent my eyes from turning to the door in the hope that it would open. Where the fuck was he? The man surprised me by laughing.
“Oh, Dallas. This won’t kill you. It will just make you wish you were dead. You’d better take a deep breath.” He placed the towel over my face, as I screamed and tried to kick, thrashing my head from side to side. It was no use. Somehow, the towel was being held securely over my face. I was gasping for air, struggling fiercely against the restraints. My hands had gone numb, and the pain in my wrist was no longer important, as the fight to survive kicked in. I tried to scream. I had to convince him to stop, but there was no time. My efforts to plead and beg for mercy went unheard, as my head was held in position. I managed to gulp in a breath of air before I was blasted with cold water, which seeped through the towel, and into my nose and mouth. I tried to tell my brain to hold my breath, but as soon as the air left my lungs, I unconsciously sucked in more. I felt the burn as the water hit my lungs, scorching them like fire. I fought hard to free my body from the restraints, but my vigorous attempts had no effect. I was no match for the three men in the room. I tried to cough, but the constant flow of water, and the towel pressed tightly to my face, only allowed the liquid to sink further into my lungs. I felt my eyes bulging from their sockets, and the piercing pain in my chest was so intense that I wished that death would take me instantly. My neck felt strained, as I struggled to move my head to no avail. I was going to die. My heart beat so hard in my chest that I could hear the heavy, thumping rhythm in my ears. My tongue lashed out of my mouth, trying to stop the water that flowed freely, but it was met with the towel that was stretched tautly over my face. Just as the welcome darkness started to close in, I was pushed upright, and the towel was removed, prompting me to see stars, as I vomited profusely down the front of my shirt. I sucked in big gulps of air, each breath burning more than the last, as my teary eyes blinked furiously to regain focus. Each breath I managed to pull into my greedy, burning lungs was forced back out of my body in a stream of watery vomit that I couldn’t control. When my stomach was empty of the water I had swallowed, I sat gagging and dry heaving, frantically fighting to will my body under control. After what seemed like an eternity, my vision refocused slightly, and I found myself alone as I sat heaving air into my burning lungs, shaking with the pain in my chest at each breath I took. I was going to live. I wasn’t sure how much longer I had, but at this point, I was glad for just another minute. As I sat covered in my own vomit, trembling from the bitter cold water, I closed my eyes, and allowed my mind to drift to happier times. A time when I was with Luke and my family. I wanted to reflect on the past month of my life, and dwell in the peace I had once known. As the gun I wore hidden under my shirt pressed painfully into the small of my back, it encouraged me to think of what once was, and what could have been; not on a plan that had gone horribly wrong.