Groggy, aching, and disoriented, Irene finally regained consciousness. A hard, cold surface registered before her headache. What pressed against her skin was smoother than wood, rougher than metal. Cement? Her shoulder ached, and the ground had wicked away all warmth from her body.

These sensations reminded her of when she'd slept on the floor in her basement. Am I home? Irene sniffed the air hoping to smell laundry soap, but instead her olfactory senses were assaulted with metal, sweat, and something fruity but artificial. An involuntary groan escaped her lips.

“Oh… she woke up," spoke a feminine voice. Reflexively, Irene turned towards the speaker and immediately winced as her neck burned. She corrected her movements to prioritise keeping her head still.

In the sparsely lit room, Irene first saw a fellow teenager crouched beside her. Her eyes were struggling to adjust; the girl was too close. Watery eyes wandered beyond her in search of something easier to focus on. Several feet away two other girls sat together. One had her knees up, arms wrapped about them. The other had one leg straight out, which she was rocking side to side.

Irene rubbed her sludge-crusted eyes. “Where am I?”

“I… I don’t know,” the girl hugging her knees answered in a hushed voice. She looked vaguely familiar. Is she from school?

“Irene, right?” the individual closest to her asked.

Irene strained her memory for where she knew this girl from, but her headache thwarted her attempts. “Yes. Have we met?”

“Yeah, at a hockey game. Keith introduced us.”

The name Keith, one of Jordan's friends, immediately gave Irene the context she needed. A memory of someone at a hockey game tapping her on the shoulder, calling out a name that was not her own. Shoot. What was it? Her name must be... "Tiffany?"

"Tina, actually."

"Right... I remember now. Keith's your step-brother, right?" Irene received a confirmation from Tina by way of a nod.

"Are you two done gossiping?"

In the current conditions it wasn't easy to discern the features of her fellow captives, but Irene could see that the one who interrupted them rather rudely had a messy ponytail and a long face.

“I'm scared,” the other girl moaned. Unless it was a trick of the lighting, her braided hair was slightly fairer than the rest, strands fraying around her large ears.

Tina sighed and curled her knees up to her chest. “We're all scared."

"Um so... maybe we should introduce ourselves? I'm Katie," the mousy one volunteered, and she then tilted her head to the surlier of the four. "And that's Ashley."

Ashley folded her arms and slouched forward.

Tina placed a hand to her chest and announced, "I'm Tina..." then placed a hand on Irene's shoulder, "...and this is Irene."

After saying their names, all four of the girls were silent. Irene looked around at the room they were in. There was no window, and only a single door in or out. A half burnt light hung crookedly above them, flickering. Paved floors, no windows, and dank air led Irene to the conclusion they were in a basement somewhere. She stood up and approached the door, trying to open it.

"Don't you think we already tried that?" Ashley scoffed. Irene sighed after twisting the knob a few more times. The room was rectangular, and there wasn't a lot of room to get a running start to try and break down the door. Even if I had the space I feel too weak to try. She shuffled away from the door and began pacing. The unfurnished room contained only two buckets in a corner.

“Um… where do you all live?” Katie asked.

“What does it matter?” Ashley snapped.

“I am just breaking the ice,” Katie murmured. Ashley went quiet. After a brief pause, Katie lifted her head. “I live past the river… on Guernsey street. Wait, we're all from Centreville, right? I'm sure I've seen some of you around Lydia High."

Irene frowned. “Guernsey? By the lake?” Irene squinted her eyes at the girls again. Maybe they were a bit familiar. "And, yes, I go to Lydia High."

"I only started going to Lydia this year, I was at Centreville Secondary before," Tina explained. "But I did recently move back in with my Dad over on Lindsay street."

Ashley, who had been sitting with a sour expression, lifted her chin as her mouth hung open. She looked around. "I live on Main street, but I work part time at the Sleepy Hollow Motel."

"Really?" Katie's eyes widened. "That's not too far from either of us." The three girls then looked at Irene. "What about you?"

"I live on Sleepy Hollow Road..." Irene admitted, her eyebrows furrowed as the wheels turned in her mind. Lindsay and Guernsey are off of Sleepy Hollow.

"So... we're all here... because we were, what, in the same general area at the wrong time?" Ashley got onto her feet and walked over to a wall, leaning against it. She jerked forward and then craned her neck, trying to examine the back of her upper arm. Nose wrinkled, she cast a scathing glare at the wall. "It's sticky."

"I don't even want to know why." Katie scooted closer to the middle of the room.

Irene furrowed her eyebrows and looked at all the girls present. "Could... could everyone please stand up?"

"Why?"

"I'm working on a theory," Irene answered. Ashley was already standing and shrugged. Katie and Tina got to their feet. Irene gestured to them, "Stand in a line, please."

"What are you thinking?" Katie asked as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Ashley and Tina on either side. Irene then walked and stood beside Tina.

"We're all about the same height. Brown hair..." Irene squinted at the door as she thought this over.

"What, think we're here because of some kind of fetish?" Ashley asked. The other two girls gawked at her and Irene's stomach felt tight. Seeing everyone's dismayed reactions, Ashley scoffed. "Oh come on, what did you honestly think anyone would abduct four teenage girls for, if not for sex? Unless one of you is rich, but I doubt it."

Katie cleared her throat. "The thought had crossed my mind but... I didn't want to actually say it..."

Irene shook her head. She had her own theory, but as it pertained to vampires, she was going to keep it close to her vest. "If we're here for that, wouldn't our health and hygiene be of greater concern?"

Ashley burst out laughing, and Katie bit her lower lip, glancing at the pair of buckets in the corner. Tina looked confused and perplexed, and Irene felt annoyed at the reaction to what she considered a reasonable supposition.

"Not really..." Katie crossed her arms. "Men aren't picky. We might be drugged and prostituted, or sold overseas. We'll get used up and thrown away like trash."

Ashley raised an eyebrow. "How do you know so much about it? You've always been such a goodie-good."

"My uncle is in the RCMP. He's always telling me horror stories like that to keep me out of trouble." Katie looked down. She wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Fat lot of good that did."

"Well I'm sure he'll come looking for you." Tina clapped a hand on Katie's sagged shoulder. "Let's try and think positive."

Irene preferred realism over optimism, but saying such wasn't going to help anyone. Ashley rolled her eyes, then caught Irene staring at her and squinted. Irene ignored her and began to walk around the edge of the room, inspecting the walls. A few fuzzy patches suggested mold. But the sticky spots were dark. Blood perhaps. Which meant they were not the first captives, and the fates of those who came before weren't pretty. Her mouth felt dry, but the lump in her throat had her trying to swallow what little moisture she could muster.

"How long have you three been here?" Irene asked as she returned to the center of the room, where the girls sat in a circle.

"Uh... I don't know. I don't even remember how I got here," Katie answered first.

Ahsley shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe a few hours. I don't know. Katie was already here when I got tossed in. The brute who brought me here didn't say much."

"I didn't see who got me. I was coming home late from the movies. Then someone's hand was over my mouth and then my eyes. Then I woke up here," Tina recalled.

"You were the only one awake when brought in here?" Irene tilted her head towards Ashley, then cringed as pain shot through her neck again.

"Sorta. I was getting some fresh air while waiting for my aunt to give me a ride. Then suddenly, ew, this rag was shoved over my mouth." Ashley scrunched up her face in disgust. "My eyes stung and I felt really queasy. I kinda fainted, but I was aware of being carried and then just dropped like a sack of potatoes on the hard floor."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Hmm. I was walking back from the bus stop and a man stepped out and grabbed me." Irene rubbed the back of her sore neck. "I tried to get away, but he knocked me out."

"Don't know why it matters, though," Ashley grumbled.

"It matters if some of you have been here for days or weeks," Irene said, trying to keep the crossness out of her voice.

"No, I don't think it's been more than a day. Maybe?" Katie looked around the sparse room.

"Well I don't know about Katie, but it's definitely only been a few hours. Tina got dropped in not long after me, and you were last, Irene." Ashley dug into her pockets and took out some lip gloss, applying it nonchalantly to her lips. It smelled of watermelon.

"Are you seriously worrying about your lips right now?" Tina stared incredulously at Ashley.

Ashley shrugged. "It makes me feel better. Want some?" She held out the tube.

Tine frowned. "No thank you."

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be Miss Sunshine. Well, this is how I stay positive," Ashley retorted, kissing the air mockingly.

"This is serious," Katie reminded everyone, as if they were unaware.

"It is, so let's try and keep cool until we know more," Irene butted in before Ashley could add more fuel to the fire.

"Keep cool? We're locked in a room by God knows who for God knows what," Katie said, her voice growing louder.

"Oh we know what for." Ashley slipped off her scrunchy and ran a hand through her hair. "But what difference does it make?"

"You're right, it doesn't make much difference. But we need to get out somehow," Irene rebounded, trying to keep the conversation from derailing. She could see Tina and Katie fretting whenever Ashley brought up the likelihood they'd be forced into prostitution.

"Yes, well, let me know when the mighty wise Irene has figured out a plan. Or maybe Tina can just defeat the bad men with positive vibes." Ashley turned away from the girls, taking off her coat and bundling it up as a pillow.

"Sure, leave us to do all the work..." Katie grumbled.

"Let's not fight," Tina chimed in.

"We probably should take turns resting. We need to know how often they come back, and if there's an opportunity for us to get away." Irene took off her jacket as well, folding it up to sit upon. The cold cement floor was making her butt ache.

"See? If we work together, we can get through this," Tina insisted. The other two followed suit, removing outer layers to provide insulation against the ground.

"Whatever."

The girls had all settled to take turns remaining vigilant. Irene frequently checked her watch to measure the passage of time. The monotony led to her frequently getting lost in her own thoughts and worries. Cyrus is gone. Why was I taken? This has to be connected to the vampires. But why the other girls?

Irene looked again at Tina. In a written description, she and Tina would be described the same. They were both roughly 1.6 metres, with brown eyes and light brown hair. Tina's hair was shoulder length, just long enough to tuck into a ponytail. The shade of brown was similar enough that in the low lighting they looked the same. She wasn't overly pale or tanned, and her build was solid. Tina was perhaps a bit thinner than Irene, but Irene could never get a tiny waist no matter how active she was, due to her short trunk. Irene's height was all in her legs, whereas Tina was more evenly proportioned. She remembered that she had been mistaken for Tina before.

Irene looked at Ashley and Katie again. Ashley was a bit curvier than Katie, Tina, or Irene, with wavier hair. They all had long faces, but Ashley's just seemed more prevalent due to a more pronounced chin. Katie had noticeably large ears, not helped by her plaited tresses. Her hair was a bit lighter, but not fair enough to be considered blonde.

Does this mean I'm the reason these girls were taken? Irene rubbed her temples, glaring at the door. Apparently she was mistaken in believing her troubles had ended the moment Cyrus left.

Clack. The door handle moved.

Irene straightened up in surprise. She reached over and shook the shoulder of Tina who was laying down beside her, trying to get some rest.

"Wuh...?"

"Shh. Look!"

The door swung open, light streaming in and outlining the silhouette of someone. Irene expected to see Gabriel, but the figure was not tall enough. He wasn't quite as short as Cyrus, however. Irene felt Tina move closer to her, but she didn't dare look away, waiting for her eyes to adjust as the man closed the door behind him.

"What do you want from us?" Katie asked, eyes wide and pleading.

The man shrugged his broad shoulders. He took out a notepad and wrote something down, squinting at the huddled group of girls. He seemed disinterested in the lot of them, as if he were merely cataloguing inventory. The girls all waited for an explanation, but received none.

Irene noticed a satchel looped over his shoulder. He stuck his pen behind his ear and it quickly vanished in his mop of tight, orange curls. He then reached into the bag at his hip. Irene edged away, expecting him to brandish a weapon. There was a crinkling noise and he produced some sort of packaged food item, a bar of some sort.

"Whoever answers my questions gets to eat."

Irene furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at the other girls' faces. Ashley looked interested in the food, but Tina and Katie turned slightly away. She was sure they were hungry as well, but perhaps, like herself, did not trust any food their captor would offer.

"What do you wanna know?" Ashley asked.

"I'll start easy. What are your names?"

"I'm Ashley Williams." The lack of hesitation was stunning. Irene, Katie, and Tina were less eager to share their identities with their captor. As promised, the man tossed Ashley her prize. She squinted at the package, flipping it over a few times, inspecting it closely. "Protein bar? Eh, food's food."

The curly-top man looked at the rest of the girls expectantly. Seeing that Ashley was rewarded, Tina stood up. "My name is Tina."

The man looked Tina over for a moment or two, then nodded and took out another protein bar and tossed it to her. Tina caught it and put it into her pocket. Ashley was already tearing hers open and taking a bite.

"I'm... Kelly," Katie said after some hesitation. "Kelly White." Irene gave her a side glance, and the other girls looked momentarily confused, but no one outed her lie. The man tossed her a bar as well.

"And you?"

Irene resolutely remained silent. If the worst that happened was she didn't get fed, she wasn't too concerned with refusing to cooperate. The man snorted. He shrugged, retrieved the pen from behind his ear, and wrote a few things down on his clipboard. "Your loss."

The man turned to leave, but then paused. "Oh right." He procured a bottle of water from the satchel. "Share this. Or don't." The man caught Ashley's eye before tossing it to her. He then left. Irene heard the click of a lock and footsteps fading away.

"This tastes like chalk," Ashley remarked after swallowing her last bite. She twisted the bottle cap off of the water and took a thirsty swig. The other girls looked at her expectantly. She paused and then sighed. "Oh right. Here." She passed Tina the water.

"Are these that bad?" Tina looked down at the packaged ration in her hand before taking a sip of water. She then passed the bottle to Katie.

"You'll have to see for yourself." Ashley shrugged.

"I think I'll wait. My stomach doesn't feel great," Tina muttered.

Katie took a swig of the water and passed the bottle to Irene. Less than a quarter of it was left. She sniffed the water tentatively then swirled it around while holding it up to the meagre light. She didn't trust it either and set the water down beside her.

Tina shuffled over to Irene. "Why didn't you give him a name? You could have lied, like Katie did. I wish I'd have thought of that..."

Irene tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and brought her knees up high, hugging them. "I couldn't think of a name..." The only name that came to her was Monica. She did not want to sully it. "Besides, even if I was given food, I wouldn't trust it." Irene tilted her head towards Ashley, and whispered, "Let's just wait and see if Ashley gets sick."

"My thoughts exactly," Katie whispered back, eyeing Ashley. "Though I suppose the water also could have been drugged..."

"That's... I hope not." Tina looked nervously towards Ashley, and then at the remaining water in the bottle. "But I think I'd rather get a little sick than go thirsty."

"Missing a meal won't kill me." Irene tried to curl up as tight as she could to preserve her own body heat. Tina sat close beside her, their arms touching. Normally Irene would move away, preferring to have her own space, but at the moment huddling close was safer.

"Well I haven't fallen over frothing at the mouth yet," Ashley concluded after she had paced in silence. "Chances are he wants more than our names. When he comes back, I say we rush the bastard. There's four of us, and only one of him."

Tina clapped her hands together. "Yes! One girl on each arm and someone to go for the legs, and a fourth to clock him!" Tina pantomimed a couple jabs then finished with a hook.

Katie scrunched up her face. "If he sees us coming he could take one of us hostage."

"A hostage might give him a false sense of security." Irene lifted her head and looked at the door. "But I doubt any one of us would be willing to risk getting killed for the rest of us to go free. I know I wouldn't." Doing the right thing led her into this mess in the first place. She was loath to put herself at risk for mere acquaintances.

Tina put a hand on Irene's shoulder. "I don't think it should come to that, if we work together. But maybe a direct attack isn't the best. Could one of us fake an illness?"

"Oh hey, looks like you got a few thoughts in there after all, Shiny," Ashley pointed to Tina, cracking a broad grin. Her eyes then narrowed as half of her smile fell off, the rest remaining in a mocking smirk. "Too bad it's a garbage idea. I mean, it's so obvious. Don't you think he's seen the same movies where the heroes pull that? We need to do something unexpected."

Tina's mouth opened and closed a few times like a bewildered trout. Irene glowered at Ashley, but didn't defend Tina. The denigrated girl finally found her voice after clearing her throat noisily. "Okay, unexpected. Like what?"

"Well, I could try to charm him." Ashley put her hands on her hips.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Katie responded. Irene nodded in agreement.

"Well, do either of you have a better idea?"

Irene stared back at the door, letting out a long sigh. She did not wish to bring any of them harm through reckless actions, otherwise she'd tell Ashley to offer to let him bite her..

"Any idea is better than that!"

"Oh yeah?"

Katie cleared her throat. "If we're here for... what you said we are, then I doubt they'll be easily distracted by a little flirting. That'd be like... like... I don't know..."

"Trying to bargain with a teacher by actually doing your homework?" Tina offered helpfully.

"Uh... sure," Katie raised an eyebrow at Tina. "Point is, you suggested we do something unexpected. That's just as predictable as the faking sick."

"At least I'm trying here, rather than sitting around twiddling my thumbs!"

"Hey! We're also trying to come up with a plan! Your plan just sucks!"

Ashley made a rude sound and the conversation derailed into an exchange of insults, but by then Irene's thoughts had taken center stage. Fighting with her peers would be a waste of energy, and such analysis of the situation was the better course of action. There were four teenage girls, who all seemed to have fairly average builds. Irene was active, but she was unsure as to the other girls. Any escape plan oughtn't rely on physical prowess to succeed. Despite a lack of evidence, she still strongly believed vampires were responsible, but she entertained that Ashley's theory may be correct. Either way, she dreaded her fate, and needed to think how to either get out of the situation, or best prepare herself for whatever came.

Irene's stomach growled and she began to doubt whether it was wise to refuse to eat, or merely stubbornness. Pride wouldn't do much to ameliorate an empty stomach. She put her hand to her belly and glanced at the girls as their words got sharper, and body language more hostile.

"...That's it!" Irene blurted out. They all stopped and stared, or in Ashley's case glared, at her. "I might have a plan."