LOCATION: New York City, Marquee Skydeck006. The Princess
INTERACTIONS:. N/A
The elevator doors opened to an onslaught of sound and light, like the city itself had exhaled all at once and didn't hold back. Music thundered from somewhere near through the smoke-filled air, and it wasnβt just loud, it was invasive, seemingly rattling the glass walls that provided quite the authentic view of the city far below.
Individuals were packed on the floor like sardines, their bodies moving in rhythm to the music, most of them anyway. There was the occasional hyena-pitched laughter, conversations being shouted into ears but dissolving into half-finished sentences, and every few steps, the overcrowded bar where hands slapped down credit cards and drinks appeared instantly.
Outside, New York was perfectly still, but inside, chaos reigned. Alcohol spilled freely, the floors slicking with every drop. The entire scene was loud, louder than her personal comfort cared for. But Anna wasn't there for comfort; she was there to rid herself of the past and bring in the new. Whether her first hangover of 2026 or some new eye candy whom she could wrap around her finger, that was yet to be determined. The young woman was flanked by Stromm and Dalhquist who followed a couple of steps behind. They towered over the crowd, their presence known but not imposing. The two men exchanged some words, unbeknownst to Anna who was scanning the crowd and whose interest was immediately caught by the first busy bar that came into view.
Turning to face them, the conversation was halted mid-sentence. She gave them the look, a look that said she was going to wander off. The young woman didn't so much as wait for a response as her feet carried her out of their immediate vicinity. They knew what to do, and she was due for a drink. Her eyes briefly caught a glance of the skyline, lights peacefully glittering in the distance...
And that's when she felt it. A sudden bump against her back and upper arm with quite some force behind it. Anna stopped for a moment, though not out of curiosity. She didn't see the pair of hands which were softly placed on her shoulders.
"I apologize." Her body instantly tensed.
Her muffled, desperate cries went unheard, and her surroundings became too dark for any details to be made out, even by the sharpest eyes. The young girl was disoriented, her heart thudding loudly against her chest as the adrenaline blocked any form of logical thought. She was being kidnapped, taken to later be tortured and killed. That's where her mind went, and her body was reacting accordingly. Anna thrashed her arms and legs with the hopes of escaping, but whoever was hauling her away only tightened their grip as something sharp pierced the skin on the side of her neck. Whatever it was, it stung like hell. Anna panicked even more, though her efforts slowly decreased as she felt a growing disconnect between body and mind. Her vision began blurring, whatever glimpse of light she came across fading into an unknown she was not quite ready to face. Within only a matter of moments, her body went completely limp in the arms of her captor.
Who knows how much time had passed, how many hours or how many days. Anna blinked her eyes open with some effort, the effects of the drug having mostly worn off but not completely. Her surroundings weren't exactly clear due to the lights being extremely dim, and for a moment, she'd forgotten what had happened. That is, until the familiar white walls didn't come into view. Her warm comforter, the ridiculous number of pillows surrounding her body from practically every angle, the soft, warm glow of the night light located opposite her bedβit was all gone. She looked down and realized she was on a grossly unkempt mattress, the realization crashing down on her in that instant. Anna remembered now, and as if perfectly on cue, the dreaded panic too returned. She scrambled to get to her feet, or at least, she attempted to. There was a rattling noise and a tug around her ankle. Her gaze lowered to the chain, and she reached a hand out as if reassuring herself it was real. Of course it was.
"Good morning," a casual voice from somewhere overhead pierced through the silence as if they didn't have a care in the world. It startled Anna enough for her breath to catch in her throat before she looked up, realizing there was a speaker inside that place. She wanted to scream.
"What do you want?" she responded, her voice was weak, raspy.
A brief silence that felt like a lifetime.
"You will receive your first meal soon along with some water. Enjoy."The same monotonous indifference. Anna didn't have the strength to reply, not just yet. She accepted what was offered with her silence.
From that moment on, the routine was repeated too many times to count, and the young girl didn't bother keeping track after a certain point. It was a vicious, endless of cycle of tediousness which slowly stripped her of her sanity piece by piece. Not a hand was laid on her, but the torture she was experiencing was unlike anything she'd dealt with in the past.
Then out of the blue, she heard something that startled her the same way she had been startled the first day there. The latch on the door off to the far right unlocked, and with a gasp she set her eyes on it. Anna was expecting the door to swing open, but that didn't happen. Instead, it opened just enough for a sliver of light to shine through. Was this it? Was she finally going to be released? The question weighed heavily on her mind. For quite some time, Anna remained sitting in place, just like she had done for the past week. She was waiting for somebodyβanybody to go through that door. When that didn't happen, that was the moment she hurried to her feet and began her sprint. In that moment, Anna didn't remember about the chain wrapped around her ankle, but she didn't have to. While she slept, one of her captors had undone the lock, handing her the freedom she so desperately wanted without her knowing.
Anna practically burst through the already open the door, the sudden brightness blinding her temporarily. Voices began shouting, a siren off in the distance fast approaching. The chaos suffocated her, but it was certainly welcomed. The relief felt in that moment brought tears to her eyes, and she cried until she was unable to do so anymore.
"They had me caged like an animal!" she confessed, breaking down again when officials asked her whether she was okay. Anna was promptly taken to the hospital where her family awaited her after receiving notification she was safe and alive. Needless to say, the reunion was emotional for everyone involved.
"Are you all right?"The voice,
that voice was unmistakably familiar, despite the music drowning out most of it. She offered quick nod and a sad attempt at a smile in acknowledgement before walking off. Anna needed that drink now more than ever. Stromm and Dalhquist had witnessed the brief exchange, how she seemed quite still for a few seconds.
"I need a Long Island," she added, having leaned on the counter to better communicate her order to the bartender.
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