Son of a Nun__Kidnapped

As promised, my Friday blog is an excerpt from one of my books.

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The woman pushing the wheelchair looked up, and locked eyes with Barbie. “You! What are you doing here? And how did you get that gown?”

Barbie recognized her immediately as the fearsome woman she had encountered at O’Doul’s Diner earlier, Cameo Johnson.

Boldly, Barbie replied, “I am a guest of Kate’s, and as far as the dress, I bought it this afternoon at your shop.”

Kate found her voice, and said, “Who are you? What do you want?”

The man in the wheelchair replied, “I want you to come with us. I have something to tell you that I know you’ll want to hear. But we have to get out of here quickly. I’ll explain everything later. Please don’t be scared; I never wanted to scare you. Cameo thought this was the best way to get you to comply.”

“Oh, Drake, sometimes you just are such a boor. I can’t believe you. Let’s make this easier. I’ve got a couple tranquilizers here. You two girls each swallow one, and we’ll be on our way. That way, nobody gets hurt, and we get out of here before that big Swedish roller-derby queen comes back.”

Neither of the girls wanted to take a tranquilizer, and stalling until Hank returned seemed like a great idea. Kate said, “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it right here, right now. There is no need for violence or drugs; Hank won’t be gone long enough for you to get us out of here anyway.”

“Oh, I think she’ll be gone plenty long,” Cameo answered. “We’ve created a little diversion that will keep her tied up for a while, so come on, let’s go.” She suddenly grabbed the gun away from the man, and coming towards the girls with the two pills in her other hand, she said, “I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger and silence this Barbie girl. It’ll be a shame though to get blood all over that beautiful vintage gown.”

She placed the pills on the table in front of the two girls, and backed away a bit, holding the gun with both hands and aimed directly at Barbie’s head. Kate was the first to pick up the pill. She looked straight at Barbie in the eye. Kate had unshed tears brimming in her dark blue eyes, but she was trying to be brave. “Okay,” she said. “Don’t hurt us; we’ll take your tranquilizer and go with you, but you have to promise not to shoot us.”

The man in the wheelchair spoke, “You have my word; nobody will get hurt. Like I said, I just have something to tell you, and then everyone will be happy.”

The girls both swallowed the pills, and following the authority of the gun aimed at them, they stood up. Cameo commanded, “This is the way we are going to do it. You, Barbie girl, you push the chair, Kate will follow you, and then I’ll be right behind you with my gun.”

They did as they were ordered, and followed directions that led them to the alley door where a black limousine was waiting for them. The driver of the car swiftly helped the man out of the wheelchair and got him settled in the back of the car, then the women joined him.

Barbie and Kate were feeling the effects of the tranquilizer by then, and before they left the neighborhood, they were both sound asleep.

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Barbie woke up in excruciating pain. Specifically, her eyes seemed to be glued shut, and she had an awful headache. She attempted to open her eyes, slowly becoming aware that her contact lenses were still in her eyes, and she must have fallen asleep while wearing them. Her eyes felt like sand was weighing down on them, holding them shut with thousands of grains of fine sand. She struggled to sit up, hoping that she could shake off the sand.

When she lifted her head, a sharp pain assaulted her forehead, right between her eyes. The throbbing was similar to a hangover headache. She still had not managed to get her eyes open when she heard rustling and water splashing. Aware that she was not alone, she became frightened. She didn’t know where she was. Anxiously but weakly she said, “Hello? Is there someone here?”

The rustling neared, and a kindly female voice said, “There, there, my child. I have some cool water here in a pan, with a cloth. Let me wash your face, and perhaps you will feel better.” The woman placed a gentle hand on Barbie’s shoulder and tenderly pushed her to lie down. “Lie down, please, and this will be easier for both of us.”

Barbie did as she was asked, still perplexed and scared, but primarily feeling a great need to see her companion and discover where she was. She complied and let the other woman wash her face. The cool water indeed felt good on her eyes, and she said, “I think I must have fallen asleep with my contacts in. Please, let me have the wet cloth.”

“Of course, my dear. Take the cloth. I have rinsed it and it is only slightly wrung out.”

Barbie worked with the wet towel and got her eyes to open. Sitting up, she managed to get the lenses to come out. Holding them in her left palm carefully, she asked, “Where is my purse? There is a lens case in there.” She did not see the other woman but knew she must be near.

From behind her, the woman said, “Here it is. It was hanging on a hook by the bed.”

Barbie fumbled with the purse with her right hand, still holding the lenses in her left. She found the lens case and saline. After putting them away in the purse pocket, she looked around her to try to make sense of her location. But her vision was compromised. Her eyes were still very dry, and her vision without glasses was not very good anyway. She said, “Who are you, and where am I?”

The other woman moved into her line of vision then, and Barbie could see she was wearing a long black gown, and it looked as if she wore a white hood; perhaps she was a nun. “You are someplace safe. Do not worry. You have been asleep for quite some time now. You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat or drink?”

Still not trusting this other person, Barbie refused refreshments. “No, nothing. Who are you?” she asked again, not disguising her impatience for answers.

“Please, my dear, relax. Call me Sister Rose. You are safe here.”

This confused her. Sister Rose was Marilee, Adam’s Marilee. “Is Adam here?”

“No, just you and I are here.”

“Just where is here?”

“This is an underground bomb shelter. We have everything we need. There is a well-stocked kitchen, a restroom facility, and a library of books and games to keep us entertained.”

“But why am I here? I need to find Adam. And my family. I need to call home.”

“Well, the one thing we do not have here is a telephone. Are you sure that I can’t get you a glass of water? Or perhaps some milk or a Dr Pepper?”

Then Barbie remembered something. That woman, Mrs. Johnson had kidnapped her and made her take a tranquilizer. She felt dizzy and slowly stood, hanging on to the bed behind her, trying to get her balance. Loudly she declared, “I really need to leave. I have prescription sunglasses in my car, so once I am in my car, I will be able to see. Is my car here?”

“Your little red car is here. It is parked right outside, but it is not time to leave yet.”

“So am I being held prisoner here, Sister? And you too? Are they holding you too? Where is my friend Kate? What happened to her?”

“We are not prisoners. You were brought here for your safety and protection,” the soft voice replied. “I really do not know anything else, but please, make yourself at home. Look around. The kitchen is to your left, and the restroom is beyond it, down the hallway. Would you like me to guide you around, or has your vision cleared?”

Barbie’s eyes still were very sore, and they felt gravelly, but she could see a little clearer. She could see that the other woman was indeed Sister Rose. She had not met the nun face to face before, but she had watched her from afar when she was doing surveillance per Adam’s instructions. “Sister, Adam is going to be worried. Does he know where we are? And you didn’t answer me about Kate. Where is she?”

The other woman did not answer her directly but simply said, “Please, I need to rest now. I have been keeping watch over you, waiting for you to wake, and I am quite exhausted myself. I think that I will lie down on the sofa for a few minutes and rest.” And dismissing Barbie’s questions, the nun crossed the room, and settled down on the soft couch, effectively distancing herself from the young woman.

Giving up and not wanting to anger the nun, she explored the room, but curiously, she couldn’t find a door.  In the kitchen she didn’t find anything that she could use as a weapon; most of the cabinets had locks on them.  She searched her purse and found aspirin and a nail file.  She swallowed two aspirin without water and slipped the metal file into the outside pocket of her purse. 

Sitting on the kitchen floor with her back to the refrigerator, she was startled when the nun approached and said, “Would you like me to fix you something to eat or drink?

“Maybe just something to drink,” Barbie said. “I’m not hungry, but I really would like to leave now.”  Barbie straightened her silk gown as she stood up, wishing she had something more comfortable to wear other than her theater costume from the night before.

The nun got her a bottle of water from the refrigerator and left to return to the couch. As Barbie looked around at the room, pleased that her vision had cleared some and that her headache was waning. That was the only thing she could be pleased about at that time, and she strived to always find something good in every situation.

Abruptly, Barbie felt a stab of pain; her headache was returning. She had a sudden sharp pain in her right temple. It was so severe that she dropped the bottle of water, which made a resounding thump, loud enough that the nun was startled and roused. She came quietly to Barbie’s side, noticing that her companion was in distress. “My dear, perhaps you should lie down,” and taking her arm she guided Barbie back to the Murphy bed.

She did not resist and was feeling very tired again too. Her last thought as she fell asleep was I was drugged again. 

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Son of a Nun is available from Tate Publishing or Amazon.  I can also send you a signed copy if you email me at marilynwhite.author@gmail.com