The Woman in Blue

Dale ran down the stairs to answer whoever had rung the doorbell. Maybe it was good news. Maybe they’d found Misha. Maybe Misha herself would be standing there when she flung open the door, saying, “Ha, ha. It was just a joke! I was never really gone.” But it was Alexa. “Hi,” said Alexa in a cheerful voice. “Hi,” said Dale. “Come on in.” Dale stepped aside to allow her friend to enter. “It’s rather nippy out there,” said Alexa. “Yes, it is.” Alexa turned to face her friend. “Dale, I thought you could really use a break. Come on out with me to the mall. It’ll be just like old times.” Dale looked down toward the carpet. “Alexa,” she began, looking back up at her friend, “I know you mean well, but nothing will ever be like old times again till my Misha’s back here safe and sound and in my arms.” “I know that, Dale, but it’s been four months.” Dale bit her bottom lip. “She may not even be… you know.” “Please don’t tell me what I already know, Alexa, and most of all, don’t tell me what I don’t want to hear.” It was Alexa’s turn to look down at the floor. “Sorry.” Dale ran a hand through her hair. “No. No, I’m sorry.” Alexa looked up at Dale just as she broke into tears. Alexa put her arms around her and let her sob on her shoulder. After a moment, Dale pulled back. “Here I am, a cop who’s sworn to uphold the law, yet…” Her voice broke off. Then she wiped her eyes and looked straight at Alexa. “Did you ever want to kill someone so bad it made you sick?” “Well, I’ve certainly had a girlfriend or two I wouldn’t have minded strangling, but I’m sure it was nothing compared to the rage you must be feeling toward this joke of a doctor.” “It never ends, Alexa, it never ends. Not my fear for Misha, nor my fury toward Gail.” Alexa smiled weakly as she listened with a sympathetic ear. “I sit here, and I imagine her here with me. She’ll be sitting with me or playing with these rats that even I came to care for.” Dale’s eyes darkened. “Then I see that woman, that fucking woman, and I imagine all sorts of horrible scenarios. No matter how much I try to stop them, they play through my mind like a bunch of movie clips. It never gets any easier, Alexa.” Dale cried some more while Alexa secretly wished her friend’s wish about killing the doctor could come true. Misha’s knees hurt like hell. She’d been on them for hours now, scrubbing the old cellar floor. This was her punishment for “talking back” when Gail criticized her precious Dale. She’d said she was a poor excuse for a husband, a loser, a degenerate that had contaminated Misha’s very soul. This was just one of many punishments and beatings she’d received since she’d been taken by this woman. It’s just that most of them were for trying to escape. Her anger shifted from what Gail had said about Dale to what she’d like to do to Gail. The anger made her scrub harder with fierce determination. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was about to snap, to totally come unglued. How dare this woman kidnap her and use her as a punching bag, as a slave, as someone to scream at… Scream. That’s just what Misha did—at the top of her lungs and as loud as she could. The cellar door then opened. Gail slowly came down the stairs and stared at Misha, who was standing red-faced and furious just a few feet away. She came to a stop just inches from Misha and rested her hands on her hips. “You through?” she asked. Misha’s tears burst forth as if the dam that had been holding them back had broken. “I can’t take it anymore!” she wailed. “Why do you do this to me? I never hurt you. Why can’t you just let me go? I don’t have to tell anyone about you. You letting me go is much more important to me than turning you in could ever be. Please! I can’t stand this anymore!” Gail put her arms around Misha and patted her back, though it was without pity, remorse, guilt, or empathy. “I know,” she simply said. “Life’s rough. Real rough.” Then she turned and headed back up the stairs. “Where are you going?” Misha asked desperately. “To watch TV while you finish your job,” Gail replied. “Wait! Before you go, tell me, how long has it been?” Gail turned to her with a blank face. “How long have I been here?” “How long do you think you’ve been here?” Misha thought about it. “It feels like years.” “It’s almost Christmas.” Gail turned and went upstairs, locking the door behind her. My God,thought Misha as she sank to the cellar floor. I’ve been here four months now. Dale must think I’m dead for sure. Dale. She seemed like such a fantasy now, like such an illusion. It was almost like she had existed long, long ago in an entirely different life and an entirely different world. Or maybe she’d gone so crazy, and Dale had never existed. Maybe Dale was just a phantom created by her own mind as a way of coping and surviving this madness. No, Dale was real. The ring she wore reminded her of that. “Oh, Dale,” Misha sobbed aloud. “I’m not dead. I’m alive. Really, I am. Please, please come and find me! Rescue me, my sweet love, my one and only true love for all time, rescue me.” She lay there for an eternity. Finally, she raised up off the floor and looked around her. Through the room’s two barred windows, she could tell it was late afternoon and that the sun would soon be setting. She looked around the room. There’d be no way to pile up furniture or boxes, which mainly consisted of old books and useless junk, so she could peer out the window without Gail noticing, but she was going to do it anyway. If she’d remained alive this long and survived Gail’s wrath as of yet, then perhaps she would continue to do so until she found a way out. She got up and walked over to an old couch closest to a window in the back of the house. The couch looked movable enough, and so she began to slide it toward the nearest window. It scraped loudly against the floor as if determined to betray her actions. It succeeded. The cellar door opened once again, and once again Gail slowly sauntered down casually, hands in the pockets of her sweater. “What are you doing now?” she asked. “I, uh, I was going to move stuff so I could clean underneath.” “No, you weren’t,” said Gail, stepping closer. “You were going to have a look outside the window.” Misha tried to hide the guilt in her eyes. “Come on.” “What? Where?” asked Misha, heart speeding up. “I’ll show you what’s out there. You want a look?” Misha nodded as Gail seized her by the waist and lifted her up as effortlessly as if she had been a giant rag doll. When she was eye-level with the window, all she saw were woods. Disappointment filled her. She had hoped to see houses. “Ok, I see. Put me down.” Gail dropped Misha to her feet. “Happy now?” she asked. Misha nodded. “But when are you going to take me outside again? You haven’t since I first got here.” “I don’t trust you.” “But how can you not? How could I get away? You’re much quicker than I am. Besides, there are no neighbors around anyway.” Gail slowly chewed on the piece of gum that was in her mouth, tilting her head to gaze curiously at Misha. Then she moved even closer to her. Misha’s heart was now doing double-time. Now they were barely an inch apart from one another. Gail planted a soft, tender kiss on Misha’s lips. Misha wanted to puke. She did her best to hide it, but oh, how disgustingly sick it felt to have this woman’s hands, let alone her lips, touch hers. She felt so dirty, so unfaithful. Strangely enough, though she sure as hell couldn’t complain, it was the first time she’d ever kissed her. Misha had first believed that Gail’s main reason for taking her was for sex, but that wasn’t it at all. As nauseated as she was, she had to play into this sudden display of affection and earn her trust sooner or later. “Gail?” “Yes?” she asked softly. “Do you think we can ever get along? You know, be lovers?” Gail appeared to be contemplating the thought, then said, “No, I don’t think so. I’m flattered by your interest, but I’m spoken for, my dear,” she said, grazing Misha’s cheek with her hand. “Susie? Is it Susie?” Gail nodded. “Is that who you go to see when you leave me all alone and lonely here?” Gail nodded again. “It’s not fair,” Misha insisted, summoning up her courage and her acting ability. “I’m the one who lives here and who sleeps next to you. I should be your wife.” “Misha,” Gail warned, “you’re getting on my nerves again. Quit acting like a spoiled brat!” “Ok, ok. Calm down. Just one more thing, Gail, and I promise I’ll stay off your case.” “What is it?” Gail asked sharply. “I feel like I’m suffocating. There’s a lot of dust down here. You know I have asthma and allergies, and as a doctor, I don’t have to remind you what a little fresh air can do, so I—” “Alright, let’s go.” Misha stared at Gail. “Well, move it. Get on upstairs before I change my mind.” Misha ascended the stairs ahead of Gail. Kick her,Misha thought. Turn around and kick her in the face and knock the sicko out. “Let’s go!” Nah, because if you miss, you’re dead. They entered the main floor and headed toward the front of the house and out the front door. The air was crisp and cool. How wonderful it felt to breathe fresh, clean air, free of dust and fumes from cleaners. “You like it, huh?” “Yes,” said Misha. Gail seemed pleased. “Come on, we’ll walk a little way.” Afraid to say anything wrong, Misha kept quiet while they walked straight out in front of the house. They slowly walked a short distance, and all the while Misha saw no signs of other life. That is, no life that was human. No buildings, no people. It seemed as if they were truly alone in this wilderness. They walked to the end of the dirt driveway that led to a dirt road, which was a couple of hundred feet or so from the house. That was when Gail turned them around and steered them back in the direction in which they’d come. “Do people drive by that often?” Misha asked. “Nope. If I wanted to be in a place where people drove by that often, then I certainly wouldn’t be here.” “Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” said Misha. “It’s so beautiful out here. Please, can we stay out a little longer?” “Just a little longer. It’s getting cold and dark.” They continued to walk. “Gosh, you’re tall,” Misha told her. “I thought Dale towered over me and—” “Don’t you ever mention that bitch’s name again!” Gail screamed, coming to a halt. “Ok, I won’t,” assured Misha, halting as well. “Good,” said Gail. Misha looked around her. She wanted to run so bad, even if it was to nowhere, but she knew Gail would only catch her and make things even worse for her if she let her live. Misha studied Gail’s profile as they moved on, side by side, toward the side of the house and noted that she really was an attractive woman. She had a nice face and a nice body, but what in the world could have ever gone wrong in her life, so wrong that it turned this tall, slender, lovely woman into such a monster? Though better looking than most, she was so ordinary-looking at the same time, and just about the last person one would ever suspect of being a kidnapper. She guessed it was true that sometimes the psychiatrist was crazier than the patients. She almost started to feel sorry for her but stopped herself short. If someone had abused Gail, she was deeply sorry. However, that was no excuse for the person she’d become and what she’d done. Misha had always been one to cringe with distaste when the murderer was trying to get off by claiming they had been abused as a child. After being victims themselves, shouldn’t that be all the more reason for them to know better? Yet they felt that it was their right to hurt others simply because they themselves had been hurt. “Gail?” “Yes?” “Tell me about your childhood.” Gail’s eyes darkened. “I’d rather not, ok?” Just then, Misha noticed something she hadn’t noticed the first time she’d been where they now stood. A door. There was a door that led down to the cellar. It was located beyond where the cellar extended. The area of the cellar in which she’d been was under the living room, but this door led right down under the kitchen and den. As casually as she could, Misha shifted her gaze away. She was going to ask about it but then thought better of it. For now, she would keep her discovery of the mysterious door to herself. Misha looked up at Gail, surprised by what she saw. “Gail?” Tears streamed down her face. “Gail?” “Oh, come on!” she suddenly screamed, snapping out of her thoughts. “Just get back in the house now!” “Ok, ok. I’m sorry, Gail. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Gail flung the tears off her face as if they were slimy bugs. “Get in the house now or I swear I’ll kill you!” she screamed as her voice shook with a rage Misha had never witnessed before. “I’ll kill you! I’ll absolutely kill you! You hear me? I’ll kill you!” Misha turned and ran. Away from the house.