1 Panic

Every second that passed became more unbearable, with no further response to her cries. Juri wasn't ready to die. She had ambitions, places she wanted to go, and crushes she'd not yet kissed. Why had her life taken a turn for the worse like this, why her?

"Hello?"

A whimper, then more uncontrollable shaking, as her voice sounded weak and pathetic even to her own ears. She felt groggy and disoriented as the side effects of the drugs she had unknowingly ingested began to wear off.

"Hello, please! Is anyone there?" Shuffling sounds as the speaker tried to make more noise with her body to get someone's attention. "This can't be happening to me! There must be someone there!"

Juri listened with bated breath for a rescuer who'd answer her cries. Her hands and feet were bound with what felt like rope. She couldn't see it clearly because the place was so dark. How long had she been like this, and what had caused her to suddenly awaken from her slumber?

Minutes passed, and her cries for help seemed to fall on deaf ears. It became clear to her that she was completely alone. Juri couldn't remember ever being as scared as she was at that moment.

The sight of her breathing in the cold, damp air only made everything worse. There was no light in this place. She felt dust and dirt under her fingertips. Judging by the musty smell, that place had probably been abandoned a long time ago.

Her imagination made it ten times worse, for it was dark and she could barely see. Hungry and freezing, her brain felt foggy, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Her stomach growled as if to confirm her thoughts.

She imagined that all sorts of crawling insects and rats were scuttling around nearby. Juri was probably breathing in spores from the moldy, moist air that could kill her before she could even be rescued.

Never did she think the sound of her own voice would frighten her. But there were so many things in the world she never thought possible. For example, being trapped and starving.

She didn't know where she was, nor did Juri have any memory of how she got there. What she did understand, and comprehended beyond the shadow of a doubt, was that she was in real and serious danger.

"Please,"she said again, this time the word coming out as little more than a whisper, "please, someone. Somebody tell me what's going on. Tell me why I'm stuck here."

Juri had bad breath, her tongue was probably coated in white, and she needed something to drink. She felt dehydrated and wouldn't think twice about drinking water from a toilet bowl right now. Juri waited, straining to listen without letting her burgeoning panic overtake her rational mind.

At first there was nothing to hear at all except her damn breathing, and even that was almost obscured by the sound of rushing blood in her head. She closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate in order to understand something of her current situation.

The sound of something rushing in the background continued, but with her eyes closed she realized it wasn't the blood from her veins. It was water. Water was slowly seeping into the room from every corner.

Soon the water would be everywhere, surrounding her and keeping her in the terrible place she was held. Was this how she was going to die, by drowning? If at least thirst was no longer a problem, it was possible to look at things from the positive side.

She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, although that was actually impossible, and she smelled salt. Her senses told her that the air was musty and salty and smelled of danger.

Her blood pressure rose when she heard the sound of footsteps. She felt none of the relief she'd counted on moments before. Whoever came down the long corridor to her wasn't her savior.

"Who's this? Why are you doing this to me?"

Surprise, no answer. Whoever, whatever, was coming for her was what she needed to fear the most. She opened her mouth again to scream, but when the door to her small, dark cell opened. Then he flicked on the light in the cell, and the bright light blinded her.

"Honey! Honey, come on, you've got to get up!"

The sound of her mother's voice snapped Juri out of her dream just before it reached its terrifying climax. Being woken up by anyone, least of all her mother, wasn't something Juri appreciated.

It had been that way since she was little, in fact since she could remember. Her earliest memories of being woken up by her mother involved the kind of tantrums that only the truly stubborn could carry out, and the stories about those tantrums were now legendary.

At the age of twenty-four, she should have been well past the time when her mother called her out of bed. This knowledge made her cranky in a whole new way, and a whole string of expletives would have flowed from her mouth had anyone other than her mother been in the room.

"Juri, I'm..."

"I heard you, Mom," she called down the stairs, struggling to keep most of her annoyance out of her voice, "just give me a minute, okay?"

"If that's what you want, but don't blame me if your father eats all the bacon," her mother replied firmly. She closed the door behind her and left as quickly as she'd come.

"I couldn't give a damn," Juri mumbled.

She considered dropping back into bed, but the prospect of her mother abandoning her distant calling and heading for her room kept her going.

Besides, it didn't strike her as restful to lie in bed and look up at the shining stars of her childhood. Not restful in the least. One's childhood bedroom wasn't the place to nurse an insomnia hangover.

Her bedroom was a box full of memories, many of which weren't entirely comfortable. Juri's nightmares were frequent and known to wake the entire household when she woke up screaming from them.

"Don't act like you're surprised," she chastised herself, swinging her feet over the edge of her old four-poster bed and letting them hang suspended.

The advice might have been coming from her own mouth, but that didn't make it any less appropriate. She knew how much her parents loved her but they were getting on in age and fed up with her antics.

Her parents felt she was old enough to be living on her own and time for her to leave the nest. They just didn't know how to communicate it to her without offending her. Yet a part of them also worried deep down that she would not be able to make it on her own, a conundrum.

In particular, her mom would get on her last nerve every time she babied her. Leaving home again had been the most prominent item in the 'to do' section of her meticulously crafted list. Why should she be afraid to make that leap?

It was fair to say that she had agonized over the choice and she had only come home because she was still in doubt and hadn't known what else to do. Never mind that she felt like the most massive failure in her world. Her friends were coping and living on their own.

Until she felt her tormented nights had reached their climax, she just couldn't think of anything else she could do. She allowed this reminder to play like a mantra in her head as she trudged down the worn carpet clad stairs.

Juri's hand traced the same grooves of the wooden banister they had traced since she was old enough to walk. She slipped into the kitchen as silently as she was able as if that might somehow stop her mother from noticing she was there.