Private 10 - Suspicion by Kate Brian

What was wrong with this guy? Was he drunk? Had he passed out at the wheel or something?
    I forced my terror to the back of my mind and pushed myself to my feet. Still clinging to the handrail, I took a shaky step forward, glad, at least, that I had worn low heels instead of the stilettos Kiran had wanted me to. The problem of course, was that the captain was standing up on a platform above me. The only way to get to him would be to climb one of the two steep sets of wet stairs on either side of the cabin. The very idea made my stomach turn like I'd just gotten off a badly constructed carnival ride.
    "Excuse me!" I shouted as loud as I could. The captain didn't flinch. Didn't move. Didn't acknowledge that he had heard me. He probably hadn't, what with the roaring of the engine and the slapping of the boat against the water. "Excuse me! Hey!" I reached out for the safety rail at the bottom of the stairs and placed my trembling foot on the bottom step. "We're going the wrong way! The island is over the--"
    My words were suddenly cut off as a bandana was flung over my head from behind and crammed into my mouth. I tried to scream, but the gag was already tied tightly. It shoved my tongue into my throat, and I started to choke. As I fought for breath, I was yanked backward off my feet and my butt slammed into the floor. Instinctively, I reached up to try to claw at my attacker, but my arms were quickly pinned behind my back and tied together with rough twine. I winced in pain as the rope cut my skin. My eyes rolled wildly around, begging the captain to look behind him, to see what was happening, to help me. But even as my feet pounded the floor, he didn't move. I tried to squirm forward using my feet and glutes, but the guy grabbed my hair and yanked me back. The pain was sudden and unexpected and excruciating. Then he placed his hand over my forehead and slammed the back of my skull into the floor, which was still covered in Upton's rose petals.
    "Don't bother, bitch," he spat, his voice gruff, his face turned away from me. I forced myself to breathe through my nose, but my panic was so great, I was barely able to take in any air. Pain radiated throughout my skull. Tears stung my eyes and coursed down my face, but I forced myself to stare at my attacker. Tried to commit any details I could to memory. He wore dark glasses that all but covered his face, and had a thick beard just like the captain, but this one was dark and wiry.
    It was the last thing I saw before my eyes were blindfolded, and I was truly powerless.

PRANK
    About two seconds later, he threw me down the stairs like a sack of dirty laundry. My knees hit the ground first and I careened forward, slamming the side of my head against something sharp. I shouted out in pain and rolled over onto my back, my shoulder muscles straining as I pinned my already tethered arms underneath my weight. I struggled to sit up, the side of my head throbbing angrily, and felt blood trickling down behind my ear. The boat took a sudden turn and I slid across the floor, my entire body slamming into the wall. That was when I really started to cry. Tears soaked my blindfold and my nose quickly stuffed itself with mucus. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe to save my life. I gasped past the gag and my lungs constricted over and over and over again. I was going to die. I was going to cry myself to death.
    Get control, Reed. Calm down. Just. Calm. Down.
    Coughing a few times and sucking in a few more breaths, I managed to clear my nasal passages. Then I sat for what felt like an eternity, breathing in and out, in and out, until my heart rate calmed to a relatively normal state. Normal for someone who was suffering from multiple head traumas, who couldn't see and couldn't move, who was being kidnapped off the coast of a remote Caribbean island at a time when no one would notice she was missing for at least an hour.
    I was completely screwed.
    Overhead, I heard the pounding of footsteps and shouting