As the lights dim and the world begins to collapse, thought becomes too difficult to attempt. Confusion sets in as she forgets what is happening and how this situation came about. Breath becomes a forgotten memory as the room darkens beyond her ability to recognize. The bed beneath her fades as the world becomes no larger than her distorted vision. With no more than vanishing shades composing her world, her final thought is of how the world has come to an end.

Hours earlier

The phone rang, and she was ready for it. She had seen him pull up in front of the house only a moment before. Her overnight bag was packed and was excited about the prospects of spending the night with him. Knowing that she was going against her father’s wishes, she answered the phone before the second ring.

“Give me a sec, I just need to get my shoes on,” she said quickly to the man on the other end of the phone. He acknowledged her and they ended the phone call.

This is what she had been waiting for since their fights two weeks before. She knew they were both at fault and this was their chance to make amends. A smile crept to her lips as she rushed to shove her shoes onto her feet. For a time, she had feared this day would never come. Now she could not wait to get out to the car and meet him. The overnight bag seemed to leap into her hand as she rushed out to meet him.

The car was new to her. He had acquired it from a friend sometime in the last two weeks since she had demanded him to return her car, which he had been borrowing. She regretted her decision on some level, but, at the same time, she felt that he had earned the loss of the car. They had talked over the phone to great lengths and had said to eachother all they needed to say on the matter.

Now was a time for reconciliation. It was a time to reaffirm their feelings for eachother and to express their love for one another.

“Hey you,” she said as she climbed into the car.

It was a dark blue sports car which had seen better days. The removable roof panels were in the back seat, one of which was covered in a web of cracks. Beneath the panels, various items littered the back seat. The woman casually placed her overnight bag on top of the panels where it rested next to the man’s backpack.

The man acknowledged the greeting as the woman fastened her seat belt. “Any ideas as to where we should go?”

She finished settling in before she replied. “How about that hotel just off of the freeway near your work? It’s the lowest price that I’ve seen around.”

“Alright, that’ll work,” he said as he pulled the car away from the house.

“Oh, and I brought your belt with me, it’s in my bag.”

“Thanks, glad that you remembered it, I’ve been missing it,” he replied as he continued driving towards the hotel.

The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence. The man and woman had nothing important to day to eachother having spent several of the previous days in serious conversation. So, the couple just enjoyed eachother’s company on the quite drive. The radio did not work, but either of them minded since they were both accustomed to vehicles without such simple luxuries.

They reached the hotel without any event. Together they grabbed their bags and proceeded to the office to get a room. The man gave to the woman in the office his information and she gave them a keycard for a room. The couple went to their room to decide what to do next and to drop off their bags.

The room was your average room style for an inexpensive hotel. The head of the bed was centered against the wall to the left. On the door’s side of the bed was a nightstand with a lamp and a corded phone. Opposite of the bed was a table which held the television and two plastic cups which were sealed in plastic. Next to the door was the window, under which was the air conditioning, heating unit. In the corner next to the window sat a lonely chair. Directly across from the door were the sink and a mirror. To the left of which, a small room held the shower and toilet.

“Well, what shall we do now?” he asked her. “We could go get something to eat.”

“That sounds good, if it’s not too much, we can go to that steakhouse you like.”

“Sure, sounds good to me, let’s go.”

“It’s Sunday, think they’ll be busy?”

“Might be, start of the month and all.”

She took the end of the conversation as an opportunity and gave him a quick kiss before they left the room. It was nothing special, but she enjoyed it just the same. After what they had been through, she was ecstatic that this man would even give her the time of day, let alone allow her to kiss him. Knowing that he would give her another chance to be with him, another chance at their love, melted her heart. She hoped that she would not do anything to change his mind.

After no more than ten minutes at the hotel, they were on the road again, heading towards the steakhouse. After another uneventful drive, they couple reached their destination and were seated without a wait.

The restaurant was a quite, intimate sort with deep, high-backed benches on either side of a dark, wooden table. Besides the physical isolation the tables gave, the lighting also gave diners the feeling of being alone. At one end of the tables were a single light that resembled a candle’s flame. With the lighting on the ceiling, which was a low intensity light, the diners were made to feel as if they were dining among a sea of candles. Waiters seemed to know when their patrons were in want and only showed up at the tabled when they were wanted. This gave the couple a better chance to enjoy eachother’s company and the atmosphere of the steakhouse.

Dinner went well, and the couple decided to stop at a grocery store before they returned to the hotel room. At the store, they bought rootbeer and vodka; they had decided to have a private party before the night was out.

When they reached the hotel, the man took the drinks to the room and the woman followed him in.

“Why don’t we take a shower?” the man asked as he set his load upon the table. The woman was agreeable with his suggestion and they showered together.

Showering together was never a sexual act for the couple. It was more of a spiritual time for them, a time for them to simply reconnect. As they take turns washing their bodies, they gently touch the other to help coordinate the shower with as few words as possible.

Having finished their shower, the man unwrapped one of the cups and filled it a third of the way with vodka and finished it off with some of the rootbeer.

When she noticed that he was not pouring a second cup, she asked him about it.

“One of us is going to stay sober,” he said as he handed her the lone cup. “Drink up.”

“So I’m the only one drinking,” she said plainly.

Holding the brim of the glass to the bridge of her nose, the woman prepared herself for the drink. She took a series of deep breaths, bracing herself against the sting she knew would soon come. With the last breath withheld, the woman brought the beverage to her lips and began to drink. As long as she could hold her breath, she continued to swallow until half of the drink was gone and her breath ached to escape. She took the cup away and gasped at the pain in her throat.

Once she felt ready, she repeated her drinking ritual until she had finished the entire up. The man then took the empty cap away from her only to hand it back full again. Each time she emptied the cup, the man was there to fill it again. When she was slow to finish, he encouraged her to continue drinking.

The woman had forgotten how many cups she had drunken when she finished her ritual one last time and put the cup down on the nightstand. She informed the man, as she stood upon unsure legs, that she needed to relieve her full bladder and proceeded to walk drunkenly to the bathroom.

When she returned from the bathroom, she found that a strobe light bad appeared in the hotel room and was flashing at an agitating speed. The woman’s first thought was: “where did that thing come from?” Her next thought , as the light worked with the alcohol to further diminish her ability to think and her awareness was: “why?”

She lifted her hand towards the strobe light and pointed at it with her left index finger. “Why?” she asked aloud to the man.

The man did not respond to her question, so she repeated herself. He continued to disregard her question and started to move towards her. The woman again said that single word as the man took her outstretched hand and pulled her towards the bed. With care, he directed her to lie across the bed. By this time, the woman had become quiet as her disorientation worsened.

Laying on her stomach, the woman did not know what to expect. The man took both of her hands, pulled them behind her back and proceeded to tie them. Unbeknownst to the man, she has pulled her shoulder a few days before and the position was causing her pain. Unable to concentrate enough to inform the man, she began to whimper and worked to get her hands free. Once freed, she put her arm into a more comfortable position and became quiet again.

Thwarted by the woman, the man again pulled her hands behind her back and tied them. In pain, the woman resumed her whimpering and began to work her hands free once more. This time, before the woman could free her hands, the man wrapped them in tape, preventing her from alleviating the pain in her shoulder. Dim comprehension of her situation seeped into her clouded mind, heightening her agitation. As a response, the woman’s whimpering transformed into distressed moaning.

The man responded to the woman’s distress by putting tape over her mouth.

Her world was falling apart. The alcohol she has consumed had left her head spinning and her thinking clouded. With the strobe still flashing, the world ratcheted from side to side. As a response, her body began to jerk and buck, trying to compensate for the movement of the world.

A sound broke into her tumbling world. A sound the woman recognized through her confusion. It was the sound of the man’s favorite belt which had been in her overnight bag.

Without warning, she became unable to breathe. Was something wrong with her? Did the man use his belt around her neck? Her mind was in a panic, unable to determine why she could not breathe. Worse yet, there was no way for her to tell the man that something was horribly wrong. She kicked her legs, trying to get his attention, to no avail. The world slowed and began to dim. Her legs, heavy from effort and no air, became still.

-Jane Jake Dawn

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