MMEP Part 4 - Hanging In The Air

Clara was drugged.

Again.

The blackness faded from her vision, revealing… dark grey. There was a faint blue light from each edge of the cramped room she was trapped in. Upon trying to move her shoulders to look around, she found that she was hog tied again. Instead of moving all of her upper body, she strained her neck to observe her surroundings, not that there was much to see. It could hardly be considered a room, a suffocating box just barely holding Clara’s curled up form.

She lay in an extremely uncomfortable position, legs folded and tucked under her torso, knees digging into her chest, back pressed up against the ceiling. Feeling her legs cramp up, she tried in vain to shuffle, only to cause the ropes restricting her movements to rub away at her skin. Outside the box, Clara heard voices, machinery, then suddenly, the box being lifted up high into the air, swinging back and forth.

With a hiss, a small section of a wall opened, just enough for her to look outside and catch a much-needed breath of cool, fresh air. Peeking outside, she saw a crowd of people gathered some distance away, staring up at her. Forcing her neck muscles to stretch to their very limit, Clara took a look at what was directly below the box, heart sinking to the bottom of her stomach.

Fire. A massive, mechanically contained area of blue flame. Slowly, the box lowered, striking panic into her system, causing her to struggle to no avail, tears of pure terror welling up in her eyes. No! she thought, Not like this, I won’t.

Stupid girl, replied a voice in her head, You really think you can do anything against the ropes and box?

Refusing to accept her fate, Clara shouted, thrashed, and sobbed as the box lowered, closer and closer to the blazing inferno. “I’m sorry! I’ll leave MMEP! I promise!” she screamed out of sheer desperation, hoping Bandit was in the room, “Bandit! Bandit, please! I was your friend! Don’t do this-”

With a jerk, the box stopped. Releasing a sob of relief, she watched the top of the box open, pressure lfiting off her back. Someone roughly pulled her out of the box, dragging her across a narrow catwalk and through a door, shoving her into a nearby couch, where Bandit sat.

“Good choice, Clara,” she smiled.