Read the opening of the first place winner of this year’s Writerwerx University Novel Opening contest. Don’t forget to buy a copy of The Velvet Capture to enjoy even more of this talented author’s work!
CHAPTER ONE
The pain hits me before I can even open my eyes. I try to move, but my entire body feels like I’ve been run over by a semi-truck. I put my hand on my head to feel where the throbbing is coming from. I feel a fresh wound and hiss when I touch it. I finally open my eyes to check my hand for blood. My fingertips are streaked with the dark red liquid, but nothing too serious. I try to adjust my eyes to the light before looking around. I don’t recognize the room and I start to freak out instantly. I attempt to sit up hurriedly, but my body is too sore for me to make any sudden movements. I raise up slightly, noticing my black yoga pants and pink sports bra that I had on during my workout. I retrace my steps in my mind quickly, realizing that my last memory was of me leaving the gym. I remember parking around the corner because I wanted to get my steps up, but I don’t ever recall making it back to my car.
I sit up a little more and see the chain around my leg. My eyes get big once I notice the other end of the chain disappearing into a dark red, velvet wall. I grunt my way up into a fully seated position and reach for the ankle restraint. The metal is cold, thick and it won’t budge. I’m trapped.
I finally look around the room, noticing several other women laid out randomly on the floor of the huge space. They are all dressed differently and I don’t recognize any of them. I try to shout to wake them up but no one stirs from their slumber. I let out a frustrated noise before yanking at the chain around my leg again. I notice the lock on the side of the ankle brace and reach for the pin in my hair. Part of my bun falls as I try to pick the lock like I see people attempt in the movies.
“What the fuck?” Another lady finally wakes up and I look over at her. She’s the furthest from me in the room so I can’t fully see her face.
“Hey! Hey, you! Are you chained up?” Silence lingers for a second before the lady finally speaks again.
“Chained up? What the fuck are you talking about?!” She sits up and I can finally see her clearly. She’s a fair-skinned, 30-something years old woman with dark brown hair. It looks like it used to be up in a neat french roll, but now it’s flopping all over the place. She wears a black evening gown that looks like it cost more than my car. Her cheeks are stained with mascara as if she were crying not too long ago. Her eyes meet mine and we stare at each other. She tries to stand up but winces in pain.
“Ahh! Ssss! What the hell?!” She lifts up her dress to reveal a bluish purple bruise covering half of her leg. She notices the chain around her ankle immediately afterward and gets hysterical. “Oh my God! Oh my fucking God! What the fuck is going on here?! Why am I chained up?!”
She tugs at the chain angrily and yells loudly. She screams so loudly that another woman opens her eyes.
“Wha-” she says, unable to get an entire word out. She looks around the room and sits up quickly. “What- where am I?!” Her blue eyes get big as they land on her chained up leg. She wildly tries to get free, causing her floral nightgown to fly up and reveal her white underwear. She kicks around like a captured animal until she finally gets tired.
One by one, the remaining six women wake up from their slumber. Some have bruises, some have fresh wounds, some aren’t hurt at all, but all have chains around their legs. Everyone is so distraught in their own minds that no one has yet attempted to figure out what’s going on here. I shout for them to calm down after realizing that I can’t bear to listen to one more woman ask
where she is. They all get quiet and look at my brown face and I clear my throat. “Us yelling and crying won’t get us out of here! We have to try to figure out what’s going on and who’s doing this to us!” They all look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language and I sigh. “Can any of you at least remember anything that happened before you ended up here? Like someone drugging you, hitting you, dragging you away?” They all look around at each other before thinking to themselves. A young woman that barely looks 18 speaks up first. “Well, I was babysitting for the Turners, and once they arrived back home, I left to walk around the corner to my house. I don’t remember how far I got, but evidently I didn’t make it.” “Yeah, same here.” A heavy-set woman in dark jeans and a yellow t-shirt chimes in, “I wasn’t babysitting, but I did just drop my two boys off at the daycare. I had errands to run but I don’t remember making it to the car after I left the post office.”
“Oh my God, this is fucking nuts,” the lady in the expensive gown adds, “I was at an art exhibit with my husband when I stepped away to use the facilities. I stepped into a stall and that’s all I remember.” She looks at me with a puzzled expression and everyone looks at each other the same way. I close my eyes to search my memory to see if I could recall a mysterious character, but I quickly draw a blank.
“Hey, does anyone remember seeing anyone mysterious or suspicious? Did anything out of the ordinary happen right before your last memory?” All the women begin to…
