The Shadow

By R.M.M.H

Steven has been kidnapped one night after his art exhibition. Steven must now do everything in his power to protect the other kidnapped people from the Shadow as well as figure out why he was targeted in the first place. Why was he kidnapped? What do these lime-green T-shirts mean? Will he ever get out of the torture room? Does this have anything to do with Krystina, his old best friend who disappeared years ago?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728315119

R.M.M.H

R.M.M.H stands for Rachel Marie Mahan-Henry. She grew up in Cobalt, Ontario with her mom, step-dad and 2 sisters. She started writing books at a young age as an escape from her troubles. She is now grown and has a wife, Tami and a daughter, Hailee. Rachel enjoys hiking in the forest with her family and 3 dogs. She also enjoys fishing, hunting and a nice cup of coffee.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

A scream fills the night air of the underground room. Steven looks up at his torturer from his spread eagle chained position on the floor. His captor moves like the wind and has no defining features that he can see other than a shapeless shadow. The concrete he is chained to and lay’s upon is rough and uneven. Places dig into his flesh making sure he’s never comfortable but always in pain. The light above him flickers, like in a scary movie just before the killer comes into the frame. Its low hum is his constant companion. What Steven can see of the rest of the room does not leave him hopeful. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all made of concrete. There are no windows as far as he can tell. The air smells of heated metal, iron and burnt hair. There are no sounds and noises other than the ones he and his captor make. Even with the light above him it only casts light around him leaving the rest of the room with the feeling of a dark endless hole all around him. His tormentor looms over him from the darkness of the room. His tormentor never says anything when he comes for him. On this visit The Shadow, as Steven calls him has cut him from shoulder to wrist on both arms. Removing a piece of flesh the size of a pencil lead all the way down. The knife The Shadow is using is dull and rusted. Bits of rust fall off the knife into the wounds. Steven’s arms are on fire. The pain pulses in time with his racing heart. Steven, by all means, considers himself a slim man with rugged facial features. He’s not bulging with muscles but is naturally toned. At a time before his kidnapping and captivity, he thought he could take care of himself. Now he wonders if that were wishful thinking. He hears The Shadow move to his metal tray. When he reappears in the light he’s holding a black plastic bag. The Shadow walks to and kneels beside Steven’s right shoulder. He watches as The Shadow opens the zipped black bag and pulls out something white and powder like. A new smell fills the air and just as Steven realizes what it is, The Shadow rubs the salt roughly into the wounds. Steven’s screams erupt from his lips and mouth even though he fights to hold in his screams of agony. This makes The Shadow push harder and begins pouring the salt into the open wounds. Steven’s face is a scarlet red from the ferocious pain the flow’s over and through his arms. It’s like lava from an erupting volcano. Steven becomes disoriented and dizzy. He prays for unconsciousness to overtake him. The blackness of oblivion is at the edge of his sight. The Shadow sees that Steven is on the verge of passing out and stands and moves in between Steven’s legs that are spread still. He looks down at his captor and tilts his head to the right, like a puppy when it’s being cute or trying to understand the command you have just given it. Steven is so out of it that he doesn’t see The Shadow raise his left steel toe boot but he feels it as The Shadow stomps down sharply on his unprotected naked testicles. Causing Steven to shriek one last time before throwing up in himself and passing out cold. The Shadow again looks downs at Steven before removing his boot from Steven’s testicles. He watches his captive’s manhood swell and become discoloured before his very eyes. He walks back to his metal tray and sets the black bag down on it and grabs the bowl of water, a rag and iodine before returning to Steven’s right side. The room is so quiet that The Shadow can hear every breath his new toy takes.

CHAPTER 1

Someone please help me!! Steven yells,

Even though he knows no one can hear him. When he came to he found that The Shadow had stitched his wounds closed. Steven also noticed that he had been moved back to his previous corner. Where only his left ankle is shackled and chained. A sign comes from him as he hobbles to the bucket in the corner that’s bolted and secured to the wall. He has to pee but knows that it’s going to hurt like hell. Almost like pissing out razors blades both sharp and dull. His manhood still throbs from being stomped on, not to mention that he’s swollen so much that it hurts for him to walk. Steven braces his left hand on the cold concrete wall well his right-hand holds his swollen member. He takes a deep breath and begins to relieve himself. He grits his teeth and holds in his groans of agony as liquid fire races from his body. When he finishes he sucks in a deep breathe of stake air and pants it out trying to calm the pulsing pain between his legs.

Well on the plus side there’s no blood. He says.

To himself as he turns from the wall and sees the black bag at the edge of the light. Steven moves to it with caution. He looks around trying to spot any tied wires or lines. When he sees none he grabs the bag. Opening it slowly he pulls out a bottle of ice, a sandwich, toilet paper, and a plain lime green short sleeve t-shirt. Steven takes everything back to his corner. Wrapping the bottle in the t-shirt, he ever so gently places it on his swollen family jewels. He then checks the sandwich, making sure there are no crushed pills in it, before eating it. As he heats Steven listens to the cold stale air of nothing. This light above him makes no hum sounds, there is no sound of anything. Almost like the surrounding air is watching and waiting for the Shadow to return, so he and only he may fill it with screams of pain, agony, and suffering. Steven shakes his head.

Don’t start thinking like that. He scolds himself.

Keep it together. Think of a way out.

There is no way out. Comes a female voice startling Steven.

Who’s there, He asks in a nervous tone.

My name is Lunin. What day was it before you ended up here.

Loonin? he asks.

No!! Lunin. Like a lunar eclipse.

Lunin? How long have you been here, he asks.

That’s what I’m trying to figure out if you’d answer my question.

What?: Steven replied before figuring it out, OH! Umm… May."

May what?

May 7th, 2013

Lunin begins to laugh.

What’s so funny? Steven demands.

Sorry… I’m sorry. She says calming herself. But if you’re telling me the truth. I’ve been here for two years, six months, three weeks and four days.

Why haven’t I heard from you before now? He asks.

I’ve seen…

The Shadow… Steven volunteered, interrupting Lunin.

Sure. She says. I’ve seen The Shadow do some pretty messed up shit to people he brings down here. So I stay quiet usually. No offense but if he’s hurting you, He’s not hurting me.

I get what you mean. How do you deal with the scr…

He takes his play toys to a padded room, She says cutting him off. What I mean is behind all this cement and concrete, there is a padded wall. It makes this place soundproof. So once he takes you into the torture room, I hear nothing until he opens the door and brings you out."

How do you know about the walls? Steven asks.

The guy that was here when I was first brought here. Told me he was trying to tunnel out. I personally thought he was nuts but The Shadow came for Kevin and took him into the torture room and never brought him back out. I don’t know how long it was after that The Shadow came again and fixed the hole in the wall. I watched him do it. She says.

Right. And where, pray tell, was this hole? He asks.

Behind your bucket… Oh, and one more thing.

What’s that? he sneers.

Your light is still on. That means he’s coming back for you. Good luck Steven.

What do you mean he’s coming back for me? He asks confused.

But Lunin says nothing more, making Steven wonder if she was ever really there. He removed the water bottle from his jewels, unwraps it and takes a sip. He thinks over what Lunin said about the tunnel and begins poking at the wall around his bucket.

Hard as a rock. He says

Spitting water on the wall just right of his toilet and hangs his head as he once again places the cold bottle on his jewels.

CHAPTER 2

Steven wakes from the sleep he hadn’t realized he’d fallen into. He listens wondering why he has woken with worry and dread. He raises his head and looks around, listening. That when he hears the shuffling footsteps. He raises his head and looks towards the bag that he got the water, food and other things from but finds it gone. Steven listens with everything in him but the footsteps are gone. Lunin? He asks nervously. No