Prologue:
April 1st
12:45 am

Tick-tock, tick-tock...

All she could focus on for the past hour, was the sound that marked the seconds. Over and over, the ticking continued in its normal pattern, but it was an impertinent chime. It was like having droplets of water fall incessantly on the eyes of a person trying hard to sleep, each time they were past the threshold of unconsciousness.

Her black, smooth, long hair fanned out against the lilac colored pillows of her bed. It had been exactly three days, twelve hours, nineteen minutes, and forty-one seconds (and counting) since she had last heard from her boyfriend, after a rather public fight at one of his brother's infamous parties. They hadn't broken up, so it was still rude of him to ignore her for days without offering a coherent explanation about his acts. She wasn't the one that needed to apologize to him.

Ashton had been drinking at the party-- and in her eyes-- he had also been flirting with some old fling from high school. It was not proper for a committed and loving boyfriend to have his arm draped around the small brunette, while whispering rather closely into the woman's ear. The giggling and flirtatious smile that whatever his comment had won from "the old friend," most certainly wouldn't be due to a harmless joke.

It was also uncalled for said friend to squeeze his thigh, so dangerously close to the crotch of his jeans.

It was definitely not Nadiya's intention to cause a scene after being witness to that, but she found it hard to control her volcanic jealousy against such a sight. Did men no longer preserve an ounce of respect?

Amazingly green eyes, lined by dark Kohl, stared at the treacherous hands of the wall clock. It was late and she knew there was a party happening-- Ashton's brother was celebrating his bachelor party on April Fool's. What a sour joke, really.

From a meaningless old fling, to a sleazy hooker, the point was that Ashton preferred the company of easy women to hers. Perhaps it was time she reconsidered the relationship.

Two years down the drain, and another point to statistics.

Nadiya shrugged nonchalantly; she was only twenty-four, life would move on.

Yes, it was decided! She would dump Ashton as soon as she got a hold of him and she would reclaim her status as a single woman and move on with her life. Certainly in some space of this world there was her soul mate, waiting to connect with her...

Her cellular phone lighted up, vibrated, and the melody of the musical ring tone flooded her bedroom.

Smiling widely, she shot up and took the call without even bothering with the caller identification screen. Perhaps Ashton had woken up to common sense. Maybe he had not misplaced her new number, which she had changed sometime before the catastrophic party.

"Hello?"

" Hey, is Janet around?" came a deeply baritone voice.

Nadiya frowned. "I think you have the wrong number."

The man sighed, "Five-four-seven-nine-one-two -seven?" He sounded a bit dubious at the last digits.

Nadiya bit her lip. "Yeah, that's me, but I don't know a Janet, sorry."

"Gosh, I'm really sorry to bother you at this hour." he sounded so sexy in his sincerity and embarrassment. Nadiya felt her cheeks heat up; this was not the time to ponder on whether a complete stranger sounded alluring or not.

Nadiya smiled, "If it's any consolation, you didn't wake me."

He laughed and it sounded so genuine, not at all induced by the effects of alcohol, though there was music in the background of wherever this man was calling from.

"Well, thanks. Have a good night."

"You too." Nadiya piped. "And hope you can find Janet."

"Me too."

They hung up.

Nadiya stared at her cellular phone, at the flashing, foreign set of numbers on the multi-colored screen of her smart phone. It had been a long time since she heard someone so real. Perhaps it was just a one moment thing- maybe his Janet was a girlfriend whom sat at home waiting for his call just like she was for Ashton's, though highly unlikely. It sounded like he was trying to contact someone for the first time; there was a certain shyness in his deep voice, a hesitation.

Maybe it was a woman who gave him a false number to not blatantly turn him down. It wasn't like it hadn't been done before. His voice could be sexy, but his physique could be unattractive-- and that took precedence in modern day romances.

Then again, it could have been someone he had lost touch with and was trying to get a hold of after so many years.

For whatever reason, she wasn't too worried. He hadn't been the only wrong number; she had gotten such calls for days now.

The phone rang again, and for a split second she hoped that it would be the mysterious caller again- just because she wanted to talk to someone who didn't know her. A stranger offering words of sympathy was just what she needed.

"Hi again." she answered.

"Nadiya?"

She sighed deeply. It was Ashton's brother. The party was going quite rowdy from all the noise Nadiya heard. Her blood began to boil at the thought of what happened, or would happen. Stupid men.

"Hey, Nadiya, it's me, Brent." he clarified loudly. Idiot, she could hear him fine, he didn't have to raise his voice. "I hadn't called you before, why you answer like that?"

"Never mind that." she chided. "Why are you calling me?

"Ash is really down, Nad." he sighed. "Drunk dead, come down and get him?"

"Why can't you bring him?"

"Nad, it's my party!"

"And he's your brother."

"And your boyfriend."

Nadiya licked her lips. "Fine. Where are you?"

He gave Nadiya the address, which she wrote down on her hand after quickly locating a pen. To top it off, Brent had to pick the cheapest bar in the worst part of town for his little rendezvous with the "boys."

"I'll be there in about thirty. Traffic shouldn't be too bad."

"Great, Nad's." Brent laughed.

After hanging up with Ashton's insufferable brother, Nadiya looked down at her body. She was wearing chick yellow pajama pants, with a red heart pattern. The matching tank top read, Bury me in love. Ashton had given it to her for their first Valentines; he had it custom made. It was a bit cheesy, but she thought is sweet.

When they were together intimately, he would get on top of her to the point where one day she joked, "You'll bury me into the bed." He had smirked and affirmed that his intention was to bury her, but in his love. Yes, he used to be quite the sappy romantic fool. It later become an in-joke and she remembered those times quite fondly. That had been sweet Ashton, before his brother had come back to town to destroy everything.

Oh, Brent was a very bad boy; a terrible influence. Aside being a heavy drinker, and occasional smoker of marijuana, Brent enjoyed spending spare money in cabarets and in places where already scantily clad women, shed their garments for male entertainment.

Though engaged to a pretty and wonderful woman, he lived life on the edge, with a squad of lovers in tow. Poor blind fool who believed in his promises of commitment for marriage.

Nadiya should probably have changed clothes to go, but feeling in the mood to spite Ashton-- even if he was drunk-- was strong. Nadiya would go in her cute little pajamas and waltz in there to drag Ashton out. Once he sobered up, she would count to one hundred and then sing a song of good-bye.

Ashton had to go. He had been behaving stupidly for over six months and she was sick of having to drag him out of bars.

Once again, the phone interrupted her train of thoughts. It was probably Brent, rushing her and asking her why she wasn't there yet, although not even five minutes had passed since they had hung up.

Grabbing the cell phone angrily, she huffed, "What is it now?"

A cough on the other end, "I'm sorry to bother you again, but--"

Nadiya cursed her habit of never checking the damned I.D. It was him-- the mysterious caller. "No, no... I'm sorry, I thought it was someone else."

"Oh?" he sounded dubious.

"Really, it's okay."

"Look it's stupid, I know, but I called back to let you know I inverted the last two numbers of the person I was calling, so, that's why I got to you." He laughed nervously, "No April Fool's prank, I swear."

Nadiya smiled. Somehow, she believed him. "It's okay." She was curious, "Did you locate the person?"

He clicked his tongue. "Nope. Either combination of number is wrong. I guess the joke was on me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'll live." he said dismissively. "Again, sorry to have been a bother. Now it'll really be good-night."

Nadiya held her breath and exhaled the question that went round-and-round in her mind, "What's your name?"

"Blaine." he replied. "Yourself?"

"Nadiya."

"Pretty name. Well, Nadiya, have a good night."

"I'll need it."

She terminated the call with a smile. The flashing number was no longer unknown. Though she had no face for the name, she did have a voice. Nadiya saved the information in her contacts. Somehow, he was no longer just a wrong number and she liked seeing his name in her phone.

---

April 1st:
1:49 am

Nadiya had driven around the block of the shady bar four times, in hopes that a parking place became free. At this late hour, with street lamps flashing on and off, and the ebony darkness of a moonless sky, the last thing she wanted to do was park two blocks away in the quiet. Silence and darkness in this part of the city was not something Nadiya wanted to experience.

Not too many women left with a good memory, some were said to never even make it out. Maybe it was all drama. Then again, hearing the echoes of drunken laughters and shrill giggles from cheap women was confirmation that decency and safety was greatly lacking in such a dirty environment.

She went around again three more times, but the cars seemed to be glued to the curbs. She could hear the music and barbaric laughter each time she passed in front of the cursed locale-- Bar Good Stars. Nadiya was thankful that she had brought her coat even if she really didn't need it. At least it would cover her up; the pajama, no matter how wide and unflattering to her body, was in the end a pajama.

To drunk men, one could be dressed with a cardboard box and they'd still stare with half-closed eyelids and nasty intentions behind them.

The thought repulsed her.

It was obvious she had no choice but to park further away, dash the two blocks, and have the lazy Brent help her with Ashton to where she would manage to find a space. Going back to the obscured and quiet block, she located a vacated spot behind an alley. When the engine was off, she inhaled a deep breath and measured the distance from her position, to the bar. It wasn't that far, really.

Yet, the hairs on the back of her neck and arms were reacting to negativity in an altered way. Something was off.

"Keys, phone." she clutched the items. "Get out and run. Simple."

Nodding, she counted, "One, two, three-- go!"

She opened the car door, shut it, pressed button on the key that auto-locked the vehicle and got on the side-walk. After about three seconds of shivering when she passed a dark and stinky alley, she changed her mind. She preferred to walk on the street, alongside the train of parked cars.

Nadiya thanked God when block one was passed without inconvenience. From here she could see the hot pink neon lights of the bar, flashing in and out as if that effect were made to lure patrons. Frankly, it reminded her of moths...

Mid-way, about to pass a small silver coupe, the passenger door opened, forcing her to halt. A man emerged from the vehicle, his back to her, sporting a well designed navy jacket. His cologne was strong but somehow it smelled cheap.

Nadiya sneezed, then hugged her body.

"I'm sorry." she murmured.

The man turned around quickly, before she could resume her run and her arm was violently gripped jerking her backwards. A gun was placed on her temple and all air left her lungs when she saw the man's face.

His beady eyes, as dark as the night, were staring back at her, his nose that was long and probably broken in five different places sniffed her and a cackle emerged from his chapped and bleeding lips. His teeth were rotten green, long and pointy. If there was a human being who looked like a demon this man was it. His dark trench coat covered his body, but by his skinny long face, he was certainly wiry.

Nadiya was shivering, despite the cover of her beige coat. "Please... I have no money."

The man's finger moved as if to squeeze the trigger and she squealed in fear. "I have no interest in that, woman."

Her lips trembled, his voice was like thunder only twisted like Batman's Joker.

"Please don't hurt me."

He laughed manically. "Why does everyone plead the same?" He inched closer, his breath smelling like bile, "If I point a gun at a pretty young lady like yourself, obviously, I plan to hurt you."

"Please!" she begged.

"Turn around now." he ordered.

"Please no."

His free hand blew across her face as she screamed in response. "Be quiet, or I'll blow your head off."

Nadiya sobbed and turned around as commanded, feeling the tip of the gun pressed at the base of her neck. "That's a good girl. To your car... we're going for a little drive."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

He pushed the point of the gun deeper into her neck, and at that she squirmed helplessly.

"Another dumb and stereotypical question." He chuckled, "If I'm threatening to kill you and want to go for a ride, then obviously I want something. Isn't that self-explanatory?"

"Please..." she cried. "I have nothing to give you... no ransom, no money..."

"And do I look like the type of killer whom randomly sits in a car, gazing at the stars and wondering, oh my, oh dear... the first girl that appears I will hunt like a deer? Of course not. I was waiting for you."

They were almost at her car, but she had to buy some time. This man was crazy and it would be stupid to get into the car with him without a fight.

"But why?" she insisted.

He didn't answer her right away, instead he was mumbling in another language-- one she had never heard. "You are simply bait."

"For who, or what?"

He chuckled sickly again. "Since you are probably going to die in the end, I might as well tell you."

They were two feet away from her car, she should try to just pass it by and keep walking further. Entertain him, find someone around... but by God, wasn't anyone watching this? Didn't anyone care?

He yanked her by the hair, earning a yelp from her, as he dragged her several feet back. "I believe you're too scared to notice, but we just passed your car."

He hissed, "Open it."

Nadiya fumbled with the keys in her hand, unable to stop the tears that rolled down her honey tanned cheeks. The car clicked open. She was doomed.

"Please!" she begged again. "Don't do this to me."

"I'll be nice to give you two options." he said. "One, you ride in the trunk, or two, you breathe into this pretty little handkerchief."

Nadiya's sobs intensified, as he whirled her around to gaze at her face. He gave her a pitying look, as if hurt by seeing a baby suffer. "And then they say I'm heartless."

"Please!"

"Trunk or chloroform?" he growled.

Nadiya would have fallen to her knees if he hadn't held her straight. Shaking his head, he forced the red handkerchief onto her mouth and nose. She struggled against him, holding her breath. Her mind was racing, but maybe if she pretended to...

Nadiya slackened her body on purpose and prayed to God to let her breath hold a bit longer. If she could pretend to have been drugged, then there was a better chance at escaping; at least she could think of something while awake.

Just when she thought her lungs would explode from lack of oxygen, he removed the handkerchief and carried her into the backseat of her car.

He snatched her cellular phone away and shut the door.

After a few seconds he was in the driver's seat, messing with her phone. He was humming Symphony No. 5 from Beethoven. Squinting her eyes, she watched his sinister profile. He was absolutely horrendous, like a villain of out a horror movie.

Whoever he was calling, he had it placed on speaker.

"Hello?"

Nadiya's heart froze-- it was Blaine! She felt her blood run ice cold. She had to stay quiet, she had to be still-- she had to figure a way out.

"Good evening, Blaine." the killer smiled. "I do assume you are, Blaine, correct?"

"Who is this?" he sounded suspicious.

"I'm the most realistic joker of April Fool's."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you know what time it is, son?"

"Look, I'm not in the mood for this. I'm hanging up."

"Nadiya will suffer that consequence."

"Nadiya?"

"Do not pretend you don't know her." he frowned. "You've called twice this evening."

"If this is a joke because I called her tonight, I already apologized."

"It is now," he glanced at his wristwatch, "Almost two-thirty. By the time the sun rises, Nadiya will be in a glass coffin."

"You're crazy!" Blaine shouted, "This isn't funny."

"I'm not laughing, are I?"

"I'm hanging up."

"Nadiya will be eight feet in the dirt, in the middle of nowhere." he chuckled. "No water, no food, and just a little bit of air to breathe."

Silence on the other line. Nadiya was afraid that her only hope had indeed hung up.

"Hundreds of Madagascar roaches will cover her view from the sunlight."

He continued with a vicious smirk, as Nadiya's stomach churned. She hated roaches. Swallowing the scream that burned her throat, she began to pray for an idea to get out of this.

"You have twenty-four hours to solve the first riddle, or the little roaches make her company inside the glass coffin. The poor soul won't take it-- she'll go crazy for sure."

"Who the hell are you?" Blaine drawled angrily.

"A stupid question, Blaine. I expected a smarter man for this mission."

"How do I know this isn't a joke? I don't even know her!" He sounded upset, "Why are you calling me?"

Killer tapped the steering wheel, "You're the last call she received. I promised myself to use the last person who called her, for tactical reasons." Then he laughed. "You expect me to believe that you don't know her?"

"I don't. I just met her tonight."

He shook his head, "Even if she were a stranger, you wouldn't want to receive her pinky finger in a box tomorrow as proof, now would you? I'm sure that even if she meant nothing to you, well, you're not heartless as me, Blaine. You want me to cut off her finger as proof, to make you care? That would be joyful for me, but painful to her."

"My God."

"Do not involve God in this, Blaine." He smirked, "This is a devilish affair."

"How do I know she's alive?"

"Though that is another dumb question, it is a very sensible one." he nodded. "The only one I agree with being asked. There are many dishonest people in my profession. But I am a complacent man, Blaine, and you must be too."

Then, the killer turned around and looked straight at Nadiya, holding the phone out to her. He cocked his head to one side and said, "Nadiya dear, say something to Blaine."

She stopped breathing.

"I know you faked it. Say something," he pointed the gun at her, "Or I'll shoot your arm and then you'll be in pain. Save yourself extra suffering, dear, and let Blaine hear your pretty voice."

Biting her lip, she opened her eyes slowly and sat up. Her trembling hands gripped the cell phone over her captor's, but he wouldn't let the instrument go.

"Blaine?" she sobbed softly.

"Louder Nadiya." the man hissed.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry."

"Nadiya?" Blaine gasped.

The killer, jerked the phone back to his lips. "See Blaine? I never lie." He yanked Nadiya by the hair and she screamed in rebuttal.

"Don't hurt her." Blaine exclaimed.

"She has to go to sleep the painful way, Blaine. Devious women annoy me."

All Nadiya knew was the sharp pain in her head and the world of blackness that followed.

---

A/N:

New idea, a little change of theme.

Not edited.

I would like to know what you think.