The light shone directly above Carmen, but she couldn’t see. Her eyes were blindfolded. Her mind raced as her memories poured into her after she awoke. The same musty smell that she had nightmares about. She welcomed the cold waft of air that drifted in once in a while. She was hot. Beads of sweat formed and slid down her neck. There was a piece of tape over her mouth.

Carmen’s thoughts: Shane…

She heard a metal door open and the same high voice that had tortured her before. The same one who told her about her mother’s death. The one who threatened the same fate for her father. She felt more presence come closer to her. A hand undid the blindfold and she found herself face to face with a woman wearing a mask. It was a plain mask. The woman was tall and have long blonde hair. She made sure the mask wouldn’t fall before walking closer to Carmen.

Woman: So we meet again.

Carmen looked up at her hiding her fear as best as she could. Shane would come. She wasn’t going to be scared. She didn’t need to be scared.

Shane nearly rammed Bette’s door down.

Bette: Do you always have to make a grand entrance like that?

Shane: Where is Carmen?

Shane leaned down on Bette’s desk. The look in her eye even made Bette shiver. The wild look that no one could control. Tina ran in slamming Bette’s door too and making a hole in her wall.

Tina: Bette! Carmen’s missing!

Shane: So I see you just got the news.

Bette furrowed her brow.

Bette: For heaven’s sake of all times to go missing. She chooses now. We just pulled Cezar into custody.

Shane: Why is he in custody?

Bette: We wanted to try and make him confess to dealing the drugs and guns from 5 years back. He said he wanted to see that his daughter is safe before he would say anything.

Shane: Fuck. That means he isn’t the head of this. Someone else is controlling him and they took Carmen because they knew if Cezar was caught, he wouldn’t dare whisper a word if they had her.