Kate didn’t expect her cries for help would reach anyone, and she was surprised to hear somebody respond. She was still not sure if it was real or a dream.

The two men responded quickly. They released her and stood up immediately and called with respect to the direction of the door, “Boss.”

Curly-hair asked, “Didn’t you go to the resort center? Why did you come back so soon?”

Kate turned back to see a cold-eyed big man with a dark coat standing at the door looking expressionlessly at them.

Curly-hair explained hastily, “This chick clamped up and wouldn’t tell us anything. So we had to give her some motivation.”

“By stripping her?” the man ridiculed. “If I came a little later, might I have interrupted your intimacy?”

The two men wanted to explain again but seeing his face, they hushed up.

The man strode to her and looked down at Kate on the floor. She had half-opened clothes, and her shoulders were still twitching while she sobbed. Her messy bangs covered half of her face, the hair on the floor was wet, and her chin was dripping with an unknown liquid, probably a mixture of tears and snot.

He frowned and reprimanded his men. “How could you treat a lady so rudely?”

And before he heard the response, he added, “Go fetch a basin of water.”

The two men looked at each other and couldn’t figure out what their boss was thinking. Would the boss clean up for the girl? One of them asked: “Cold or warm water?”

Their boss gave them an angry stare, and they shut their mouths and ran out to get the water.

The man took off his black suede gloves slowly and walked toward Kate’s back. He squatted down and pulled her tied hands. Kate stayed still in terror. She struggled to hear what he said: “What is your name?”

The binding method was professional, and he patiently unbound the loops of rope. Her slender wrists bled because of the abrasions from the rope during her struggles. The man’s eyes lingered a little on them and then turned to untie her feet. Without getting her response to his question, he lifted her chin with two fingers and said, “Not hearing my question?”

Kate caught sight of his sharp eyes and was frightened. She curled her lips and said, “Ka…Kate.”

The man’s eyes became milder as he threw the rope to the floor. He kept the same pose and tried to talk casually, “Kate. This is the case. Your friend took some important information from us and wanted to blackmail us.” He twisted the corner of his mouth when he came to this. “I hate being blackmailed.”

“I will ask you one last time. Where is the disc?”

“Water is here.” The two men carried a big basin of water and put it down on the floor. The water was still rippling inside the basin. Except for the boss, everyone was wondering what the purpose of the water was.

Kate was thinking of the words the man said, and her brain was racing. She thought of what Caroline had told her, “You have to keep it safe. Do not tell anybody about it.” She pressed her lips tightly together. Perhaps her motion had irritated the boss, she felt the back of her skull was pulled tightly, and her whole face was pressed down into the water.

This happened without warning.

The other two men were also struck dumb. They didn’t expect their boss to take this step directly. Kate wasn’t prepared for it. She choked and tried to struggle, but her back was pressed tightly by the boss’s knee. Her limbs were spread limply on the floor uselessly.

When her mouth and nose were filled with water, and she was going to suffocate, she was lifted by her hair out of the water.

“Still won’t say it?” The voice was as cold as a demon from hell.

Kate kept coughing violently and seemed not to hear what he said.

With another splash, she was pressed into the water again before she stopped coughing.

This continued until she forgot how long she had been here, and the time between splashes felt longer and longer.

She felt a bitter taste in her mouth and coughed, not knowing if it was tears or bile. And in the end, Kate could only see two thin lips open and close silently. Her brain stopped functioning, and she was not able to receive or give any command.

The man stared at her for a while and suddenly released his clamping grip on her head. He instructed the other two, “Lock her up.”

What followed was a lasting and strange torment.

Kate was thrown into a narrow and pitched dark room. The room was small enough to fit one person. Its width was less than her height. She had to remain curled up all the time and was constantly reminded of the legendary “matchbox cell.”

Because of swallowing too much water, her lungs felt like they had exploded, her ears were pricking, and her head was aching. Her clothes were soaked in the front, and she felt seized by coldness from time to time. She shivered in coldness, hunger, and terror. She had to close her eyes and start to count as if she was playing cat and mouse when she was a kid.

Kate had an older sister. Her mother had wanted a boy. And when she was born, her mother was disappointed. The next year she had a sister. Both her parents were upset, and the three girls were also a heavy burden on the family.

When Kate was four years old, her mother got pregnant again, and they finally had a brother.

When her brother was three years old, Kate’s younger sister took him out to play by the river. Her brother fell into the river by accident, and her younger sister was scared to death and kept crying. Kate happened to find them. Her first reaction was that her brother was the most important person in their family, and he could not die. She jumped into the river without thinking.

Kate didn’t remember how she got back to the riverbank. She only remembered the freezing water with thin ice floating on the surface. It was so cold, and her body felt lifeless.

When she woke up, the first thing she saw was her grandma’s happy face. She told her that she had had a fever for three days and nights.

Her mother brought her ginger tea, saying that it could expel the coldness inside her. She hated ginger, but she drank it obediently, and her body warmed up.

Her mother was sitting by her bed and pushed her wet hair back and said, “Thank you, Kate. Thank you for saving your brother.” Her parents rarely expressed their feelings, and these were the warmest words they had ever said to her.

She shook her head, and her tears came out.

Her mother asked again, “Where is it?”

Ah? Kate raised her head in puzzlement.

Her mother’s loving face was fading away. She asked harshly, “The disc. Where is the disc Caroline gave you?”

She muttered, “What is the disc?”

“Still playing dumb?” Bang! She was slapped in the face.

She looked at her mother, who had never been so fierce and malicious.

Kate woke up because of hunger.

When she woke up, the day had broken. This time she was lying on a huge bed with complicated and exquisite designs on the head. She was covered with a comfy and soft quilt. The room was large with simple but elegant decorations—light-colored drapes and French windows, with a beige background and vague gold-patterned wallpaper. On one side of the wall, there was a full-length wardrobe that reached to the ceiling. And on the floor, there was a snow-white long-fur carpet.

Kate scanned the room blankly, and her memory came back to her slowly. She felt scared and disoriented. What was the situation now? Her first thought was to get away from here as soon as possible.

Right now. Immediately.

When Kate raised her hands, she saw they were bandaged. She was a little startled. She lifted up the quilt, and her chest hurt because of the movement of her arms. All her limbs were sore. She disregarded all these sensations. Fortunately, when she looked down, she was still wearing her sweater and jeans. Her coat was neatly folded on a chair nearby.

As she was going to get down from the bed, she heard footsteps from behind the door. She paused and got back on the bed, laid down under the quilt, and closed her eyes.

The door opened, and somebody walked in. He seemed to stop for a moment at the door and then approached. Kate’s heart was beating fast. The person stood by the bed for a while and sneered, “Get up if you are awake. Still acting?”

Kate had to open her eyes and see Curly-hair from yesterday, looking at her with a faint smile. The nightmare from yesterday came back to her. She couldn’t help withdrawing back to the quilt.

Curly-hair ignored her reaction and waved to the door, “Come in here.”

A middle-aged woman came in with a big tray. Kate’s stomach was empty, and her nose was sensitive to the smell of food. She smelled fried meat, onions, and spices.

The woman put a small collapsible table on the bed and put the tray on it. She said respectfully, “Miss, please eat while it is warm.”

Kate stared at her without moving. Curly-hair got impatient and urged, “Quick! Eat it because we have something else to do.”

She took the cup of chicken soup and gulped it down eagerly.

She was pondering inside while eating. Why were they suddenly treating her so nicely? Did she tell them something last time when she was not herself? Or would they continue to torture her after she ate?

She was so hungry that she swallowed the meat quickly without chewing. She coughed, and her lungs were pulled and hurt like hell. Curly-head frowned and said, “Slower. Nobody will be responsible if you die of choking. I will wait for you downstairs.” He waved his hand in annoyance and left.

Kate wondered what was waiting for her. Was the man who tried to drown her downstairs too? Her head tingled when she thought of him. But there was no way out for her. Why not enjoy the food first and deal with it later?

She had been prepared for more torture when she got downstairs, but she found Curly-hair and Buzz-cut sitting on the couch watching TV. They looked relaxed and turned off the TV as soon as they saw her. Curly-head picked up the car key on the coffee table and signaled her to follow them.

When they went outside, Kate saw she had been in a three-story house. Two large dogs with long fur growled at them from the porch. They jumped up when they saw her and barked, flashing their scary shining white teeth. Curly-head gave them a shout, and they strolled away.

Kate was glad that she didn’t try to escape from the window earlier; otherwise, the two big beasts could have torn her into pieces.

A shining dark sedan, parked at the door, looked familiar. It could have been the same one that kidnapped her.

Buzz-cut took the driver seat, and Curly-hair opened the back door and shoved Kate in. The car started, and Curly-hair took out a bag and covered her eyes. He did say “Sorry” when he did it but didn’t show any sign of feeling sorry.

The car drove fast, and Kate sat still with her back on the chair. She was worried and scared about where they would take her to, but she made no sound. The two of them didn’t speak either.

They rode in silence for about two hours until the car slowed down and stopped. Curly-hair took the bag off her head, and Kate adjusted her eyes to the light. She looked out of the window and identified that this was the alley where she was kidnapped.

Curly-hair drew a cigarette and lit it. He had one drag and exhaled it. And then he asked, “Will you call the police?”

Kate was surprised, but she shook her head immediately.

“OK. Smart.” Curly-head snorted.

He took another deep drag and threw his cigarette out of the window. And then he pointed at her with his forefinger and threatened her, “That thing since you said you didn’t have it, you’d better never take it out. Otherwise, you will end up like your friend…” He made a gesture of pointing a gun at her temple with his hand and pulling the trigger, “Bang!”

Kate shrank to the back of her seat but could not help asking, “She…did you…really kill her?”

Curly-head changed his face and said impatiently, “Better not to know too much.”

He pulled something from the front seat and threw it to her. She looked down. It was her shoulder bag.

“Get out.” After Curly-hair scrutinized her for a few more seconds, he released her.

Kate felt excited and pushed the door open. She jumped out hastily for fear they might reconsider. She walked fast at first, but as she got further away from the car, she simply ran.

The car didn’t drive away but stayed there until she lost sight of it at the corner. Curly-head went to sit in the front and took out his cell phone and called to report. “Boss. She has been sent back.”

“OK. Did you make the arrangement?”

“All set. We took extreme caution this time.”

The call ended. Buzz-cut started the car, and Curly-head took out the pack of cigarettes and gave one to him, helping him light it. And he lit one for himself, cursing, “Shit. Bad luck. What a moron.”

They had worked all night, and even hypnosis had been used. The girl had talked, but none of it was useful. They prick their ears up for a long time.

And finally, their boss concluded that these tricks only worked on normal people, but this one has a problem here: the boss pointed at his head.

That was to say, they had to play the game differently.

Kate ran up to the third floor in one breath. She took out her key and opened the door with trembling hands. She sat down on the floor as soon as she got into her room. Her roommate was not there during the day. The small room looked empty and spacious.

She sat there for quite a while, and when she got up to her feet, she felt a darkness come over her eyes and discomfort all over her body. It felt like she was drowning. When she wiped her forehead, it was wet.

Kate managed to walk to her bed, found some cold medicine, and swallowed it down with cold water. And then she laid down on her bed. The medicine took effect, and she soon felt herself slipping into sleep.

She slept deeply and only woke up once in the middle of the night. Her roommate was back. It was soothing to see a familiar face, and she closed her eyes again.

Kate heard her roommate saying something and wanted to get up, but her body was rooted in the bed. Her throat was dry and burned so much that she could not speak a word.

At last, Kate’s roommate woke her up. She was from Ohio. Kate said she had a fever and kept raving. Her roommate helped her take some antipyretics, and then Kate went back to sleep.

The next time she woke up, it was early in the morning. This time her cell phone rang for a long time. She put it to her ear and covered her head for fear of disturbing her roommate. She saw the number was her elder sister. Her sister cried on the phone, “Kate, come back home. Father is in the hospital.”

She was shocked. “Father? What is the matter with him?”

Her sister sobbed, “Some fatal disease.”

When Kate got outside, the sky was still gray. The city had not yet fully awakened. She took the bus to the supermarket, got something she put there, and headed to the railway station.

John caught her at the lounge of the railway station and gave her a bulging envelope with three thousand dollars. He said, scratching his head, ”Not much, but it might help. Don’t be anxious to return it to me.” Kate was so moved that she couldn’t say anything. John patted her on the shoulder and said, “No need to say anything. We are friends.”