A crash. Footsteps. Someone was in my house. Multiple people. I could hear the crunching of feet on glass. Someone had broken something, maybe a window. Neither of my parents were home. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about that. My mind raced. I froze on my bed. Even with the hunting knife my uncle gave me, they could overpower me. I could try to jump out the window, but if this was a robbery, they probably didn’t realize that I was home alone. Besides, it was wintertime, and I already knew that the window had frozen shut. To be honest, I didn’t really want to jump, anyway. From such a height, it was likely that I would break an ankle. I decided the best course of action was—

A man burst into my room and aimed a pistol at me. He missed. Something hit my pillow three inches to the left of my head. I impulsively rolled off my bed and grabbed the bedside lamp. He fired and somehow missed again. I felt something whizz past my ribcage. 

The man scowled and tried to fire again, but I swung wildly with all my strength and swatted the gun out of his hand. He cried out in pain. I swung again and smashed the lamp against his face. The light bulb shattered, and the man stumbled backwards and collapsed in the hallway. A crimson puddle formed around his head. How did I do that much damage? I didn’t even swing that hard. Where were the other guys? There had definitely been more. I slowly approached the man, who might not have been fully unconscious. The person who entered with him likely heard the disturbance. Where were they? This guy sure didn’t look professional. He wore jeans and a stained sky blue winter coat, seemingly fresh from goodwill. His greasy hair may be because of the blood. Jesus, did I kill him?

I felt something sharp prick my neck. I frantically glanced around; there was no one to be seen. It must have been some sort of dart. I started gasping for air. What if they messed up the dosage of whatever drug they just injected me with? Who were they? I tried walking back to my bedroom but only made it two steps before I sunk to my knees in overwhelming fatigue. Dots covered my vision and I could see darkness creeping in all around me. My body simply no longer obeyed my commands. Nothing was working. I felt my face plant into the carpet. I think I fell hard, but it was difficult to tell because my face was so numb. Before passing out, I only recalled the vague voices of my captors. 

Darkness. I was in a dark room. It was pitch black. I sensed being in a small room despite nothing. So tiny. I could feel the four corners. The ceiling keeps my head down. Both sides are compressing me. The bottom was too shallow. Far too shallow.

Cold. It was cold, and it was getting colder. I was naked. Nothing at all. No underwear, no blanket. I could feel my nakedness, but I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see myself.

Silence. There was silence. The silence that devours you and spits you out like you are nothing. The silence that buries itself deep inside you and hollows you out. The silence that makes you lie in bed for hours and stare at the ceiling. My kind of silence, I suppose. 

Wet. I was wet. Why was I wet? I could feel the water. Moving. Rising. It took me a few seconds to realize I was going to drown. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Just that silence. That god damned silence. It wouldn’t go away. I screamed and screamed, but the walls seemed to grow tighter. 

The freezing water rose higher. Gooseflesh. Eventually my throat hurt, so I gave up screaming. The water rose above my hips. And then my stomach. Finally, I noticed that the water had reached my chest, and I realized I was done for. My fate was to perish in this tiny enclosure. This little, dark, cold, wet, silent box. 

The water rose above my head, and I was…

“Hello, there,” a young, attractive blonde woman shook me awake. Her steely blue eyes penetrated me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat, blinking desperately to try and remove the dryness in my eyes.. Where was I? It looked like some kind of private jet. I was sitting in a big white leather seat. It was the type of plane only seen in the movies, not in real life. I glanced out the window and realized with horror that we were already in the air. I felt weak, sick. 

“Where.. where am I?” I asked. The woman smiled. I noticed her dress for the first time. It was white and expensive, just like the rest of the airplane. 

“Don’t worry. You are perfectly safe.” The woman kept her PR smile painted on her smug, beautiful face.

“Jesus…” I muttered, rubbing my eyes. My head was pounding. Worse, I was nauseous, and not solely because of nerves. 

The woman approached me with a garbage bin, and I snatched it out of her hands just in time. I’ve always hated throwing up. You can’t breathe. It burns, it stinks, and the water tastes sweet after. I guess it’s sort of a silly thing to say. I doubt anyone enjoys it.

“Sorry about that,” I groaned after a few minutes. Why was I apologizing to my kidnapper? I apologize too often. Was that a bad thing? I wasn’t sure. 

“Don’t worry about it. Would you like some ginger ale?” The woman asked.

“A napkin first. But yes, I would actually,” I burped. It was grotesque. 

“You must be wondering what’s going on,” Her smile faded a bit.

“Yes,” I said. My heart was still pounding. 

“You’ve been taken,”

“I can see that.”

“There was an excellent reason,”

“Which is?

“We selected you for your unique genetic traits.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Only a few people like you exist, and only you are fit for what lies ahead,” the woman declared. I realized that they had changed my clothes. I was wearing a comfortable white sweater and white dress pants. They had even had the audacity to put on a belt. At least the belt and shoes were black. How bizarre. 

“Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me,” I blurted out. I immediately regretted it. To my surprise, she burst out laughing. It was an annoying laugh.

“You…you just don’t hold back. Do you?” She could barely catch her breath as she stood up, taking her hand off my shoulder. The jet smelled like vanilla. Fresh vanilla. 

“I guess I get like that when people shoot me and haul me onto a jet against my will,” I grumbled.

“Don’t worry, this is all safe,” the woman assured me.

“You’ve already mentioned that.”

“Within a few days, you’ll be home,”

“You still haven’t explained what the hell I’m doing here. What do you want with me?” I demanded. 

“You are actually very lucky,”

“Lucky?!”

“Mr. Mattheson has chosen you to take part in a study,”

“What kind of study?”

“It has to do with—”

“Wait, did you just say Mr. Mattheson? As in Matthias Mattheson?” I asked. Her smile broadened once again. Where were the other passengers? I suddenly realized that it was just me and her on this plane. 

“Yes, the same. Now, the study,”

“Yeah, yeah. Continue,”

“Well, Mr. Mattheson has invented a time travel device,” 

“You’re shitting me,”

“No,”

“That’s not possible. I read somewhere that Einstein’s theory of—-” 

“Mattheson found a way,”

“How?”

“I don’t know. None of us do. It was just him and his team. It’s a closely guarded secret. I’m sure you understand.”

“Yeah, I guess,”

“Good,”

“Has he used it yet? How do they know it works?”

“Oh, they’ve used it dozens of times,”

“Why do you need me, then? What’s the connection between my genetics and this?”

“One of Mr Mattheson’s team members hypothesized that someone with your traits could be immune to the travel sickness,”

“Travel sickness?”

“There is a cost for device usage. A violent illness that causes one to lose one’s mind. We know it’s not permanent or fatal, but it is unpleasant and we would like to avoid it at all costs,”

“Oh,”

“Yes, an appropriate response, I think. I apologize on behalf of Mattheson Enterprises for the unpleasant experience you had.

“Why like this? I’m sure I would have agreed.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Besides, this isn’t entirely legal. The entire operation is in danger of discovery by the Canadian government. They are aware of our project but are unsure of its nature. We couldn’t risk exposure,”

“Fair enough,”

“I hope you understand,”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not really,” she chuckled.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Margarethe,”

“I’m Ashton, but I guess you already knew that.” 

“Indeed. Well, I hope I have answered some of your questions. We actually just got in the air about twenty-five minutes after you woke up. So we still have about six hours left on our flight,”

“Where are we going?”

“Turkey. If you need anything, let me know. Food, drinks. I know you are feeling a little sick. That’s just from the tranquilizer that we used. A side effect is nausea. It should pass soon,” 

“Thank you.” I sighed and rested my head on the soft headrest. I felt a bit more relaxed, but many questions remained. I had no control over this situation whatsoever. There was nothing I could do. Perhaps that thought allowed me to drift back to sleep somehow. 

I woke up drenched in sweat, so I drank the water Margarethe must have left beside me. We were already descending.