Chapter Seven

                                    

                                          
When Anita woke up, she did not recognize where she was. It was not the road she had been tranquilized on. She was on a hard floor in a dark room. A metal door was in front of her. It had a small window at the top of the door with three rusty metal bars. Light came in from between the bars.
She immediately began to panic. As she did, she noticed that there was something around her ankle. A cuff. The cuff was attached to a chain. The chain was attached to the wall. She tried to pry the cuff off, using all of her strength.
"No...no no no!" she said to herself, continuing to struggle with the cuff.
She pulled at the chain aggressively, trying to rip it out of the wall. After a few minutes of trying, she came to the realization that it was not possible. She was not strong enough. She groaned in frustration.
"Shit!"
Suddenly, there was a noise at the door. Someone was unlocking it. She watched the door in terror.
The door opened. Soft light poured in. A figure entered. It was Erik. He wore the same clothes he wore when he had hunted her down. He smiled at her.
"Well look who is finally awake," he said.
She stared at him in absolute horror, her eyes wide.
"If you had been more cooperative, things could have been far less laborious. But no. You just had to be difficult..."
He advanced towards her. She looked up at him silently, growing even more afraid.
"The king did not pay me the full sum of the bounty put out for your capture. Thanks to you fleeing and injuring yourself."
He shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Ah, Midgardians. So foolish. I wish he had not healed your head wound from you hitting your head on that rock in the forest. If he did not, you would be dead at this moment."
'Midgardians?' she thought. 'Isn't that something from the Thor movies?' 
Once he reached her, he squatted down in front of her so they were now face to face.
"But you are here now. The king is very pleased. He is very eager to see you. He said he wanted to see you as soon as you woke. And...well...you are awake. So, let us be on our way to the throne room."
She was very confused. She was having trouble processing half of the things Erik had just told her.
Erik reached into his back pants pocket and removed a small key. He unlocked the cuff around her ankle and removed it. She immediately began to fight him, trying to escape. But he was too strong for her. He put her in a chokehold.
"Stop fighting. You did not escape earlier and I can assure you that you will not escape now."
She gasped frenziedly, desperate for a breath of air.
"Now when I let go, you will not try to escape. You will obey. Nod your head if you understand."
She nodded her head quickly. She would do anything at the moment to breathe again.
He let go of her. She breathed in deeply.
"Let us go."
He stood up from the cold hard ground and grabbed her by her arm. He led her out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
He walked quickly. She struggled to keep up with his pace. Whenever she was moving too slow, he pulled her arm hard to get her to move faster.
Something was very familiar about this place. It strongly resembled the castle from the Thor movies. She had watched them so much due to her obsession with Loki since 11th grade that she knew what they looked like in detail. But there was no way she was actually there. It was just a coincidence. Marvel movies were not real.