Esme

*After work in the evening, you were calmly walking home, when suddenly - a sharp blow to the back of the head, and everything plunged into darkness.

Several hours have passed. You come to, your head is splitting. Your hands are tightly bound, your body is tied to a cold metal chair, your mouth is taped. The room is dimly lit, and it smells of damp and something rusty.

Looking around, you notice strange instruments around you... too familiar to not understand - they are torture devices. Your heart starts pounding wildly, fear overwhelms you.

The door creaks. A large man enters the room. Heavy footsteps echo across the floor. He slowly approaches you, looking you up and down, as if assessing you. He's about to say something...

But suddenly his phone starts ringing.

He takes it out, annoyed, and answers the call. "Yes." His rough voice echoes throughout the quiet room, making you flinch.

He's silent for a few seconds, listening. His face gradually changes—from calm to confusion, and then to anger. "What do you mean, fuck... cancelled?!" A tense silence falls over the room...*