"I was running for the place that I was once before."

"Relax. Said the Man."

"You can check out anytime you like, but you can NEVER leave!"

As the guitar solo plays from Hotel California, Tang sang the last clause while sitting on a couch, mirroring on the "Never Leave" as the lead does so. Comfortably watching over the warm and dazzling sunlight pour itself over the folded sheets. He packed up his bags, zipped the luggage and placed his arms over his chest. Confident and Self-assured he was going to make his parents proud.

The Reddish-Orange begins to fade, as the colors turned from warm to darker. Tang stood there, prospecting as a confident miner who'd thought he'd strike gold the first day he'd hit the mines.

My Problems will be gone by the end of all this. He thought.

At least that was what he thought, as he took the transit to the airport.

A young man, who'd been off school for a few years have finally strike it big in a huge wage offering for a job. That's J.O.B., working alongside his best buddies since high school, and a colleague who'd often lend a hand to him.

Just a year.

His mates had already arrived, Lung Tsai his buddy and at his right Mr. Chan, his colleague. They were growing anxious, as the time for boarding draws nigh. Tang assures them he'd knows exactly where to go.

Lung Tsai Shouts as he sees the gates: Quick! Come Quick! It is already boarding!

A sense of anticipation for the new life was in the air. They enjoyed the seats, the view and the attendants. The Whole nine yards.

Fast Forward three hours later, they arrived at Mae Fah Luang International Airport, at Ching Mai Thailand.

"The first feeling, was a peculiarity about the Airport. Everyone was setting their eyes onto us like hungry lions hunting on the safari."

Tang told the interviewer, stuttering. "Just...subtle. Something was terribly wrong in the air, but I couldn't quite tell what it is."

"So, what happened about you arrived? Did you contact the "supposed" recruiter? The interviewer asked with a rather leading tone.

"Yes, in fact. We all did. He was around at Gates 6E...or F? Our phones were deleted, so it is all pure recollection from memory." Lung Tsai answered immediately after him."

"We were instructed to go with him right after we'd located him. Loaded onto a minivan, and out there we went."

"And that's when you completely went missing, is that correct?" A finger pointed at him, trying to squeeze an affirmative answer everyone knew on the News Special.

"I suppose, yes" nodded Tang

"Hm-mm, they took our phones shortly after we got onto the car." Lung Tsai Agreed.

"Alright, this is the story of the two brave men who were manipulated and involuntarily work for scammers, and the story of how they managed to escape under their merciless regime."

"We will be back shortly after the break." The Anchorman spoke those words with a stone-cold voice, Lung Tsai Thought to himself. Compellingly similar to the torturers......

 

He shivered a bit and felt his lips grew numb, the voice was retrieved in his memory banks and it was not a pleasant one at all.

"It was normal in the room when he was bought into it. The Man grinned and spoke to him with a word out of his mouth "Cooperate, or จัดจำหน่าย".  The wooden floor felt hard, but he will be alright, he thought to himself." Then when he saw the shade of the man leaving the room, he relieved and let out a gasp of air.

"Be back after the break..."

It was a well furbished room, not the ones you see in horror movies. Seems as if it was cleaned yesterday. The Sheets were white, the walls were stained with spots of darkish spots, but it was clean. The lights were lengthy tubes placed neatly like torpedos ready to fire. Racks of used cleaning products lay on a shelf on where he laid his rugged body upon. He hasn't been showered or clothed in over three weeks , as he thought.

Was it ten days? Or was it longer than I could've remembered. His Legs were shaking uncontrollably, he tried holding them against the floor as he gasped a few quick breaths for air. He couldn't. 

The Door Suddenly busted open, three man came in with luggage and what seemed to be toolkits. Lung Tsai was fainting, as he saw in a slanted vision, the sight of Mr. Chan's back. It was bulky and looming towards him.

Whack!

He thought in a misty state, ‘I am flying and rising above the ground.' The heralded angels were welcoming him with what seemed like rays. Then some metal clinking noises was heard faintly in the background.

"Clink-Clink, Swain-Clink, Bink-Bonk"

He felt a gentle tingling, then some pressure and a bit of cold touching his chest. It seemed to be circling something that resembled the shape of an oval, or a red bean. He Thought. This isn't right. Why is Mr. Chan here?

He tried opening his left eye and saw a metal tray. Then he saw clamps and forceps. It felt familiar.

Is it science class he'd seen something similar? When he'd been dissecting the fro....?

It snapped to him, it snapped to him right at that moment. He was a specimen for dissecting. He lifted up his head as he saw a knife sticking out of his belly.

AHHH! GAU MENG AH!

Mr. Chan was holding the forceps wide open as he covered up his mouth immediately. He closed his index and middle finger together and waved it towards the guards.

"Choke! Choke until no...no breath remaining."

The guards instantly chocked him. It was two hands gripping around his neck. He felt he couldn't breath as all of the organs within him are gasping for oxygen. Flashbacks appear in front of him. He befriended the two friends, they went to separate jobs, he was about to go bankrup...when he was in the trip.

His back started to felt chills, not the pleasant one. The one you felt when you left the window open and something crawled in and appeared out of nowhere.

It was all a setup!

Meanwhile, he heard a sound, a hissing sound through the room that became louder and louder.

He felt as if he was hanged to the chair, he wavered his arms around frantically and stabbed a soft object.

"My Eye...My Eye!"

He stabbed it through and harder. The guard loosened his grip when he started kicking the guards.

The Hissing sound suddenly stopped.

Instead, a wall of water came gashing through the ceiling, as Tang and several others fell through, naked and slithered.

Lung Tsai Shouted, Tang! Tang! Y-O-U A-L-R-I-G-H-T?

"Yes, Chan is dead though

"Are the guards still alive?"

"I don't think so"

 

"So how did you plan for the escape?" A voice snaps Lung Tsai back to reality.

"Oh, we planned that since the day we were being told to scam." Tang Shrugged

"We managed to escape, after the cartel effectively gone into collapse, with most people finding the way to the embassy through a few hours of walking on barefoot. Someone took a passerby's car, and he still hasn't returned yet."

"How were you being approached in the first place?"

 Suddenly, the news anchor chipped in "I mean, you guys were kind of gullible too, right? For Believing in this baloney?"

"Look, if you think so than be it. I've got a heap of debt from my mortgage and three mouths to feed."

Lung Tsai Thudded hard on the table, he was raving and well angered by the comment.

"Look, it was proper, it was nothing scary at first. They had a contract and a proper facility for a technology corporate. Then before you knew it, you were betrayed. How would you like to try that? Huh?"

"The Green is what drives people to do things beyond normality. Trust for the green destroys the trust surrounding it, unleashing its full power unto the very own person who broke it."  Tang solemnly spoken.