Just an Echo in the Darkness

~Chapter Five~

 Ambria screamed for help again and again, but there were just mumbles in reply. Why weren't they yelling with her?

Ambria thought through her hazed mind, Bryce had been captured but, Who else?

She hadn't thought much of it until now, but she remembered the men talking about the other girl.

A large van could probably fit twenty different people.

When Ambria was gathering the strength to scream once more, there was a rough voice.

"It's no use," the rough voice said, it probably belonged to an older man and he had not used his voice in a while due to the rough scratchy voice. "No one can hear you from this far away."

"Why? How far away are we? "

"I have tried. I have been stuck in this van for a week and a half now," the same voice said. "And far enough away you won't be able to reach anyone with that voice."

"Who are you?" Ambria asked, confused. She was going to ask about something else but that was what came out of her mouth.

"Someone you don't need to worry about. If I were you, I would be worried about your own skin," he said in reply.

"Why?"

"Again, if I were you I would stay away from those types of questions. They could get you killed."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because. I once had a daughter who I cared a lot for. She reminds me a lot like you."

"What happened to her?"

"None of your business."

Ambria signed, and turned back around.

"She died," the old man replied, after a few minutes.

Ambria didn't know how to respond to that. He groaned and there was a rustle of clothes hitting the bottom of the trailer as he repositioned himself.

Within minutes he was snoring away. Ambria sat in silence, wondering why he talked to her.

Why did he tell her about his daughter? Ambria thought, not like she was special.

She hadn't even asked again. She knew what it was like to lose a family member or two.

It didn't help when people pestered if you were okay. It didn't help when you felt pity for them. Nothing helped besides letting go.

You just needed to understand that they were in a better place.

The darkness in the van came over Ambria and she just sat in silence wondering where they were heading.

Most likely their death.

.- -- -... .-. .. .-

About an hour later, there was more rustling. She hadn't been able to sleep like the rest of the van.

Ambria placed her hands on the floor that were tied behind her back. Something sharp bit at her hand.

A piece of glass?

Ambria grabbed the slim, sharp piece of glass. She quickly grabbed it and worked on the knot tying her hands together.

After thirty minutes, she had eventually gotten the knot to cut. She ripped off the blind fold covering her face.

It felt like it should've been brighter without the blindfold but it wasn't. She could see only silhouettes and shadows better than inside the bag.

Ambria looked around at the silloutes and the area.

The area was smaller than she thought it would be, and now actually seeing it, it felt like the walls were reaching out and squashing her between two boards.

Ambria mumbled some colorful words under her breath. She slammed her eyes closed, squeezing them shut avoiding the moving walls. She opened them back up, they had stopped but it still felt uneasy.

Ambria saw a silhouette sit up across from her.

Though she couldn't see well because of the bag covering her face, she could tell it was an outline of a face.

"Ambria?" the silhouette asked. It was Bryce.

"Bryce, is that really you?" Ambria asked, looking at the figure beside her.

"It's me."

Ambria crawled over the people on the floor to make it over to Bryce. She made Bryce turn around quietly and Ambria cut the rope.

Once his hands were free he tore off the bag over the top of his head, revealing a major case of bedhead.

Before Ambria realized it she had leaned in and gave Bryce a hug.

After a couple seconds Bryce had leaned in and placed his head on her shoulder.

Ambria held on tightly, not willing to let go as if Ambria would lose Bryce in any time. She was just about to start crying, but she held them back. It was Bryce she was hugging right now, her heart started beating quicker. Ambria hoped Bryce hadn't noticed the faster rythm in her chest.

In just a seconed, a new silhouette sat up.

"Ambria? Bryce?" another voice said. "Is that you?"

Ambrie looked around trying to find who had spoken the voice. Ambria suddenly recognized it, confused.

"Brielle?"