A Light in the Dark

Chapter 15

The first thing, that she noticed, was the splitting headache and that something was in her mouth. She didn't know what it was, but it seemed to be some kind of cloth. Then she became aware that she couldn't move or even feel her arms, but that her back was pressed tightly against a hard and uneven surface. She was clearly sitting on the ground, since she could feel earth and something that could be fir needles under her bare legs.

Camila gagged slightly at the strange sensation in her mouth and tried to concentrate on breathing through her nose. It wouldn't do her any good, if she threw up while that thing was there.

Despite feeling as if someone had just hit her head with a sledgehammer, she carefully opened her eyes, blinking slowly as she took in the scene around her. They widened as she realized the horrifying meaning of what she saw.

Trees. Lots and lots of trees. It was either early evening or early morning. She didn't know what time it was or how long she had been here, but that could be the only explanation for the dim light in the woods. She craned her neck and looked up, confirming her theory that she was indeed sitting against a trunk of some kind of fir.

Since she still couldn't feel her arms at all, she slowly glanced down to her side and saw that they seemed to be bound around the tree. This was just getting better and better.

Camila leaned her head against the trunk and closed her eyes. It was important to not have a panic attack. She had learned that lesson the hard way a few years ago.

Slowly but surely, she breathed through her nose. She needed to think. She needed a plan. And she needed something that would protect her from going insane. What did she know about her current situation?

She was tied up to a tree in the middle of a forest and she was sure that it was the one in the park near her old house. It would have been too risky for them to take her to another place. They had been careful in school and were never caught by someone whenever they did something. It had always been impossible to prove that they had been involved.

She was also not in the possession of her phone. It had been taken away from her by Luis and was probably either lying destroyed in the park or in a pond or the ocean or something.

If the dim light was any indication to the daylight, it would be possible that Lauren already knew that she hadn't come home yet. And because she worried so much, she had, in all likelihood, texted and called her multiple times. And after not getting an answer, Lauren would drive to her old house and would know that she left it a long time ago. Calling the police wouldn't do any good, so it was likely that she would be looking for her.

Camila nodded to herself. It was highly likely that Lauren was already on her way. But how could Lauren possibly find her here? She wasn't able to call out because of that thing in her mouth. She probably had to prepare herself for the case that it could take a while until someone found her.

Maybe she could somehow untie herself?

She tried to move her arms, but a sharp pain in her shoulders forced her to stop. So that wouldn't work either. The only thing, that she seemed to be able to do, was to sit and wait for someone to find her.

Camila opened her eyes and glanced up to the evergreens that blocked her view of the sky above. Was it getting darker or brighter? It was impossible to tell.

Maybe they would come back? Maybe they would jump out from behind and start laughing at her, taunting her about how she really thought that they would just keep her tied up in the woods? Maybe it was all a joke? A measure to scare her?

This was so much worse than her time in the supply closet. She had been able to cry for help and she had known that someone would come by eventually. She had known that it could take a while and that she wasn't going to die in that closet.