Prologue:
Alicia awoke, startled. She could have sworn she'd heard a noise, something out of the ordinary. She listened intently, trying with all her might to discern a small rustle, a soft voice. She heard nothing. Warily, she allowed herself to sink back down onto her pillows. She was just tense, that's all. There was nothing to be afraid of; and still fear nagged at her heart. Just as she was drifting off to sleep she heard it again, something like a squeak, then a hastily muffled curse. She could hear her parents breathing deeply in the next room, barely masking the continued noises of a person, or persons, sneaking up the stairs. There was no doubt about it - they were here.
She scrambled out of her covers and under her bed, terrified. She tried to remember what her father had told her about how to disappear into your surroundings. Number one, breathe slow. Breathe so that they can't hear you. Number two, relax your whole body into the floor. Nothing was worse at giving someone away than a twitchy leg banging into something at the wrong moment. She breathed and relaxed, breathed and relaxed; all the while listening closely to the footsteps she could hear on the landing. Then they stopped.
Struggling to hear what might happen, Alicia inched closer to the door, hoping to hear them better.
"Which room is hers?"
The voice came out of the silence, dark and smooth as the night sky. It gave Alicia goosebumps and caused her to tremble a bit. She was petrified.
"The one on the left I thhhink... thatsss what he sssaid..."
The second voice was sinister and snakelike, winding it's way through her head and into her heart. It chilled her to the bone, just by hearing it.
"Well, let's get this over with," the first voice said, deep and dark as the ocean. "he's waiting."
Alicia had no doubt about who "he" was... she knew. Everyone knew.
The door to Alicia's bedroom opened silently, barely making a sound on it's well-oiled hinges.
Knowing what was going to happen didn't make it anymore bearable; now she was fighting to hold back her tears that had begun to leak from the corners of her eyes.
"Come out, come out little pretty," this was a new voice, mocking, with the sound of ecstacy, of contained mirth.
"We knooow you're iiin here Alicccciaaaa..."
They knew her name. Somehow, that made it ten times worse. She let out a choked sob, and it was all they needed.
The pair of legs closest to her bed bent. She saw knees, an arm, his chest, all the way to his head. She gasped. Instead of a normal person's eyes, his eyes were tinted red, and they seemed to glow in the dark.
"Well, here we are," it was voice number one. "Are you going to make this easy, or do we have to come in there after you?"
She shook her head "no". Whatever happened next, she did not want to go with these men willingly. She thought of her parents and prayed to whatever deity existed that they would be safe after she'd gone.
The man sighed softly, then reached an arm underneath the bed, outstretched toward her wrist. She shied away, trying to force herself closer to the wall, but it was hopeless. He stretched out his hand again, and this time grabbed her ankle. His grip was powerful. She knew there was no way she could break free. As she slid the rest of the way out from under the bed, Alicia caught a glimpse of the other two men, both tall and skinny, yet powerfully built.
Voice number one now grabbed her around the waist, picking her up. Immediately she struggled, but to no avail. He was far too strong. He tightened his grip and she gasped as the air was knocked out of her. Breathing hard, she didn't see the cloth he was inching toward her head until the last moment. He suddenly shoved it over her mouth and nose. It smelled sickly sweet, like rotten fruit; she gagged and coughed, twisting her head back and forth in an attempt to get fresh air. The man was holding the cloth over her face, forcing her to breath in that pungent stench. She could feel her body go limp, a satisfied snort from one of the other men, and she fell into blackness.
___*****___*****___
Chapter edited. ***
