Accidentally Kidnapped

Chapter 53

The buildings were starting to thin out as more trees appeared. I was about on the border of Chicago now. The sky was beginning to darken even more as lights clicked on and turned Chicago into the busy, incomparable mess that I loved. Trees were now more occasional as I left the magic of the city behind. I calmed myself down and willed myself not to freak out as the streets turned to woods and the buildings into trees.

I slowed down when I pulled onto an empty gravel road with woods on either sides. The path cut through nature. It didn't belong, interrupting the friendly darkness that emanated from the starry sky. There weren't any cars behind me or in front of me that I could see. I was okay. It would be okay.

The farther I drove away from the city, the better I felt.

Pulling up on the side of the road, I parked the car and sat in it for a minute. The radio was a garbling mess because of the bad cell reception around here. The darkness felt nice. I could feel the drying tears making my cheeks stiff and the burning of my eyes. My hair was a windblown mess. I pulled it up into a ponytail. My heart was still beating hard and there was a dreadful clench to my stomach that I could not loosen for the life of me. My bruises ached, my head hurt, and my legs felt like they were on fire.

I took a deep shuddering breath and slipped out of the car.

The wind was quick to claim me as the new victim. Zipping my jacket closed, I shoved my hands into my pockets and started trying to accept my new role as a fisherman. Was there like...an illegal passport dealer I could go to?

It was with inexplicable sadness that I began to plan out my new life. I don't know for how long I walked or where I was going, but I did keep my eye out for the occasional Taco Bell. There wasn't any. There wasn't anything. There were just trees, the darkness, and little sad November Jones. My legs started to ache after a few moments. I think I made it to three miles before I noticed something up on the road.

It was a dark figure hunched over to the side. At first I thought it was a wolf and I almost climbed a tree to get away from it until I realized that it was not a wolf. It had a strange shape. Kinda lumpy and odd with shapes in all the wrong places. It almost looked like a man bent down on the side of the road.

Because that's exactly what it was. It was a man bent down on the side of the road.

I couldn't see anything except the back of a dark green jacket and thick combat boots. As I neared, I could hear the man speaking softly. There wasn't anyone else in front of him as far as I was concerned, so I began to think that the man was crazy. I could deal with crazy if he had a car to go along with it. Maybe this man and I could go to Taco Bell. Maybe this man was an illegal passport dealer.

He didn't turn around as I cautiously walked up. I don't think he heard me, but I did hear him. At least, I heard what he was saying.

"-I can't just wait here with you, kitty." A deep, male voice muttered. The man sounded frustrated. I inched closer, unnecessarily curious as to what he was talking to. I couldn't see anything over his hulking figure. "You and I are both lost. Please, just come on. We need to go before someone finds either of us, okay? We're going to get ourselves into one hell of a mess by just standing here. Here, kitty. Just climb onto my hand. There you go. We got this, kitty. I won't hurt you, I promise."

I carefully reached out one shaky finger to tap him on the shoulder to get the man's attention. However, before I could, the man suddenly stood up. Startled, I audibly gasped without thinking.

The man heard me.

He turned around, fixing me with an equally startled expression.

At first, I couldn't speak. But when I did finally manage to speak, it was nothing more an a gargled choking noise. I think I choked on my spit and then the air. It was a mixture of both. Coughing awkwardly, I tried to clear my throat. This was not how I imagined our reunion would be.