The Intentions

Chapter 9: The Girls

Mona: September 4, 2014

Beth held me in her lap, my body bent over one of her arms while Kaila used the rest of the water in our water bowls and shreds of my shirt to dab at and clean the lashes in my back.

I held my breath until I almost passed out. The water stung much worse than a bee sting.

Beth stroked my hair soothingly in an attempt to calm me.

It felt like Kaila had been cleaning my wounds for hours and I just wanted her to stop already, but I also didn't want infection to set in.

"Done." Kaila whispered softly.

I slowly sat up, taking in a sharp breath as my skin ached and burned. I just wanted all the pain to go away.

Beth watched me carefully. "Why didn't you run?" she asked, her voice weak.

My eyes found hers and stared into them for a long time, panting a little as the pain still came in waves, crashing against the wounds carelessly. "He pointed the gun at me." It was kind of the truth. "It wouldn't help anyone if he killed me. Besides, I have a few more ideas." I small smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I thought over other means of escape.

"Ideas?" Jenna hissed, breaking me from my thoughts.

I looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Mona, that first idea still got you caught! Beth said you made it miles away and he still found you. You're not going to try and escape again." Jenna hissed angrily.

I grimaced in an attempt to grin. "That first idea isn't what got me caught. I got away. Falling asleep is what got us caught." I corrected her.

Jenna rolled her eyes and stared at me seriously. "If he catches you again, he's going to kill you."

I took in a deep breath to both calm the anger building up and ease the pain still coursing through my body.

"Jenna, that's the chance I'm willing to take. I don't know if that monster is going to torture us, rape us, or keep us for his entertainment as animals. I don't want to find out. I'd rather die than find out. And if escape is a possibility that corresponds with death, then it makes it that much more of an attractive idea."

Jenna was silent, but still glared at me with anger.

Fed up with her petty bullshit, I turned my attention back to Beth. "Why didn't he do anything to you?"

Beth hesitated and looked down. "I'm not really sure. He muttered something about how you made me run as he was tying me up again. I guess he put all the blame on you."

I sighed and nodded. "At least you didn't get hurt."

Beth shrugged. "I'd rather you had not been whipped 26 times."

I closed my eyes and nodded in agreement. "Same."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mona: September 5, 2014

None of us slept that night. Beth and I stayed up talking awhile and each girl took turns letting me rest on my stomach in their arms so I wouldn't have to lay on my back or sit up for hours.

It was hard getting to sleep and with each, dragging hour, I grew closer to my fellow victims of kidnap.

Kaila was kind and would always try to cheer me up with a ridiculously pathetic joke that was just so ridiculous, you couldn't help but laugh. She was the pale one with freckles and soft eyes. Her entire being was gentle and I found it hard to believe this man would want to do anything but good to her.

Jenna was spiteful, but she could be nice in her own way. She had the longest hair that touched the floor when she sat down on the cement. Her eyes were a darker green and her skin was olive rather than pale. She was incredibly pretty, just as the rest of us were, and she seemed to own a dark sense of humor in which she would make jokes about negative situations like the one we were all in now.

Zoey had shorter hair like mine. Her hair only reached to her mid neck and held soft curls that didn't look too bad with the shortness of it. Her eyes were blue-green, but mostly green. She was silent most of the time and was harder to figure out. She was more of a physical comfort. She preferred to rub my arms or braid my hair rather than say anything. Normally, I wouldn't be ok with girls holding me and rubbing my arms, but this situation was different. This girl was an ally of mine who knew just as well as I did that we could be dead any day now. The comfort was much needed.

As for Beth, I felt closest to her. She could be my twin if not for her mid back length hair and narrower face structure. She looked frail and thin. I was more full looking in the face. She mainly whispered her apologies to me and confirmed that it was ok that I didn't run every time I brought it up.

I felt safe with the girls all night until the sun rose the next morning.

Then, the basement door opened and Jarek walked in.

He whistled happily until he noticed us.

His face contorted into anger and he dropped what was in his hands to the ground. It was our breakfast prepared sloppily in dog bowls.

"Why are you untied?" he asked calmly, though he looked like he'd explode any second.

I closed my eyes in fear, taking in panicked breaths as his anger grew.

He's going to kill me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brenton: September 5, 2014

A sat in the grass in the park quietly. Considering it was September, it was getting chilly here in northern California and not many people were at the park, nevermind annoying children.

I looked up to the trees in front of me. I had never really travelled into the forest by this park. Everyone in town knows that the forest can go on for days by foot. Hours by car. Everyone was warned to stay away from it as many bears and other predators resided deep within the forest.

I sighed and stared around the park.

I hated this. I didn't want Mona to be kidnapped, but I knew she had been.

What does her kidnapper want? Was it a man? A woman? Would the kidnapper kill them all? Would he or she rape them? What if the kidnapper was pretending they were his or her children?

Stop it. I scolded myself. I didn't need to be torturing myself with these thoughts. I was already shaking at the thought of some strange person even touching Mona, let alone sexually or physically abusing 4 other girls as well as my girlfriend. How dare anyone even think of doing such things.

I got to my feet and began to turn my back on the forest when something caught my attention.

It was a black car exiting the forest slowly before quickly driving off in the opposite direction.