Looking Through the Cracks

Chapter 9: Where Am I?

Ivy was abruptly woken from her sleep when she rolled onto her back, and a ray of sunlight blazed across her eyelids. Slowly, she opened her eyes, rubbing the crusty remnants of last night's tears away. Ivy could already feel a headache coming on, and from experience, she knew it would take a full twenty-four hours to recover from the tidal wave of her tears. The more conscious she became the more Ivy wished she wasn't. Nevertheless, Ivy only allowed herself to lay in bed a few more minutes before she prepared for whichever version of her father she'd discover eating breakfast. As she reached for the comforter she became oddly aware of how it felt in her hands. Looking down she discovered that instead of seeing her green quilt, she saw a fluffy burgundy comforter. It was then that Ivy finally saw the room that surrounded her.

This is not my room.

She leaped from the bed and was shocked to find she wearing a pair of black silk shorts, with a matching short-sleeve button-up. Why am I wearing these clothes? Her panic rising, Ivy looked around the room, searching for any signs of something that belonged to her, but there was nothing. Ivy's breath quickened as she began to imagine the worst.

Where am I? What happened to me? How'd I get here?

Not allowing her fear to overtake her, Ivy forced herself to take several deep breaths. It was only after her breathing had reached a normal pace that she began to formulate a plan. Scanning the room for anything she could use as a weapon, she noticed a stack of familiar clothes casually tossed onto a leather armchair. Searching the pile, Ivy recognized her worn denim shorts and cheesy "Talk Nerdy to Me" T-shirt. Looking through the pockets of the shorts, Ivy was ecstatic to discover she still had her phone. However, that excitement was quickly snuffed when she read "No Signal" in the corner of her phone's screen.

If I can at least get outside, maybe I could get a signal out there. Or at least run for help.

With a new goal in mind, Ivy rushed over to the door praying that it was unlocked. She was relieved to feel the door freely swing open. Peering to her right, Ivy saw a hallway that ended in a dead end. Looking to her left she could see the beginning of a stairway, and ran for it. Reaching the top of the staircase, Ivy scrambled down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Her body raced with adrenaline as she saw a large front door practically glowing before Ivy's eyes. Beside the door, she could see her worn leather sandals. Not wanting to waste time thinking about why her shoes were there, Ivy gratefully ran up to them and slipped them onto her feet. She was merely a few steps away from the door when she heard a man's voice say, "Where are you going?"

Ivy ignored the man and reached for the door handle. Flinging it open, she ran outside, searching for any means of escape. Ahead she saw a purple beat-up car and ran to the driver's side door. Luckily the door was unlocked, and she quickly yanked it open and crawled inside. She frantically looked around the car in search of keys, but it appeared Ivy's luck had run out.

She was about to climb back out of the car and make a run for it when she heard the passenger's side door open. Ivy proceeded to try and lock the door from her side but it was too late. Her kidnapper was already in the car. She began to scream, hoping that somebody would hear her, but soon the man was closing the door. Her screams were pointless now, there was nobody around, and her screams were now muffled inside the car.

Maybe the keys are on him. All I have to do is knock him out and then I can push him out of the car and go get help.

Immediately Ivy punched her palm forward aiming for her captor's nose, followed by another punch aimed toward his throat. With an almost eerie precision, one by one the man captured each wrist. Unable to move her arms, Ivy tried thrashing as aggressively as she could, hoping she could loosen the predator's hold on her.