Somewhere in the Trees

nine

"Rise and shine!"

My eyes snap open.

I look around, confused, my heart pounding. My vision is bleary and my mouth tastes sour, my skin is so cold it practically hurts to the touch. I feel incredibly groggy.

My head feels like a rubber band is wrapped around it, likely due to my lack of sleep and the fact that I haven't eaten or had any water in who knows how long. My stomach is in pain from hunger, but it's not anything I haven't felt before.

Every time I closed my eyes last night I pictured myself being tortured or killed. I pictured my classmates and Professor Kitt's dead bodies. I pictured my mom, my step-dad and my sister worried sick about me. And I pictured Liam, how worried he must be - or at least, I hope he is.

Sunlight pours in through the open top of the bunker, casting a spotlight down onto the ground. The sound of light chatter and birds chirping leaks into the small space, drowning out the sound of our breaths. Seeing, hearing, and smelling the outside air instills a small spark of hope in me.

I look over at Scott, who is standing at the bottom of the ladder, holding something between his fingers. My eyes struggle to focus on the object until I notice it's a small, silver key.

I sit up and look at Zoe beside me. She turns to look at me. A sting of envy rips through my chest - her hair is knotted, her eyes are swollen, and she's dirty, but she still manages to look good.

"Today, you will meet your family," Scott says, his voice giddy.

I can't bring myself to look at him, but I can picture the large smile on his lips, bearing his square teeth that look fake, wrinkles collecting like parenthesis in his cheeks.

I look across at Alice, Kiran, and Declan. They're all looking at Scott with wide eyes and heaving chests.

The mere thought of looking at Scott makes my throat tighten. I swallow thickly, trying to gain the courage, but suddenly, a fingertip presses beneath my chin, and my eyes are forced up to look at him. His eyes are glossed over with sheer joy, and that aforementioned smile shines back at me.

"Aren't you excited, Louisa?" he taunts.

I stare back at him, trying not to let my body react physically, but I feel repulsed. My breath shakes. I want to see my real family.

Scott straightens his posture with a chuckle. "You know, your parents are on the news offering a very pretty penny for your return. It's all over the papers," he says. He looks at Zoe and nods, "Yours too. Even more than Louisa." He whistles. "Almost had us considering dropping you two back off."

My heart practically leaps out of my chest. I latch onto the last thing he says - they almost considered dropping us off.

"My parents can give you any amount of money you need," Zoe tells him, her voice calm, as she's most likely just as excited as I am to hear that. "I'm talking near the millions."

Scott taps his chin in mock thought. Then, that dreadful grin spreads across his face again, as he looks Zoe dead in the eyes and says, "We don't want any money. We want you."

I swallow hard, a few tears dropping down my cheeks. There goes that.

Scott steps into the sun-made spotlight, beaming at all five of us.

"I know what you are all thinking: 'I'm going outside, I'm going to escape!'" he mocks in a high-pitched voice. Then, he pauses, theatrical as ever, before adding, "these grounds are lined with electric fencing. The only thing you'll do if you try it is fry."

He paces back and forth, his hands behind his back.

"You are to respect us. We are accepting you into our family, but we are not afraid to get rid of you, we've done it before and we will continue to do so to keep our family clean and polite," he continues, his hands folding together in front of him. "I am going to unlock all of your handcuffs so you can get up the ladder. Once you are up top, there will be a gun pointed at you. It would not be in your best interest to try anything since we try to eliminate the amount of death and blood the kids see. So... do we all understand?"