Will to Live~ Book One (IN PROGRESS)

Chapter Two

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping to a rhythm that I find strangely calming. I climb out of bed, and take a brisk shower, dress, and head downstairs, where a big breakfast of two pancakes, eggs, and bacon awaits.

"Wow, Dad," I say as I reach the table. "Why the huge breakfast today?"

"Um..." Dad looks nervous. "Your mom and I just wanted to show you how much we cared about you." He winces after concluding the sentence.

My happy mood quickly deteriorates into suspicion. "Dad..." I ask carefully. "Is everything alright? Where's mom?"

Dad is silent. I remember what I overheard last night, the conversation between him and Mom. Where are we going today where I might not be kept safe? I suddenly feel queasy.

"I'm not hungry," I say abruptly, pushing the plate away.

"What?"

"I said I'm not hungry," I repeat sternly. I'm about to turn around and go back to my room when I hear the sound of a car starting in the garage.

I quickly walk to the garage door, shooting Dad one last skeptical look.

In the garage, I find Mom sitting in the front seat of our sedan, crying.

"Mom!" I cry earnestly. "What's wrong?"

Mom snaps her head up to look at me. "Go pack your things, Matt." She points out the garage door.

"Mom...wha—"

"GO!"

I run up to my room and grab a large duffle bag. What's going on? I can feel tears about to erupt from my eyes. I grab all the things I can--clothes, a pillow, a few books, and an old teddy bear--before Dad escorts me out of the house and into the car. I climb into the back seat and buckle in.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" I plead. "You know we're not allowed to leave—"

"Ask questions later, Matthias!" Mom yells.

Mom only uses my full name when something really bad is happening.

"Later," she mutters, giving me a small tear- stained smile.

Mom pulls out of the driveway, and we hit the road. At this point I'm definitely crying.

"Dad?" I ask softly, my voice quivering. "Will we ever come back?"

He stares down at his shoes for a few long seconds before replying three words I hoped I wouldn't hear.

"I don't know."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

We drive for hours. I decide to sleep, to escape the overwhelming situation I face now. I'm not tired, but I eventually force myself to drift into the darkness.

I must have slept for a long time, because when I wake up, the sky has gone from the bright blue that greeted me this morning, to a dark, inky gray.

Mom notices that I've woken up.

"Okay, Matt," she starts, attempting to remain cool and collected. "Here is your chance to get some answers."

We pull into the parking lot of a dinky little diner. The tiny restaurant is surrounded by a dense forest, as well as the land across the street.

Great, a little diner in the middle of nowhere. This should be fantastic.

As we walk in, I see that we're one of only two families in the restaurant. The other family consists of a blonde-haired girl, and an older woman who I assume to be her mother.

We choose a table in the far corner, away from the other people. Once we all sit down, Mom leans in toward Dad and I.

"Matt," she begins. "I know this is going to be a lot to take in, but I trust that you can handle it."

I nod unsurely.

"Your Dad and I were contacted six years ago by a man we'd never heard from before.
This man needed twenty teenagers from Pinewood to stay with him for a month for—" She pauses. "...for unknown reasons. He asked if we were interested. We, obviously, said no. A couple weeks later, the same man called us again. He asked if we could send you with him for two months this time, and if we refused, there would be consequences. At this point we thought it was a prank, so we hung up. The third call came the next day. The man said that he would come to pick you up in six years, when you were sixteen, to come with him. He threatened us by saying if we did not hand you over to him, he would kill us." Mom paused and looked into my eyes. "The day he said he would take you is today, Matt. We didn't know what he'd do to you, so we left the house so he couldn't find us. And dear God, I hope it worked."

"How did he get our phone number?" I question, panicking.

"We don't know," Dad replies. "We tried to block him, but his calls kept coming through."

"So what are we going to do from here?" I ask, my eyes brimming with tears again.

"We're going to keep driving until we feel safe," Mom replied slowly.

"Okay."

I have so many more questions, but I'm too exhausted to talk or listen anymore. It seems like Mom's story had some loose ends. Like it was thrown together in her mind on the way here. I slouch back in my hard metal chair, and my eyes dart over to the girl with blonde hair.

She's pretty, I think, trying to take my mind off what Mom just told me. The girl is like an angel rescuing me from reality, that is, until we make eye contact.

I look away awkwardly and begin to twiddle my thumbs. My brain is numb. I guess I should be scared, but no emotions come through.

I watch absentmindedly as a tall man in a mask made of a burlap sack enters the diner. He shoves another burlap sack over the blonde girl's head, and hoists her onto his shoulder.

It takes a bit for my brain to catch up with what I just witnessed.

"HEY!" I scream as I bolt up from the table and run after the man.

"MATT!" my parents cry.

"AMARA!" the girl's mother desperately calls.

I chase the man out the door, into the parking lot, across the street, and into the forest.

Reality is warping around me. What did I just do? Why am I in the forest? Where is Amara? Where is the man?

These thoughts suddenly escape me, and the forest is eerily silent.

A sack covers my head from behind, and I am lifted onto the kidnapper's free shoulder. All I can hear is Amara's muffled screams from next to me.