The Inevitable

Chapter 4

** Picture: Lord Codd **

I open my eyes to find myself in a big, dim room. It takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the poor lighting in this smelly... room? Where am I? I try to recall the last thing I remember seeing before getting here. I was at school and Debs was taking me to that mall – Oh, my God, Debs. The bus accident, and all that blood. The memory of the crash come flooding in so quickly, I can feel my headache racing back. Tears quickly form in my eyes as I remember Debbie's lifeless body. I need to go see her and make sure she is alright. But first, I have to figure out where the heck I am, and it does not look like the hospital wing. I try to get up but start to feel light-headed so I lay back down. I close my eyes and take a couple of breaths trying to regain my strength. What feels like a hour later, I manage to sit up.

I take a look at my surrounding and realize that I'm in a small squared room. Everything around me is made out of wood. The bed, the walls, even the bars. Seems like I am caged in. My breathing quickens and the tears in my eyes start to form again. I stand on my feet, leaning on the bed until I balance myself out then walk towards the bars.

"Hello." I try to say in the loudest voice I can handle.

No answer.

"Is anyone there? Can somebody - anybody - please tell me why I'm here." I say through sobs. And still, no answer. My heart will not stop aching. Seems like I am going to die here.

I fall to the ground and continue to cry. What have I gotten myself into? It seems like whenever there is trouble, I am always the one you will find in the middle of it. But this time, I have been kidnapped by two freakishly looking people. Or at least I think they were people, I did not see their face. What could someone possibly want from me? I have absolutely nothing to offer. No money, no intelligence, and no leverage. Unless they took me for my strength, I am strong, but I do not have technique or any training. Just a lot of useless muscle. Oh, what am I thinking. No one kidnaps another person just because they are strong. So why am I here? Maybe they are going to sell me to another country as a sex slave. Or perhaps they will torture me and then murder me.

An endless series of horrible ideas swim in my head, each one worse than the previous. I cannot stop these tears from coming down my face, no matter how many times I try. I wish I told my dad how much I love him before running off to school this morning. I need him to know that I would have sacrificed all of me for his well being. But now I am going to die before being able to say of those things to him. I am going to die before him, oh, the irony. In a way, maybe it is not such a bad thing. Living in a world without my dad is not exactly a world I want to live in. But it is going to break his weak heart when he hears that I was in a bus crash and now I have disappeared. Who is going to cook for him and do his laundry? No, I cannot leave him. I must get out of here.

I hear footsteps coming towards my cell. I jump to my feet and wipe away my tears with the back of my hands. If there is any moment in life when I must be courageous, it is definitely now.

I take a few steps away from the bars as the footsteps become louder. A figure finally materializes in front of me. It is the same black shadow I saw this morning in the bushes. The same shadow that brought me here. He is wearing a mask, which prevents me from seeing anything but his pitch black eyes. He is not carrying a gun which could only mean that he does not see me as a threat. I almost want to laugh. I love it when people underestimate me just because I am a girl.

"You're coming with me." He says as he unlocks the cage.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask, my voice sounding much more confident than I thought it would.