Kidnapped

Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

I was holding Dave's hand tightly, like it was my life I was holding onto and not just his hand. We stood on the sidewalk, staring into the endless darkness of the alley. It was 11:47 P.M. and we'd been standing there in silence for about ten minutes, staring at the wall of black in front of us as if we could see into it. Listening. Waiting.

There was only silence. 

Fear was beginning to seep into me, no matter how hard I tried to block it out. It crept through my weak spots, into my brain, my heart, my body, and started peeling away all of the confidence I had from the inside out. I glanced at Dave, squeezing his hand tighter. He squeezed back to try and reassure me, but I'm not sure it was possible at the moment.

Fifteen minutes later, I looked over at Dave. He nodded. Our plan was to come early and see if anyone showed up at the alley. If they didn't, we figured they'd already been there for a while, waiting for us to walk into their trap, whatever it was.  

"We know you're in there." I said to the darkness. I could hear the fear in my own voice, it was that bad. Then I heard laughter. A deep, ominous voice just laughing and laughing. It sent chills down my spine.

"Where's Jake?" I demanded, my voice less fearful this time.

"Why don't you come in and find out?" The voice asked. It sounded closer this time. I almost stepped back.

"I'm not going into the alley." I said.

"Smart girl." The voice said and then paused. "But at the same time, so stupid."

Dave saw it coming before I did. He jumped back, pulling me with him as two men jumped towards us from out of the darkness. I stumbled and started falling, pulling Dave with me, but he pulled back, and I was on my feet again. Then he started running, pulling me along with him. We ran down to the end of the street and turned left, passing several old houses and a big white van. When we passed the van, I suddenly stopped, yanking on Dave's arm.

"Wait," I said. "Did you hear that?" I turned towards the van.

There was a shuffling inside it. And crying. A child crying.

"Jake?" I went up to the van and knocked lightly on the back door. "Jake, is that you?" There was a silence.

"Erica?" A weak voice said. So softly, I wouldn't have heard it if I wasn't listening for it so intently. But I recognized it immediately, and suddenly I was filled with hope and happiness and I would've forgotten that we were being chased if Dave hadn't said my name.

"Jake!!" I said excitedly, then pulled on the door handle. Of course, it was locked. "Jake, can you open the door?"

"Erica," Was all he said. His voice was weak, very weak. And filled with pain. He sounded like he was crying. What had they done to him?

"Jake?" I said. "Jake! Listen to me. I need you to open the door, okay? Can you do that?" I felt the tears sliding down my face. What if he couldn't move? What if someone was in there with him?

"Erica, they're coming." Dave warned me. He'd been watching around the van to see when our little friends would come out of hiding.

"Jake! Please open the door!" I said, exasperated. The hope I'd felt a few moments ago dissipated into nothing more than anguish.

I could hear running footsteps, picking up speed and coming closer.

Then I heard a shuffling in the van. Jake was going to open the door! I waited. His footsteps were slow, like he was in pain and couldn't walk. Actually, it sounded more like he was crawling. I didn't let the hope fool me this time. I didn't want to have to lose it again.