Crushed

Chapter 1

"I think I've found one," I murmur into the phone as I let the engine of the car fade into silence. Grabbing the sunglasses from the glove compartment, I put them on as Ryan speaks to me from the other line. "It's fine. I'll be back around three AM. See you soon," I reply, before ending the call and looking out the window at the now empty street.

Exiting the car, I tighten the hoodie surrounding my face and begin walking towards the corner. When I get there, I lean forward, inching my head around the brick wall and landing my attention on the girl walking. Making sure there's no one else around, I quickly and quietly race up to her. Before she can react, I've stuffed the cloth up against her nose.

"Mmffpp!" Her stunned words are muffled against the arm I have around her mouth. Her tiny hands are clenched onto my sleeve and it doesn't take long for her to inhale into the cloth and become limp in my arms.

"That's a good girl," I whisper, not wasting a second as I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. A moment later, I've sat her in the passenger's seat of the car before driving away. We're a fair way away from the house but I never mind a long drive. It's always surprisingly calming.

At a red light I take the moment's pause to observe this girl's face; straight, chestnut hair that goes down to her shoulders, clear skin and light pink lips. How innocent she looks...

Perfect.

I notice I've stopped next to a green sedan, full of a family. Thank god this car has tinted windows. It's around seven o'clock now and will take eight hours to get back.

Keeping my eyes on the road, I watch the sun making its way down, going further and further, the sky becoming pinker and redder with every minute that passes. Finally the sun's disappeared and instead, a half-moon races the car, guiding it with a serene glow.

Some movement next to me takes my focus off the road and onto the girl next to me. Luckily, we're on a calm road, no other cars to be seen, only grass on either side of us. My face stays in the direction of the road, but every other second I look out of the corner of my eye at the girl who's only just waking up.

"Hmph," she mumbles pointlessly, her eyes lazily opening, her hands pushing against the seat to hoist her into a more upright position. At this point, the car has almost stopped, since I know this situation is about to be fairly interesting. But as I look at her and she looks at me, her mouth opens in surprise, her eyes widen...but no words are said. Not one sound is made.

I give her a smile. "You're up."

Her expression has frozen to her face for a good two minutes before she suddenly snaps her gaze away from me and to her lap, where her hands are cuddled together. Honestly, I had been expecting something more from her. A shriek? A curse? An attempt to escape? But she's silent, acting only as if her father has just grounded her and she feels awfully bad.

"What's your name?" I ask softly, not wanting her to feel afraid of me. After all, I'm simply a delivery boy for this whole plan. Still on this peaceful road, I'm allowed to look at her without fear of hitting anything, or having anyone honk at me for being slow.

She parts her lips before clearing her throat in the way only a mouse would. "Mia," she says so softly it's like a whisper, carrying out a deadly secret.

I give her the warmest grin I can muster up. "I'm Justin."

Her head bobs once in an acknowledging nod and her pink lips tilt upwards slightly. "Oh."

I am completely puzzled. Does this girl not realise I'm kidnapping her? She answered back as if she is merely shy, nothing else. Don't get me wrong, I don't want her to be scared or frightened, especially of me. But I fully expect her to be. She hasn't even asked where we're going, or what I'm going to do with her.