Once Upon A Muslim

Chapter 12 | An Unexpected Day

"Stephanie," I growl. "Right now is not the time." 

"Oh, it is honey. You've been running away for too long." She curls a mane of her long black hair around her finger. "Boys, do your job." Blake runs over to me and grabs my hands. He holds them from my back and I try to get myself out of his grip, but he has a firm hold on my hands. The other two goons lead the two of them to the back entrance of the diner.

"Leave those innocent girls alone! I'll call the cops on you!" The woman's arm is shaking as she holds up the telephone. Stephanie walks over to her with a smile planted on her face.

"Ma'am, I advise you not to do that." She pulls a pistol from her right boot and points the gun at the woman's temple. "Let's play a little game of 'Stephanie Says,' okay?" The woman nods her head in fear. "Stephanie Says put the phone down. And Stephanie Says keep your mouth shut, otherwise Stephanie will find you and do bad, bad things to you. Understand?" The woman nods her head again, speechless. She turns away from her and walks towards Nick. "Blake, can you please escort Kayla outside? I need to talk to Nick."

"Yes Steph," he replies. "Come on." He tightens his grip on me as he leads me outside. 

"Where are you taking my friends? Get the hell off of me!" Okay, so I know he won't listen to me, but this is the only idea I have to get information out of him. 

"Nice try Kayla. Get into the van." He shoves me inside the same black van I've seen at the park and slams the door. Bonnie and Veronica are not in here. I look through the window to my left and see another van that's driving away. They must be in there. I pound on the window and fumble with the door handle. The door won't budge. These people may be druggies but it doesn't mean they aren't clever.

Blake opens the van again and holds up a needle. "You're a pretty unstable girl. Here's something that can make you calm down." He rolls up the sleeve of my shirt. He injects the needle and I feel drowsy within seconds. "Sweet dreams."

***

Okay, so I shouldn't have told Zahra my nightmare. Because my nightmare is turning into reality but it's far more worse than I expected. Stephanie is probably one of the problems I have right now other than being kidnapped by my peers. I don't open my eyes but I hear her voice. "I know you're awake, Kayla. Don't play games with me now." She nudges me gently as if I were an infant. 

I still keep my eyes closed. I'm probably strapped on a bed now, but I'm not sure. I don't feel a thing. Maybe it's because of what Blake injected me with. I'd rather have another nightmare than talk to this evil witch. "Get up or I'll call Karl and Michael and tell them to torture your little pesky friends."

"You're bluffing," I mumble. I reluctantly get up and squint at her since there's a harsh light in the room. "Happy?"

"Very. Okay, you are needed. We're having a meeting and you must be participating in it. This meeting is about you, so you must feel special. We rarely do this." She opens the door of the small room I'm in. I was lying on a cot and that's pretty much what's in here, nothing fancy. I roll my eyes. I definitely feel special.

I leave the room with Stephanie clacking her heels behind me. She chews on her gum and I wish I can slap the smirk off her face. "Faster," she orders. I walk faster and  she steers me into a bigger room that must be the living room. I'm guessing we're in a shack, because the walls are mainly made out of logs. Nick, the 'Detective' Karl and Michael, and this blond guy all sit around the table.

"Is that your natural hair color?" I ask out of the blue before I can stop myself.

He looks up at me with brown eyes that somehow hold amusement. "Don't be smart with me, girl. Take a seat. The sooner we start, the sooner we get to...cooperate." I raise an eyebrow as I sit down next to Michael. I look at Nick and when he looks at me, for merely a second, he looks away and hides his face. I don't trust him anymore. I'm not even sure that he told me the truth.