One

It was the bumpy movements that finally woke me. When I awoke I realized there were many things wrong with the situation. First I was gagged, and when I tried to remove the gag from my mouth, I realized my hands were tied together. As I started to thrash around, a firm voice beside me said “Hey she’s starting to wake up.”

“Well well well, looks like Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up.” said a voice from the front of the car; I assumed it was a car anyway. I kept squirming, but the next words the man said stopped me cold.

“If you don’t stop struggling, we’re going to have to knock you out again, and I don’t think you’d like that.”

Ok I was freaking out now, but I instantly stopped struggling.

Calm down Erica, you’ve got to stay calm if you want to stay alive. I told myself.

I was currently in a lose-lose situation. I had no idea what I was doing gagged and bound, or who these people were, but I knew I had to remember. Except it was so hard to form coherent thoughts! I figured they must have drugged me, why else did my head hurt and everything was fuzzy?

As I struggled to recall what had happened, some fuzzy memories did return.

***

“But mom,” I said. “I don’t want to go to the stupid pool!”

My mom sighed next to me. “Erica we’ve been over this, you haven’t seen your cousin in three
years and while you may remember her; she was too young to remember you! Don’t you remember how cute she was?” my mom asked.

Of course I remember Sophie; I had been eleven at the time. I sighed and sank deeper into the passenger’s seat. I absentmindedly twirled the blue streak I had gotten in my back length brown hair the previous summer. I wondered why my mom was making such a big deal out of seeing my cousin. Sure, little five year old Sophie was adorable with her golden blonde hair and her dazzling midday sky blue eyes, but that didn’t mean I wanted to halt my summer vacation for her. I was supposed to be hanging out with my best friend Rachael today, but instead I got dragged into this. Plus, I had other reasons for not wanting to go today.

Suddenly a laugh from the back seat interrupted my thoughts. My eight year old brother Matthew, or Matt as he liked to be called, was being a pain as always.

“Erica,” he said. “you always love going to the pool. Why don’t you want to go today?”

I flushed. “I just have a bad feeling, that’s all.”

My mom sighed next to me. “Sweetie, I think you’re just overreacting. Nothing bad ever happens at family pools.”

If only my mom had known how wrong she was.

***

That’s right we were going to visit Sophie.

I thought groggily. I wondered what these people wanted with a fourteen year old girl.

Were they going to kill me?

I hastily pushed that thought away. No if they wanted to kill me, they would have done it long ago, right? Besides, I hadn’t done anything that warranted killing me! Sure maybe I was rude to my mom and brother sometimes, but what teenager wasn’t!? I felt like there was some vital piece of information that I was forgetting, but the fog in my mind was too thick to remember what it was.

As the car went over another big bump in the road, I was pushed into the air and landed hard on my stomach. I couldn’t stop the “oomph” that escaped from my mouth. Quickly I tensed, hoping no one heard me. As I held my breath, one of my captors coughed, but otherwise ignored me.

As I struggled against the panic that was about to burst from me, I took long deep breaths. They helped a little. I needed to figure out what they had done to me and why they had taken me in the first place. Taking another deep breath, I ventured deeper into the fog that was my mind.

***

When we arrived at the rec-center I glanced up at the huge building. We had been here before, but usually when we went; it was some sort of treat. They had a huge pool area with three different sections. One section was obviously for little kids, where there were little slides and shallow water for the kids to play in without getting into too much trouble. There were also hot tubs by the pool so that parents could relax while they watched their kids. Then there was the regular pool where people could actually swim. I didn’t like it though because the water only went five feet deep. My favorite part of the place was the diving boards. I absolutely loved them.

Unfortunately when we got to the parking lot the whole area was full. It wasn’t that surprising, since it was the middle of August, but when the only spot we could find was in a totally isolated place I got concerned. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I had this feeling that we had to be with other people. Usually when we get out of the car I sprint ahead of Matt and my mom and have to wait for them inside the main building, but this time I stayed close by. It was only when we arrived inside that I realized I had forgotten my pool bag.

“Oh Erica you’re so forgetful.” My mom said when I asked for the car keys. After she fished them out of her purse, I promised I would only be gone a minute or so.

“Hurry up sis! I want to go inside!” Matt complained.

I promised him I would be quick. As I ran for the car, I got that panicked feeling again. I did my best to ignore it. When I got to the car I realized just how isolate the area was. I also noticed there was a van that hadn’t been there before.

“I guess someone else had trouble finding a parking space too.” I said aloud nervously.

With shaking fingers I unlocked the car and got my bag. I turned around I started walking towards the building…. Only to be knocked down by a man with a mask!

“Hey sweetie, you’re coming with us.”

It was obviously a man, I could tell by his voice. As I struggled to my feet I stepped on my sunglasses, which had fallen from my bag, and got ready to run, but then another person appeared behind me and clamped his arms around me, preventing my escape. It was then that I started screaming.

If you’ve never been in true danger, you have never experience fear or what it does to you. Suddenly all of my senses were superhuman. I could smell the chlorine from the pool, the sweat on the people who had me, I could hear them breathing, feel the rough fabric of their clothing, and see every little detail of the world. True fear also gives you the highest and loudest voice you could ever imagine.

“HELP! CALL 911! FIRE! I’M BEING ABDUCTED! HELP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling like a trapped animal. It felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my head.

“Will you shut her up!” said the man who I named goon one.

“HELP! CALL THE POLICE!! FIRE! I’M BEING ABDU-……” suddenly my screams were cut off as a damp and sweet smelling cloth was shoved over my nose and mouth by a third person.

“Chloroform!” I realized with a shock.

Before my dad had left our family three years earlier, he had been part of the FBI. He had taught me all kinds of cool things, including how to identify knock out scents.

“Oh no…” I thought as the world became fuzzy. I futilely tried kicking the man who had me trapped but it was no use. The chloroform was taking effect and my struggles became weaker and weaker, until the world was engulfed in darkness.

Two

As I lay in the van remembering all of this my mind went into overdrive. The horror of what had just happened helped clear some of the fog from my mind. Instantly my thoughts went to my mom and Matt. They must be freaking out right now. I’m sure when I didn’t come back they must have come to look for me. I wondered what the scene looked like, I hope I had done something to show that I had been kidnapped, maybe they would see the broken sunglasses and dropped bag and realized something was up. Poor mom, she wasn’t the strongest of hearts, I hope she took this well. I wish I had a watch or could see outside so I could guess at how long I had been gone. I also wondered why they had taken me in the first place. Were they looking for a ransom? Or was this an old grudge against my family? Suddenly I gasped which I immediately regretted when the man sitting next to me grumbled and hit me on the head. Of course! This was because of who my father was! Being an FBI agent probably meant that he made a lot of enemies. It finally made sense now why they had kidnapped me. I was thankful it was me and not Matt who had gotten into this mess. Unlike me, Matt hadn’t gotten any training from dad.

I calmed down and tried to remember what he had taught me. Suddenly goon one bent over and started removing the gag from my mouth.

“Make any trouble and you’ll regret it”

The hidden message was clear, don’t try to escape or call for help. I glanced up and finally got a good look at him. He was a big man with broad shoulders and a cold face. He waited until I nodded and then he removed it slowly. I had no intention of screaming or being unconscious again. These people would be talking, and information was like gold. Plus I had to think of a way to get out of this van!

“Are we almost there?”

I could hear muffled voices coming from the front seat, the one that was talking sounded male.

“Nearly, just a few more miles.”

The answering voice sounded male and like the one who had restrained me in the parking lot, so I named him goon 2. I figured the other was the one who had knocked me out, so I named him goon 3.

Oh man, I wondered what they were going to do to me.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I asked them.

“Shut up and don’t move” goon 2 said.

Then I remembered something, usually vans like this one had those big open back doors, and it felt like I was leaning up against one of them! A small surge of hope flared inside me. Maybe if I could open the door at the right time, I could run as fast as I could and get some help. They would have to stop the car and get me, and hopefully we would be in a populated area. I decided to wait until the next time we stopped. I didn’t have to wait long, in the next five minutes we started slowing down and I heard the driver mutter something about “stupid stoplights”.

This was it! As I inched towards the door, every one of them ignored me, and I jolted the handle down.

The breeze was the sweetest thing I had ever experienced. As I rolled out of the car I could hear shouts of surprise and outrage behind me. That’s when I started screaming.

“HELP! CALL THE POLICE! I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!!” I glanced around and my heart sank. We were in a deserted area, there was no one around. In fact all I could see was another van, which seemed to be waiting for someone. I ran blindly as fast as I could, but unfortunately for me the goons seemed to be the athletic type too. Even though I could run the mile without stopping, they still caught up with me after running for 10 minutes.

“Darn it, so close” The grief and anger surrounded me like a blanket.

“Crazy girl, she could have gotten us in a lot of trouble if we had been in a town!” goon 3 commented.

“At least we are about to change vehicles and no one had seen us.” replied goon two.

“Alright, get her into the back”

“Oh wait, before that..”

Suddenly goon 2 covered my face with the same cloth he had when they first kidnapped me. I instantly started struggling but I knew it was no use. As the darkness covered me again, my thoughts rushed back to my family, then nothing.

Three

When I finally awoke I was being carried by two people. One had their arms under my armpits and the other had grabbed my ankles. I struggled in their arms and got hit on the head.

“Great now I’ve got two bumps.” I thought angrily.

Just who did these people think they were anyway?

They tossed me in what looked like an abandoned bedroom. There was a bed, a bathroom, and a window. The bed had an old gray blanket and a pillow, but at least it was something. I quickly ran to the door, hoping I might be able to get out before they prevented it, but it seemed like there was something blocking it on the outside. I sighed and looked at the bed.

It was then that I realized how tired and hungry I was. As I lay down on the bed I felt something digging into my side. I checked my jean pockets and found my iPod. I almost cried out in relief, it felt like there was something normal in this new crazy world. Hopeful I reached for my other pocket, where I usually keep my phone, praying it would be there. My hopes sank when it wasn’t there, but I was still grateful for my iPod. It was fully charged too, which meant if I was careful I had a couple of days at best with my music. With a jolt I realized that my iPod had a calendar and a clock. I checked it and saw that the time was 3 in the morning, a whole 15 hours had past! My mom was sure to have called the police and reported this.

“Might as well wash up.” I said aloud. I walked to the bathroom and stopped cold, staring at my reflection. My jeans and brown t-shirt were covered in grim and my jeans were torn in some places. That got me mad, these were my favorite pair of jeans!

“They are going to pay.” I vowed grimly.

I looked over the rest of me. My face was scratched in some places and covered in dirt. I scrubbed it off with the water from the sing. My hair was a mess. While it was usually really neat, now it looked like a rat’s nest. It was sticking up everywhere and looked like hobo hair. I was so grateful that I had a hair tie so I could put my hair back in a ponytail and have it look somewhat nice. When I was done in the bathroom I walked back in the bedroom and sat down on the bed, feeling awful.

I wondered if my mom had called dad yet. The only reason she would call my dad is if something really bad happened. I remembered the only other time that mom had called dad was when Matt was in the hospital with a concussion after getting hit on the head with a baseball. I wished my father could have been there with me when I walked to the car, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Now there was no dad to make everything better, only me and my iPod.

“And my stomach.” I thought as it let out a huge groan. The last thing I had eaten was a granola bar at 8 in the morning. It seemed almost as if my kidnappers had known because at that moment the door opened and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bag of chips, and a juice pouch were tossed in the room. I was instantly on my guard, this looked homemade so I didn’t know what they could have done to it. Was it poisoned? Did it have some kind of anesthesia in it to make me easier to cooperate with? I wasn’t willing to risk my freedom, so I stuck with the bagged chips and juice. These I knew couldn’t have been drugged because they showed no signs of ever been opened. After I finish the chips and juice, I lay in the bed and listened to my music. With nothing to do I sang. Quietly at first, but then I increased my volume. I sang some pretty nasty songs hoping to annoy my kidnappers.

Some time passed before I heard a tentative knock at the door. That surprised me. They were the kidnappers, why would they knock on my door? Wouldn’t they just barge in so I wouldn’t have time to prepare myself? I tensed and shoved my iPod under my pillow. No sense in them seeing it and feeling the need to take it. Then I sprung from the bed ready to make a run for it, or attack if I needed to. The door swung open and goon 3 entered the room. As I got ready to pounce on him, he pulled out a gun.

“Don’t even think about it little girl.”
When he talked I noticed some kind of foreign accent that I couldn’t identify.

“What? After all that trouble of getting me, you’re just going to kill me? Just like that? You guys are more stupid than I thought.” I retaliated bravely, hoping to stall him.

He laughed a cold mean laugh, his smile never reaching his eyes.

“Hmm you’re a brave one. That’s good, you’ll survive longer. I guess we got lucky that it was you who came out and not your brother.”

I felt the color drain from my face when they mentioned Matt.

“What do you want with me? What did I ever do to deserve this? If its money you want…” I faltered, thinking quickly. If they wanted a ransom and found out that we didn’t have a lot of money, would they kill me? He had a gun right there, maybe they had found out and were going to get rid of me.

“Don’t be silly little girl. You haven’t done anything. We want revenge on your father.”

“My father?”

“Yes you stupid girl. Your father got us all in prison and now he’s going to pay.”

“He’s going to pay?” I thought. All of a sudden the pieces seemed to fall into place. Why he had a gun, why they had kidnapped me.

“Oh my God, are you going to kill me?” I asked in a shaky voice, scared of the answer.

He snorted, reassuring me slightly. “Of course not girl, we are just going to make him suffer a little while longer. Now, say cheese!”

Whipping out a camera with his spare hand so quickly that I didn’t have time to react, he snapped a picture of me. As I rubbed my eyes clear from the sudden flash, he started laughing.

“Good you look nice and scared. Your father won’t stand by and do nothing once we send this to him.”

While he continued to ramble on about how perfect the picture was, I slowly crept towards him. What this man didn’t know was that I had been trained in martial arts by my father and I knew at least five ways to knock someone out cold for a couple of hours. Stealthy as a ninja, I snuck up behind him and struck a hard jab to the back of his neck. I heard him gasp slightly out of surprise before falling to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

This was it! Before I went to get my iPod I searched Goon 3 for anything valuable. I found a pair of car keys, an evil looking knife, and $20. I grabbed my iPod and sprinted out of the room. I didn’t know how much time I had and I wasn’t willing to stick around and find out. For all I knew I didn’t hit him hard enough and he would wake up soon. Or his body would be discovered by the other kidnappers. When I had been in the prison room I had gazed out my window to see if I could have possibly escaped. What I had discovered was that I had been on at least the 3rd floor of the building. I immediately looked for the stairway. The elevator, if there was one, would alert the other kidnappers. They would probably assume it was their friend, but there was no point in taking a chance. Plus the elevator was too slow, so if something did happen they could easily cut me off. On that note I raced for the stairs.

By the time I reached the stairs I realized how old this building was. There were chips of paint missing from the wall, holes in the grimy white carpet, and evidence that animals had been living here. I started racing down the concrete stairs two at a time. For once I was grateful it was concrete instead of fancy wooden stairs. The concrete helped absorb any noise I made and this also meant that time wouldn’t have caused the stairs to rot.
When I finally reached the bottom of the stairs my breath was coming in short pants and my heart was pounding in my chest. I peaked around the corner and saw the whole lobby was deserted. Looking around for the door I saw that it was only 10 feet away. Before I raced to freedom, I stopped by the front desk and grabbed one of those tourist pamphlets that hotels think people actually pay attention to.

I didn’t even bother to read it because I heard footsteps and yells coming directly above me. I guessed they must have figured out what had happened. Hoping I could outrun them and use the car keys to get away I sprinted for the door. However luck was not on my side. As soon as I started running a figure approached from the stairway 5 feet away. Shouting he raced towards me, his arms outstretched to grab me. Another thing they didn’t know was that I was the star close distance runner at our school. Taking a deep breath I raced towards the door and opened it, embracing the cool night air.

Four

I didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy the sweet taste of freedom. Glancing around I quickly took in my surroundings. I saw that the building I had just escaped was overlooking a cliff and there was a dense forest in the distance. Still running I looked behind me and saw that two of the kidnappers were now racing towards me. Looking around for anything that could be of any use to me, I saw it. The car they had kidnapped me in was only thirty feet away and I had the keys in pocket. Racing towards the car I could hear the man and women screaming at me and each other. Glancing behind me I saw that one of them had tripped. The other one was about 10 feet behind her but slowly gaining. I reached the van and hopped into the front seat and jammed the keys into the ignition.

The old engine spluttered at me, but it turned on and I could hear the rumbling of the engine. Checking for trees I put the old truck in reverse. I could hear the kidnappers cursing me, but their voices quickly faded away as I shot into the darkness of the forest. The car and I were quickly swallowed by darkness. Glancing around wildly I found the headlight switch and turned it on. A couple of yards in front of me was a huge tree. Screaming, I quickly swerved to the right and narrowly avoided my untimely demise.
After speeding through the dark woods for thirty minutes I finally broke cover of the woods. Lurching onto the main road I slowed the speed from 75mph to 45 mph. I glanced back in the review mirrors, expecting to see a pursuit, but there wasn’t one. Slowing down to 20 mph I glanced around the inside of the truck, trying to see if there was anything useful. I found twenty bucks in the glove compartment and a map. It turned out I was in Illinois. They had taken me from Kansas; we had completely crossed one state and entered another. I had to ditch the car eventually, but first I had to get into the nearest town and get in touch with the police. According to the map, I was 200 miles from the nearest town.

It would take me a half a day to get to the town with the car, but my kidnappers would follow me and this car was too easy to find. I would ditch the car in a couple of hours and walk to the town. Glancing around for anything else that would help, I found a small brown purse hidden under the passenger seat. I stuffed the money I had found in the car and from the kidnapper and the map inside. Grabbing my iPod from my pocket I listen to my favorite bands and drowned out the rattling of the car engine.

Just as the sun started to rise, I pulled off to the side of the road and left the car. Grabbing the keys, I chucked them into the woods next to the road. If the kidnappers did come they wouldn’t be able to use the car now. Realizing how tired I was, I decided to walk for another two hours and then find a safe place to rest. I estimated I had already traveled 145 miles with the car, so I still had about another 55 miles to go. It usually took me ten minutes to run a mile and 25 minutes to walk a mile. However, in my weakened state it would probably take me longer.

I started trekking along the road, wishing I looked more like a human being and not a crazed animal. The scratches and tears on my clothes, not to mention my face, would be a dead give away when I reached the town. Still, just the thought of being alive was intoxicating. I would reach the station, they would call my family, tearful reunions would ensure, and everything would work out beautifully.

It’s still hard to believe I actually thought such a naïve wish would come true.

Impressum

Texte: Note: All images were found on Google. I do not claim to own them.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.02.2011

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