Taken
Two
I slowly awakened to being shoved by my husband. He urged me to awaken and for a second, I had forgotten all about the madman chasing us; that was until I felt the dirt under me and it all flooded back into my brain. We were on the run from my madman of a father and he was catching up. I stood up from the ground with the help of the tree next to me and looked around the forest. It was still a little before sunrise and the mist hid the trees that were once completely visible to the naked eye. I heard a twig breaking in the distance and I thought immediately of my father. My husband must have as well because his expression changed to one of caution.
“The fog is thick, which will make it hard to travel in the trees; we’ll have to stick close together because if he comes after us in this we won’t even see him.” I nodded although my mind hadn’t fully processed what he had said yet. I heard a familiar ding and looked around on the ground for my cell phone. I picked up my old iPhone 4s and looked down at the screen. To my horror there was a text message from our friend Kiro’s phone, only it wasn’t from him. I looked in horror as the message contained a photo of Kiro and his husband bound in their kitchen chairs; both were bleeding from the top of their heads. Along with the picture was a simple message that read: you have an hour to decide whose lives are more important, yours or theirs.
I dropped my phone and fell back against the tree. My husband picked up my phone and looked at the photo and message; he punched the side of the tree and looked down at me.
“You know what we have to do Angel.” I nodded and wiped the tears from my face. I took my phone and looked at my friends’ scared faces. I pressed the reply button and looked down at the keyboard of my slide up phone. I slowly started to type a message to my dad that told him we’ll surrender ourselves to him but he had to give us longer than an hour because they lived fairly far away. I pressed send and watched my phone for a reply that I knew I would receive shortly. My phone lit up and a small ding came from its speakers letting me know I had a new message. The message was a short and sweet “okay”.
“We need to hurry up and get there. Even with that message we both know he isn’t going to leave them alone.” He said.
“Yeah I know; I think the quickest way would be to go into the fog. I know it’s a little risky, but it’s our only hope.” I wiped away the rest of my tears and looked towards the eerie fog that seemed to cover the forest ahead. I hugged Johnathon before running towards the fog with him at my heels. Once we had overcame the barrier between the fog and the clear sky we could hardly see anything. I looked down at my phone to check the time: 3:48am.
“Johnathon, how long do you think it’ll be before we reach their house?!” I shouted back towards him as we ran.
“It’s a forty-five minute car ride so we’re looking at anywhere between three and five hours before we’re even close!” Damn, I doubt my father would wait that long for us.
“Can we get there any quicker? I don’t think my father would be willing to wait that long!” We needed a vehicle, but we couldn’t return to our home in fear that a trap awaited us.
“We’ll have to carjack someone if we want to save their lives!” That was what I feared. When we carjack someone we can’t afford to leave them alive, otherwise they might remember our faces and we’ll never save our friends.
“Follow me!” Johnathon ran further ahead before turning to our right. I followed as close as I could until finally we exited the dense fog and looked out onto a desolate street. I looked around and recognized the street as Campbell Street. We were almost six blocks away from our own home.
“What’re we doing here, Johnathon?” Johnathon sighed and looked at me grimly.
“We’re going to do a breaking and entering, which will then lead to murder if someone fights back. I know this doesn't sit right with you and it doesn't for me either, but their lives are more important than some random strangers that we don’t even know.” I looked down at the street as I sighed heavily.
“Alright, lets do it.” I glanced up and down the street, looking for anyone who didn’t have a security system and walked to a house just a few feet from us. I walked around to the back of the house and first lifted the typical welcome mat. When I didn't see a key, I felt around the door frame until my fingers finally stumbled upon a small key. I took the cold piece of metal from the door and slid it into the lock ever so carefully, unlocking the door. When I didn't hear an alarm, I sighed with relief.
“Johnathon, see if you can find the car keys. I saw a garage towards the back of the yard so they should have a car.” He nodded and I walked into the kitchen to grab a small knife. I hoped silently to myself that Johnathon wouldn’t look at me any differently after this, but we couldn’t let any of the residents live. If we do, we risk being caught and arrested before everything is set right again. I walked through the small apartment style kitchen, into the large open living room. When I saw the children's toys, I immediately felt guilty for what I was going to do, but I didn't have a choice. I opened the first door and saw a young child that couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old. I slowly crept in and looked down at the child as they slept peacefully. I pulled back the blankets carefully and looked down at the golden pigtails of the young girl before I stabbed down into her heart with one quick movement. Her face scrunched up in pain before going back into a resting position.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” I walked out of her room and walked down towards the small hall to my left. I opened the first door only to find a linen closet. I walked away, leaving the door open. The next door was a bathroom so I also left that door open. The end of the hall had two doors directly across from each other so I opened one and found a small male toddler. I carefully slipped in and walked to the toddler’s bed. I didn’t want him to suffer so I stabbed quickly into his heart as well; unlike his sister, he immediately went quiet. I opened the next door to find a young woman, no older than twenty-five, sound asleep in her plush pillowtop queen bed. I walked to the bed and looked down at her. Her eyes opened and I put my finger to my lips to shush her. I flashed the knife and when she saw the blood she whimpered. I looked down at the blood before looking back at her.
“I wish for you to join your children.” In one quick movement, I slit her throat from ear to ear as she sat up. She looked at me in horror before grasping her throat and with gargled words she whispered something inaudible to me. I looked up as I heard Johnathon drop what he held in his hands at the doorway.
“What did you do?!”
“I couldn’t risk something going wrong.” I looked away and laid the knife on the bedside table. I walked to her closet and took out a form-fitting, plain black t-shirt and plain blue jeans. I took off my bloodied pajamas and slipped into her clothing, which surprisingly fit me well. I grabbed a pair of socks and slipped on her tennis shoes which were a bit snug, but fit well enough. Johnathon just stared at me in shock as I calmly dressed in this dead woman’s clothing.
“Lets go.” I grabbed the knife and my old clothes before walking out of the door. I felt horrible about murdering this family but I couldn’t take the risk. Kiro and Geo mattered more than anyone. Johnathon hung his head as we walked out to the garage where a shiny Ford truck awaited us. I slipped into the passenger side and threw the bloodied items into the floorboard while Johnathon jumped into the driver’s side and handed me a couple snack cakes that he had taken from the pantry.
“You’ll need your strength. We will be there soon.” I nodded and laid back in the seat quietly as he started the engine and drove out of the driveway.
“The fog is thick, which will make it hard to travel in the trees; we’ll have to stick close together because if he comes after us in this we won’t even see him.” I nodded although my mind hadn’t fully processed what he had said yet. I heard a familiar ding and looked around on the ground for my cell phone. I picked up my old iPhone 4s and looked down at the screen. To my horror there was a text message from our friend Kiro’s phone, only it wasn’t from him. I looked in horror as the message contained a photo of Kiro and his husband bound in their kitchen chairs; both were bleeding from the top of their heads. Along with the picture was a simple message that read: you have an hour to decide whose lives are more important, yours or theirs.
I dropped my phone and fell back against the tree. My husband picked up my phone and looked at the photo and message; he punched the side of the tree and looked down at me.
“You know what we have to do Angel.” I nodded and wiped the tears from my face. I took my phone and looked at my friends’ scared faces. I pressed the reply button and looked down at the keyboard of my slide up phone. I slowly started to type a message to my dad that told him we’ll surrender ourselves to him but he had to give us longer than an hour because they lived fairly far away. I pressed send and watched my phone for a reply that I knew I would receive shortly. My phone lit up and a small ding came from its speakers letting me know I had a new message. The message was a short and sweet “okay”.
“We need to hurry up and get there. Even with that message we both know he isn’t going to leave them alone.” He said.
“Yeah I know; I think the quickest way would be to go into the fog. I know it’s a little risky, but it’s our only hope.” I wiped away the rest of my tears and looked towards the eerie fog that seemed to cover the forest ahead. I hugged Johnathon before running towards the fog with him at my heels. Once we had overcame the barrier between the fog and the clear sky we could hardly see anything. I looked down at my phone to check the time: 3:48am.
“Johnathon, how long do you think it’ll be before we reach their house?!” I shouted back towards him as we ran.
“It’s a forty-five minute car ride so we’re looking at anywhere between three and five hours before we’re even close!” Damn, I doubt my father would wait that long for us.
“Can we get there any quicker? I don’t think my father would be willing to wait that long!” We needed a vehicle, but we couldn’t return to our home in fear that a trap awaited us.
“We’ll have to carjack someone if we want to save their lives!” That was what I feared. When we carjack someone we can’t afford to leave them alive, otherwise they might remember our faces and we’ll never save our friends.
“Follow me!” Johnathon ran further ahead before turning to our right. I followed as close as I could until finally we exited the dense fog and looked out onto a desolate street. I looked around and recognized the street as Campbell Street. We were almost six blocks away from our own home.
“What’re we doing here, Johnathon?” Johnathon sighed and looked at me grimly.
“We’re going to do a breaking and entering, which will then lead to murder if someone fights back. I know this doesn't sit right with you and it doesn't for me either, but their lives are more important than some random strangers that we don’t even know.” I looked down at the street as I sighed heavily.
“Alright, lets do it.” I glanced up and down the street, looking for anyone who didn’t have a security system and walked to a house just a few feet from us. I walked around to the back of the house and first lifted the typical welcome mat. When I didn't see a key, I felt around the door frame until my fingers finally stumbled upon a small key. I took the cold piece of metal from the door and slid it into the lock ever so carefully, unlocking the door. When I didn't hear an alarm, I sighed with relief.
“Johnathon, see if you can find the car keys. I saw a garage towards the back of the yard so they should have a car.” He nodded and I walked into the kitchen to grab a small knife. I hoped silently to myself that Johnathon wouldn’t look at me any differently after this, but we couldn’t let any of the residents live. If we do, we risk being caught and arrested before everything is set right again. I walked through the small apartment style kitchen, into the large open living room. When I saw the children's toys, I immediately felt guilty for what I was going to do, but I didn't have a choice. I opened the first door and saw a young child that couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old. I slowly crept in and looked down at the child as they slept peacefully. I pulled back the blankets carefully and looked down at the golden pigtails of the young girl before I stabbed down into her heart with one quick movement. Her face scrunched up in pain before going back into a resting position.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” I walked out of her room and walked down towards the small hall to my left. I opened the first door only to find a linen closet. I walked away, leaving the door open. The next door was a bathroom so I also left that door open. The end of the hall had two doors directly across from each other so I opened one and found a small male toddler. I carefully slipped in and walked to the toddler’s bed. I didn’t want him to suffer so I stabbed quickly into his heart as well; unlike his sister, he immediately went quiet. I opened the next door to find a young woman, no older than twenty-five, sound asleep in her plush pillowtop queen bed. I walked to the bed and looked down at her. Her eyes opened and I put my finger to my lips to shush her. I flashed the knife and when she saw the blood she whimpered. I looked down at the blood before looking back at her.
“I wish for you to join your children.” In one quick movement, I slit her throat from ear to ear as she sat up. She looked at me in horror before grasping her throat and with gargled words she whispered something inaudible to me. I looked up as I heard Johnathon drop what he held in his hands at the doorway.
“What did you do?!”
“I couldn’t risk something going wrong.” I looked away and laid the knife on the bedside table. I walked to her closet and took out a form-fitting, plain black t-shirt and plain blue jeans. I took off my bloodied pajamas and slipped into her clothing, which surprisingly fit me well. I grabbed a pair of socks and slipped on her tennis shoes which were a bit snug, but fit well enough. Johnathon just stared at me in shock as I calmly dressed in this dead woman’s clothing.
“Lets go.” I grabbed the knife and my old clothes before walking out of the door. I felt horrible about murdering this family but I couldn’t take the risk. Kiro and Geo mattered more than anyone. Johnathon hung his head as we walked out to the garage where a shiny Ford truck awaited us. I slipped into the passenger side and threw the bloodied items into the floorboard while Johnathon jumped into the driver’s side and handed me a couple snack cakes that he had taken from the pantry.
“You’ll need your strength. We will be there soon.” I nodded and laid back in the seat quietly as he started the engine and drove out of the driveway.