The driver sighed loudly. “It’s done, babe. There’s no going back. It’s too risky to drop her now. It’ll lead the police straight to us. Right now, they got nada. Let’s keep it that way.”
“It’s not right,” the woman quietly insisted.
There was silence for a while. I didn’t make a sound as I waited for my verdict.
The driver finally spoke again, “What do you think, man? Isn’t there another way?”
After a few seconds, my captor answered, “She comes with us.” His voice was firm.
“Well, fuck,” the woman sighed, offering no more protests.
No. No, this wasn’t happening.“But you said… you said if I did as I was told, you’d let me go.” My voice was shaky, barely a whisper. Could he hear me?
The robber’s breath fanned across my cheek. “But you didn’t, did you?” he whispered back. “All promises were off the table the moment you decided to run from me.” His chuckle was taunting. “You should’ve run faster, cupcake. Cause you’re mine now.”
The sound of his voice, his words, slithered down my spine, causing every hair on my body to stand. No words, no human being, had ever terrified me like that.
Even if I could find my voice, begging for my life was futile. It was decided.Hehad decided. I will go with them, wherever they were going, and die there. Even though it seemed that the two at the front might have aconscious, it didn’t matter.Hecalled the shots. And my time had run out the moment they stepped foot into the bank.
We drove, for what felt like days, in complete silence. My mind was numb. All of it felt like a fever dream. Like I would wake up in my bed at any second. The only thing that kept me from believing all of it a dream was the body that bumped against me as the van jostled us. We’d stopped only once, and I was painfully aware of the gap that widened between me and the people who knew I was in trouble—from the people who could save me. The whole town already knew what had happened to me, I was sure of it.
Gods, myparents. They had to be losing it, not knowing where I was, or if I was alive. Just like I was, not knowing how long I would still get to live.
My captor gave me a bottle of water and offered me food, which I couldn’t take. Just the smell of it made me nauseous. I sat as quietly as I could, trying my best not to draw attention to myself. At some point, the utter exhaustion I’d been battling got the better of me, and I fell into a restless sleep.
Therockingofthewaves underneath my surfboard felt strange. It wasn’t the usual rhythmic lull, and it scared me. A swell of fear turned my stomach. It was our favourite surf spot, but something felt wrong about it.
A hand clasped around mine. I looked to my left. Rachel, sitting on her pastel yellow surfboard. My anxiety eased. The setting sun was gleaming in her blonde hair, turning it to gold. Her smile was reassuring, but her eyes held a deep sadness.
“Don’t be scared. We’ll find each other, A. We always do.”
I tightened my hold on her. “I’m not so sure, Rach.”
“We have a pact, remember? Don’t be scared.”
I jolted awake as the van came to a sudden halt. My surroundings came crashing into me, and an insurmountable grief filled my chest at the loss of Rachel’s presence.
My captor stood from beside me, making me jump. My nerves were in tatters. My whole body felt like it was vibrating. It was agonising not being able to see.
Death lifted me by my arm. “Get ready, cupcake. We’re going on a hike.”
When the doors opened, the crisp air hit me. It smelled of pine trees and rich soil. I knew exactly where we were. We were in the forest. More precisely, Frostford Forest. It was two days’ drive from our town. My father used to bring me camping when I was young. It’s where I fell in love with nature and learned just how much she had to offer us, if only we knew what to look for. The problem was, Frostford Forest was over twenty million acres. We could be anywhere. Still, the tension in my shoulders eased just a tiny bit. My surroundings were somewhat familiar.
As I was pulled from the van, another thought struck me. Why were we here? This forest was a magical place, but it was also an abyss. A place where things got lost and stayed lost. A place where secrets were hidden, never to be thought of again. A place to bury the bodies you didn’t want to be found.
I shuddered at my captor’s grip on my arm, and on my life, as he dragged me out of the van.
“Where are we?” I asked, hoping to get more information.
The other man, the driver, took a deep, audible breath and sighed it out loudly. “In the great outdoors.”
Before I could muster the courage to ask more, I was being pushed forward by Death with his hand clasped around my shoulder. I knew it was him. His scent and his dark, suffocating presence were already burned into my brain. My feet stumbled over the uneven terrain. Sandals were not the best shoes for this type of hike. As I tripped over a rock, yet again, my captor caught me, just before my face hit the ground.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” he grumbled, intense annoyance seeping from his tone.
Sirens went off in my head. It would be a tremendously bad idea to anger this man. As messed up as it was, my life depended on keeping him calm and content. I had to do better.
I willed my racing thoughts to a stop and concentrated on my feet. I lifted them higher and placed them down softly at first, being mindful of the surface beneath my shoe before I placed my weight on it. After a while, I was able to move faster. The irony not lost on me that I was practically moving faster towards my death. But there was no choice. Angering my captor seemed like the greater evil. I had no idea what he was capable of when angry.
