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As I blinked my eyes, and got my bearings, I heard Damians frantic voice on the other end of the line.
“Addy? Addy? What’s happening? Are you there Addy?”
I groaned, becoming aware of the aches in my body. The seatbelt was digging into my skin as I dangled upside down in the car. I rubbed my belly, hoping the impact hadn’t hurt the baby.
“What’s going on Addy? Talk to me.”
Water was slowly seeping into the front of the car, as the windshield slowly submerged under the waterline in the muddy stream. Dusk had settled, and with the headlights buried in the mud, there was nothing but the bright glow of the buttons on the dashboard, and the quiet hum of the engine.
My eyes settled on the water level. It came up ever so slowly, building in the bottom of the car, as I reached for my seatbelt.
“Oh my God Damian, I’m stuck.” I clawed at my seatbelt, unable to get it unbuckled. As the car creaked and settled further into the stream, the water line began slowly inching farther and farther up the window. “I’m upside down, I’m– the car is sinking.” I scrambled, looking for a way out.
“Sinking?” Damian asked frantically over the phone.
“I’m in a river or something. I don’t know, Damian. I don’t know.”
“It’s ok, I’m almost there. I’ve got your phone GPS. I’m coming to get you. Can you sit tight for a couple of minutes? Just keep the doors and windows shut until I get there.”
I huffed. For the moment, it looked like the car was settling, and it didn't slip any deeper. The ends of my hair hung down into the water, getting wet, but my head was still well above the water.
Suddenly, the back door was creaking open, and a strong hand was wrapping around my arm.
“Hello?” I called out, unable to see who it was. I just heard grunting and suddenly my seat belt released with a rip, pitching me forward into the front of the car. I landed hard on the steering wheel and gripped my stomach. As I tried to push myself up, I was immersed in cold water. The car shifted and freezing cold water suddenly started pouring through the backdoor, quickly filling up the car.
Damian's voice disappeared into a warbled sound as the bluetooth speaker phone submerged under the water.
The grip found my arm again, tighter this time, and I was being yanked up through the middle of the front seats. Finally, soaking wet and covered in mud, I was dragged up the embankment.
I sat on the cold muddy ground shivering, trying to catch my breath. I squinted in the dusk, trying to make out the man in front of me.
“Get in the car.”
I scrambled up wide eyed. I could see the silhouette of a gun pointed at me, illuminated by the headlights of a van up on the road.
My stomach dropped.
Oh my God.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I tried to sound confident, but the waiver in my voice betrayed me.
I clutched my belly, feeling my maternal instincts kicking in.
I knew never to go to a second location, but there was nowhere for me to go, nowhere for me to hide. I stood frozen. The man fired the gun at the ground.
“I said get in the fucking car. I won’t ask again.”
Adrenaline coursing through me, I put my hands up and walked toward the car, and then, without so much as a glance behind my shoulder, I sprinted past it. I quickly slid down the embankment on the other side of the road.
I covered my head as two more shots were fired.
My heart threatened to beat through my chest, my ears thundered as I tried to quiet my breathing in the darkness. Maybe I could hide in the bushes, or cover myself in mud. I couldn't let them take me. Whoever they were, I knew I wouldn’t survive if they took me.
There was a smatter of shouting, and waving flashlights, and I sank into the freezing mud, shivering, willing myself to be still, willing myself to disappear into the night.
I held my breath, not daring to make any sound.
The flashlights swept over me, and I heard shouting.
