CHAPTER 8
M ost of the girls weren’t talking to me. They thought my escape attempt was foolish and put all their lives in danger. Others understood what I was trying to do. I couldn’t understand why they were all just letting this happen. It didn’t make any sense.
I found a wooden crate under the stairs, brought it out in the middle of the basement, turned it over, and stepped on it. “Excuse me, I want to say something.”
The girls stopped what they were doing and looked at me. “Why don’t you keep your voice down?” Two responded.
“What’s your problem? Why aren’t you fighting harder? Don’t you want to get out of this place?” Frustrated tears filled my eyes as I looked around the room.
“We’re all trying to survive, twenty-six. But we know we could die if we resist. Why don’t you get a clue?” Two said.
“They’re going to sell us. All of us. And if you leave here, the chance that you will be found alive somewhere in the world is slim to none.” I looked at Two. “And my name is not Twenty-six. It’s Marlene and I’m not playing their game anymore.”
Our conversation was interrupted by the door opening. Ariel came downstairs and looked at us. He pointed to me and then pointed upstairs. I froze afraid of what was about to come next. I watched the girls’ expression as I moved toward the stairs. Some had concern for me and others had fear in their eyes mixed with relief that it wasn’t them. I didn’t hold it against them though. I understood the strain and pressure we were all under. The truth was that I couldn’t expect them to react the way I wanted them to or in accordance with the way I thought the world should work. There weren’t any rules in a situation like this. I’d have to figure it out for myself and then hopefully save them too.
He led me to the bathroom and motioned for me to take a shower and get dressed. “No,” I said.
Dmitri’s father came in. “You will do as you are told. You have a new master coming today and unless you want to leave here in trash bags, you’d better do as you are told.”
He closed the distance between us staring into my eyes but more so into my soul. He grabbed the shackles between my wrists and dragged me over to the computer. Then he typed on the keyboard, I presumed he was typing in the code to unlock my shackles so I could take a shower. “Go get ready and don’t give us any trouble.”
I shut the bathroom door behind me and sat down on the floor. I wasn’t sure how to handle this or what to do. If I didn’t comply I could get seriously hurt, or worse. If I did comply, I may never see my parents again. This way, if I did go with them, there would be a small window of opportunity to escape. And all I needed was just a tiny window of opportunity. At least, just long enough to inform the sheriff’s office so they could save the others.
Speaking of windows, there wasn’t one, so making my escape wasn’t going to happen here. I showered quickly and dried off, put on a red dress that was already hanging up in the bathroom. I walked out into the living room to see two men in black jackets standing there. They were talking about picking up the package which I assumed meant me.
“Be careful with her, she’s a feisty one.” Dmitri’s father said.
“Don’t talk about me like that.” I forced myself to find the courage to speak up.
“You will go with these men without trouble, understand?” His eyes seem to sparkle.
I watched the two men pass a suitcase over to him. He opened it to reveal stacks of cash in bundles.
“Pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. She’s all yours.” He gave a wide perverse grin that sent adrenaline through my body..
As soon as we walked out of the house my eyes adjusted. I saw the street and grass and cars and it almost brought tears to my eyes. It had been so long since I’d seen daylight in a neighborhood. A voice inside my head screamed at me that this was my chance. I had to think quickly and figure out a plan.
We were almost in the car and I knew that if I got into that car I may never have another chance to get away. So I kicked one of the guys hard in the knee. He collapsed and ran out into the road and across the street. The other guy chased after me. I screamed for anyone to help me but saw no one out in the street. He chased me as I ran into another person’s yard, grabbed my foot, and tripped me. We both went tumbling to the ground.
“So that’s what he meant by feisty, huh?” He said.
The other guy caught up to us, limping as he walked and they both grabbed me and carried me back to the black van. I kicked and screamed until they lost their grip on me. I was able to break away from one of them but the other one still had a firm grip on my arm. The first man was able to recover his grip on me and together they threw me into the van as I screamed and fought the entire time. I punched and slapped at both of them until I felt a prick in my shoulder. I’d been stuck with something. My head began to swoon and I had trouble concentrating. I heard them talk about where they were going as my eyes shut and my brain drifted off into the sleepy blackness of the unknown.
CHAPTER 9
V arious noises in my ears started out far away and then got louder. My eyes slowly opened as my head tried to clear the space from the fogginess. It took a minute before I realized that my body couldn’t move freely. I was disoriented and unsure of what was happening. Instinctively, I curled my body into the fetal position to protect myself. A groan escaped my lips.
The pulsing rhythm of the tires vibrated beneath me. Panic set in and I recalled what had happened to land me in the back of the van. I lifted my head to see who was in the front seat but all I could see were two men dressed in black wearing baseball hats. It was difficult to make out their faces. I said nothing, hoping it wasn’t too late to pretend I was still asleep. I didn’t want them to know I was awake.
The metal frame I was laying on poked me in the back causing an uncomfortable pain. I was afraid to move and tried to stay still. Thoughts were flashing in my head and I tried to mentally grab one that would help me figure out how to get out of this mess. I kept looking at the front of the van to watch the men. They were talking to each other. I wasn’t sure what they were saying because the radio was kinda loud. My brain tried to memorize the driver’s facial features. If I could remember as many details as possible, maybe it would help later when I got away. I laid my head back down on the metal floor of the van and squeezed my eyes shut. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. I gave a silent prayer to God that he would help me out of this nightmare.
I heard the sound of the radio increase and a man’s voice filled the cab of the van. I opened my eyes slowly and listened carefully to what the voice was saying.
“...police and volunteers have formed a search party for Marlene Smith, a Bradford High School senior who went missing four weeks ago after leaving school…”
Hearing my name on the radio spiked the adrenaline response in my body and sent a surge of it to my heart. My breath caught in my throat and a tiny light of hope burned inside of me. Had they really been looking for me all this time? A wide grin formed on my face and with it a waterfall of tears. I stayed very still so as not to tip off either of the men that I was awake.
I wasn’t sure I heard correctly at first. The announcer said my name so quickly that I almost didn’t catch it until he continued to talk about the search. Part of me didn’t want to believe the news. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
I squeezed my fists in excitement. It was the only physical way to express my excitement without drawing attention to myself. Searching my mind for an idea- any idea- that would give me a plan to escape.
The announcer said my name again as he was reporting the rest of the story and there was now no doubt. My mother and father were looking for me! For the first time in over a month, I felt like I had a real shot at being rescued. But I couldn’t wait on the police or my parents. I had to figure out a way to get away from these men before we reached the location they were taking me to. I swallowed hard as my body was stiff and aching.
Slowly, I brought my h
ands up to my face so I could see what kind of restraint they had me in. It was a zip tie handcuff. My wrists were red and cut in some areas from the thick plastic. I used my teeth to try to bite through the plastic but it was too thick.
The man in black sitting in the passenger seat turned around just as I was trying to bite through my constraints. “She’s trying to get out!” He unbuckled his seatbelt and tried to get to the back of the van.
He was a huge fat guy and the mere size of his silhouette coming toward me freaked me out. There was nothing I could do. I put my hands and legs up to protect my body. “What are you doing awake.” The man snarled at me.
“You know what to do.” The driver yelled back to the big guy.
I wrestled with the man trying to keep him away from me by kicking. I screamed wildly. My plan was to keep him from hurting me and maybe get a few jabs in myself. Knowing that people were out looking for me renewed my strength. I was not going to go down without a fight. He pinned me down and leaned on my back.
“Get off of me!” I screamed.
I struggled underneath his body weight. He ignored me and pulled something out from his pocket. I feared it was a knife or a gun. Was he going to shoot me now? I tried to inhale and scream again but he leaned on me harder preventing me from deeply inhaling. Panic set in as I couldn’t get a good breath so I wiggled my body to try to get out from underneath him. “I can’t breathe! Please get off me!” I pleaded.
My legs were burning and tiring out. At this rate, I would lose energy if I continued to fight against him.
But I couldn’t give up now. I had to stay awake. My life depended on keeping my wits about me. I stopped kicking hoping he would get off of me at least long enough for me to catch my breath. “Stop fighting.” The man said.
My arms and legs felt like heavyweights. He took a second focused on something in his hands. Disappointment in the form of tears filled my eyes. I was so exhausted that all I could do was just lay there. I tried moving my hands up to my face but he felt me move and pressed his body weight into me to keep me still. “Be still. Don’t move again, do you hear me?” He threatened.
I nodded my head in compliance.
“Pull over, Hank.” He called to the front of the van.
The driver let out a stream of curses. Hank. His name was Hank. I had to remember that. This guy had messed up now.
“Why did you say my name?” Hank yelled. “You idiot!”
The two exchanged curse-laden insults back and forth and for a moment I thought I’d be able to wiggle out from under him. “I can’t pull over. Give her another dose!”
The man leaning on me turned his attention back to what he was doing. I shot him a dirty look. When I had regained some of my energy, I would try to resist him. That’s when I saw him with the syringe in his hand.
A renewed surge of adrenaline shot through me again and I managed to knock the syringe out of his hand. I couldn’t lose consciousness again. My hands, although tied together, I tried to swing at him. He blocked me with his arm and slapped me. I fell to the floor of the van as the aftershock of the slap shook my jaw.
“This only ends badly for you, girl. I’m not going to tell you again.”
He yanked my arm closer to him, picked up the syringe, and stuck it in my arm. I jerked loose from him and began to punch his chest with my balled up fists. He grabbed my hands and held them. “You’ll calm down in a minute.” He said.
Forced to be still, I started to notice that my eyelids were growing heavy and my vision was blurred. Fear gripped me as I knew I was losing this fight. I tried to fight it with all that I had. “You’ll never get away with this,” I threatened.
“You’re hardly the first job we’ve had, darling.” He laughed. “And you won’t be the last.”
My arms felt like rubber bands. I could no longer fight him off and laid there still. My mind felt like it was entering a dark abyss. The harder I tried to fight walking into the darkness, the less control I had over it. It was frightening to lose control and even more terrifying was to not know when or if I would ever wake up again. I tried to pull my hands up to my chest and return to the fetal position and felt the man finally take his weight off of me. I heard whimpers and realized the sound was mine.
CHAPTER 10
I didn't know if it was the faint voices I heard or the realization that the rhythm of the drive had stopped that led me to wake up. I had a raging headache. My hand instinctively reached for my head but because my wrists were tied, I ended up using both of them to hold my head. There was a noise outside of the van and I also smelled gasoline. I sat up to look at the front of the van to see if either of the men were inside but they weren't. They must be getting gas.
There were three voices speaking outside of the van. One was unrecognizable, but the other two I identified as the two men who had kidnapped me. Quietly, I tried to move but I couldn't. I looked down and realized that I had a pair of zip ties and duct tape wrapped around my feet. My knees were locked together and I couldn't move. There was no obvious answer as to why my mouth wasn't covered but I was grateful for the break. I took a deep breath and let out the biggest blood curdling scream that I've ever attempted.
When I stopped, I heard a commotion like feet shuffling running toward the van. Then I heard the unrecognizable voice speak, “Who’s in there?”
There was a pause before I heard one of the kidnappers respond. “Oh, that’s just my niece playing a prank. She thinks it’s funny to pretend that she’s been kidnapped. Especially when we drive my van.”
The other kidnapper laughed slightly and I could only assume it was to help sell the lie.
I screamed again. “Please help me, I've been kidnapped!”
“That doesn’t sound like a prank to me. Open the door!” The stranger shouted.
The next sound I heard was a couple of bumps against the van as if a large object had been thrown against it. Sweat formed on my forehead as I tried to hear what was going on outside of the van. My throat was sore from screaming so much, but I couldn't waste this chance to be rescued. Somebody had to hear me.
“They're going to kill me, please help me!” My body shook violently but there was nothing I could do to calm myself. I was too close to freedom to be afraid any longer.
The handle on the back of the van door clicked and then opened, letting the lights from the convenience store parking lot shine in. I squinted as my eyes tried to adjust. Standing there was a shorter guy with sandy blonde hair and a mustache. When he saw me his eyes widened in surprise.
“Please help me.” I begged.
He opened his mouth to utter a word but was abruptly silenced by a wire cord around his neck. The driver had removed it from his pocket. He tightened it around the good samaritan’s neck, pulling from both sides. The stranger brought both hands up to his neck instinctively and clawed at the wire cord. It was too tight for him to get a grip on it.
I was helpless to do anything but lay there and watch this terror unfold in front of me.
“You wanna be a big man? You wanna get involved?” The driver taunted. “Well, this is what butting into other people’s business gets ya.”
My heart pounded in my chest as tears streamed down my face. I could see it in his eyes the moment of realization that he would never get out of this. He still fought valiantly trying to grab at the driver who was behind him. I was no use. His eyes fluttered followed by a few gurgling noises and then his body went limp. The pupils of his eyes glazed over into a haunting stare and I knew I was no longer looking at a man with a soul, but a hollow empty shell.
My body wouldn’t stop shaking. The horror of what I just witnessed wouldn't shake loose from my brain. Both men worked quickly and grabbed the guy by his head and legs, pushing him into the back of the van and laying him next to me before shutting the door. I looked at his lifeless body still fresh from the kill and leaned over to throw up. I was so hot and sweaty I could feel myself about to pass out. I couldn't remember anything after th
at.
CHAPTER 11
A single drop of sweat dripped down the bridge of my nose. Noticeably the climate changed and it was uncomfortably hot.
"Not much longer now." The driver reached down to scratch his leg and let out a loud belch.
"Did you confirm with our contact that we were en route with the package?" The man sitting in the passenger's seat asked.
"I was waiting until we got into Mexico."
So that's where they were taking me. I strained to listen further.
"What was up with killing that guy?" The passenger accused.
"What else did you expect me to do?" The driver replied. " The both of them were making so much noise they were gonna attract attention."
"I'm just saying- now we gotta find a place to bury the body. It's more work, is all." The passenger said.
I stayed frozen for another hour trying not to freak out about the dead man lying next to me. His eyes were slightly open and appeared to stare straight into my soul. There was also a disgusting smell and I surmised that the heat was starting to decompose the body. I tried holding my breath but every time I had to release it, I'd just inhale a deep breath of this foul stench.
A familiar chime rang on a cell phone indicating that one of the men was getting an incoming video call. I heard rustling as if they were trying to grab their phones out of their pockets to determine which phone was ringing. There were a few seconds of silence and then a familiar voice was on the other end. I couldn't quite place it as it was hard to hear, but I knew that I had heard that voice at some time not too long ago.
Gambling that they were too preoccupied with this video call to notice me, I raised my head slightly to try to get a look at who was on the other end of the phone. Unfortunately, I couldn't see anything
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