Soaring

Chapter 2

"HELP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping someone would hear. I was tied to a tree trunk, but I didn't even know where we were, thanks to the blindfold covering my eyes.

"There is no one around to help you." said an ominous female voice from the distance. But I could feel her presence. She was close.

"Who are you? Where have you taken me?" I demanded, but the voice just laughed.

I ignored it, instead trying to focus on my surroundings. The air was hot and humid, and the ground was soaked, like a heavy rain had passed through just an hour before.

The voice didn't speak to me again, but after a while, a steady pulse sounded through the clearing. It sounded like a bird flapping its wings, but stronger. Maybe a really big bird, I tried to reassure myself, still nervous, remembering stories of winged creatures my grandfather had told me.

The lady asked, "Were you followed?"

A new gruff voice responded, "I was careful."

"Good," the voice said firmly. "Get the mortal, we need to go." The man with the gruff voice didn't respond, but soon, I was in the air.

It felt like I was going a million miles an hour! Which would have been pretty cool if I hadn't been kidnapped by two strangers who either had an airplane or could fly, I went with the airplane idea. Everything was going pretty well until I felt us slowing down and I knew this was going to be my chance to get away, but before I knew it we were on the ground.

"Throw me the rope!" yelled the man's voice.

"Here! Make it tight, don't want it getting away." That's when I got upset.

"It? What do you mean by IT?" I kinda regretted saying it, but at the same time I was kinda happy I said something at all. It was quiet for about ten seconds, but then the lady spoke.

"Tie the BOY to the tree over there and make it fast, we have other stuff to . . . take care of."

"Understood." said the gruff voice firmly, like he was in the military. Then, he tied me to another tree. I mean, of course I struggled and all, but he was strong, like really strong. I heard that strange flapping sound again before it faded off into the distance.

So there I was, tied to a tree trunk wearing a blindfold and all alone in the middle of a wet, humid, and kinda creepy rainforest. That's when it hit me, and for some reason I do not know, but "I can escape!" just hit me. I realized I said that out loud, which didn't really matter, but made me feel kinda awkward.

I tried to get my hands loose, but not being able to see the rope didn't help much, so I focused on the blindfold. I pushed the back of my head against the truck of the tree and scrunched down. To my surprise, it worked and the blindfold fell to my feet.

Now, able to see, I took a few seconds to look at my surroundings. There were trees, (lots and lots of trees) but there were also really colorful birds. I thought to myself "This would be a cool vacation spot," but I got back to work on the ropes. Now that I could see, I easily untied them. I needed to get out of here, but to where, I did not care.

Unfortunately, I wasn't alone anymore. A dark figure came out of nowhere, but something felt kinda familiar about him.

"Wha- How did you get out?" It was the same gruff voice that I had heard before. But I had something else to worry about . . . I realized how we were flying earlier. He had wings sticking out of his back! All I could think was "HE HAS WINGS! HOW DOES HE HAVE WINGS! DID THE LADY HAVE WINGS TOO!?" They were covered in colorful feathers, but before I had time to blink, he charged at me.

I didn't know what to say, but what came out was . . . "Oh, just uh, running now" I was running like I was in the Olympics, running like I never have before, like I was running for my life, but technically, I was. I mean, I always knew I was fast. One of the fastest in my grade. But with the added adrenaline rush, I was reaching speeds I didn't even think I could do on my bike.

I started to get tired but I knew I couldn't slow down. The adrenaline helped, but not enough. I looked behind me and saw the man flying, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was going crazy but I looked straight ahead and saw the tree. Of course, with my luck, I didn't have enough time to slow down or swerve. I face planted right into the tree.

"Oww!" I fell down a hill which actually ended up saving my life because the flying man didn't know where I went. He flew right over me and I was finally safe, that is until I heard someone or something pushing through the bushing to my right . . . it was a snake!

I had to start running again, obviously, but all I could think was, Just my luck to get kidnapped, face plant into a tree, fall down a hill, and then almost get bit by a snake. When I got far enough away from the snake, I stopped and started panting from all the running.

Then, once again, I heard something coming from the bushes. I expected another snake, but what was staring back at me was much, much worse.