The Vanishing of Sarah Brown

PROLOGUE

Slowly, she began to blink.

She unconsciously expected to see the light of day again, to be able to recognize the environment around her, to observe something that would give her a minimal sense of direction once and for all.

Everything around her continued to be shrouded in darkness.

As her sensitivity grew, the more she was able to perceive more clearly what was happening to her. She was swaying, at times delicately, at times more abruptly, like in a crazy hammock. Her face was covered with a sheet or a gauze, through which she could not see anything. For sure, she was shrouded in darkness.

She listened to trying to hear some sort of sounds.

They were weak, but now she could hear footsteps, heavy man's footsteps. Heavy but at the same time softened, as if the ground was not concreted but natural.

She also tried to get the sense of smell to work at full capacity.

The air was humid, cold.

She tried to move her hands to remove that veil from her eyes, but in vain. She couldn't move, her body was completely blocked. It was as if she were tied up.

She closed her eyes. She couldn't remember anything, but she was starting to feel scared.

She kept swaying and at the same time she kept hearing that regular footsteps.

They were carrying her somewhere. She felt the agitation grow, her breathing became faster and faster. She wanted to scream but she couldn't.

Suddenly, she felt herself falling to the ground, experiencing severe pain in her back. She managed to hold back the grimace of pain.

Soon after, she heard another dull thud and someone or something violently tore the sheet that was covering her face.

She found herself lying on the ground, still unable to move, her heart beating madly, her gaze turned to the dark night sky. Tall, pointed trees stretched towards the sky. It was night, just as she had imagined.

Her breathing continued to be too fast.

She had to calm down. Again she tried to strain her ears as far as she could to pick up any sound. There were crickets, owls and the wind made the trees sway harmoniously. For the rest, silence reigned.

She tried again to free herself from the laces that held her tied, she had to be able to free herself.

She tried with all her strength but the ropes that held her were too tight; however, she managed to turn on her right side.

Another figure lay motionless not far from her, tied hands and feet, her blond hair that stood out on the dark ground. She recognized her and her agitation became fear.

"Ariana!" She called softly.

"Ariana !!". Nothing to do, the girl was still lying motionless with her eyes closed. She tried to move, to crawl to get as close to her as possible. "Ariana wake up!" she said again, while moving like a snake, she almost managed to reach her. "Ariana"! she tried to wake her up by touching her head with hers.

One touch, two.

The girl moaned and rubbed her lips into a grimace. Then after a few seconds she slowly opened her eyes. As soon as she was conscious, she let out a scream so high it almost split her eardrums. "Ariana! Be quiet!" she whispered to her.

"Sarah!" she rolled her eyes at her. They were grainy and full of terror. "Sarah where are we? Sarah! I'm tied up I can't move! " "Ariana shut up! Don't scream! Take it easy!" Ariana screamed again, a second piercing scream that tore through the stillness of the forest.