Chasing Miss Conner •NEW VERSION•

XXXV

Thirty-Five

!!TW: School shooting, attempted sexual assault, kidnapping, choking, and suicide.

Read at your own risk!!

I could remember my heart beating loud in my ears, feeling it scattering like fireworks underneath my skin. The screaming had faded to the background of my mind, each one of my breaths a tortured gasp for air. Genny's body had been heavy on top of mine and shaking. I could smell her distinct perfume of cigarettes and old spice, and it grounded me in those last few moments I had with her. The back of my head hurt when I came to, and the dirty rag stuffed into my mouth tasted like gasoline. I found to breathe around the duct tape securing it. My vision was blurry, and I shook my head, sound and sight returning. I barely registered that my hands were bound with the same tape behind my back because Caleb was screaming at an unfamiliar blonde boy driving the van we were in. I tried to remember how they'd gotten me out of school, but my mind was still fuzzy, and it faded away. Fear accelerated my heartbeat when I thought of Juliette and Becks, and Genny, what had happened to them? I quickly took stock of my surroundings, looking for anything I could use as a weapon, but except for a mattress that I currently occupied, and a practically empty toolbox, I was screwed. To keep my mind away from the latter, I categorized everything inside my mind, having seen enough criminal minds to know how this could go.

"Drive faster!" Caleb urged, and the van leaped forward down I-90. I flinched back when the unnamed boy turned to him with a snarl, his eyes flicking to me before he turned back to the road. I scooted backward, and Caleb turned to look at me, a psycho look of perverse happiness on his face. "Oh look, Riley, our little toy is awake." My blood went cold at the mention of Juliette's half-brother, and I scrutinized the stranger with more intensity, glaring at him with murder in my eyes.

"Fuck off." I'm sure it came out garbled but I got the message across if the darkening in his eyes said anything.

Caleb snorted and then said with a sneer, "Don't worry, once we get where we are going, you'll be wishing for his company."

I wanted to tell him that I planned on ripping his dick off and shoving it up his ass, but it's probably already pretty far up there. The ride was bumpy, with pine trees and mountains replacing a city that had quickly become my home, and my eyes burned. Not wanting them to see, I turned away and tucked my knees up to my chest as best I could. I closed my eyes, thinking it was stupid of them to not blindfold me when my fingers brushed something cold and metal. Blood pumped through my ears as I grasped what felt like a screwdriver, tightly in my bound hands. I wanted to tell myself that it would be okay, that I would survive, that I had people who needed me, but the truth is I felt like I'd been living in slow motion until now. Eventually, this was going to happen, and now I once again faced the possibility of death. So I treated it like my heart condition, I could either lay here and die or I could fight like hell to survive. To pass the time, I sawed through the tape, pausing every time one of them looked at me, but luckily the freeway was too loud and masked the sound.

So when the van finally rolled to a stop, and Caleb's seat belt unbuckled, resolve filled me. I heard him tell Riley that he would go first, and then it would be his turn. Bile crawled up my throat but I forced it back, immediately kicking at him, hitting him in the knee and sending one of my shoes flying, adrenaline pumping through me at the black rage in his eyes. He hauled me up by my shirt and shredded the fabric down the middle, exposing my chest to the cool air. I whimpered, clutching the screwdriver in a death grip, feeling the barest give from the tape and straining against it. I could feel it was about to snap when Caleb whipped out a knife, holding the point under my chin, his sweat-soaked hair falling into his eyes. He smelled like stale beer, and I fought hard to not puke at the vile stench.