Dire {h.s.}

2

Ava Manakova

The moon follows as you drive. I believed that as a child, I still do sometimes. It's the first thing I notice the second my tired eyes begin to slowly open. The bright full moon glowing and staring back at me gratingly. It's moving along with me––

Wait where the hell am I?

A sharp and loud inhale tightens my throat as my eyes shoot open wider. My eyes darted around frantically in a panic. I take quick and short breaths, feeling my lungs inflate with too much stress.

"Shit, you're awake." a voice says, and it sounds too familiar.

The memories flood in all at once and suddenly, it's all too much for my brain to handle. I can't even comprehend what exactly happened. All I remember is the devious look in his eyes and the sharp pain of a needle plunged through my skin.

"Y-You're really starting to freak me out––"

In the span of five seconds, he uses his free hand to grab my arm and roughly pull me towards him. My eyes grow wide with fear and terror held within them as I stare up at him for a moment of confusion and panic.

"Let me go! A––" I barely get enough time to finish my sentence before the sharp tip of a needle is plunged deeply through my arm. I yelp out in pain and the shock forces my body to fall against his. My heart begins to beat rapidly at an uncontrollable rate, way faster than before. He pulls the needle out after a few seconds, and I continue to stare at him with even wider eyes. I want to scream, I want to cry, but I can't. All I can focus on right now is what he just did and what he injected me with.

My eyes begin to weigh down on me, as my words begin to slur when I breathlessly ask, "What are you––"

Think Ava, don't panic. Check where you are, and your situation.

My consciousness floods back along with the memories of what happened earlier, and I force myself to suck back the overwhelming tears threatening to spill. My cheeks have grown hot and I begin to feel my head cramp tightly into a painful headache. I take a deep breath and start to take everything in.

The first thing I notice is that my body is lying across the backseat row of this vehicle. I look to my right to find a rectangular back window.

To my left, I can see the passenger seat and part of the console with controls, buttons, and a big screen that displays a map––a navigation system.

However, my headache makes it difficult for my eyes to adjust clearly enough to read the words and numbers. Hopefully, this feeling goes away. From what I can see, I'll take a wild card and guess this is a truck I saw earlier.

I can't see him, but only hear him and feel his presence. Where the hell is he taking me? By the look of the trees moving past us and the light buzzing vibration coming from beneath me, I know he's speeding off to somewhere... but where?

My eyes slowly scan down my body and I gasp at the sight of my hands bound together by a piece of rope wrapped tightly around them in a knot. It fiercely hugs my hands to prevent any chance of escaping. It hurts, but I don't know why I get the hell off pleasure to feel the pain now. It's probably because my body is slowly adjusting back to reality and of every nerve and sense I own.

"My h-hands." I speak for the first time, feeling almost breathless after two words.

"I know, I know, but that's just so you don't hurt yourself." He says calmly, worrying me even more.

"W-Where are we?" I ask, again, breathlessly.

He doesn't answer, and it stresses me even further into a panic.