Then I saw you

Do As I Say.

Astraea POV.

We walked into the small store and started browsing through the shelves. The stranger stopped, causing me to promptly walk face-first into his shoulder. He looked down at me, "Sorry." I whispered. He started to pick up two sandwiches and a bottle of juice. Struggling to carry everything and hold my hand, I offered up my free hand. He handed me the juice, and we stared, walking to the cash register to pay.

While our things got scanned, the guy picked up a pack of Twizzlers and placed them for the cashier to scan.

"That will be $15.98," The cashier said. The guy I was with reached into his pocket and pulled out 16 dollars. "Keep the rest," he said. Wow, so generous—A whole 2 cents.

I helped pick up some of the food, while the guy was quick to take most of it. We started walking to the car, and when I say 'walking' I mean it was mostly him dragging me to the car.

"I want you to sit in the front seat," he demanded, and I nodded my head. He let go of my hand to open the door for me. This was my chance. I let go of what I was holding and started sprinting away from him.

Never in my life have I run this fast. My instinct took over, and my brain focused on moving my weight from one leg to the other. I had only been running for what seemed like five seconds when I felt hands around my waist. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, doll," he gridded in my ear. Tears were streaming down my cheeks by now. "You don't need to do this; just let me go. I won't tell anyone, I swear." I can't do that." He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and began walking back to the car. I started trashing around in his arms to try to escape. Out of the blue, a hard slap on my ass was what stopped my wiggling.

"Finally, you stopped." He sat me down on the hood of his car, placed a hand in my hair and on my neck, and brought his face close to mine. "Now you are going to listen to me and stay quiet." I nodded my head. "I am far from the worst person you're going to meet today, so I suggest you get yourself together and start doing what I tell you to. Do you understand?" I nodded my head again. I'm starting to feel like one of those bobbleheads you see on the dashboards of vans.

"Good, now get in the car." He let go of me, and I scrambled to get into the front seat. He opened the door for me and closed it behind me. He walked in front of the car, and that's where it hit me. I knew at that moment that there was no running away. He got in the driver's seat and started driving. Thoughts about my family started playing through my head.

I had bought Katie and me two tickets to go see our favorite band, Falling In Reverse. I remembered hearing her play it on the first night I spent in the house. It was her birthday gift, and I wasn't going to see that either. I was never going to hear Elijah and Kyra teasing us and playing pranks on everyone. I would never see beautiful Gabriella walking down the aisle, marrying Maxi. Not only that, but I would never see Anna publish her first novel and become a famous author. Likewise, I would never see Danny get his doctorate in physics and start teaching. I will never see Daniel buy his own gym and become a personal trainer. And I would never see momma and pops grow older and meet their grandchildren. I was never going to start a family. I had just met my soulmates, but I was probably never going to see them again. A hand on mine brought me out of my pity session.

"If you do what they ask you to, they won't hurt you." I didn't say anything; he looked over at me, and something in his demeanor changed. "Common doll, wipe those pretty eyes." I just stared numbly out the window. A hand reached up to my cheek and dried my tears. I looked over at him and said, "You can't let them see you cry, doll."

"Will you keep me safe?" He removed his hand from my cheek. "I'll try, doll, I'll try." I form a grimace, supposed to be a smile. "Thank you." That was the last word said on the drive.

————————————Time-Skip------------------------------------

We drove up to a gate in front of a building that looked to be an abandoned military base. Two guards stood waiting by the gate with big guns in their hands. "Keep your head down and stay quiet." "OK," I answered quietly. The car rolled up the guards, and my window rolled down. "Уже вернулся с миссии, солдат?" the guard asked, "да" "у тебя есть девушка, которую я вижу." One of the guards placed his hand under my chin and tilted my face to meet his. "Красотка, может, нам стоит помочь ей обустроиться в новой камере, а?" The guards laughed at each other. I could see the guy in the car tightening his jaw; it annoyed him to hear what they said about me. That was clear to see. "Я могу устроиться поудобнее, большое спасибо." I sassed back.

A slap to the cheek was the result of my backtalk. "Tы была намного красивее, когда молчала. Я ненавижу болтунов." Nobody said anything after that. "Вы можете пройти через" The car started driving towards the building. "I told you to stay quiet," he said. The car stopped, and silence overcame us. "I'm sorry for what is going to happen to you." I was about to question him about what he meant when a familiar, sharp prick in my neck silenced me.

When my world was black, it was peaceful yet scary. Most of the fear I felt came from not knowing what I was going to wake up to. No matter what happens now, all there is for me to do is keep myself safe.

Keep myself alive.