The Vanished

Part Three

     I'm putting the small box into my backpack, the box had a small necklace in it. It was a happy birthday, happy 2 year anniversary (we started dating on her birthday). 

     It was Saturday, and Amalia was picking me up in about 30 minutes. I was wearing some black ripped up jeans, a dark blue long sleeve shirt, and tennis shoes. 

     I had marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate for midnight s'mores.

     My phone buzzes, "Here❤️."

     I walk outside and hop in the back next to Amalia with Tom, Kai, and Hallie sitting behind us. Tom was 16 years old with long beautiful black hair that fell down to her mid back. Kai was 17 with a wolf cut and two piercings on his ears. Tom had a regular boys cut,  but his hair was dyed a grey purple and brown eyes. Hallie was 16 with brown hair that fell to her shoulders.

      And then Amalia, beautiful smoking hot Amalia. She had light brown hair that fell to her back, smoking steel blue eyes. And she was my age, matter fact only 6 days older. Her born on January 4th and I born on December 30th, she is 17 and I am 16. We all went to the same school and had been friends forever. 

     Amalia starts discussing the events she had planned for tonight, when my phone vibrates. I take it out of my pocket. It was a picture of the back of Amalia's car, license plate and all. "Who the hell are you?!" I text, but I don't receive a response. 

*****

     We're pulling the canoe onto the land, all five of us had taken turns canoeing for the past couple hours. Amalia, myself, and Kai had gone inside to retrieve the tent. 

     It was a six person tent, so it would fit all of us comfortably. Since I was in Boy Scouts, yes Boy Scouts, they have troops for females, get over it, I set the tent up.

   I pulled five sleeping bags inside and hung a lantern on the net at the top of the tent. I step out of the tent and hear noises coming from the forest, I swear on my fucking life I saw something in the bushes. I blink and it was gone. I was seriously shaking, shivers flowing down my spine.

     I look over to see Tom and Hallie retrieving sleeping stuff from the truck bed and handing it to Kai who was walking it over to me. I tossed the crap into the tent, we would arrange it later, if we even ended up sleeping. 

    It was about 10 now and we began to roast s'mores. I had finished mine and went clean my stick off with a paper towel. Once everyone was done, Amalia said we should play hide and seek in the dark using Marco Polo. In order to choose the seeker, we did rock paper scissors, and Tom lost. She stayed back while the four of us split off into the woods to hide.

      I chose to go really deep into the woods. I was walking to a huge tree when I swear I heard noises behind me.

      I ignored them, assuming it was Amalia, Kai, or Hallie. My phone buzzed, it was a picture of me looking in the general direction of the camera. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me by the neck and hit me hard on the head. 

     "Shit!" I shriek, I collapse onto the ground, I was hit again, something wooden by the sound of it, probably a baseball bat. Whoever it was could tell I wasn't unconscious, so a rag was tied around my mouth and nose.

      I try to scream, try to fight, but I receive a sharp and painful kick to the stomach. A loud crack, no multiple loud cracks ring through the forest. Great, I think. They done broke my ribs in the middle of soccer season. Black dots swarm my vision, and the last thing I saw before slipping unconscious was a pair of familiar green eyes staring down at me.