Oceanside

Chapter 1

Odette

Eight months ago

I shifted in my sleep at the sound of clicking. My ears started to pick up on the location of the sound, it was coming from somewhere in my room. Slowly my eyes opened to see one side of my bedroom. I lazily scanned the dark area, my gaze freezing on the curtains that now blew in the light night breeze. I started to push myself up as panic sank in. Someone had opened my window. My actions ceased immediately at the sound of a gun cocking.

I was halfway into a sitting position when the hard tip of the barrel pressed into the back of my skull.

"Don't say a word." A man's voice muttered harshly.

My heartbeat skyrocketed while my breathing became uneven. I nodded with my eyes squeezed shut. I was trying to not make any sound, swallowing a sob that built in my throat. My parents were only a few doors down and I was terrified if I messed up he'd go after them too.

"Get up." He ordered.

I scrambled out of my bed. While moving I got to flicker my eyes his way. He was a large man with a mask on. It wasn't the type you see in all the typical robber videos. This one looked different. It was wooden with carvings and paint to make it look like a distorted face. It looked African. His clothes were baggy and dark, only patterns of a deep red lacing in geometric patterns. He had the gun pointed in my direction with a large knife on his waistband.

"Out the window." He stalked towards me.

I didn't wait for him to get within arm distance of me. I hurried to the window, swinging one leg over the ledge without stopping.

Between the minimal distance from my bed to window I had some hope. The fleeting thought of jumping out and running before he could get to me was gone the second I saw the other waiting at the bottom.

There were five of them, four men and one woman. They all wore different variations of the mask the man behind me had on. Their clothes matched too.

It was then I hesitated. I stayed straddling the window frame looking down at the group of people who were surely going to kill me. There was no other explanation I could think of. The man made it clear he wasn't here to take anything but me.

A gasp left my mouth when the man behind me shoved me off the ledge. It was a short fall as one of the other men in the group caught me. Before I could do anything the woman pulled her gun, pointing it in my direction.

She spoke to the man who roughly caught me in a language I hadn't ever heard before. I stayed silent as rope came into view, tears falling.

I wanted to fight them. To scream out so that someone could help me. Neither would do any good. Two of them had guns, that I knew of, and I was scared they would shoot me or anyone that came to help. I knew my father would run out at the first sign of my distress. I was almost certain they would shoot him. Our closest neighbors were a couple acres away. There wouldn't be enough time.

I bit back a sob as they started to tie my hands together. The rope was rough and so were they. My skin felt raw within a few seconds of it touching me. When they finished two of the men picked me up, one holding upper half while the other carried my legs.

They started to walk and panic set in full force. Suddenly I didn't care what happened, all I knew was I couldn't let them carry me off.

I began to struggle. I kicked and pulled at my legs to get the man to let go, wiggling my upper half to try to make him drop me. I'd rather face the swamps surrounding my home than this.

My attempt only made them angry. One of the men walking beside me snapped out something in his language before he hit me hard. Something must have been in his hand because it felt like the end of a large stick knocked into the side of my head. My vision blurred and my ears rang. All of my resistance stopped as I tried to recover.