A teenage girl by the name of Ayla Meadows is held against her will and experimented on by a crazed scientist. Although she manages to escape the horrors with the help of a sheriff and his group, she is forever haunted by the memories of her torture...
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"Time and time again, we reconnect. It's like the universe nudges us to give it one more chance." - Nikki Rowe
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The early morning sunrise seeps through the cars windshield and shines directly into Ayla's eyes, causing them to open blearily. Her tired mind attempts to catch up with her brain as she lets out an exhausted yawn. Soft fabric brushes against her cheek and although she is oblivious to what object it belongs to, she finds the feeling of it oddly pleasent.
Warmth radiates from it, providing such comfort that she finds herself subconsciously curling back into it. The soothing sound of the birds chirping outside and the quiet contentment which comes with it begins to lull her exhausted mind back into a dreamless sleep...until she stretches her hand upwards and an exhale of breath tickles her fingertips softly.
All at once, her survival instincts kick in. Without warning, she whips herself upwards and throws her body over the person she was unknowingly sleeping against and ends up straddling them. She hears a soft grunt of surprise but doesn't let it distract her as she spots a small knife in the front seat and snatches it before bringing it to the persons neck. Heavy breathing fills the vehicle as both individuals reel from their unexpected proximity to one another. Ayla's eyes squint as she tries to make out the person but their face is blocked by the darkness of the backseat. However, as soon as they speak, she knows who it is.
"Ayla?" Carl whispers in surprise, his voice hoarse from sleep. "What...what are you doing?" There's no fear in his voice, only quiet confusion.
"Oh my God." Ayla flushes with embarrassment as she realises that it's Carl who she has pinned beneath her. "I am so sorry!" She exclaims anxiously. "I don't know why the hell I did that - I guess I'm just not used to having someone sleep beside me and I must have panicked." Suddenly, she registers that she's still straddling his waist and without thinking, she jerks her body away roughly. He lets out a sharp groan of pain when she does it and her face turns an even brighter shade of red when she realises that she just accidentally hit her leg against an area she definitely shouldn't of if Carl wants to have kids someday."Sorry." She repeats as mortification seeps through her at her actions.
Why did she have to make the whole interaction so entirely awkward? She silently kicks herself for it. First of all, she wakes up to find herself cuddling Carl like he's her childhood teddy bear. Then, instead of playing it off coolly, her stupid brain decides to panic and she straddles him. And then - as if the situation wasn't already embarrassing enough - she accidentally hits him in an area which she doesn't particularly want to think about but is guaranteed to cause large amounts of pain.
However, thankfully, the boy doesn't seem to mind.
Carl laughs breathlessly and shakes his head. "Don't apologise, I get it. You've been out there on your own for a long time, adjusting to being around people can be difficult. It's okay to get a little flustered."
