little bird | a.p

TEN

I stood next to Alex and Camilla in the small, dusty hangar building. We would be saying goodbye to Alex for a few days while he meets with important people in the U.S. I had always wondered what it was like there. I'm sure the places, the lights, and the women there are beautiful.

Alex embraced me into a tight hug. His hand cupped the back of my head. "I love you, Maria." He said into my ear.

"I love you, too." I kissed his cheek.

He then hugged his Mai tightly. "Be safe, my Alex." She said with a small smile.

He stepped back from the both of us with his duffle bag.

"Come back with a cool souvenir!" I told him. He laughed and waved us goodbye as he boarded the small plane. We stepped back as it slowly took off.

Once he was long gone, we headed back to the house. We spent the day playing cards, cutting fruit, and finally settling down into our respective beds. Although I tossed and turned without Alex sleeping next to me, I managed to fall asleep eventually, but not for long.

My slumber was interrupted with the sound crashing from the lower level of the house. I immediately got up and snuck around to the stair case. I peeked through the door frame and saw three men run past, I sunk against the wall and covered my mouth. Fear filled my body as I realised Camilla slept down there and I knew I would have to help her. I thought of Alex and how he would protect us. He wasn't here so I had to help his Mai.

I hear rummaging through the house until Camilla's voice could be heard. I looked around the bedroom until I found a metal baseball bat leaning against the corner of the room. I grabbed it and slowly descended down the stairs. I rounded the kitchen and followed the noise into the family room where Camilla's bedroom was tucked away to the side of. I saw one man with his back facing me, guarding the door. I let out a breath and swung the bat, cracking it against the back of his head. He made a grunting noise and fell to the ground.

My body began to shake. I couldn't believe I had done that, but I had to be done. I found the noise coming from Camilla's room. She was trying to pull away a bag from a man that was pulling on the other end like tug of war. The man saw me and dropped the bag.

"Get her!" He pointed to me, ordering the third man after me. He went back to fighting over the bag with Camilla.

The other man rushed towards me, scaring me enough that I stupidly dropped the bat. She chased me into the kitchen and cornering me. He got a hold of me and I started to fight back. Since the was much stronger, he won, pushing my head against the wall. Blackness took over my field of vision.

I woke up in darkness. My head was pounding and my ears rang out. I could hear the humming of an engine. My eyes opened fully and I realised I was in the back of a van, tumbling around on the floor. Camilla was no where to be seen.

"Aye.." I grunted in pain. The ties around my wrists burned my skin.

The van came to a sudden stop, sending me flying forward and rolling to the floor again. The van doors opened and two men appeared. The grabbed me out of the van, spun me around and cut the ties from my wrists. One man pushed me to the ground harshly. As I gathered myself, the van was speeding off into the night. I was left alone. I was in the middle of nowhere.

I looked around to see but it was too dark. In the far distance, towering flames erupted. I started to run the opposite direction. I ran for miles and miles. I ran so far that the sun was starting to come up. With the new light from the day, I could see civilisation. I ran towards the buildings.

When I reached the nearest one, I began to look around. I wandered the streets, seemingly the only one around since it was so early in morning. I noticed a small coffee shop with an open sign. I ran in.

"Hello?" I called out.

A worker came out from the kitchen and looked to me in shock. She seemed to be around my age.

"Hello?" She replied.

"Can you please tell me where I am?" I pleaded and approached the counter.

Her shocked eyed looked me up and down. "São Paulo, miss." She said.

My stomach dropped. I held my hand to my forehead and began to feel weightless. She hopped over the counter and sat me onto the floor.

"I need to get to Rio.." I breathed.

She shook her head. "Rio De Janero is gone." She said. "It was destroyed last night. Village is burned."

I started to hyperventilate. "Camilla.." I muttered.

The worker left and came back to my side with a glass of water. I took it and thanked her, downing it all. "Are you visiting there?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I am from there."

She furrowed her eyebrows, not believing me.

"It's a long story, but I am from Brazil. My Pai owns a tire shop. Please, I need to get back. Some men came into our home and took me. They dropped me off a few miles from here."

She helped me stand to my feet. She kept her hand on my arm for stability. "I can help you get to your people." She nodded to me. "My name is Benita."