The Target

Chapter 1

(T/W: Kidnapping, swearing, bullying)

Five years earlier 

I pulled the hood of my hoodie further down to hide my red-rimmed eyes. The class was loud, with kids yelling and shouting. Girls were huddled up together, laughing and pointing at me.

I sat alone in the back of the class, as far away from those assholes as I could get. I refused to let them get to me. I was stubborn. And smart. If they see me, then they'd know it worked. Well, they probably already know. Seventh-grade girls have a sixth sense for that.

"Gonna cry, Kitty?" My hood was ripped from my head, and a strangled yelp left me. Dain, one of my bullies, held my hood tightly, choking me brutally.

"Look at her face! She's about to start!"

Yeah, no shit, Kevin.

I struggled against the boy as the class laughed at me.

"Let me go!" My hand managed to get to his, and my fingernails dug into the back of his hand. He hissed, and I was shoved from my chair onto the ground.

  "She scratched me!" He cried out, and Kevin looked at the 'wound.'

I scrambled back, horrified. I didn't want to hurt him! Just get him off my back! 

I didn't notice him until it was too late. Kevin kicked me in the stomach, and I rolled to my side in pain. He didn't stop; muffled curses left his mouth as he kicked my stomach again.

I cried out and crawled away; I stumbled as I got to my feet. Everything was spinning. I used the wall as help as I ran out of the classroom, which was cheering for him to continue. I ran down the corridor as best I could without falling. My stomach felt like it was run over twice and stuck back into me with a match lit inside. My head ached, so I didn't even realize I left my bag. 

They're going to tear it apart. Not that they wouldn't do it anyway. 

I rushed out the school door, cool Autumn air, brushing my long red hair out of my face. I took a deep breath, and a cloud formed in front of my mouth. I quickly left the school grounds without anyone seeing me. 

I'm never going back!

I walked faster and crossed my arms over my chest. It was so cold that my teeth chattered. The sidewalk ran next to the road and the forest on the other side. A thin layer of frost layer over the leaves and grass. 

I'm so dead if they call home. If my mother found out I 'skipped,' she'd tell my Father to beat the crap out of me.

I shivered just thinking about it. I still had some time it was a long way back home without the bus. 

There were almost no cars around, it was past the time for them to start going to work and too early for them to come back. But the faint buzz of an engine coming closer was still there. I didn't pay attention to it, though, my mind was elsewhere.

Then The engine stopped not too. Far from me. Must live around here.                                                         Then footsteps?

 I wiped my teary eyes, and the cold seeped into my bones. My legs already started to ache, but what should I do? Stop and freeze to death? Maybe that would be better than going home.

Tap, tap, tap. I barely heard them, but it was too late. A hand wrapped around my stomach and another around my mouth. It pressed a damp cloth over my nose and mouth. I screamed and kicked my attacker. 

"Just breathe normally, and it'll make it all easier." A male voice rasped in my ear, and it only made me want to hold my breath. My lungs burned and stung for me to breathe, but I was stubborn. 

I yanked the hand from my stomach and twisted from his grip just to collapse onto the ground, gasping for air. 

"Hell no!" I scrambled back on my butt when the masked man tried to grab me again. My red hair tangled with my hands. Black spots danced in my vision as I tried to run away. I got to my feet and stumbled down the road, clawing at my hair to stop the spinning.

"Hawk! Stop laughing, get her already!" The motor of a car started again, and the voice of a young woman bellowed from that direction.

Holy shit, I'm getting kidnapped!

Just when I thought I was stable enough to actually put some distance between me and that psycho, he grabbed my wrist and picked me up. One hand under my knees and one holding my arms at my sides. 

"Let me go!" I screeched and kicked my feet, trying my best to hit him somewhere.

My eyes landed on a black van. The windows were tinted, but I could see a woman sitting behind the steering wheel. From what I could see, she had dark skin and curly hair.

"No, no, no, no, no, no-" The side door slid open, and the man carrying me got inside while I was clawing at him like a feral cat.

"Why is she awake?" The woman started the car and started to drive while the door still hung open. 

"Holy shit!" I crawled to the corner of the van with wide eyes as I stared at the both of them. 

I'm being kidnapped! What the-

"Because I wanna traumatize her... You idiot, of course, she was too stubborn to breathe." The man said sarcastically and slammed the door shut. 

I hugged my knees to my chest as tears of fear threatened to fall. 

"Put her out of her misery, you psycho." The woman huffed, annoyed at her accomplice.

They're going to kill me!

The man reached for the front seat with his back turned to me. My chest thieved, and I tried not to vomit. My stomach burned, and my head still spun. 

I closed my eyes and hoped it all would just be one of my crazy dreams that I would still be in class, alone in the back with my hood up to cover my teary eyes. 

Oh shit

The cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose again, and my head slammed back with the force.

"It's a fifty-fifty chance that she either passes out from the chloroform or from just not breathing." He said, amusement playing in his voice. I coughed, and a sweet smell invaded my airways. 

No, no, no, no-

I shook my head and tried to push him away. My lungs protested and begged for air. I went limp, and the sweet smell enveloped me. I coughed again, but my limbs were weak, and my head began to fog. 

"Huh, both." 

He brushed a strand of red hair out of my face, and I was too tired to even protest. I started to blink rapidly, but it was inevitable. 

Darkness took over, and my head slumped forward into the hands of my kidnapper.