I walked home from school through the woods, feeling a little woozy. The sky overhead was cloudy and dark, making everything look a bit more dramatic and frightening. I could see the trailhead up about a hundred meters ahead, the path I was walking on relatively straightforward. I blinked and my vision blurred. I shook my head. Jesus Christ, I was practically tripping right now because of that weird headache medicine the trainer gave me. I questioned her qualifications.
The asphalt road at the end of the path was closer now. A light smattering of raindrops started coming down, broken here and there by the deciduous trees. Of course I chose today not to wear a coat. It had been gorgeous in the morning, but now I was freezing in my tennis jersey and skirt that I had worn to practice. I trudged along the slightly damp trail, the cold rain leaving uncomfortable little pricks on my arms. I reached the end of the trail, and turned to start making my way up the road. My vision blurred again. What the heck was going on? I blinked, but my eyelids seemed to want to stay shut. The earth seemed to rock beneath me. I shook my head to try to make things return to normal, but they didn’t. I felt like I was going to pass out. I wasn’t far from home, now. I could make it. I could make it. I could make it. I could… I felt myself letting go. I had enough sense to stumble over to the side of the road before I blacked out.
***
I opened my eyes drowsily. I rubbed them a couple times to get the sleep out, and then looked around. Where was I? Why was I still in my tennis uniform? Why was I here? Where the hell was I? I jolted as I remembered fainting by the side of the road. Did someone kidnap me? The rain was now pounding hard on the roof, whereas earlier it had just been a scattered drizzle. I took in my surroundings. The place was pretty nice for a kidnapper’s den. The walls were a cheery yellow, offset interestingly by the downpour outside, and there was a fluffy white carpet spanning wall-to-wall. I was lying on a full-sized bed that had white pillows, sheets and comforters with gold accents. On the bedside table were a couple personal effects - an alarm clock, an empty teacup, a cell phone charger, and a couple of crumpled papers and CDs. In the corner next to a white dresser was a laundry hamper with some balled-up articles of clothing in it.
I slid off the bed to investigate. I pulled a Pink Floyd t-shirt with the Dark Side of the Moon album cover picture on the front. I smiled, so this person liked Pink Floyd. I checked the tag M-Medium. My kidnapper was a guy, a fact that I had kind of guessed already, despite the nice room. I shoved the t-shirt aside, revealing a pair of boxer shorts. Yep, definitely a guy.
I heard the door behind me open. I spun around, and fell from my crouching position. I was beholding a boy, who seemed to be about a year or two older than me. Nineteen, maybe? He looked enormously amused.
“Harry? Is she up?” asked a slightly high-pitched male voice from what was assumedly down the hall. A second boy trotted up behind the curly haired boy in the doorway. The new guy had straight, flippy, light brown hair and high arched eyebrows. He saw me and smiled.
“Yep, Louis, she’s up. I came in to find her digging through my dirty laundry.” said the first boy, who had been addressed as Harry.
I reddened at the light brown haired boy’s entertainment with this. “I wasn’t digging through his laundry.” I mumbled. Louis raised one eyebrow. “Where the fuck am I?” I said, changing the subject.
Harry and Louis looked surprised, “Oh sorry, you must be really confused right now. We found you blacked out in the side of the road.” said Harry.
“So you just… took me?” I asked, my voice raising.
“Well we--,” Louis stammered, “We didn’t quite know what to do. I mean, we found you unconscious on an embankment on a forest road. You could have been raped and dumped there for all we knew.”
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. “For one, I don’t have any defensive wounds or any signs of abuse for that matter, and yeah, because there are so many rapists who would dump in a little suburban town.”
“The rape was an example. We didn’t really know what to do, so we took you back here. We couldn’t just leave you there.” said Louis.
“Also, you do have a couple bruises, on your stomach.” said Harry.
I wrapped my arm self-consciously around my midsection. “That’s not any of your concern.” I said defensively, but then something dawned on me, “Wait, you looked under my shirt!?”
Harry put up his arms in defense, clearly assuming I was going to attack him, “Nonono! It just rode up when we were carrying you to our car.”
“And you would think the neighbors would have noticed something suspicious going on.” I muttered to myself.
“You should be thanking us.” said Louis, “There are quite a few people out there who would see an attractive girl passed out on the side of the road, and not acted nearly as kindly as we did.”
I paused on the fact that he called me attractive. Alright. I looked up at them apologetically. “Sorry, thank you guys.”
“Not a problem.” said Harry casually. “Oh, this is yours.” He said, handing me my phone. “You didn’t have anyone in there labeled ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’, so we couldn’t call anyone.” He said, grimacing.
“I call my parents by their real names.” I sighed resentfully, scrolling through my messages to see if I had any new ones. Of course Walter and Anne hadn’t bothered to text and see why I wasn’t home yet. Walter was probably drunk, and Anne was probably hoping that I had gotten hit by a bus or something.
Wait… I distinctly remembered tucking my phone into my sports bra when I left for school. I glared at the two boys who were still standing in the doorway. “My phone was in my bra. I suppose that rode up too as you were carrying me?” I looked at them accusingly.
Harry shifted, “Well, we had search and see if you had anything that could tell us who you were.”
I held my glare, “And that journey just happened to take you to my chest?”
Harry looked at Louis for support, but didn’t find any. No one said anything for a couple of seconds, but then I said “Well, I should probably be going, thanks again.”
“We’ll drive you home.” Louis offered. I nodded.
He led me down a hall and through a living room, where three other boys were seated. There were more? I shook my head, deciding to just roll with it. “We’re taking… ummm…”
“Lana.”
“We’re taking Lana home.” He said.
“No you’re not.” said a boy with black hair. My heart froze. What? “There’s a flash flood warning, no one can go out.
So there I was. Trapped, with a group of boys I had never met.
