And The Truth Unfolds

Chapter 21

I woke up in a dark van. My head hurts like hell, and everything is a haze. Across from me, I see Derek lying on the floor, unconscious. My hands and feet are still tied, along with my mouth.

I look at my surroundings. There are two locked doors, two windows that are painted black, and what I would guess to be one-way glass separating us and the driver. It's silent, except for the sound of the motor and the tires crunching over gravel.

I hear a groan and I look over at a waking Derek. He opens his eyes, and a confused look spread across his face. He sees me and tries to move, but it failed because of his tied hands and feet. He brings his hands under his butt, over his legs and up to his face, where he tugs the cloth covering his mouth down to his chin.

"Whats going on?" he asks. I nod my head, trying to show the cloth taking away my ability to talk. He squirmed his way over to sit next to me. He grabbed a piece of the cloth and pulled it down to rest on my neck like a bandanna.

"We're being kidnapped." I say calmly. I move my jaw around to get some movement; the cloth was tight.

"What the hell? Why are you so calm?" he whisper-yelled.

"Because there's nothing we can do about it. Do you see an exit with flashing lights that says 'escape route'?" He groaned and started to untie his hands.

I am not a monkey, and therefore I do not have any monkey abilities. I cannot bring my tied hands under my butt like him.

He finished his hands after about two minutes then started his at feet. He didn't take long with his hands free. Once he was done, he moved to sit in front of me to untie my legs.

"So, what do we do?" I asked him. He shrugged and continued to untie my bonds. A small streak of light shone through the window facing me. A small piece of paint had been scraped off in the top left corner. The light shone right in my face, causing me to squint my eyes.

"What happened to your face?" Derek asked.

"Whats wrong with it?" I asked, a little insecure. "That was rude."

"You have a blue and green bruise, and almost a black eye." He finished my feet and came to sit next to my face. By then, the light had passed. Derek gently pushed my forehead back against the side of the van. He tilted my face so he could get a better look. Another light shone through the window, and Derek's face turned sour. The light went away; I'm guessing that it was street lights. He tried to touch the bruise, but I flinched back. He dropped his hands from my face.

"Who did this?"

"No one."

"Seriously Mckayla."

"My sister." I said with distaste.

"That bit-" I glared at him. "Don't tell me that you're sticking up for her." he said quickly with a clenched jaw.

"No, I definitely am not. But don't do anything stupid, okay?" I begged.

"Yea.." he said, but it didn't sound like he meant it.

"You'll get yourself killed! I won't attend your funeral, Derek." I warned him.

"Because you'll be dead! Shes going to kill you Mckayla!" He sighed and motioned for me to turn around. I got up on my knees and turned around so he could untie my hands.

"So, where do you think we're going?" I asked. We were still on a gravel road, with the occasional street light.

"I dunno." He said. I could feel him pulling at the ropes. "So, whats the plan?"

"Plan?" I asked. My hands came free and I turned back to sit down. My wrists were sore from the rope biting into my skin.

"Yea, we can't just stay here, being held captive until we die." he said, sitting down in front of me.