Kidnapped

Going Back

A few hours later the sky finally turns light and the small blizzard stopped. In the middle of the night yesterday, I explored my new-found cave. I managed to find nothing that could hurt me and no insane attackers came either, which is definitely a win.

I sit, legs crossed, next to the cave opening and stared out into the woods. A few inches of snow-covered everything. There is silence among the trees and the animals. Every now and then I would hear the Squawk! of a passing bird. But then it returned to silence. It's serene and beautiful, and I love it. The peacefulness of it reminds me of the dark space I always ended up in when I was asleep. No strange, threatening thoughts clouding my mind. No headaches. Nothing.

But then, I'm hit with guilt every time I look down and I catch sight of the dark blue boots, the black coat, and the black bag with me. Things that Mena gave me. Mena, who must have risked something by letting me go during the attack. I have tried shutting down these thoughts by telling myself that Mena owed me after they kidnapped me and knocked me out with that horrible smelling gas, but something starts to feel wrong.

At first, it's just a little itch in my throat, but I remind myself that I haven't had anything to eat or drink since the guy came in the night before. I clear my throat and keep on staring down at the bag that I promised myself not to open yesterday. Justin's metal bottle was in there; I watched Mena stuff it in there, and yet, I refused to open the bag or anything hidden inside it. Even if the bottle did have water to relieve me from the itchy throat. I didn't want to take chances. Not yet.

Little by little the itch takes over my whole body. By high noon I can't tell whether I'm just imagining the itch or if my skin was really crawling with an irritable itch everywhere.

I end up jumping off the floor, grabbing the black bag, and running out of the cave in paranoia. What if this 'peaceful' cave was cursed? I tell myself that I'd just go for a short walk around and come back to the cave a little later on.

I retrace my steps from yesterday to try and go see what the left side of these woods had to offer. Unfortunately, my trek through the woods brings me back to the one place I didn't want to come back to: The KCs camp clearing.

I pause in-between two trees and took in the drastic details of the campsite. Although everything was covered in snow, I could still tell that a battle took place here. There were tell-tale signs everywhere. The tents that had been set up by the others were caved in and half covered in snow. The tent where I was held captive for a week was cut into ribbons and surprisingly still standing up. The wind moved through the cuts, making some parts flap around. The large campfire that the KCs built up every night was completely gone. The trees on the left side of the clearing had some lower branches that looked like they were torn off by giants.

I sent out a feeler, but the place was empty. No one was here except for me. I inhale and step out into the clearing. My blood runs cold, instantly. Across from me, on a low, sole survivor, branch of a torn-up tree, sat a rainbow of familiar colors. I run to the branch and grab at the rainbow. The KCs. It's the ribbons the girls wore everywhere. The colors ranged in shades: red, green, gold, pink, white, blue, black, orange, purple, and many more. There were at least thirty of them. The purest white silver ribbon was on the top. Next to them is the silver chains the boys always wore around their necks. At the end of the silver chains, there were different shapes and kinds of pins. A bird, a dragon, a star, a moon, all different kinds. I stare at the bird pin; its the same one that Justin wore around his neck. The same one Justin held onto during his swim meets. He always called it his lucky charm.

"YOU." The angry, muffled, voice makes me jump in surprise. "I knew we should have killed you the first chance we got." I turn around with my heart pounding. I didn't feel anyone's presence. There was no one. How did he sneak up on me? The person is wearing a black coat, dark jeans, and combat boots. Everything that he's wearing is similar to mine, especially the dark colors. The face is covered up against the cold, but it's the blue eyes and silence that gets me turning around and running. I stuff the silver chains and the colored ribbons into my pocket, making sure to get them all and take off into the woods.

Of all the people who could have, Lander Emerson survived. The one person who completely blind-sided my powers. Lander Emerson. And boy he is angry.