Kidnapped

The Chase

I make a split-second decision to take the left route. I jump over the snow covered branches and keep on running and dodging the branches that threaten to get in my way. Behind me, I heard the footfalls of Lander and accelerate.

Even though all three of them had only been at Saunder High for just a few months Mena, Justin, and Lander had been super involved at school. Mena had gotten involved with our Drama Club and starred in two plays as the lead. She always got standing ovations. Justin joined the Swimming Team and won a few awards that most of his teammates could only dream about. Lander joined both the Cross Country team and Track. From what I heard, he had beaten all the set records from years before and at the end shrugged off the congratulations like it was nothing. Something they all had in common was that they drew in crowds. And here I was trying to outrun Lander, of all people, in the exact same woods where he and his friends were attacked just a day ago. For all I knew he probably knew this place like the back of his hands.

But I had some advantages he didn't have: I had powers that he knew nothing about.

I tune into my senses, trying to sense out a place to hide away from Lander without leaving an obvious trail to the hiding place.YOU. I knew that we should have killed you when we had the chance. I run that through my head to be motivation enough to find a place quicker. Just as Lander's footsteps get closer, I get something. Off to my right, maybe, twenty feet in front of me there was a small cave that I can squeeze into. I start zig-zagging and running behind trees to lose Lander. I use my skills to make it harder for him to track my footprints. When the turn comes I don't hesitate. I leap into the air and maneuver around to swiftly jump into the small cave. Keeping my head low, I cover my mouth with my hand to stop myself from calling attention to my breathing. The green plants hanging over the cave opening help. They make the cave blend in with the green parts of the woods. A few moments later loud footsteps pass right by my cave.

I slowly count to ten in my head before letting myself breath again. The cave might have been small and a tight squeeze, but it hid me from a crazy guy. I settle back as far as I can but don't pull off the bag. It was unlikely that I would stay in this cave for that long when I had that large one all the way up the rocky slopes.

"I saw some people running that way, Jeff," someone says, "I swear, man." A little gasp almost slips out from my lips. I tune in with my ears. Crunch! I can hear several footsteps moving through the snow, the clanks of objects, the whispers of others. I tense up and my right arm gets scrapped against the cave's walls. I clamp my left hand against my mouth again. Lander had brought reinforcements.

"A boy and a girl, Jeff," another voice chimes in. "I saw them too."

A boy and a girl? Who were Lander and his friends searching for? Are they Lander's friends? They could be with Lander.

"Shut up, both of you," a gruff voice responds. "There can't be any more of them. We took care of all of them, alright? Y'all are probably just hallucinating. Again." Bodies come into the view of the cave. There are five of them, all dressed up in white winter clothes with black boots. They have the hats of their coats up, so I can't see them exactly. But the strange-looking weapons make me push back even more. I could feel the skin on my right arm peeling and warm blood trickles down it.

They stand in a circle, but my senses pick up that they are all male. There is one dominant guy and I guess him to be Jeff. Jeff surveys the woods around him and points off to where Lander and I had just come through. "Martinez, you go back and check for more clues." He points to the right. "Ed, you check the lake." The first two guys who must have called for Jeff's attention groaned and walk away. "Lei and Jude, you two idiots come with me. We'll go check out the Second Woods." The three of them start to walk away.

And then it happens. The warm blood that had been slowly trickling down my arm drops down onto the cave floor. I move my hand to at least stop the bleeding a little and my wound jabs back against a rock. The rock pierces the wound and gets inside. So naturally, an agonized screech escapes my mouth. I pull my arm back out as quickly as I can. Hot tears start to roll down my cheeks and I grab my injured arm to stop some of the blood flow.

Outside the cave, it's really silent. It takes my brain a moment to remember the situation I was in. The five guys outside, arguing about a girl and a boy's whereabouts. I snap my head up to look through the opening and freeze. My wound starts to pound uncontrollably. The five guys had paused and were staring in my direction. They were staring at the cave; at me.

"You heard that?" The one called Martinez asked out loud. The white coat's hood covered his face, but I could hear the excitement in his voice. He pulled off his strange weapon, which looked like a gun on steroids, and he pointed it at the cave. The others followed suit.

"Yeah, I did," the one called Ed answered. He sounded just as excited. "It was a girl's scream." I start crawling on all four to the part of the cave where I could stand up and prepare for flight. They all heard me. Their steps get closer. "Come on, Jeff! It must be the Blake girl."

They know my name.

That's the last straw for me. I jump out from behind the vegetation and blindly blast them with my left hand. The blast sends them flying back and I run forward.

Shots ring out after me and angry shouts start up. "SHE'S GETTING AWAY! GET UP!" They are the same people that attacked the camp. The exact same voices. The exact same weapons.

I have to get back to the big cave.

********************

My internal GPS returns me back toward the right side of the woods. I circle back through the camp and run up the rocky slopes. I couldn't feel the blood running down my arm anymore, which was a toss-up between good and bad. The continuous blood loss had either slowed down or frozen. Or my right arm was injured beyond repair. I must have pushed against a nerve inside the small cave because I haven't been able to pull up my right arm in the long time that I have been running. It just stayed at my side, useless.

At the top of the slope, I slow down my pace to a light sprint. I grab my right arm with my left hand and hold it up. Sharp pain spreads through my body and I hold my breath. I stop running to inspect it and let the breath go. The arm looked terrible. There were several lines where the rocks scratched me and a jagged hole in the middle where the rock pierced it.

"There you are." Dark boots appear in front of me.

I stare at them, and trying to keep the surprise out of my voice say, "What do you want?" I'm tired of running and I'm in pain, but I could still fight with my left hand. I look up into pissed off blue eyes. Lander moves to grab my hand, but I quickly pull away.

He stares me down. "Give up or risk getting hurt, Freak." I look down at his hands and step back. Lander was holding an actual sword. The snow and the evening light reflects off the sharp edges. I start to notice the oncoming darkness.

How long had have I been running around here?

Lander and I watch each other. I had my left hand up, waiting for him to make a move. A light thud starts up in my body and suddenly I feel a little light-headed, but I keep my eyes trained on Lander. Somewhere in the distance, I can hear the guys I had escaped from. "I always knew that there was something wrong with you, Lander. Just never thought that you would do something like that to your own people."

"First of all, you don't get to call me Lander," he said, a frown making up his face. "Second: I know for a fact that you did something." He starts to move the sword around, and his eyes harden. The light blue that's always present in Mena's eyes is nowhere to be seen in Lander's eyes. "And I want to know what. Now." He pulls up his sword, pointing at me. "Where are they?"

He's asking me? "I don't know what you're talking about." In the back of my mind, I start to get anxious. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I glance over to a tree and see them getting closer. They were in the destroyed camp. "I had no part--"

And I'm down. Lander attacked, pulling my legs out from under me. My face hits the ground with force, but I'm up in seconds. I hate not being able to read this guy. My useless right arm hangs by my side so I use my left hand to blast Lander, but it's not enough juice. The blast pushes Lander against a tree, but he is running back at me in seconds.