Hunted

Alex

*Lacey's POV*

"I was half dead when she pulled me out of the lake. It was freezing, and my body had started shutting down, trying its hardest to keep me alive. I wasn't shivering anymore; I couldn't even move. I remember her carrying me to her car and laying me in the backseat. She turned the heat up as high as it would go and started driving. I remember thinking that I was glad she rescued me, and that I really wanted to know if you were okay. She drove for hours, never once stopping for anything. The heat eventually warmed me up enough that I regained the use of my arms and legs. I asked her where we were going but she didn't respond, didn't even look at me. I started crying and begging her to take me home and she stopped the car. She got out, pulled me out of the back seat and dropped me in the middle of the road. She told to find my own way back home and got in her car and drove off. I didn't know what to do. It was freezing and I was still sick from being in the lake so long. I could feel my temperature dropping with each passing minute and I knew if I didn't start moving I would die. I turned around and started walking in the direction I thought we came from. It was hard to tell though cause it had started snowing again, making it nearly impossible to see even three feet in front of you. I lost sight of the road, and before long found myself hopelessly lost. My muscles started to burn, begging me to stop but I knew I couldn't. I pushed myself further and further, each step pure agony. The sun started to set, making the air even colder than before. Snow started freezing to my clothes and I knew this was the end. I managed to walk a few more miles- at least it felt that way- before I collapsed. I had depleted all my strength and all I could do was lie there and watch the snow slowly pile on top of me.

Right on the edge of unconsciousness I heard them; footsteps, slowly trudging my way. I tried to sit up but it was no use. I couldn't even scream to let them know where I was. I looked up at the sky, praying for salvation. Minutes passed as I listened to the footsteps getting closer and closer. They stopped right beside me but I couldn't turn my head to look. My vision started blurring and I felt myself falling into nothingness. Strong arms picked me up and I could feel the rise and fall of my savior's chest as they carried me away.

I woke up in complete darkness. I didn't know where I was or even what day it was. I tried to sit up but the pain was too severe. I must have been too cold for too long. I briefly wondered if I would ever be okay again but the sound of a door creaking open interrupted my thoughts. Bright light flooded the room and I squinted, trying to get even the smallest glimpse of who it was. The first thing I saw was long blonde hair and I realized it was the same woman from before. She must have followed me..or something. She was young, probably early thirties if that. She had piercing blue eyes that somehow seemed cold. She made me nervous and I didn't know why. She told me her name was Amy and that she was going to take good care of me. I remember asking her if I could go home and she told me that I could never go back, that this was my new home. I started crying and she slapped me across the face and said that there were no tears allowed in her house and that if I cried again the punishment would be much more severe. I didn't know what to say. I just stared, hatred for her quickly settling deep in my bones. She smirked, as if she knew what I was thinking and told me that I needed to rest and get well; that she had greats plans for me and that if I failed, she would kill me."

Alex paused, his jaw tensing as he thought of what to say next. I didn't want to interrupt for fear of making him stop talking. I need to know what happened to him. I don't know why, I just do. He shifted his weight to a more comfortable position and continued.

"For the first few weeks I thought that maybe things were gonna be okay. I mean yeah, she kidnapped me, but she took good care of me. She made sure I had everything I needed, from food to clothing and she even started homeschooling me. She said it was important to be educated even thought I didn't quite understand her logic in teaching me what she did. English, history, none of that mattered to her. Human Anatomy was her main focus; She expected me to learn any and everything about the human body that I could. She would show me videos of people being mutilated and experimented on and if I cried or looked away she would punish me. At first she would just slap me or something of that nature, but over time they got worse. I remember one time she showed me a video of a pregnant woman being cut open. She was completely awake and screaming with each slice. She begged them to stop, to not hurt her baby but they didn't listen. Her baby was cut out of her and taken away and she was left on the table alone to die. I tried so hard to not cry but I couldn't help it. I just kept thinking of what would happen to that baby and the unimaginable pain that poor helpless mother went through. No one deserved that and I couldn't understand why she was showing me this.